Reach Out to Our Voices

-by Odaliz and Alejandra

This piece of art expresses the need to make known the voices of the children that have been abused and to expose the damage that child abuse has inflicted upon these innocent victims. This piece is unique because we are focusing on calling attention to the struggle that children go through. Both artists have been motivated to create art due to the inspiration that they found from the strength of these children. It is important to realize that by raising awareness on the atrocities occurring behind closed doors, these children can be saved from traumatizing events. The emotions that we are trying to convey are not only sympathy towards these children, but also empathy.

This art means a great deal to both artists because they are able to bring out the voices of these children and emphasize that the rights of these children are being violated. The artists draw inspiration from the potential of these children. All of these children have not only managed to survive the most brutal and inhumane conditions, but also, many advocate for the rights of children and strive to break this monstrous cycle.

In the process of making this poster, many factors influenced the artists. Some of these factors include the color blue (which is the official color of Child Abuse Prevention Month), the book “A Child Called ‘It’”, and our knowledge that many children have been deprived of their basic rights. These influences have made a massive impression on both artists since they have guided the design of the poster.

It is important that the viewers understand the importance of the voices and experiences of these children since that is a fundamental piece of the poster.  The viewers should understand that these children have had many of their rights violated. Viewers should also take away that there is hope in ending these cruelties and that with the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the U.S., these atrocities can be ended. 

Child labor is wrong!

There are many types of child labor. We are trying to inform people of the facts about child labor. We need to persuade everyone to stop this because children have rights that need to be expressed and followed. Our influence and motivation was taking the children’s rights class. This class has opened our eyes to some of the problems that are going on in the world, and how bad some children are being treated. While the topics covered in the poster are not the only forms of child labor, we chose to display the most prominent forms, such as child slavery, factory work, farming, mining, soldiering, trafficking, and indentured servitude.  We want all children to have an education, not be abused, to live in a safe environment,and play when they want to. Children deserve to have respect and love.

The tools we used were Adobe Illustrator and Google for our poster. We enjoyed working on this project because it means something and it is an important subject. It should be talked about because people should learn how to prevent it from happening. We need to save children from going through these types of situations. We are very passionate about this because we were children and could have went through the same thing. Now we are teenagers and can make a difference in the world by informing people of the dangers of child labor.

Artists Statement

Robert F. Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had different views on the use of self-defense and non-violence. Robert F. Williams believed that self-defense was necessary in order to protect family, loved ones, and the community from harm and unjust treatment by the Ku Klux Klan, and other uncivilized groups of society. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. thought that non-violent protest was the only way to deal with violence enacted on them by these groups.

This poster shows an argument between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Williams on the use of non-violence and self-defense. It uses several pictures to add to the meaning of what these two figureheads have said. Some of the pictures add comedic relief, while the coloration and designs’ make the poster unique in the sense that it catches the viewer’s eye, and is most definitely different than any other seen here today.