In observance of March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Akonadi Foundation is delighted to present the 2026 Racial Justice Poster, “Get In Where You Fit In” by Thi Bui.
Akonadi Foundation distributed our first Racial Justice poster in 2008 to commemorate March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This day honors the Sharpeville massacre on March 21, 1960, when the South African anti-apartheid movement rose up to resist `pass’ laws. As part of the government’s efforts to segregate and control Black South Africans, these laws required them to carry passbooks, or identity cards, at all times. On this day in the Sharpeville township, as movement leaders, elders, and children gathered in peaceful protest, police opened fire and killed 69 people, including 10 children.
This year’s poster invites us into a shared vision of belonging, care, and collective action. The image is centered around a spiral that represents a continuum of care with the most vulnerable members of the community at the center, illustrating that there are many pathways to engage in civic life and collective action for all of us: dancers, protesters, voters, and everyday people alike. It reminds us that there is no single way to participate in building a racially just world at a time when authoritarianism and self-interest threaten the common good and collective power.
Help us spread the word about the poster through your social media channels. Please share a picture of yourself with the poster, using the hashtag #RJPP26, and tag us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram at @AkonadiFoundation.
“From New Orleans to Oakland and to all of our cities and communities, I want to say this: even when the days are dark, we can find courage together. Take heart; there’s room for all kinds of courage. Get in where you fit in.”
– Thi Bui
Artist Statement
In the fight for racial justice and a just world, one needs courage. Courage in the sense of bravery to stand up against bullies and to thwart systems that oppress. Courage in the vein of activists who risked bodily harm and arrest to demand the right to vote. And courage in its root word, cor – in Latin, meaning “heart.” Courage is motivated by love and empathy, and the desire to protect and nurture what is good. A heart that is capacious sees all children as our children, the land as a home that all beings share, and the future as a place where all of us are free.
In conceiving this piece, I thought about the tree that stands for Oakland, and the rings that show the growth of the tree. What is at the heart of the city? And what do those who love this city do to protect its heart? I thought about urban gardeners, turf dancers, protesters, community kitchens, and the face-to-face democracy-in-action of door knocking with a clipboard. I thought about caregivers and kids. I thought about the quality of the food we eat and the books we read as food for our minds and souls. I thought about water as life, and watering the seeds of love to grow.
I was inspired by the communities I am rooted in, including New Orleans, where the Border Patrol recently attempted to arrest 5000 people. In the days leading up to that aggression, I created a graphic using concentric circles asking people to envision those at high risk at the center of the rings, and the rings around them as people providing mutual aid, patrolling, protesting, providing legal aid, court watching, information sharing, translating, and so on. The tighter the rings, the safer those in the center would be.
From New Orleans to Oakland and to all of our cities and communities I want to say this: even when the days are dark, we can find courage together. Take heart; there’s room for all kinds of courage. Get in where you fit in.
About
Thi Bui is a writer and artist from Việt Nam, California, and New York, now planting roots in New Orleans while staying connected to Oakland and the Bay. Best known for her graphic memoir The Best We Could Do, which tells the story of her family amidst Việt Nam’s struggles for independence, she has also been a longtime educator in public high schools. She was a founding teacher at Oakland International High School, California’s first public high school for recent immigrants and English learners. She is a professor of comics, a public speaker, an organizer and artist-activist, an ambivalent sculptor and puppeteer, a fledgling screenwriter, and an award-winning illustrator of children’s books and comics journalism. She is currently working on a graphic nonfiction project called NOWHERELAND, which connects anti-deportation and prisoner support work in Oakland with a national movement to abolish ICE.
Follow Thi on Instagram at @teabuoy and on Substack at teabuoy.substack.com
