Eddie Ahn’s Advocate is a compelling memoir of social justice, community activism, and the individual’s role in the fight for equity. Advocate depicts the essence of advocacy work and the enduring spirit of those who champion it. Born to Korean immigrants in Texas, Ahn defies family expectations by forgoing a lucrative legal career in San Francisco to pursue environmental justice in the nonprofit sector.
His journey challenges traditional views of success, balancing personal aspirations with familial, individual, and cultural obligations. All the while, Ahn depicts working towards transformation by confronting critical issues such as climate change and economic disparity. The graphic memoir thoughtfully explores social justice issues while inspiring a sterling call to action.
Advocate spans 15 years of Ahn’s life as he navigates the non-profit sector as an environmental justice attorney and nonprofit worker. Here, passion is contested by limited resources, bureaucratic hurdles, and systematic oppression. His characters experience the struggle of securing funding while enduring unwavering emotional labor. For Ahn, privilege is another challenge. Ahn is transparent in balancing his privilege while trying to contribute positively to the communities he serves. He acknowledges that “there were aspects of their lives I would never know”. Yet, there are times when his privilege goes unchallenged, such as when he decides to go to law school. There are seemingly no barriers to his access.
Elsewhere, Ahn is more intentional. He portrays the internal conflict and discomfort that can arise from this position, highlighting the tension between wanting to support others and recognizing one’s position of advantage. Ahn’s portrayal of the savior complex is particularly incisive in his critique of the paternalistic attitudes toward saving marginalized communities. Yet curiously, Ahn does not name the savior complex – he simply describes it. Regardless, his message is direct: the perspective often overlooks the agency and resilience of the communities themselves, reducing them to passive recipients of aid rather than active participants in their empowerment.
Ahn’s depiction of the community he serves is laden with authenticity. In one scene, Ahn portrays his conversations with Dr. Espanola Jackson, a longtime Bayview-Hunters Point resident and community activist. Ahn listens as Jackson “took great joy going over past and future struggles, from fighting against fossil fuels power plants sited in low-income communities to fighting for solar on low-income homes and apartment buildings.” Ahn’s writing and visuals depict the individual community members and their voices with nuance, ensuring that each character is rendered with depth. Their stories shape the narrative to emphasize their strength and resilience, affirming their role and inclusion in broader societal dialogues.
Advocate thoroughly examines the interplay between identity and capitalism. From a societal level, Ahn critiques the unending drive for funding and financial support impacting his non-profit. Even though his nonprofit did impact environmental policy, the money chase was unending as “the value of the work of the nonprofit wasn’t understood…we were largely invisible.” His critique of capitalism is also portrayed in more subtle ways. In a seemingly innocent conversation, a fellow environmental advocate tells Ahn to buy an eclectic vehicle. Ahn attempts to hinder the conversation since “even as the head of the nonprofit, my salary didn’t cover the interest on my [student] loans.” He emphasizes that true advocacy requires systemic change rather than consumerist solutions and blaming individuals.
Throughout Advocate, Ahn earnestly portrays his struggle with social and cultural expectations. He carries the familial expectation that his parents are “waiting for the dream of what my higher education could do for the family.” It is these unrealized expectations that “make nonprofit work even more difficult for me. It’s always hard not to worry about my parents….” He captures the tension between maintaining familial expectations and navigating a capitalist society that often commodifies and exploits. Ahn juxtaposes the altruistic goals of nonprofit work with the economic pressures and systemic inequities inherent in capitalist structures. Accordingly, Advocate invites readers to contemplate the complexities of pursuing social justice within a profit-driven world.
Advocate is an excellent primer on social justice and service work. However, for readers seeking an in-depth view of any of these issues, this text will not suffice. Instead, both the narrative and illustrations touch on wide-reaching social justice issues. Sometimes, the scope is too broad, often glossing over essential elements. For example, the depictions of Asian-American racism and discrimination during the COVID-era, or the increasingly local impact of climate change, are quick.
Likewise, Advocate’s subtitle is A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice, yet environmentalism appears as a tangential consideration resulting from the conversation on non-profit work. At its core, Advocate is a poignant depiction of the non-profit sector. This is the most fully developed area of the memoir and the vehicle for Ahn to explore broader conversations on social justice. Whereas his focus on these critical issues is short, it is never reductionist. As such, Advocate sets the pathway for “inspiring others to pick up the sword.”