My I 'heart' JK Rowling banner

Last week I made time to sew the I ‘heart’ JK Rowling banner I had been contemplating ever since Amy Hamm and Chris Elston put up their I ‘heart’ JK Rowling billboard in Vancouver (earlier this month). When they did that I thought it would be wonderful to see similar initiatives all over Canada—an outpouring of love and support from coast to coast to coast. Since I can’t afford a billboard I decided I would make a banner. It took me two days, but it was worth it. I used two old bedsheets and quite a lot of scrap fabric (the heart was cut from Christmas fabric).

The first photo op to present itself was in Banff, Alberta. It was windy and I couldn’t get the stakes into the hard ground—littered with elk poo—so I leaned my banner against the tennis courts of the Banff Springs Hotel, snapped a few pictures and moved on to a location closer to downtown Banff. For the second set of pictures I had a paper clip, which came in handy to attach my sagging banner to a fence. These ones show the Bow River and the town’s bridge in the background. It was such a beautiful, sunny day—really ideal for a spot of activism. An older couple walking past stopped and the woman asked, in a worried voice, if anything had happened to Joanne Rowling. I reassured her that she hadn’t passed away and I was just doing this as a thank you to her for standing for women and girls. We talked a bit about how we both love her writing and she and her partner moved on. All in all it was a positive experience and no one said anything negative to me about the banner in either location.

I’m looking forward to setting it up in other towns. Ideally we would see at least one billboard/banner in each of the provinces and territories this month. So please get painting, sewing or ordering! B.C. and Alberta have been represented. Now it’s Saskatchewan’s turn if we’re moving West to East on this initiative. If you make a banner send me a picture. I’d love to see it!


Copyright © 2020 Alline Cormier