Know Your Rights
by Ed Moorman
St. Stephens, St. Stephen’s Human Rights Prog. & HAH

Something about a cartoon mouse just makes me snap to attention. Mickey Mouse, Quimby the Mouse, Speedy Gonzalez and the huge cast from Art Spiegelman’s Maus - these mere mice, on some level, stand for something bigger.

In his latest project Know Your Rights, Ed Moorman attempts to widen the plane for mice with meaning. Maddie and Poet are two mice on the streets, and Know Your Rights is an educational comic that guides them through the legit way to panhandle and make a buck without getting jailed.

It sounds like the basis for a good parody, but truly, this book gets at the heart of the matter and intelligently predicts and plays out scenarios that might really matter to a person who falls on hard times.

Two nonprofit organizations helped put this comic together, St. Stephens Community and HAH.  They each work independently to help impoverished people in  Minneapolis.  With that in mind, they put this book together after researching local laws and guidelines. I don’t know how broadly these rules will apply to other cities, but Know Your Rights at least provides a general rule of thumb for hobos in any area.

Plenty of comics strive to educate their readers, not just entertain them, but I liked this one especially since it can educate the reader on both ends of the social spectrum. In both English and Spanish, Know Your Rights makes a point of including a wider sphere of readers. Hopefully more people will be able to thumb through the comic and remember that the person downtown “flying a sign” has just as much right to be there as the person who daily ignores or pities them.

I’m generally impressed with nonprofits. Probably because I met so many do-gooders in college who went on to work/starve for nonprofits (Peace Corps, Americorps, Acorn Housing Corporation, Boulder Options, etc.).  Sometimes, though, I’m blinded by the idea that everyone must be working their butts off for a better society. Not so, buddy.  No way.

As self-serving as comics can be sometimes, it’s really nice to see them partner with good ideas and solid information to try and make an impact. Using art as more than a salve to the world-weary, but keeping things on the level and in perspective.  It’s nice to see a mixture of all that coming from the indie comics community.

Lessons I learned from Know Your Rights include: cursing and threatening is not allowed, “‘bo” is slang for “hobo,” everybody has human rights, blocking someone’s way is a no-no, and getting busted as a tramp makes getting a job/apartment/loan pretty tough - so it’s smart to follow the rules!

A petite 3.75×5″, with a slick full-color cover and black and white art inside, Know Your Rights neatly slides into the back pocket of any dirty pair of jeans.  I can’t imagine it costs a red cent, but I don’t know where you can pick it up.  Probably you could order some through HAH or St. Stephen’s Community.

-Sarah Morean