Firebrands: Activists You Didn’t Learn About in School
“If you don’t learn history, and I mean learn it like the way you learn to love music, poetry, and kissing, then the world will always be a mystery to you, and you’ll have to stumble through your days without being able to make any sense of what’s happening, or what you could possibly do differently.”
– from the introduction by Taylor Sparrow
Each story is vividly illustrated, offering a radical glimpse of how individuals can work to change the world.
From 2008-09, Justseeds collaborated in the creation of the book we eventually named Firebrands: Activists You Didn’t Learn About in School. The concept behind Firebrands was to generate something of a guide to the myriad of social justice luminaries most people never learn about in high school. We created an inexpensive, well-researched field guide with a solid “further reading” section and copious original artwork, primarily aimed at a high school/early college readership level.
Justseeds member/owners Bec Young and Shaun Slifer spearheaded the project, and worked with the participating Justseeds artists to develop the list of 78 personalities to include. While Bec handled the graphic layout and design work, Shaun researched, fact-checked, and wrote significant portions of the book.
Introduction by Taylor Sparrow
Copy Editing by Jessie Grey Singer
Indexing by Molly Fair
178 pages with 78 illustrations: black & white pages, color cover
Microcosm Publishing, 2010.
Rebound first edition re-released in Oct.2020
Firebrands is available for purchase here.
