CSPG’s Poster of the Week was going to be a tribute to Ed Asner (1929 - 2021), actor and activist. I knew Ed, admired him, and attended many protests, meetings, events, fundraisers, and politicians' offices with him. A lot has been written and broadcast about Ed this past week, but his political activism was too often minimized, trivialized, or omitted altogether. But then the Supreme Court voted to outlaw abortion after six weeks. “March for Women’s Lives” were two massive demonstrations organized a day apart in March 1986 by the National Organization for Women, in Washington, DC and Los Angeles. I found this poster at the Los Angeles march. I had just learned that I was pregnant, but only my husband and I knew, as two earlier pregnancies had ended in miscarriages and we had decided to wait until the first trimester had passed before sharing the news. It’s just as well that no one else knew as it was cold and pouring. If my family and friends knew, they would have tried to talk us out of marching. With our ponchos and umbrellas, the march was joyous and uplifting as sharing solidarity with thousands of marchers often is. The rain was destroying the posters people were carrying, and the longer we marched, the more posters were strewn along the road. CSPG’s Poster of the Week was one of the posters that had washed off—you can see the hole on the top where it had been nailed or stapled onto a stick. I walked by it, but couldn’t get the text out of my head. My mom had had an illegal abortion in the early 1960s, but we were lucky. By the time I turned back to try and find this poster, 100s of people had walked over it. But I found it, and as it was printed on cardstock, not paper, it survived almost intact. I held it up while we marched, so that the mud would wash off. I never found another copy. I have no idea who made it or where it was made. I’ve searched for SNTB, the initials at the bottom, but have found nothing. Yet this poster continues to speak loudly and eloquently. Women's Right to Choose must be protected! Access to Abortion must be expanded! * * * * * * * * Even though Ed Asner would have wanted to focus on reproductive rights, I still want to recognize his accomplishments. Below are links to Greg Palast’s heart-felt tribute and to an interview of Ed by the Activist Video Archive. Ed Asner ¡Presente! – Carol A. Wells Founder and Executive Director Center for the Study of Political Graphics