I recently learned about the Fall of Freedom, a “nationwide wave of creative resistance” to the current government. While many events happened this past Friday and Saturday (November 21 and 22), there are quite a few that used the weekend to kick off exhibits and performances that are ongoing. Use their interactive map to find out what’s happening near you.
After using this map myself, I ventured north late Saturday afternoon to the quaint little town of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. A group called the Artivists was projecting protest-themed artwork on a few buildings around the downtown. I got there a little before sundown and had a nice late afternoon/early evening walk while waiting for it to get sufficiently dark. I had just about given up when I spotted a large Statue of Liberty being projected on the wall across the street from me. I stopped and was treated to a whole slideshow of artworks.
It felt like a very grassroots event, and looking at the calendar, I would say that is the case across the nation, but scrolling through the list of so many performances, crafts sessions, museum exhibits, and readings helps restore my faith in America and humanity just a bit. If you missed the events this weekend, don’t worry, I have a feeling there will be more. In the meantime, here’s a list of inspiring picture books about artists who used their art to advocate for justice and social change.
Start with The Artivist by Nikkolas Smith (Kokila, 2023, 40 pages, all ages). Nikolas Smith describes the intersection of art and activism and invites readers of all ages to become activists.
A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa by Caroline McAlister, illustrated by Jamie Green (Roaring Brook Press, 2025, 40 pages, grades 2-5). Ruth Asawa drew on her own experiences in a World War II internment camp to create a memorial to those Japanese Americans who were similarly imprisoned.
I’m Gonna Paint! Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People by Anne Broyles, illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Holiday House, 2023, 48 pages, grades 1-5). Ralph created his first art at the age of 31 as therapy for a hand injury, but soon he was painting the working people and political messages that he had learned about through his union organizing. Today his work can be seen in union halls and subway stations, as well as museums.
It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad (HarperCollins, 2019, 48 pages, grades 2-5). After experiencing prejudice and discrimination as part of the Japanese American community during World War II, Gyo Fujikawa went on to create one of the first children’s books portraying babies with different skin colors.
Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist by Liz Montague (Random House Studio, 2023, 40 pages, grades 2-5). Jackie Ormes’s comic strips about Torchy and Patty-Jo allowed her to comment on racism, segregation, and other contemporary issues. See also Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Shannon Wright (Orchard Books, 2023, 48 pages, grades 2-5)
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph (Albert Whitman and Co., 2015, 32 pages, grades 1-5). Starting with his work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, Gordon Parks traveled around America, capturing the lives of Black people in cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C. with his camera, and using his photographs to work for human rights.
The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art by Cynthia Levinson, pictures by Evan Turk (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2021, 48 pages, grades 1-5. Starting with 23 paintings to document his outrage over the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, Ben Shahn went on to paint scenes from the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War.
On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei’s Art Is Changing the Tide by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Catia Chien (Orchard Books, 2023, 48 pages, grades 3-8). After a childhood spent in a labor camp in China due to his poet father’s writings, Ai Weiwei has gone on to create art to draw attention to the plight of refugees, most famously an installation of Greece made of life jackets left behind by refugees.
The Spy in the Museum: How Rose Valland Saved Art from the Nazis by Erin McGuire (Beach Lane Books, 2025, 40 pages, grades 2-5). Although she wasn’t an artist herself, Rose Valland’s resistance work at Paris’s Jeu de Paume Museum during the Nazi invasion saved many valuable works of art from destruction.
The Resistance Files 