I recently spoke at a press conference in the Rhode Island statehouse to lend my voice in support of the Authors Against Book Bans Rhode Island chapter and the new legislation for the Freedom to Read in Rhode Island.

“The Freedom to Read Act (2025-H 5726, 2025-S 0238) seeks to protect libraries from partisan or doctrinal book-banning efforts and affirm the free speech rights of authors, publishers, and readers in Rhode Island. Representative David Morales (Democrat, District 8, Providence) and Senator Mark McKenney (Democrat, District 30, Warwick) have submitted the bills. An event, appropriately held in the Library of the Rhode Island State House, saw well over 200 people from various organizations advocating to pass the legislation.” -Steve Ahlquist

I am so grateful for the opportunity to tell my story.

Watch my speech here (I begin at 24:50, or here is a direct link):

My Speech:

Hello, my name is Cathy G. Johnson. I am the author of The Breakaways, a middle school graphic novel. It is about a school soccer team and building friendships. My book was the 2019 winner of the local Rhode Island Dorry Award for Children’s Book of the Year. Publishers Weekly lauded it, saying the graphic novel "will resonate with readers who are figuring out who they are and where they belong."

The book was doing well. In 2021, imagine my surprise when I started getting contacted by reporters for CNN, ABC, NBC, the Associated Press, Fox News, and many more. It started in Texas, but I’ve been contacted by people in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Florida. The book was being banned. Why?

When I first moved to Rhode Island in my early 20’s I was teaching in Pawtucket elementary schools. These schools were filled with amazing children, all who had diverse backgrounds and diverse interests. I wanted to make a book for my students. I wanted to make a book where the children specifically of Rhode Island could see themselves and read about themselves.

According to the School Library Journal, in 2018, the year before my book came out, only 10% of children’s books had Black characters. 5% had Latino. At the time, 29% of Pawtucket students were Black, and 26% were Latino. It wasn’t fair. The Breakaways has 15 characters in it, there are a lot of players on a school soccer team! So, I could include a lot of diverse life experiences.

I was able to include other diversities, such as socio-economic status, body size, hair type, and gender expression. Yes, one of the students on the soccer team is Sammy, who, part way through the book, comes out as transgender. He's not a big part of the book. Sammy is a pretty minor character. The book is not a transgender story at all. It’s a story about the lives of children, and the many different identities of children who exist in this world. But because of Sammy in my book, the book gets challenged and banned.

I say all this to tell you that this book is Rhode Island. I made this book for Rhode Island children. I live down on the street, in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Me and David go to the same library.

And it’s at that library in 2019, when The Breakaways came out, where I taught a comic book drawing class. In my comic book classes I show children how to express themselves. Most of the time we're expressing ourselves with funny pictures, goofy monsters and silly drawing games. I've taught a similar class to much acclaim throughout Rhode Island. Woonsocket, Smithfield, Cumberland, North Kingstown, I could keep going. In these library classes I teach children to express who they are with creativity. In these classes magic happens. Children should always be able to express themselves. They should feel special and protected and they should feel safe. Books should reflect the real lives of children.

Thank you for supporting the Freedom to Read Rhode Island legislation, supporting the growth of children to love themselves, however they identify. Books give children self-worth.

The 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health states that 70 percent of LGBTQ youth described their mental health as "poor." 42 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide. The survey says strategies to improve mental health and prevent self-harming behavior and suicide include: providing safe and supportive environments, and enacting legislation to protect the safety of LGBTQ youth.

I have been the victim of harassment from these book bans. I have received threats. But to me I am not the real victim here. It’s the readers, the children. You have the power to protect children’s ability to see themselves, feel heard, and be valued. Please do.

Articles:

• The Providence Journal

• RIFuture

• “Anti-Censorship Legislation: The RI Freedom to Read Act,” radio show and podcast interview, Bartholomew Town

Episode 57: remus has just gotten back from their awesome fellowship with the Swann Foundation, which supports scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. remus shares their exploration the Library of Congress, where they gathered research in the SPX collection and Gale’s Archives of Sexuality and Gender. Join us!

Contact: Email, Instagram, Bluesky

Citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2025/3/7/drawing-a-dialogue-episode-57

Karen Czap is an Ignatz Award-nominated cartoonist, author of Fütchi Perf and Four Years. Their coloring work can be found in The Breakaways, Freestyle, BUNT!, and more. Czap lives and works in Providence, RI as a member of the Binch Press / Queer Archive Works studio co-op. In this interview, we talk about the comics community, publishing with friends, conventions, and of course, the X-Men.

For episode citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2025/2/7/drawing-a-dialogue-presents-episode-9

Thank you so much to the wonderful East Greenwich Free Library for having me visit! We had a very fun teen comic making workshop for ages 12-18. All students were so creative and dedicated!

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I only have a small collection of student work here to share, because I always ask artist permission before taking photos. But believe me when I say all the students were AWESOME.

Librarians applied for a grant to support teen writing programming to pay for this visit. If this is something you’re interested in, please reach out! I’m always happy to supply language and support to grant applications for my visits. Reach out here!

Digital flier…

…in real life!

I will be teaching two 4-week long workshop series aimed at guiding Rhode Island teenagers through the development, writing and drawing of their own comic book stories. These workshops were developed in collaboration with Write RI and School One in Providence, Rhode Island, and will be taught both virtually and in-person.

