Today is the DAY!!

Well, folks it's Sunday, Feb. 10th and I couldn't be happier. I woke up this morning, got my morning coffee, picked up copies of the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times and began to smile. Finally, after months of planning the cartoonist "sketch-in" day has arrived! I instantly turned to the comics page and just beamed with joy when I saw Cory Thomas' "Watch Your Head" cartoon.
It's just wonderful to think that after all these years a group of syndicated minority cartoonists would come together under one commmon cause.
I've been sending emails out to my fellow cartoonist all morning. I hope that you get a chance to see their contributions to this event. Check out my version of the "sketch in" cartoon above. If your newspaper doesn't carry one of our cartoons, here are some links to some of our work.

http://www.candorville.com/wordpress/cartoonists-of-color-draw-in/

http://www.mamasboyz.com/news/protest.html

What's up with Aaron?

"I don't look at it as a purely racial or racist issue," says McGruder, who is African American. "I'm sure it's a factor. But I'm not convinced. Despite the hurdles and the issues of race, I was given more than a fair shot. Nobody ever mistook my strip for 'Curtis.'
"The industry itself is struggling. It's like they're the black passengers on the Titanic protesting to get to the top deck, and overlooking the fact that the whole ship is sinking."

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020503396_2.html?hpid=topnews


The above quote was from esteemed African-American cartoonist Aaron McGruder, creator of "The Boondocks." I gotta say that it took me by surprise. I remember when we were organizing tomorrow's 'sketch-in.' One of the bruthas asked "What are the chances of getting Aaron McGruder aboard?" Or something like that. It seemed like a brilliant idea. Here's a person who could use his considerable might to help us in our cause. Here's a person who knows what its like to deal with the kinds of issues we face everyday from features editors of daily newspaper. Here's a name that people would listen to. We heard nothing, so we moved on.

Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the man's work, particularly his early "Boondocks" work. I have most of his books and I've seen all episodes of his "Boondocks" show on Adult Swim. Still can't get past the overuse of the "N-word," but that's another topic.
So, It hit me like a truck to read his comments. We've some wonderful people in the comics industry speak on our behalf, even white cartoonists. But to hear those comments from a guy who's built a career on controversy and race seem like a slap in the face. I'm just sayin.

Mentoring

Last night I went to an art show for one of my friends. I met her a few years back at the St. Pete Times, where I work as a news artist and she works in copy services. I got to know her a bit after a few trips to the coffee shop and she started to show me some of her artwork. I was amazed at the raw talent this young lady had. She's a photographer, and she has a great eye. The problem is that she just lacks a bit of confidence in her work.
For some strange reason she began to ask me for direction and help. Me, a cartoonist? I thought it was odd, but I'm always down with helping young artists. She started to talk to me about lots of things: art, future goals, and even advice about 'boys.'. Suddenly I felt like an artistic father figure. Weird. It has been great to see her compositions evolve in the last few years, culminating in last night's art show. Out of several hundred artists in the competition, she go an honorable mention. Not bad.
Her parents were there, her friends were there. I lingered in the back somewhere next to the bohemians. It was nice to just pat her on the back and say 'good job, kid.'
Now, I don't have any kids (unless you count my dog Cory) but I guess I got a taste of it last night. My friends with kids always like to wax poetic about the wonders of fatherhood (I'm talking to you Rick). It was just great to see a young artist shine for one night.

Dog Days of January

I was about to finish drawing a Sunday cartoon for "Cafe con Leche" when my dog Cory reminded me that it was time to take our morning run. Great timing, since I probably needed the break just to clear my head. After running about 3 miles, I concluded that I was too tired to draw. My whole train of thought was interrupted.
It's times like these when I remember not to take this stuff too seriously. Yes, I'm probably addicted to drawing my comic strip, but sometimes I just need a break from it in order to maintain a bit of sanity. Being dragged up and down Bayshore Blvd. by a crazed beagle kind of puts thing in perspective. Thanks, Cory!

Changing topics (Soccer)

A couple of nights ago I was in Stout Bar in Midtown Manhattan getting ready to watch a soccer game between the U.S. national team and Sweden. As I reach out to down my Stella, Red Bull New York head coach Juan Carlos Osorio walks in. Now, I'm supposed to hate this guy, being that h is the head coach of my team's (DC United) hated rivals. He stood in front of a group of rabid RBNY fans as I tried to conceal the fact that I'm a fan of DCU. He stared to talk and suddenly I began to realize how cool this dude was. It was a real treat for a true soccer fan to see somebody with that kind of knowledge of the game. After he made his speech, the Colombian-born Osorio made his way through the crowd to meet people. About 5 minutes later, there he was, in my face with his hand extended. I felt like some kind of hypocrite, but I shook his hand anyway. He told me that he hope to see me at some of the Red Bull games, I responded with "Es un honor para encontrarte" (It's an honor to meet you).

Though Osorio was a gentleman, I still hope that my team pummels his team when the season starts.

Good week for black cartoonists

As you probably, I've been involved with the upcoming Feb. 10th black cartoonist action day. Basically, 8 black cartoonists are going to draw the same Sunday comic for 1 day to bring attention to the fact that most comic editors think that we are interchangeable, regardless of or our content.
This week, we've received an enormours amount of media attention. First there was the story last Monday in the St. Petersburg Times, then I saw the story pop up on NPR, Editor & Publisher and NABJ websites. It just gets better. I found out this week that the Washington Post is doing a story about it and there's a possiblity that Newsweek will be putting it in their publication. Whew! That's alll unexpected to say the least, but I'll take it.
Well, I gotta board a flight to New York City to do some promotion stuff. It sucks, I know, but I gotta keep getting the word out. Also, shouts out to my boy Kevin who hooked up the whole Newsweek thing. Good looking out, yo.

Progress

So, the black cartoonists have mobilized. We have a date set for our impending protest/sit-in day and we're getting good press. I gotta say that I never thought I'd see the day when we'd all get together like this. I was wondering if people even noticed the very small amount of black/minority-themed cartoons on the comic pages. At least this brings some attention to the subject, which has been a long time coming.
I think that this day of action might just benefit all cartoonists in general. Maybe comic editors will think twice before deciding to fill their comic pages with the same 'ol stuff. Maybe we can get to see newer cartoons like Lio or Reality Check instead of B.C., Shoe, or Peanuts. Did I mention that the creators of the last three cartoons I mentioned are all dead? I'm certainly not trying to diss the classics, but I'm all for progress. A good cartoonist friend of mine once suggested that if people really wanted to read Peanuts they could just buy one of the many book colletions that Shultz published.
Progress is good. Let's keep it coming.