Tompkins County Public Library, in partnership with Ithaca City of Asylum, will host internationally acclaimed political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina on Thursday, December 4 at the Library’s location at 101 East Green Street in Ithaca.

Molina will showcase work from his upcoming graphic novel Hitos de la Democracia / Milestones of Latin American Democracy at Ithaca City of Asylum’s annual Voices of Freedom program, which recognizes artists who continue to create despite persecution. The program will begin at 5:45 p.m. in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room.

Molina, who fled his native Nicaragua in 2018 after government forces raided and occupied the offices of his main outlet Confidencial, was ICOA’s 7^th Writer in Residence as well as an Artist Protection Fund fellow in Cornell University’s Einauldi Center’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program.

During the Voices of Freedom program, Molina will speak in English about the development of Milestones of Latin American Democracy as well as his creative process. He will also project artwork from the graphic novel and provide English translations of the Spanish captions.

“From working on this project, I realized that most of the time we’re focused on everything getting worse, and we’re worrying about how to get out of the current situation,” Molina told the Ithaca City of Asylum newsletter. “But when we go back and look at history, we see that there were always many struggles; times have always been difficult. Yet history also teaches you that there’s always hope — if you are brave enough, or stubborn enough, you can achieve change.”

The December 4 program is best suited for adults and teenagers. Refreshments will be provided.

Voices of Freedom is generously funded by the Grants for Art Program of the Community Arts Partnership and co-sponsored by Tompkins County Public Library.