#SayNoToHYDRACap: What You Can Do
In the past 36 hours or so, a lot of us have felt like we’ve had the rug pulled out from under us and that someone we have loved and trusted–some of us for all our lives–has been used against us to cause us pain. All for the sake of shock value and money.
There has been a lot of pain and suffering and we know Cap would want better for us and he would rather die than let anyone down like this.
Especially his Jewish fans.
What has happened with Steve Rogers Captain America #1 is horrifically antisemitic and spits on the legacy of the two Jewish men who created him to get the American population to care about Jewish lives in a time when no one really did. A genocide was happening and America did nothing. Around the world, antisemitism is on the rise again and Marvel is now having its own hand at it. If this enrages you–and it should–then you must want to do something.
Nick Spencer and Marvel Executives want you to think that since this has already been published and has apparently been years in the making (which is a stretch, to say the least, they said this started in 2014), the conversation on this is over and our anger is meaningless. I’m here tell you, this isn’t true–as a collective, we can force Marvel to change.This conversation is not over until we let it die out.
We may not be able to stop this run of Steve Rogers Captain America from completing but we can influence Marvel in two meaningful ways: we can make sure that no matter what, this is not permanent, and we can make Marvel consider what will happen if they continue this trend of antisemitism and bigotry, of ignoring the important legacy and impact of their characters.
Marvel is afraid of what we do and don’t spend our money on. Marvel is afraid of what we say to our friends, what we encourage our social groups to read and not read. Marvel is afraid of irrelevance
Educate yourself on why Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America.
Educate yourself on why, even if this was written with good intentions about the evils of people like Donald Trump, this spits on the faces of fans.
Educate yourself on the antisemitism that has been ongoing in Marvel and how this is just another part of that.
MORE IMPORTANTLY CONTACT MARVEL AND NICK SPENCER:
If you are on twitter: Nick spencer is @ nickspencer, Tom Breevort is @ tombreevort, Marvel is @ Marvel, and Disney is @ Disney. Tell them you will not be buying any comic in this run or any future Captain America comics until this is resolved. Tell them this is antisemitic. Tell them you are disgusted. Tell them you no longer trust their products.
Through email: [email protected]. Again, tell them if you are a new fan who thought they’d be a lifelong fan or an old fan. Tell them you are now reconsidering every purchasing their merchandise or attending their movies. This does not have to be true, just spend a month or so not purchasing their official goods. PLEASE MARK YOUR EMAIL “OKAY TO PRINT.”
Through mail: click this link for their address.
OTHER WAYS TO SEND A MESSAGE:
CONTACT AND DONATE TO THE ADL, The Anti-Defamation League created to stop the defamation of Jewish people. To paraphrase OP, spend the money you would have put into this comic to help Jewish people.
Comment on articles that only remark on how “shocking” this is and make jokes about this. Educate them and let them know how antisemitic this is. Let them know Cap’s true legacy. Let them know your anger.
SPREAD POSITIVITY FOR JEWISH FANS:
This post: outlines a potential day to create fanworks celebrating Jewish charactrs and headcanons. If the comics can’t be a safe space anymore, let us make fandom safer.
Most importantly, stay angry. Don’t let this moment pass.
We, as a fandom, are not powerless. We may not have superpowers, we may not have the individual wealth or social power to make a difference on our own, but we have the power to come together and let Marvel know we won’t stand for this. We will not passively stand by, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would not want us to.
Captain America would not want us to stand by and let this happen.
