My thanks to the people at WPIX Channel 11 for giving me an opportunity to appear on air this morning.
Copy this link and put it into your browser
http://www.wpix.com/videobeta/33dca5b5-a170-4678-903b-ddc53cd2af02/News/Racist-Cartoon-Causes-Controversy
After viewing the broadcast clip, I'd like to say first how
thankful I am to my mom, for teaching me to sit up straight and tall, and talk in a clear strong voice, when discussing something important.
The actual interview was considerably longer, but Network News understandably has strict
time restraints to devote to each story, some of which never see any airtime whatsoever, so I am very grateful to the folks at Channel 11 News.
I would truly welcome a media opportunity to tell my side of this more extensively, and in it's entirety. This is an important issue that is worthy Of discussion and shouldn't not be reduced to a few soundbites. this is an important issue on many levels, and people need a balanced view that they can only receive when hearing both sides.
It's not right for someone as influential as a Congressman to label me as something that I never dreamed I'd be called in my life! He's not just attacking the entity known as "The Wave Newspaper", he's attacking me, the cartoonist who drew the picture. After all cartoons don't draw themselves, people draw draw them.
This is an act of bullying.
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Showing posts with label Political caricature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Political caricature. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
A few parting shots before I move on...
I must say that it as been quite a week for me. The recent events of the past week have certainly taken up a lot of my time and energy. A lot of space has been alloyed in this blog to cover this, and I thank you loyal readers for being patient and putting up with all the political noise.
For me, at the end of the day, it comes down to a man who didn't like hs picture being drawn and wanted to complain about it. This happens frequently enough to any caricature artist as to be something not even worthy of discussion, the reason that I've focused on it for this length of time is to defend my reputation as an artist Asa person and as an African American.
Defending myself as an African American....I would much rather NOT even have to "go there" the funny thing about being an African American in this country is sometimes have to "prove" to OTHER African Americans how "Black " you are.
It's not discussed in public, meaning amongst other races, but this is one of the stupid little dialogues that re surface in the Black community as we "talk amongst ourselves"
HOW "BLACK ARE YOU?
The question comes up when you decide that you like to crack open books instead if sell crack
The question comes up when bring your white boyfriend home to meet the parents
And, thanks to the Congressman it comes up when you draw cartoons.
Anyone who doesn't lock step and agree with "conventional" Black opinion gets a label and not a favorable one.
Now that it's common knowledge " that I am Black, I 'can't be a racist" but I can be something worst.
A race hating, Uncle Tom.
Labels. I guess some people need them in order to tie up their universe nice and neat. If you abel something "bad" like "racism" then you can become a hero and "fight it" I'm sure Congressman Meeks feels as though he was "fighting racism" by pointing out my cartoon. I suppose every politician likes to envision himself as the champion of something. I imagine that American elected officials feel, on some level, a moral obligation to defend a standard set by our Civil Rights forefathers, like Martin Luther King and others who spoke out against racial injustice.
HALLOWEEN IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER
To engage in this fight is honorable and noble. I fault no African American elected official for doing that. But when you dis ingenuously put on the civil rights champion costume, and conjure up an imaginary enemy to fight, you're little more than a poser and pretender.
Funny how Halloween is just around the corner. It seems the Congressman couldnt wait to put on his costume.
Speaking of which, I've got some great Haloween toons coming up folks, so stay tuned!
For me, at the end of the day, it comes down to a man who didn't like hs picture being drawn and wanted to complain about it. This happens frequently enough to any caricature artist as to be something not even worthy of discussion, the reason that I've focused on it for this length of time is to defend my reputation as an artist Asa person and as an African American.
Defending myself as an African American....I would much rather NOT even have to "go there" the funny thing about being an African American in this country is sometimes have to "prove" to OTHER African Americans how "Black " you are.
It's not discussed in public, meaning amongst other races, but this is one of the stupid little dialogues that re surface in the Black community as we "talk amongst ourselves"
HOW "BLACK ARE YOU?
The question comes up when you decide that you like to crack open books instead if sell crack
The question comes up when bring your white boyfriend home to meet the parents
And, thanks to the Congressman it comes up when you draw cartoons.
Anyone who doesn't lock step and agree with "conventional" Black opinion gets a label and not a favorable one.
Now that it's common knowledge " that I am Black, I 'can't be a racist" but I can be something worst.
A race hating, Uncle Tom.
Labels. I guess some people need them in order to tie up their universe nice and neat. If you abel something "bad" like "racism" then you can become a hero and "fight it" I'm sure Congressman Meeks feels as though he was "fighting racism" by pointing out my cartoon. I suppose every politician likes to envision himself as the champion of something. I imagine that American elected officials feel, on some level, a moral obligation to defend a standard set by our Civil Rights forefathers, like Martin Luther King and others who spoke out against racial injustice.
HALLOWEEN IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER
To engage in this fight is honorable and noble. I fault no African American elected official for doing that. But when you dis ingenuously put on the civil rights champion costume, and conjure up an imaginary enemy to fight, you're little more than a poser and pretender.
