The New Jim Crow
January 25, 2017
Professor Young
Modern Black Superheroes: Laverne Cox
The poster that caught my attention was the poster that displays a group of kids teasing another child and Laverne Cox shown as a superhero fighting for equality. The colors that the creator of the poster chose were simplistic yet bold. Choosing to have the characters on a white background already draws attention to both the characters and messages on the poster. The three main colors used in the poster was red, light blue, and pink. The message written in red correlated with Laverne's dress, also the light blue and pink message correlated with the cape protruding from Laverne's back. I found it interesting to identify that the group of bullies are of a different ethnicity. The main element that really drew my interest was Laverne Cox being a superhero. Being a successful African American transgender female actress, Laverne is an avid activist for equal rights among both women and the LGBTQ community. The slogan "The Struggle Continues" that is featured in this poster correlates with not only Laverne being a transgender woman but also a member of the African American community. Being apart of any minority group in today's society increases in danger almost everyday. Both the mental and physical abuse that occurs within minority communities from both outsiders and members themselves hinders the pursuit of equal rights that should be distributed among all citizens. The fact that a person isn't able to obtain basic human rights because of their sexual identify and or ethnicity contradicts America's patriotic image of being a "citizen".
