Pink Triangles and Raised Fists: Framing of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) through Graphic Art Activism

Abstract

Graphic art persists as one of the non-violent devices for social movements and is thus worthy of a re-evaluation. Using Benford & Snow’s framing theory, this paper compares the graphic art framings of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) during the 1980-90s and Black Lives Matter (BLM) in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in 2020 in order to examine what has stayed and changed in graphic art activism. This study argues that both movements’ diagnostic framing utilized symbols rooted in the history of each community’s oppression, subverted the public’s dominant narrative, and targeted government and institutions deemed responsible for their cause. In their prognostic framing, both presented solutions directed upward to the ruling bodies and downward to the general society. For their motivational framing, both movements aroused emotional resonance with their graphic arts—provoking emotions of anger, self-esteem, and solidarity which pushed people to join their cause. Those similarities testify to how graphic arts continue to possess the power of social transformation at the heart of movements.