Funny how Halloween is just around the corner. It seems the Congressman couldnt wait to put on his costume.
Speaking of which, I've got some great Haloween toons coming up folks, so stay tuned!
IN DEFENSE OF ELGIN BOLLING by Thomas Kerr
The following letter is taken from this weeks lettes to the Editor, section of THE WAVE by my collegue, fellow editorial artist, Tom Kerr. I'm no slouch with words, but Tom here makes me sound like I'm stuttering and stammering by comparison. All I've got to say to Tom is, "Thnk you, I couldn't have said it better"
THE LETTER
Reading the open letter from Representative Meeks in last week’s issue of The Wave, held – for the most part – no surprises. A congressional representative caught in a litany of serious ethics violations defends himself in the face of editorial criticism. What more could or should we expect? In his lengthy defense, Meeks singled out the caricature of Elgin Bolling, one of the triumvirate of cartoonists whose editorial images grace these pages. I, along with Robert Sarnoff, happen to be the other two. It is to this portion of the letter I’m responding.
In the last third of his open letter, Meeks goes on to charge that Elgin’s caricature was “explicitly racist,” violates “necessary sensitively” and inaccurately compares it to D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” a century-old film about the Civil War and Reconstruction. The idea of this comparison being, I suppose, to show how far back, in terms of racial equality/sensitivity, The Wave happens to be. Pure hyperbole.
Meeks is off the mark on a number of counts. First, it should be made clear that Elgin is an African American artist. A quick survey of Elgin’s work, easily seen at his subway surfer web blog, immediately confirms that he has done far more offensive caricatures of his own face than anything ever leveled at Meeks. Further, The Wave, in my experience, has always given a free hand to its contributing artists, but never, to their credit, asking them to either reign in or take vitriolic aim at any specific subject or public figure. In fact, as the news cycle goes, there is a one in three chance that any one of The Wave’s contributing artists could have leveled a graphic broadside at Rep. Meeks. It just happened to be Elgin’s turn.
Elgin Bolling is, first and foremost, a caricaturist; drawing from a rich tradition of “portrait-charge” or the loaded portrait, as it came to be known when first popularized in French magazines, around the time of that country’s revolution. Like Meeks, officials there were also offended by those drawings, more than once throwing the cartoonists into the clink for their efforts. Later, in the hands of Americans and the freedoms found here, the graphic vitriol became even more pointed with artists like Thomas Nast, whose graphic excoriations helped take down Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. Boss Platt, who was to follow, attempted to pass legislation at the turn of the 19th century that would have blocked such political commentary.
In fact, it was Tweed who said, “I don’t care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures.” So, it would seem that Gregory Meeks is in good company when expressing dislike for caricature. Almost confirming that history is – in fact – cyclical.
As it turns out, my likeness, too, has been inked by Elgin and I’d like to state — for the record — that it was a caricature and unflattering. I didn’t think to fire off a note to Elgin for singling out my Irish features, but why should I, this is what caricature’s function is. To exaggerate, distort and make fun of, otherwise it would have no teeth, becoming unremarkable, milquetoast and impotent. Elgin has nothing to apologize for; he was doing his job as an editorial artist. On the other hand, time will tell if Meeks, in sharing the opinion of Boss Tweed about caricature, will, one day, share his fate.
THE LETTER
Reading the open letter from Representative Meeks in last week’s issue of The Wave, held – for the most part – no surprises. A congressional representative caught in a litany of serious ethics violations defends himself in the face of editorial criticism. What more could or should we expect? In his lengthy defense, Meeks singled out the caricature of Elgin Bolling, one of the triumvirate of cartoonists whose editorial images grace these pages. I, along with Robert Sarnoff, happen to be the other two. It is to this portion of the letter I’m responding.
In the last third of his open letter, Meeks goes on to charge that Elgin’s caricature was “explicitly racist,” violates “necessary sensitively” and inaccurately compares it to D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” a century-old film about the Civil War and Reconstruction. The idea of this comparison being, I suppose, to show how far back, in terms of racial equality/sensitivity, The Wave happens to be. Pure hyperbole.
Meeks is off the mark on a number of counts. First, it should be made clear that Elgin is an African American artist. A quick survey of Elgin’s work, easily seen at his subway surfer web blog, immediately confirms that he has done far more offensive caricatures of his own face than anything ever leveled at Meeks. Further, The Wave, in my experience, has always given a free hand to its contributing artists, but never, to their credit, asking them to either reign in or take vitriolic aim at any specific subject or public figure. In fact, as the news cycle goes, there is a one in three chance that any one of The Wave’s contributing artists could have leveled a graphic broadside at Rep. Meeks. It just happened to be Elgin’s turn.
