That pinch of earth came from the salt flats that were plentiful around Dandi. The man who took it was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. That lone action signaled the beginning of one of the most successful nonviolent resistance movements the world has ever seen.

When Gandhi picked up that piece of salt-encrusted earth on April 6, 1930, he committed a crime under British law.

When he took that earth and boiled it to produce salt, he broke the law yet again.

In India in 1930, only the British government was legally allowed to harvest, refine, or sell salt. Even though many people along the coasts of India lived on land where salt was plentiful and easy to acquire, a person could be arrested even for gathering salt from the salt flats, even for his or her own consumption. The British maintained control over the salt trade in India, and had done so in one form or another since the eighteenth century. But beginning in the 1820s, the British government instituted a tax on salt that was so exorbitant that a year’s supply of salt could cost the average Indian family half of their yearly wages. Then, in 1882, the Salt Act was passed, which made it illegal for ordinary people to make their own salt by boiling seawater. Everyone in India was forced to buy their salt from the British at exorbitant rates.

On April 1, 1930, at Surat, in the midst of his pilgrimage to Dandi, Gandhi said of the tax,

There is no alternative but for us to do something about our troubles and sufferings. And hences, we thought of the salt tax…

…I have gone through the holy books of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. All these state that women and the poor should at no time be taxed. Muslims, Hindus, Parsis– all conume salt in equal quantities. The government has, however, found a device whereby all have been taxed. This is an inhuman law, a Satanic law. I have not heard of such justice anywhere in the world; where it prevails, I would call it inhuman, Satanic. To bow to an empire which dispenses such justice is not dharma but adharma. A man who prays to God every morning at dawn cannot, must not pray for the good of such an empire.

With this in mind, Gandhi had embarked upon his satyagraha, a phrase which he coined himself to describe his preferred form of nonviolent protest. Satyagraha is a combination of two Sanskrit words: Satya, or Truth, and Agraha, or Firmness.

Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or nonviolence, and gave up the use of the phrase “passive resistance”, in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word “satyagraha.”

Many of the political issues in India at the time didn’t affect people equally across all religious or ethnic groups. But everyone needs salt. It is not only a staple of any Indian diet, but it’s necessary for livestock and for many common household purposes. It was because of this that Gandhi chose it as the focus for his first major satyagraha after the Declaration of Independence issued on December 31, 1929. And it was because of this that Gandhi’s satyagraha gained broad support among many people across India. Salt was a common touchstone that could bring people together against the insidious and unjust policies of the British Empire.

On March 2, Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, and appealed to his better nature, explaining that he and the disciples at his ashram in Sabarati would be enacting an exercise in civil resistance. He detailed the plans for the march from the ashram, and their plan to defy the Salt Act. Therein he said,

I know that in embarking on non-violence, I shall be running what might fairly be termed a mad risk, but the victories of truth have never been won without risks, often of the gravest character. Conversion of a nation that has consciously or unconciously, preyed upon another far more numerous, far more ancient and no less cultured than itself is worth any amount of risk.

I have deliberately used the word conversion, for my ambition is no less than to convert the British people through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India. I do not seek to harm your people. I want to serve them even as I want to serve my own. I believe that I have always served them. I served them up to 1919 blindly…If I have equal love for your people with mine, it will not long remain hidden…If people join me as I expect they will, the sufferings they will undergo, unless the British nation sooner retraces its steps, will be enough to melt the stoniest hearts.

The plan through civil disobedience will be to combat such evils as I have sampled out.

But Lord Irwin did not even respond to Gandhi’s appeal in person. And the Satyagraha went forward, and Gandhi spoke to the people in each village and city where the marchers rested, and at each stop, they gained more marchers. By the time they reached Dandi, over one hundred thousand people had stood at the road to watch them pass, to voice their support and solidarity for the Satyagraha. Over fifty thousand people met them in Dandi to join on the last leg of their journey.

When Gandhi lifted that piece of salt in Dandi, he rallied the people of India to boycott British-made salt and to make their own salt, or to buy salt from other Indians rather than give in to British tyranny.

Other regions began their own satyagraha against the British, and soon the Indian people were not only boycotting salt, but many other British-made goods. They broke not only the Salt Act, but other laws that hurt the Indian people at the benefit of the British government. Ordinary people refused to pay their taxes.

Around India, the British government responded with censorship, violence, and oppressive force: firing into crowds of nonviolent protesters, beating and arresting people engaged in peaceful protesters. Gandhi himself was arrested on May 4. And while the efforts of the Satyagraha did not bring forth any change in policy from the British, the struggles of the Indian people through the Satyagraha gained monumental international attention. There was no one who could rightly justify the British laws in India. There was no going back to the time before the Satyagraha.

Gandhi’s words proved prophetic.

So, you know, I was looking at it and in spite of all my people looking like blobs of play-doh, I said, hey! I can do that! So here it is: Lady Gaga Origins Pt 1.

sewertalk

cacophonesque helped me out and she was awesome. Lots of people came by my table including systris whom I met on the internets when I was seventeen years old! Thank you to everybody who dropped by and even more thank you to everyone who bought something.

We went to Drink & Draw Like a Lady on Friday night, which was super fun as well, and spent a lot of time talking to beatonna and her awesome sister! We talked to a bunch of other super cool ladies too and spiralstairs showed up and then Kate and I went out afterward to get donut ice cream sandwiches. Remember those?! Ahahaha. It is kind of cool because there are so many nice lady cartoonists whom I only see once a year and it was great to catch up with them all. And meet new people, yay!

