Good Trouble

There are some 115 photographs in Picturing Resistance: Moments and Movements of Social Change from the 1950s to Today by Melanie Hastings Light ’80 and her husband, Ken Light. In one of Melanie’s favorites, then San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom officiates at the 2008 wedding of pioneering lesbian rights activists Del Martin, 88, and Phyllis Lyon, 84.

On the following page, a young gay couple kisses at their marriage ceremony that same year. Martin and Lyon’s efforts “have created an entirely different universe for the next generation on the next page,” Melanie says. “It’s one of the most stunning examples of progress to me in this book.”  

Picturing Resistance begins in 1954, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education helped spark the modern civil rights movement, and continues through the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements of today, stopping—unfortunately—just short of the massive protests following the death of George Floyd. Ken Light, a documentary photographer, curated the images, which are accompanied by Melanie’s narrative captions. The book is the Lights’ third collaboration, and Melanie says she’s excited for its upcoming release. “I hope it really inspires people to step out, speak up and continue their good work in the world.” 

PICTURING RESISTANCE 
Melanie Hastings Light ’80 and Ken Light 
Ten Speed Press, October 2020 

This story appears as part of the Smithies Create column in the Fall 2020 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.