Domestic Workers

One of the more influential books I’ve read in the past 2 years was a title written by Premilla Nadasen, “Household Workers Unite.” In it, the author was able to weave together a narrative that not only provided a timeline of the role of domestic workers after the years of slavery but also the social justice initiatives spearheaded by those working within the industry. The author successfully argued the impact that African American domestic workers had on the Civil Rights Movement. Because let’s face it, if you can’t get to Miss Bee’s home because you and your counterparts are participating in a bus strike, then Miss Bee’s house wasn’t getting cleaned and that was below Miss Bee’s standard. So in turn Miss Bee (out of a need for her domestic worker to get to her home) also contested the Jim Crow law that prohibited her Black worker from sitting anywhere she chose on the bus 

This image here is actually a piece titled, “A Timeline of Caregiving Work in Canada” – It was produced by the Canadian-based, Graphic History Collective graphichistorycollective.com.  For the past 10 years the collective has worked to “tell histories of marginalized people and of struggles for justice” through the use of comics and graphic design. This piece came full circle for me because it shows the impact of and movements spearheaded by domestic workers in countries outside of the United States. 

#resistance #revolution #domesticworkers #citizenship #canada #canadianhistory #graphicdesign #civilrights