We Are Not The Enemy

This was the first major political poster I created in collaboration with a movement group—INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, as they were known in 2001. The piece was commissioned in response to the brutal occupation and invasion of the Middle East following 9/11. It became a defining moment in my career as a political poster artist.

After 9/11, the U.S. government launched the so-called “War on Terror,” which quickly became a justification for colonial warfare, racial profiling, and mass surveillance. The USA PATRIOT Act legalized government spying—wiretaps, data collection, monitoring—and intensified anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-South Asian sentiment. Meanwhile, innocent people in the Middle East were being killed under the guise of justice. Genocide was not the answer. Bombing civilians was not the answer. The organizers I was working with—women of color from across the country—knew this clearly. They were mobilizing through INCITE! to resist U.S. militarism and wanted to send a strong message to President Bush and the world.

INCITE! commissioned me to create a series of posters to speak out against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and against imperialism more broadly. This piece featured Meena Keshwar Kamal, a revolutionary Afghan feminist who founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) at just 21. RAWA opposed both the communist regime and religious fundamentalism, fighting for women’s rights and education. Meena was assassinated in 1987, just months after her husband was murdered. Her courage and vision inspired generations of feminists—including me. She became the symbol of this campaign.

This poster quickly gained visibility—it was used in protests, rallies, and political gatherings across the country. It helped launch my presence as a political artist. What I didn’t know then was that, 23 years later, I’d be creating another poster—this time of Meena’s sister, who was murdered by Israel.

In 2003, despite having no proven connection to 9/11, the Bush administration invaded Iraq under the false claim that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction. None were found, and the war’s justification was later discredited. Alongside the invasions, the U.S. legalized torture and indefinite detention, establishing CIA “black sites” and facilities like Guantánamo Bay.

This poster wasn’t just about opposing one war—it was about confronting violent war criminals that continue to devalue life and freedom. Creating this piece was a way for me to stand with global movements against war, colonialism, and imperial violence—and to honor those, like Meena, who paid the ultimate price for freedom.