Thanks for visiting Radical Tradition. Below you'll find our Mission Statement and information about Publishing Rights.
MISSION STATEMENT
We intend to be part of creating a new story of the world to replace the dying, corrupt and brutal one we've been living under since Bush was handed the presidency 7 long years ago. Why the name "Radical Tradition"? Because there IS a long radical tradition in this country that has been systematically overlooked and suppressed (though always present) that has been told by writers like Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman and others primarily in alternative media here and overseas. The political collapse of the Neo Con project, primarily due to the Iraq disaster, has created a void among Americans (North, South and Central) who are looking for stories based on truth instead of lies. As disgusting and easy to hate as the Bush junta is, the global corporate agenda he plans on bombing into supremacy worldwide was not created by him or PNAC. NAFTA was brought to us by a likable "liberal", for instance. We plan on illustrating stories of scandal AND rebellion, historical and current, with as much clarity and savage humor as we can. To bring some light into the darkness.
Writer/activist Arundhati Roy writes from the World Social Forum on "Empire" (Our comments in parens)...
"In many countries, Empire has sprouted...some dangerous by-products–nationalism, religious bigotry, fascism, and, of course, terrorism. All these march arm in arm with the project of corporate globalization.
"It is a myth that the the free market breaks down national barriers. The free market does not threaten national sovereignty, it undermines democracy. (And creates fraudulent democracy) To win its fight to corner all our resources corporate globalization needs governments that do what they're told, courts that 'pretend to dispense justice', and 'a press that pretends to be free'. What can we do in the face of such force? We can 'come up with a million ways to be a collective pain in the ass.' Our strategy should be to not only confront Empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our sheer relentlessness–and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we've been brainwashed into believing. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling–their ideas, their version of history, (their lies) their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: we are the many, they are the few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."
-Arundhati Roy, quoted in Ode Magazine.
PUBLISHING RIGHTS
Anyone wishing to publish any of our illustrations is free to do so. Established commercial operations are expected to pay standard industry rates for B&W work; non- and small-profits may use the artwork for free. Please give credit/display our URL.
Send us an email describing which piece of art and how it will be used and we'll get you a high res pdf as soon as possible.
Any other comments, questions and ESPECIALLY ideas for comics and/or graphic novels are greatly appreciated. If you have a finished manuscript we'll respect your copyright. We might not be able to respond to all emails, but we'll read 'em all!
-Jamie for Radical Tradition