The massive Beehive Collective posters were a big part of my culturation and activist upbringing. Every punk house, infoshop, or radical space I encountered had one of their many gorgeously illustrated prints in a living room, bedroom or even in the washroom. They were so detailed, so thorough and nuanced that I would discover new facets every time I made the effort to study one. But despite seeing them so often, these black and white billboards were still a little mysterious and the narrative  a bit illusive. I never quite understood the entire story behind most of the work. I know they came with a pamphlet detailing everything, but I didn’t often find one of those in the punk houses where I was encountering the posters.
When Saku and D came through this past week on their whirlwind Southern Ontario tour, visiting neighbourhood parks, schools, they brought with them a simplified key, a song, a Seussian poem detailing the narrative of the work, which made it much more approachable to a broader, and younger audience. Inspired by their own child and the desire to teach them about what has been going on in the world, they put together a new book detailing the true cost of coal.
This is my jams. Taking complex things and rendering them accessible and teachable and then doing the work to get that out into the world. I really appreciate this stuff. Thanks again to Saku and D for putting in the work on this one.
To learn more check out:
Beehive Collective website
The True Cost of Coal book