Students are invited to submit their final comic stories in a contest to be collected and printed into a state-wide anthology!

Schedule

Workshop Series 1 (in-person): Saturday afternoons 1:00pm - 3:00pm, February 8, 15, 22 and March 1

Workshop Series 2 (virtual): Monday evenings 6:00 - 8:00pm, March 17, 24, 31, and April 7

Learn more at the Write RI website.

Are you a Rhode Island teacher who would like to participate?

We have a handout and slideshow available for Rhode Island educators. Please feel free to reach out to Write RI to receive those materials!

Submit your comics here!

Dear Comic Student,

It’s time. You are arriving at your final semester of comics school. Maybe you spent all winter break working on your comic. Or maybe you meant to, and it didn’t happen. Maybe you actually did do a lot of work and it just doesn’t feel like it. Maybe it feels like you should have gotten more work done than you did. Or maybe, maybe you really did do nothing. Maybe you slept in very late, everyday. You played video games. You watched a lot of TikToks. But what this accomplished was rest. You have rested. You have filled your gas tank. And now it’s time to really get started.

Something that is key to the mindset of being a cartoonist is having a healthy approach to labor. Comics are labor. They are physical labor and time-consuming. Labor isn’t a bad thing, it can be a very good thing. Labor for your career is a good thing. Labor for your education. Labor for your art. Labor for your goals. Labor for your freedom. This is all good. So it’s very important for you to have a healthy approach to getting your work done.

I know I say it again and again, but figure out healthy time management this semester. Keep track of your days. Keep a planner. Don’t rely on late nights, on grinding, on your youthful energy. We want you here for the long haul. We want you to make comics for years and years and years. And that will only happen if you approach it with healthy time management. Use your resources. Figure out what works for you.

Take hold of your career. While me and your other comics professors work as hard as we can to give you what you need, ultimately your career is in your hands. You need to guide it in the directions you want to take it. You need to put in the work. You need to build the connections. You need to find your weak points and address them. This is what will best serve you in your future. And it’s only possible with a healthy approach.

We are going to have an amazing semester together! Let’s get you to the finish line!

Best, Your Comics Teacher, Cathy G. Johnson

The Illustrated Storytelling Group at LitArts Rhode Island is a writing group for authors who use visual mediums to tell their stories. Focus will be on comics, graphic novels, and manga but we welcome all types of illustrated books!

We act as a monthly support group to creators that offers encouragement, critique and celebration. The goal of the group is to develop and support a local writing community for visual storytellers.

We meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 6pm, meeting monthly at LitArts RI. If you’d like to join us, you can become a member at the LitArts website and sign up.

• Group Leaders: Cathy G. Johnson and Frank Coppa

• Email: illustratedstorytellinggroup@gmail.com (monitored by Cathy and Frank)

Schedule:

January 28, 2025:

February 25, 2025

March 25, 2025

April 22, 2025

May 27, 2025

Group Agreements:

• Privacy: Materials shared within the group may not be shared or discussed outside of the group without explicit consent from their creator.

• AI: We discourage group members from using Generative Artificial Intelligence. All members agree that materials shared with the group for critique were not created in any part by AI.

• Content Warnings: Please include appropriate content warnings for the materials you are sharing with the group. These warnings are in the interest of mutual respect and not censorship.

• DEI: We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion and civility. We must treat every individual with respect. Each of us is responsible for creating a safer, more inclusive environment.

Episode 56: Cathy and remus discuss their recent panel at Comic Arts Los Angeles. Cathy spoke with Silver Sprocket artists Yasmeen Abedifard, Connor B., Lonnie Garcia, and Nick Winn about why horror is a great genre to explore complicated relationships, first dates, and high school crushes in their new books.

Contact:Email, Instagram, Bluesky

Citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2025/1/3/drawing-a-dialogue-episode-56

Episode 55: Cathy and remus catch up about life, teaching, and art practices. remus shares where they’re at with their PhD dissertation and talks about their exciting upcoming fellowship. Cathy talks about squaring the peg of their art and education practice. Topics include being mindful of audiences, the physiognomy of Pixar characters, Kenny makes an appearance, and more! Thanks for listening!

For episode citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2024/12/6/drawing-a-dialogue-episode-55

Contact:Email, Instagram, Bluesky

Carta Monir is a performance artist, performer, and writer. She was a 2022 Tom of Finland Foundation artist in residence. Her work deals with her own transness, disability, and desire. She lives in Michigan. This interview is the fifth of our series supporting remus’ PhD dissertation work. Thank you for joining us! (Note: This episode is for mature audiences.)

For episode citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2024/10/4/drawing-a-dialogue-presents-episode-8

higu rose is an illustrator, cartoonist, ethnographer, and local terror living in pittsburgh, PA. based in fiction and autobiography, higu’s work focuses on experiences of being Black, queer/trans, and a little bonkers. higu is currently working on YINZ CITY, a graphic novel series about a group of queer and trans people of color. This interview is the fourth of our exciting new series supporting remus’ PhD dissertation work. Thank you for joining us!

For episode citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2024/6/7/drawing-a-dialogue-presents-episode-7