Editorial Whatnots and Whatevers
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Goofus and Gallant
Presidential historian and author Michael Beschloss uses the characters Goofus and Gallant, from the comic strip of the same name first created in the 1940s, to seemingly compare Trump and Biden.
Goofus and Gallant © Highlights for Children, Inc.
The Chief at the Toh-Atin Gallery
A few weeks ago, Telegraph opinion page cartoonist Shan Wells signed off, passing the mantel to under-represented voices in our society, particularly women and people of color. Since then, two FLC alums, Kayla Shaggy, a Diné artist originally from Shiprock, and Tatyana Trujillo, an activist, artist and social advocate earning a graduate degree in Chicana/o studies, bravely picked up the pen.
Last week, Shaggy wasted no time diving headlong into controversial waters with her cartoon advocating for the removal of The Chief sign at the Toh-Atin Gallery.
photo: Durango Herald; cartoon © Kayla Shaggy
Our in-box was immediately flooded with letters of protest from community members, friends of the Clarks, a longstanding local family that owns Toh-Atin, and Antonia Clark herself (who did not want her letter printed). Some objected, saying the cartoon wrongly portrayed the Clarks as racists. Yes, we will admit the cartoon walked a fine line, referring to “racist imagery” and “abusing indigenous culture,” but it did not call anybody a racist.
The Durango takes on a local issue and stirs the pot. To the paper’s credit:
[W]e stop short of apologizing for the underlying message of the cartoon itself. For starters, it would be disingenuous and hollow to apologize for another person’s feelings and viewpoints. And secondly, it just might be time for The Chief, in his current form, to wave goodbye.
Be An Arts Hero Cartoons
We mentioned a while back that Counterpoint and Be An #ArtsHero partnered for an effort to continue relief to Arts Workers.
© Chris Britt
Cartoons from more than two dozen Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists are available to view on beanartshero.com/cartoon-campaign.
America’s cartoonists participating in the political cartoonist initiative include Nick Anderson, Nathan Archer, Robert Ariail, Juan Astasio, Richard Bartholomew, Chris Britt, Michael Egan, Warren “Wee” Elliott, Tom Falco, Mike Lester, Mark Lynch, Steve McGinn, Deb Milbrath, Pedro X Molina, Paul Pinderski, Peter Reiss, Ali Solomon, Scott Stantis, Joe Sutliff, Tom Toro, Mark Wilke, and more.
How Did We Get Stuck With These Two?
Greg Kearney and Ryan Stolp, two of Wyoming’s most acclaimed cartoonists, were recently interviewed by Emy diGrappa, the senior producer for Wyoming Humanities, on her “What’s Your Why” podcast. Their vision of what political cartoons mean in a modern democracy is self-evident in these two lively interviews.
“A cartoon … is the single most powerful form of editorializing that we have,” says Kearney. “My job is not to make the peace. My job is, when I do take a stand; take a clear and consistent stand based upon what I believe.”
“The cartoon is more than just a cartoon,” agrees Stolp, “The cartoon is the statement and the conversation that it drives.”
© Ryan Stolp and Greg Kearney
Ryan Stolp and Greg Kearney are two of the most insightful editorialists in Wyoming. They come at our state, our culture and our politics from two different perspectives.
Wyoming Humanities profiles their kind of editorial cartoonists.
Walt Handelsman on creating ideas and cartoons for Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
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