Prophet Against Slavery

And today's pick is Prophets Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay by David Lester With Marcus Rediker (who wrote the book that this is a graphic novel adaption of) and Paul Buhle. This volume was published by Beacon Press in 2021. Unfortunately my library only has the digital edition. But we'll make it work.

Content notes for torture, chains, nudity and suicide.

While I would characterize the depiction of torture of both white quakers and enslaved Black people as more matter of fact then edgy, your milage may vary. It is certainly trying to make a point.

I picked this book up shortly after I started writing my review of Under the Banner of King Death Review both because I was pretty impressed with that book and because they are from the same creative team, plus the content for this volume sounded really intriguing.

Keywords that came to mind include: quakers, disability, morality and prophetic.

The publisher's summary is "The revolutionary life of an 18th-century dwarf activist who was among the first to fight against slavery and animal cruelty.

Prophet Against Slavery is an action-packed chronicle of the remarkable and radical Benjamin Lay, based on the award-winning biography by Marcus Rediker that sparked the Quaker community to re-embrace Lay after 280 years of disownment. Graphic novelist David Lester brings the full scope of Lay's activism and ideas to life.

Born in 1682 to a humble Quaker family in Essex, England, Lay was a forceful and prescient visionary. Understanding the fundamental evil that slavery represented, he would unflinchingly use guerrilla theatre tactics and direct action to shame slave owners and traders in his community. The prejudice that Lay suffered as a dwarf and a hunchback, as well as his devout faith, informed his passion for human and animal liberation. Exhibiting stamina, fortitude, and integrity in the face of the cruelties practiced against what he called his "fellow creatures," he was often a lonely voice that spoke truth to power.

Lester's beautiful imagery and storytelling, accompanied by afterwords from Rediker and Paul Buhle, capture the radicalism, the humor, and the humanity of this truly modern figure. A testament to the impact each of us can make, Prophet Against Slavery brings Lay's prophetic vision to a new generation of young activists who today echo his call of 300 years ago: "No justice, no peace!"

As I already highlighted, this is the second book by Lester, Rediker and Buhle that I'm reviewing this year so please check out the link to The Banner of King Death review to find out more about each of them.

Looking at the writing and art style I enjoyed both and feel like this creative team has demonstrated an above average skill at putting together graphic novels that are both highly political and very interesting and easy to read. This balance has proven difficult for many, so kudos. My only complaint is that this does veer close to alternative great men of history territory.

Page layouts were varied and Lester does a very nice job using pattern, the juxtaposition of different line qualities and visual metaphors.

Looking at the different identities and themes I like to look at in each of my reviews:

Race should come first because this book's narrative centers around the trans Atlantic slave trade that targeted Black Africans. That said, the eyes we are looking through are those of a white man who was also a quaker and a little person. This framing is not necessarily a problem in and of itself. Benjamin Lay is a striking figure and is an abolitionist even when his fellow quakers were not. That said, I (albeit as a white person myself) do think it would have been a good idea to work in more then one line and one action by Black people. Because as it stands, as I read this volume it felt like, despite the fact that Lay was initially inspired to abolition by the suicide of an enslaved person who refused to continue to allow themselves to be enslaved, Black people were almost exclusively objects that were acted upon rather then 3D characters that, among other things, talked and often fought for their own freedom.

Doing a bit of research it is fair to say that the majority of documented rebellions of Black slaves (sometimes in solidarity with poor white people and indigenous people) happened after Lay's life. Communication was not what it is now and news like this could have been suppressed. I'm not an expert. But I do think that it would have made the book better to figure out a way to provide the reader with this wider context, even if Lay was not aware of it.

I feel strongly about this because it wasn't until after I graduated university and started educating myself further that I fully appreciated that Black chattel enslavement didn't end because white people became more enlightened, but is largely due to many Black people through time and space taking their own emancipation into their own hands. Which not only changed my perspective on historical events, but also about the potential nature of future change. I probably could have explained that in a slightly more succinct way, but if you want to correct this issue for yourself I would recommend checking out Nat Turner by Kyle Baker, Run For It by Marcelo d’Salete and Maroon Comix_ Origins & Destinies.

Disability and ability also played a much larger role then average in this graphic novel. As I mentioned Benjamin Lay was a little person. The book, as you have likely already noted, uses the term Dwarf. Searching around the world wide web it didn't seem like the most favored term but also maybe not a slur either? Very big question mark. Definitely don't take that as a statement of any kind of authority. Also, some of the racial terms also felt similarly dated...

Anyway, Benjamin's condition certainly combines with his other identities to present a very unique and striking figure of history. I appreciated how the volume did highlight that people accused Lay of being "cracked in the head" for being an abolitionist. It reminded me of a similar movement in white enslavers to characterize Black people's apatite for freedom as a mental illness.

Overall, I thought that Prophets Against Slavery did a pretty good job of depicting the unique collection of struggles and strengths that kept our protagonist ticking.

An aspect of identity that doesn't always come up in any review is that of religious identity. With Lay's identity as a quaker being an outsized motivational factor. And while many quakers were abolitionists, that was not the case for Lay's community and he felt this was hypocritical because quakers were a christian sect that had faced a lot of persecution back in England and were supposed to see their fellow humans as equals.

In addition to apposing slavery, Lay did not wear woolen garments and became a vegetarian.

There is also some mention of the lollards, levelers and the diggers. A selection of other interesting subversive English uprisings. My notes also include a line "But they are protestant lol". Which I don't exactly remember writing down but I assume it had more my own anti-protestant biases and not Lay's? And of course not all protestants, but good heavens.

Overlapping religiousness with the only sexuality represented. Lay married Sarah Smith Lay who apparently shared his short stature but was perceived by the community as much more quiet and pious. It even sounds like the quacker community recognized her as having been blessed by the spirit to be a minister of the gospel.

Neither cis gender or any other sort of gender was very much explored in this volume perhaps unsurprisingly.

Class had a bit of a passing representation since Lay was much poorer then the rich enslavers he was critiquing.

Place was mentioned as Lay moved around but I didn't come away feeling like it was particularly developed.

Wrapping things up. A lot to chew on, which is always fun. Not as good as Under The Banner of King Death, but that only means they are on an upward trajectory. Four stars.