Tag: black history

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Black History Month: Richard “Grass” Green

black history month richard grass green black cartoonists

Today’s Black History Month Figure is Richard “Grass” Green, the first African American cartoonist to make work in the 1960s fanart movement AND the 1970s underground comix movement. He did LOTS of superhero parody comics, especially in Star-Studded Comics with his character Xal-Kor. In the 70s and 80s, his work often used humor to expose America’s bigotry and racism.

Image from Museum of Uncut Funk.

You can read more about Richard “Grass” Green at The Museum of Uncut Funk’s website.

Now, let’s see if I can find any of his work anywhere to read it for myself…

Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Black History Month: Nina Simone

black history month nina simone sketch

So I didn’t know about this figure in Black History until today – her name is Nina Simone, and she was a singer and piano player who worked in a variety of music styles, from classical to jazz to pop.

The first song of hers I heard was “To Love Somebody.” Here’s a video of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jgHOcXTr50

But she was most famous for her work in the Civil Rights Movement, especially her songs in that period of time. One of her most famous songs is “Mississippi Goddam,” which was made in response to a Birmingham, AL church bombing that killed four girls. Here’s that song:

Know any other black history figures? Share them in the comments below. I would love to draw them.

Thank you for reading and listening!

You. Are. Awesome.

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More Black History Month Sketches

The original plan to update the blog daily with sketches for Black History Month isn’t happening, unfortunately… but at the very least I’m going to post the sketches I HAVE done thus far, and will keep doing so throughout the month.

First, let’s start with Jackie Ormes, first African American lady cartoonist and stellar lady.

black history month jackie ormes cartoon sketch art

She was also one of the few people to address (at the time) modern black issues in cartoons at a time in history when people wouldn’t even touch the subject. Check out her comics and cartoons on her site to see what I mean. Continue reading “More Black History Month Sketches”

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Black History Month: Queen Aminatu

queen amina or queen aminatu of zazzau hausa queen black history month illustration

It’s Black History Month! To commemorate, I’ll be posting one illustration every day highlighting a black historical figure.

Today, it’s Queen Amina, also known as Queen Aminatu of Zazzau. Her history was told orally for centuries before it was written in the Kano Chronicle in the 1800s, which details the history of the Hausa people of north-central Nigeria. But in summary… Continue reading “Black History Month: Queen Aminatu”