blackwaxboulevard asked: Chris Rock once said in an interview regarding Obama that "being the first black ANYTHING sucks." I think he was speaking to the unreasonably high level of expectations that supporters heap on not just figures like the president, but also athletes, actors, and musicians. As the first African-American cartoonist to win an Ignatz Award in any category, do you feel any sort of pressure to "represent" in the world of independent comics?
This question needs words.
i wasn’t aware that i was the first. I could have sworn that Keith Knight won something before? But if I’m the first, then wow! As for pressure and representing? Absolutely not.
The only representation that I offer any African American readers or cartoonists is that I’m here and I’m an individual. We all have shared experiences but we’re also our own personal experiences. We don’t make a “black experience” by buying into a codification but rather by the combination of our individual experiences.
So there’s obviously Keith Knight, Kyle Baker, Spike, Aaron McGrudder, and all the other cartoonists. There isn’t a fixed black experience that we need to live up to but rather, there’s a black experience that we all give life to from what we bring to the table.
I enjoyed this question, thank you.
-Ayo2012xoxo.