Saturday and Sunday, I had my table and didn’t get to leave it much. I made a point of leaving for about an hour on Saturday to say hi to some friends but I didn’t catch everyone I wanted to see! But lots of people came by. And I sold enough stuff to make back the cost of the table, which is impressive. I even sold a hat, which I was not expecting since it was warm out! All in all it was a lot of fun and I think I will do it again next year.

ldragoon asked me to post up my MoCCA minis so she could purchase them. I hope maybe some other people would like to, as well!

	Many Chickens 16 Pages including cover, plain copier paper, printed to 1/16 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is exactly what it says it is: 14 breed-accurate portraits of chickens. $.50 US
	Religious Tract 14 Pages plus cover, plain copier paper with green copier paper cover, printed to 1/4 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is my parody religious tract about why you should worship me! $1.00 US
	Darth Vader, Jane Austen, Batman, and Freud 18 Pages plus cover, cream-colored copier paper, printed to 1/6 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is about Darth Vader, Jane Austen, Batman, and Freud! This was the best seller at MoCCA! $1.00 US
	Circus Andromeda 20 Pages plus cover, plain copier paper with cream cardstock cover, printed to 1/4 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is a little supernatural circus story $2.00 US
	The Bird & The Girl 24 Pages plus cover, plain copier paper with cream cardstock cover, printed to 1/4 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is entirely painted with a feather, and is a cute little fairy-tale type story. Kid-friendly! $2.00 US
	A Pie Grows in Brooklyn 24 Pages plus cover, cream copier paper with green cardstock cover, printed to 1/2 of a 81/2″x11″ sheet of paper. This comic is about a little pie who comes to life! Inspired by Kat’s pies. $3.00 US

MoCCA 2010 Comics

shinyredtype will be making pies that will be available for free when you buy my comic, “A Pie Grows in Brooklyn.”

I’ll also be selling adorable fluffy hats for $25 apiece.

sewertalk will also be with me!

I am also running a raffle! Proceeds will be going to a New York City school in a low-income neighborhood that is trying to raise money to start a course on comics. Tickets will be $2 or 3 for $5 and there are lots of fun prizes:

Clay Figurines by quizzicalsphinx
Jewelry by missbadexample
Harry Potter House Scarves liret
Amigurumi toys by rainy_day
Stuffed Oscar Wilde Plushie by twowishesleft
Original artwork by kamenkyote
Netbook/sketchbook cases by my mommy.
Fluffy hat of your choice by me!

I think that is everything!

If you live in the New York area, I strongly encourage you to check out MoCCA this weekend. You will see lots of awesome artwork by lots of awesome people. It is $10 for one day or $15 for a weekend pass. I think there is a discount if you are a museum member, or a discount on membership if you go, or something like that. It is at the 69th Regiment Armory, which is on Lexington Avenue between 25th and 26th Street in Manhattan.

I will be at table F26, which you can see here! (click to view larger!)

Click to see all the hourly comics from today so far!

More tomorrow when I can get things scanned!

Holyschist asked for a wombat! Here it is!

Wombat

Sara asked for herself with Buster Keaton, so I put Buster Keaton on her tee shirt!

Sara with Buster Keaton

Aleph wanted his roleplaying character, Maulie, with a chicken.

Maulie

And finally, Becca wanted a kickboxing penguin.

Kickboxing Penguin

Enjoy! And yes, I will still take requests. All you need to do is send me confirmation of your donation!

Which is awesome and all, except for WHEN I FORGET TO BRING MY SKETCHBOOK TO WORK. And this is why there was no art yesterday!

But today, there IS art! Last week, I told everyone that I would draw a small picture for anyone who donated $10 or more to a reputable organization helping with relief in Haiti and sent me their receipt. I am most of the way through the pictures now and I am happy to say that people who donated through me donated a total of ninety dollars which was sent off to Yele Haiti last week! Some of you made your own donations and sent me the forms and that was a lot more money!

Here is the first batch of artwork!

First, Jess asked for a Zombie Unicorn:

Zombie Unicorn

Second, Bunnybutt (I do not know your real name!) asked me for something bunny-related:

Bunnies!

Third, Destiny asked for Vaclav Havel:

Vaclav Loves You!

Fourth, Zoe asked for herself in nursing gear! I did a little retro thing because retro nurse uniforms are cute!

Nurse Zoe

Fifth, Sally-Anne asked for herself traveling!

Sally-Anne

That is all for now! More coming tomorrow; I hope you enjoy them!

Part 1 is A New Year’s Gift for you all: Tea Paper Dolls!

click here to download the printable-cuttable hi-res version!

Instructions: print out with a color printer on oak tag. Cut out with a pair of scissors. Then dress me!
All of the clothes included are clothes I actually own!

Part 2 is a photographic story about unwrapping Christmas presents.

My father got very artistic with the presents this year. This first one was for my mother:

Description: There is a sunshine and a snowman. The snowman is saying “Sun Melts Away the Pounds!” Let me just say that my father’s artistic abilities? Would be the envy of many nursery schoolers.

There were several others with snowmen on them, but the piece de resistance was a drawing on one of my packages:

Description:

In picture #1, there is a picture of what my father claims is a chicken, in spite of the fact that is has four legs and no wings, in front of a box marked “Chick.” The caption says: “Why did Chicken get Present??”

Picture #2 just says “Give up???” And has a bunc h of arrows indicating that we should turn the box over. It is like Laffy Taffy, but with a box! AWESOME.

And Picture #3 is the answer to our riddle! It says, “Answer– If they don’t celebrate Chickenmas, may as well celebrate Christmas… Hey– This ain’t no dumb cluck!

A very happy Christmas to everyone who celebrates it and a joyous Go To The Movies Day for everyone who doesn’t!

Love!