Lora Innes on The Comic Creators for Freedom
The incomparable Lora Innes sat down for this brief Q&A about the Comic Creators for Freedom
1. What is the CCF?
Comic Creators for Freedom is a grassroots coalition which bands together once a year to raise money to fight Human Trafficking. Every January in honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day over 100 artists contribute artwork to create a single image which people receive when they donate.
The idea is that everyone spreads the word in their own circle of influence on the web and together all 100 participants can get the word pretty far out. So far we've raised $15,000 for the cause. It's a small commitment on each creator's part, but as we like to say: One person alone won't accomplish much, but together... we can really make a difference.
2. How did you, personally, become involved with the CCF?
I had heard about human trafficking at my church, and then I attended a conference about the problem right here where I live in Columbus, Ohio. It was startling. It's horrifying when you hear about it happening in Thailand and far away places, but when you realize it's happening here in America, right up the street, it becomes not more horrifying, but more real.
The stats should make anyone sick: 27 million people enslaved world wide, most of them children, and most of it is forced prostitution. 1.2 million children are trafficked every single year. One of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the U.S. is Baltimore, which I always associate with their amazing comic convention, home to the Harvey Awards. While we're all dressed up once a year celebrating the talent in our industry, this is happening around the corner.
It's not just someone else's problem, it's our problem. So I formed the CCF as a way to use my own personal influence to do something about it. I invited a few colleagues to join me and it grew pretty quickly from there.
3.What is the current project that you are working on?
Every artist contributes a drawing of their own original female character, so the final image--featuring over 100 comic book characters--gets pretty fun pretty fast. This year's theme is "Snow Ball Fight." Participants' images are starting to roll in. Let me tell you, not everyone is fighting fairly!
The image will be sent to every person who donates as a digital wallpaper. But we also will have the image as a poster you can purchase during the drive, as well as the images from the past two drives as well.
4. Who does it benefit?
The proceeds are split between two organizations-- Gracehaven House and Love 146. Both organizations are working on spreading awareness to the issue, fighting for better legislation laws, and helping victims recover through rehabilitation. Love 146 does a lot of work world-wide, as well as in America. They have a rehabilitation house in South East Asia called the Round Home, and this year they began setting up citizen run "Task Forces" all over the U.S. Gracehaven is a house in Ohio, set to help domestic survivors. Only a handful of these homes exist in the entire country--less than 50 beds are available to women looking for an out. So it's important that we help Gracehaven open their doors, and get started on the great work they're about to do.
You can watch short videos about both organizations on our website.
5. What can the public do and when is the deadline?
If you are a comic creator and want to participate, it's not too late! The deadline for submissions is December 31st--but if that sounds soon, don't worry. All we need is a simple drawing on a transparent background, the kind of sketch you could do on your lunch break! Full details on what we need for the image are listed on the Project Page of our website so you can get started right now!
People spread the word, tweet about it, link to us, put a badge on their site, and get ready to donate! The drive goes live on January 9th - 20th in honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (January 11th).
See you then!
For further information on this worthy cause go to http://comiccreatorsforfreedom.com/.
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