2020. Edition of 550
18” x 24” (46 x 61cm)
Screen-print on Speckletone cream paper
Signed and numbered in pencil by Shepard Fairey
The Voting Rights are Human Rights print is a collaboration with photographer Steve Schapiro who documented many of the important civil rights protests in the 1960s. Steve and I met at the opening of The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery, Alabama. As I looked through his numerous beautiful and powerful photos, we discussed the possibility of collaborating on the spot. Voting rights and racial equality were the focus of a mass movement toward a more just society in the ’60s. Unfortunately, insidious racism, which never went away, has given way to more overt racism, and voter suppression, often targeting people of color, and students, is on the rise. Democracy needs to work for everyone.
Simply put, voting rights are human rights, and we need to make every effort to give equal voting access to everyone of voting age regardless of race or economic circumstance. Civil rights are still threatened and need to be supported vigorously. Proceeds from this print will benefit Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons, the same organization that brought Steve Schapiro and me together. Thank you for caring! – Shepard