Comics and Black America
Add race to the story of comics, and things get very interesting indeed.
July 30, 2021
More by Clifford Thompson
Peanuts and the Absurd Art of Growing Up
Who is winning the old nature-versus-nature debate? Which of these influencers has the upper hand? Are we mostly preprogrammed, acting out what has been inside us since Day One, or do we go in the direction life blows us?
Connecting Flights
As I write this essay, I am listening to Bird’s records. I love the inventiveness, the breakneck pace, and the flights of fancy of his melodies. I admire his daring and ingenuity, just as I do the Wright brothers’ daring and ingenuity: over a century after they occurred, it is thrilling to read accounts of their first successful powered flights.
Thank You, Lt. Uhura, for Your Starship Service
Nichelle Nichols, aka "Star Trek"'s Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, represented a miracle. In a decade that saw Black people beaten, jailed, and killed for wanting to vote, when laws effectively recognizing husbands as their wives’ bosses were still on the books in some states, what reason was there to think a Black woman would show up on TV as the equal of her White male colleagues? And yet there she was. There she is, always.
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American Christianity’s War with Itself
“Who do people say that I am?” Jesus asks, and everyone has a different answer. King, prophet, peasant, rebel, son, shepherd, rabbi, redeemer—to this day, Jesus is what each of us needs him to be.
Reaching Out to Connect with a Gallant Voice from a War-Ravaged Land
As I was being vetted, administrators asked what I would do if my Ukrainian partner wanted to talk about hardships and loss. I said I could listen. What else could I do?
Remembering the Remarkable Ray Hartmann
Because I worked for Ray at “The Riverfront Times” for 18 years, my thoughts immediately turned to the many other “RFT” alums who loved and admired him. Over the next several weeks, I contacted more than 50 of my old colleagues and asked them to contribute remembrances of their often life-changing time at the “RFT” and to reflect on Ray’s impact on both them and St. Louis. Almost everyone said yes, and this tribute is the result. —Cliff Froehlich