Barbara Brandon-Croft: Where She’s Coming From
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Back in our younger days we would enjoy the Where I’m Coming From comic strip in
The Sunday Oakland Tribune by the younger still Barbara Brandon-Croft.
So it brings a smile when Barbara is in the news. Today courtesy the Post News Group:
Historically, Black cartoonists have never enjoyed the same representation as their white counterparts. This barrier is slowly being demolished, specifically by Black female artists. Their works are being recognized; their commentary, heard; and social issues, addressed.
Among these women stands Barbara Brandon-Croft (born 1958), creator of “Where I’m Coming From,” a comic strip described as having “reclaimed the funnies as a space where Black women’s voices could be represented and amplified.” It was published in more than 60 newspapers throughout the U.S. and Canada from 1986 to 2005.
Yeah, that 1986 is a typo. The correct date is mentioned later in the profile.
above: the Where I’m Coming From debut from the June 11, 1989 Detroit Free Press
The characters took on tough social issues such as sexism and racism.
Brandon-Croft is the first and only African American woman to have her work nationally syndicated in mainstream press.
That last will need to be corrected now – though it was true for decades, the current comic strip scene sees Bianca Xunise as part of the Six Chix crew and Christina ‘Steenz’ Stewart as the cartoonist on Heart of the City.
But the article otherwise is wonderful as it is always delightful to reconnect with an ‘old friend’.
Barbara’s Facebook page occasionally showcases new work.
above: Barbara compares her father’s and her take on a subject separated by 40 years.
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