Sasha Matthews

From early 2017 through early 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union. Her idea was to represent everyday people doing what they do in everyday life, but in the iconic form of a superhero. She called this project Everyday Superheroes. In the end she completed 95 commissioned drawings and collected $11,635.83, which she presented to ACLU President Susan Herman at the ACLU headquarters in downtown Manhattan.[2] Along the way Matthews' Everyday Superheroes earned recognition from United States Senator Kamala Harris[3] and was written about by Amy Poehler's Smart Girls,[4] Huffington Post,[5] Ashton Kutcher's A Plus,[6] DNAinfo[7] and West Side Rag.[8][9] ACLU President Susan Herman went on to commission an Everyday Superhero portrait of herself[10] and another of ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.[11]

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize creative achievements of teenagers in grades 7-12. In 2018, nearly 350,000 works were submitted for consideration.[12] Matthews had intended to submit her Everyday Superheroes project under the Civic Expression category, for work that "expresses a vision of the society they are working to build, one that exemplifies democratic values and that allows all voices and viewpoints to be heard and respected."

Before she submitted her work, Matthews read the Terms & Conditions and discovered that the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were claiming ownership of kids' copyrights. She highlighted the questionable text and tweeted a question.[13] She didn't receive a sensible response, so she wrote a cartoon about the situation and tweeted it.[14] Still no response, so next Matthews wrote up the experience for an 8th grade homework assignment. This report was then published by web site Boing Boing.[15] As a result, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards announced their intention to revise their Terms before the upcoming 2019 contest. This outcome was written about by Hyperallergic,[16] Danish national newspaper Politiken,[17] AM New York,[18] and Boing Boing.[19]

Matthews responded to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting with a series of editorial cartoons, which were then written about by web site Hyperallergic.[20] Previously Matthews had responded to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which was written about by web site The Mary Sue.[21]

Matthews took a stand when a group of conservative Internet trolls began attacking a group of women working at Marvel Comics.[22] Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin wound up publicly siding with Matthews[23] and the whole incident was covered by web site The Mary Sue.[24]

Between 2017 and 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union, creating 95 commissioned drawings and raising $11,635.83 total. She collected 48 of her favorites to make her fourth self-published comic. The comic book version of Everyday Superheroes was introduced at Book Culture alongside cartoonist R. Sikoryak.[32]

Matthews was invited to appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots. For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey.

Her second comic, "Pompeii: Lost and Found," was introduced at a joint book event with New York Times bestselling author George O'Connor of the Olympians series.[33] Pomeii: Lost and Found was recognized by Massimo Osanna, Head of Archaeology at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, for attention to historical and cultural detail.

Her first comic, Sitting Bull: A Life Story was originally published by Boing Boing.[34] Mark Frauenfelder, co-editor of Boing Boing, favorably compared her work to that of a young Robert Crumb.

Microsoft modeled their 2017/2018 holiday campaign on Matthews. Their fictionalized and animated character, also named Sasha, uses her art in support of inclusion and making the world a better place. The commercial transitions to the real Sasha at the end.[35][36]

In 2017 Matthews appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots (S2 E5) as the show's first author/artist.[37][38][39] For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey, using Wikipedia as a reference. Ellen DeGeneres, a co-producer of Little Big Shots, also has a cameo in the comic. The segment was taped July, 2016 at Warner Bros. Studios.[40]

Matthews received a Citation from the New York City Council in May, 2017.[41]

Crain's named Matthews as one of their 20 Under 20 for 2017.[42]

On May 10, 2018 Matthews will be a speaker at the ACLU Conference in Washington, DC.[43]

On June 5, 2018 Matthews was a panelist at the Nasty Women Unite Festival.[44]

On May 1, 2018 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews will introduce honoree Doreen Wohl, retired Executive Director of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger.[45]

On April 29, 2018 Matthews was a keynote speaker at the Girl Up New York Leadership Summit in New York City. Following her presentation, she sat on a discussion panel with American Civil Liberties Union president Susan Herman.[46] Girl Up is the United Nations Foundation's adolescent girl campaign, which engages girls to take action.[47]

Matthews was invited to speak at a rally at the 2018 Women's March in New York City. She spoke following New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.[48]

On May 1, 2017 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews introduced honoree Ingrid Frank, a Holocaust survivor who then worked for 75 years for civil rights.[49]