From early 2017 through early 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union. Her idea was to represent everyday people doing what they do in everyday life, but in the iconic form of a superhero. She called this project Everyday Superheroes. In the end she completed 95 commissioned drawings and collected $11,635.83, which she presented to ACLU President Susan Herman at the ACLU headquarters in downtown Manhattan. Along the way Matthews' Everyday Superheroes earned recognition from United States SenatorKamala Harris and was written about by Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Huffington Post, Ashton Kutcher's A Plus, DNAinfo and West Side Rag. ACLU President Susan Herman went on to commission an Everyday Superhero portrait of herself and another of ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize creative achievements of teenagers in grades 7-12. In 2018, nearly 350,000 works were submitted for consideration. Matthews had intended to submit her Everyday Superheroes project under the Civic Expression category, for work that "expresses a vision of the society they are working to build, one that exemplifies democratic values and that allows all voices and viewpoints to be heard and respected." Before she submitted her work, Matthews read the Terms & Conditions and discovered that the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were claiming ownership of kids' copyrights. She highlighted the questionable text and tweeted a question. She didn't receive a sensible response, so she wrote a cartoon about the situation and tweeted it. Still no response, so next Matthews wrote up the experience for an 8th grade homework assignment. This report was then published by web site Boing Boing. As a result, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards announced their intention to revise their Terms before the upcoming 2019 contest. This outcome was written about by Hyperallergic, Danish national newspaper Politiken, AM New York, and Boing Boing.
Editorial Cartooning
Matthews responded to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting with a series of editorial cartoons, which were then written about by web site Hyperallergic. Previously Matthews had responded to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which was written about by web site The Mary Sue.
Matthews took a stand when a group of conservative Internet trolls began attacking a group of women working at Marvel Comics. Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin wound up publicly siding with Matthews and the whole incident was covered by web site The Mary Sue.
Published works
Matthews has authored and self-published four comic books: Everyday Superheroes, Steve Harvey: The Life of Steve Harvey, Pompeii: Lost and Found, and Sitting Bull: A Life Story. Matthews' comic books have been written about by Tech Times, Bleeding Cool, Book Culture, Fumettologica, and Women Write About Comics. Matthews publishes under the name Rumble Comics, a reference to the erupting volcano in Pompeii: Lost and Found.
''Everyday Superheroes''
Between 2017 and 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union, creating 95 commissioned drawings and raising $11,635.83 total. She collected 48 of her favorites to make her fourth self-published comic. The comic book version of Everyday Superheroes was introduced at Book Culture alongside cartoonist R. Sikoryak.
''Steve Harvey: The Life of Steve Harvey''
Matthews was invited to appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots. For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey.
''Pompeii: Lost and Found''
Her second comic, "Pompeii: Lost and Found," was introduced at a joint book event with New York Times bestselling authorGeorge O'Connor of the Olympians series. Pomeii: Lost and Found was recognized by Massimo Osanna, Head of Archaeology at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, for attention to historical and cultural detail.
''Sitting Bull: A Life Story''
Her first comic, Sitting Bull: A Life Story was originally published by Boing Boing. Mark Frauenfelder, co-editor of Boing Boing, favorably compared her work to that of a young Robert Crumb.
Television appearances
Microsoft 3D Holiday
Microsoft modeled their 2017/2018 holiday campaign on Matthews. Their fictionalized and animated character, also named Sasha, uses her art in support of inclusion and making the world a better place. The commercial transitions to the real Sasha at the end.
NBC's Little Big Shots
In 2017 Matthews appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots as the show's first author/artist. For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey, using Wikipedia as a reference. Ellen DeGeneres, a co-producer of Little Big Shots, also has a cameo in the comic. The segment was taped July, 2016 at Warner Bros. Studios.
On May 1, 2018 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews will introduce honoree Doreen Wohl, retired Executive Director of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger.
Girl Up New York Leadership Summit 2018
On April 29, 2018 Matthews was a keynote speaker at the Girl Up New York Leadership Summit in New York City. Following her presentation, she sat on a discussion panel with American Civil Liberties Union president Susan Herman. Girl Up is the United Nations Foundation's adolescent girl campaign, which engages girls to take action.
On May 1, 2017 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews introduced honoree Ingrid Frank, a Holocaust survivor who then worked for 75 years for civil rights.
