Civil Rights Journey of Marc Gagnon

Civil Rights Journey of Marc Gagnon

By Teresa Sullivan

Marc Gagnon grew up in a State that had limited exposure to minorities. Gagnon went through his first 14 years of education without actually meeting one Afro American person. He first met Jaretta Copeland, Director of the Nashua Soup Kitchen in 1980. Gagnon served on the Leadership Committee then. Jaretta was a single mom, Afro American from Brooklyn, NY looking for a better life in NH. She has been a proponent for people of all races in her whole life.  She is now a caseworker in NH. It was not uncommon for people to state racial statements, probably because of the lack of minorities in the State. Statements like “what am I black,” when not being served expediently in a restaurant was common.  In 1992, Gagnon visited the University of Massachusetts to attend a speaking engagement given by Dr. William Cosby, ED.d.  Marc Gagnon thought the speech was a comedy act. In reality, the presentation was about humanitarian pursuits, specifically racism. In that gathering, Gagnon was touched and felt the pains of others that were victims of racism and close minded people; people he never met.  He met up with Dr. Cosby and made a commitment that he would do his part to speak up for those who did not have the same benefits that non minorities have. 

In the late nineties, he began searching out minorities to work with as models. Marc Gagnon even did an Ebony Magazine advertisement which the picture is shown below.  Gagnon began to utilize minorities in fashion shows for known charities.  Many people took objection with this. In 1997, a television station with a deep history of racism made Gagnon a target.  Gagnon was attacked on the news show late on night in January 1997. It just happens that some years before, the same station refused to air Welcome Back Kotter because they opposed forced busing.  Gagnon worked for a two week period of time for a collections agency as a consultant after being laid off from Fleet Bank which he worked for them for 14 ½ years.  At the time the News show slandered Gagnon, Gagnon was not working for the collection agency and the News station stated he did and never mentioned Gagnon’s 14 year history with Fleet. It was the goal of the station to damage Gagnon’s reputation.  On a separate note, a couple of people began harrassing Gagnon during this time and even stalked Gagnon's parents while driving to the Manchester Airport to pick up Gagnon from a vacation.

Gagnon pushed forward as an artist to speak up for civil rights through his artwork. He has gained the support of Bryant Gumbel as pictured below. His work hangs in the King Center which the piece was accepted by Coretta Scott King. Gagnon has been featured on NBC News showing off the Civil Rights collage. There have been a number of featured articles about Gagnon’s stance for civil rights which is shown in this blog. Gagnon had the recent pleasure of meeting the son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King III, pictured below. Below are also letters from Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, Coretta Scott King, a letter from Artists VS Racism, as well as a couple of collages that Gagnon created in support of the rights of many. Gagnon has been pursuing this aim, at least since 1992, some 21 years he recollects. As he has been quoted “three minutes of attacking me on TV will not hold me back.”  As you can see when Gagnon had a studio, half of the staff was part of a minority culture. The picture was taken back in 1984. Also below is model and actress Elina Sol, which Marc Gagnon personally manages. Elina Sol was worked with many black music people and Elina supports Gagnon's work on civil rights.

NBC News Interview