Elgin Bolling is, first and foremost, a caricaturist; drawing from a rich tradition of “portrait-charge” or the loaded portrait, as it came to be known when first popularized in French magazines, around the time of that country’s revolution. Like Meeks, officials there were also offended by those drawings, more than once throwing the cartoonists into the clink for their efforts. Later, in the hands of Americans and the freedoms found here, the graphic vitriol became even more pointed with artists like Thomas Nast, whose graphic excoriations helped take down Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. Boss Platt, who was to follow, attempted to pass legislation at the turn of the 19th century that would have blocked such political commentary.
In fact, it was Tweed who said, “I don’t care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures.” So, it would seem that Gregory Meeks is in good company when expressing dislike for caricature. Almost confirming that history is – in fact – cyclical.
As it turns out, my likeness, too, has been inked by Elgin and I’d like to state — for the record — that it was a caricature and unflattering. I didn’t think to fire off a note to Elgin for singling out my Irish features, but why should I, this is what caricature’s function is. To exaggerate, distort and make fun of, otherwise it would have no teeth, becoming unremarkable, milquetoast and impotent. Elgin has nothing to apologize for; he was doing his job as an editorial artist. On the other hand, time will tell if Meeks, in sharing the opinion of Boss Tweed about caricature, will, one day, share his fate.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Random Thoughts on Racism, Editorial Cartooning ,perception, and Thomas Nast
I've been doing some more thinking about all if the above issues, and here are some of my thoughts.
EXAMPLES OF CAUCASIAN POLITICIANS DRAWN FOR THE WAVE NEWSPAPER by Elgin Bolling
Following are editorial caricature cartoons I've drawn for The Wave Newspaper that feature Caucasian Politicians. Study these caricatures and you will see gigantic foreheads and chins, oversize noses, and even...GASP... LIPS? My purpose in displaying these pics is to demonstrate that I am an equal opportunity facial exaggerator no matter WHO I'm drawing BLACK or WHITE.
This is another in an ongoing series of Bi weekly Editorial cartoons that I'm doing for The Wave Newspaper, that services the Rockaways, Broad Channel,& Howard Beach sections of Queens. For those of you who dont know what this is about, local politicians, are locked in a race for a coveted city council seat, in an upcoming election that will take place this month. In order to earn a place on the ballot, each candidate was required to accumulate a total of one thousand signatures from registered voters living within the district,before a predetermined deadline date. According to one candidate, Geraldine Chapey,(with the BIG hair) her political rivals, Mike Ricatto,(wearing glasses)Glenn DiResto, Frank Gulluscio.(with the great hair) and Eric Ulrich,(in the black suit) signatures are not valid, and they should be eliminated from the race.
I'm not taking any sides on this issue other than caricaturing the heck out of everyones face! This group of people were really fun to draw and I cant think of the last time I've truly enjoyed an illustration assignment more. The journalist who wrote the article as well as Howard, the editor of The Wave, loved the illo so much that it made the front page of the paper, something, to my knowledge at least , that has never been done before in the paper's history. Even if I'm wrong about this, it's still an honor for an artist to get this.
MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND CHANCELLOR JOEL KLIEN
ANTHONY WEINER
This is another in an ongoing series of Bi weekly Editorial cartoons that I'm doing for The Wave Newspaper, that services the Rockaways, Broad Channel,& Howard Beach sections of Queens. For those of you who dont know what this is about, local politicians, are locked in a race for a coveted city council seat, in an upcoming election that will take place this month. In order to earn a place on the ballot, each candidate was required to accumulate a total of one thousand signatures from registered voters living within the district,before a predetermined deadline date. According to one candidate, Geraldine Chapey,(with the BIG hair) her political rivals, Mike Ricatto,(wearing glasses)Glenn DiResto, Frank Gulluscio.(with the great hair) and Eric Ulrich,(in the black suit) signatures are not valid, and they should be eliminated from the race.
I'm not taking any sides on this issue other than caricaturing the heck out of everyones face! This group of people were really fun to draw and I cant think of the last time I've truly enjoyed an illustration assignment more. The journalist who wrote the article as well as Howard, the editor of The Wave, loved the illo so much that it made the front page of the paper, something, to my knowledge at least , that has never been done before in the paper's history. Even if I'm wrong about this, it's still an honor for an artist to get this.
MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND CHANCELLOR JOEL KLIEN
ANTHONY WEINER
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WAVE CARTOONS President OBAMA
Pieces of a Dream coming together today. It's a proud day to be an African American in America. For me, it's always been a proud day thanks to the dedication, and sacrifices that were made by others.\I did this drawing for the "Editorial Comment" Section of my local paper, "The Wave".
This is an early caricature of President Obama shortly after winning the election. I feel fortunate having a platform where I caN draw our first Back President, and thank the "caricature gods" that he's easy to caricature.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Monday, January 19, 2009
Happy BIrthday Martin Luther King
Pieces of a Dream coming together today. It's a proud day to be an African American in America. For me, it's always been a proud day thanks to the dedication, and sacrifices that were made by others.\I did this drawing for the "Editorial Comment" Section of my local paper, "The Wave".
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