Prophet against slavery : Benjamin Lay : a graphic novel

I'm not particularly fond of the art or the script, but I'm rounding my rating up simply out of gratitude for being introduced to such a fascinating historical figure as Benjamin Lay. He was an activist, who was repeatedly "read out of Meeting" -- unfriended, that is, by the Religious Society of

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Friends, or Quakers -- for daring to call out their hypocrisy and sin for owning and trading slaves. From the early 1700s until his death in 1759, Lay would make speeches, perform attention-getting stunts, boycott goods produced by slave labor, and even have a book published by Benjamin Franklin, all to call attention to the humanity and suffering of slaves and demand the immediate abolition of their enslavement.

And his efforts helped to move the needle, with Quakers banning slave trade in his lifetime, banning the ownership of slaves amongst members in 1776, and becoming a force in the abolition movement leading up to the Civil War.

Also of note: this social justice warrior was a vegan who advocated against animal cruelty, stood all of four feet and seven inches, and doted on his wife.

I wish the art weren't so flat and scratchy. If you have the time to invest, it might be better to seek out the history book from which this graphic novel is adapted: The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist by Marcus Rediker. I might check it out myself.

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