Author: liza

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday: An Animated Tribute

Growing up in Washington, DC, I have a strong memory of when Dr. King was shot. I was very young but it had a huge impact on me.  When we as a country created a holiday for Dr. King’s birthday, I was thrilled, and every year I try to mark it in some way.
When our daughters were young, we would bake a cake for Dr. King and watch his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. I took one of the lines from this speech:  “I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers,” and combined it with our family tradition to create this animation in his honor.

 

Everything Seems To Be About Winning

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I cannot help but think that to Trump, everything seems to be about “being a major player,” making deals, setting up companies, winning, winning, winning. Some of his cabinet appointments point in that direction. Every now and then, Trump talks about other things, but rarely does he talk about freedom of expression, ideals, and what makes America truly great (and always has): inclusion, diversity, idealism, freedom.
I probably could have gone even further with this drawing, and made Lady Liberty encrusted in gold, like the woman in Goldfinger. That woman in the movie died of suffocation from the gold on her skin.
I have hope for America.

Thanksgiving in NYC

Right before Thanksgiving,  I wandered around NYC and drew people as they shopped for food,  sometimes chatting with some of them about what Thanksgiving means to them.  A CBS producer and I made little videos with my drawings and the recordings, and I show some below the gallery here.
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We’re All In This Together: Dialogue without hatred, in the fight against hatred

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I have hope. Some may consider me naive. My socioeconomic class and skin color have helped me live a relatively easy life, free of negativity; perhaps that’s why I can be optimistic. But I am also a woman, and have felt sexism and misogyny because of my gender. I have chosen to push past it?—?I don’t ignore the hatred, but I try find a way in my cartoons to expose it, talk about what it is and why it might exist. All with the hope of creating awareness, change, and making things better.

If nothing else, this period will be a time for Democrats and left leaning folks to bond. But all Americans, no matter the political stripe, have to be vigilant to be sure hate does not win over. If someone expresses hatred in the form of bigotry, sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, we speak out.

Those things are not America, and the majority of us believe that.

Each of us must try to find a way to make change?—?no matter how small?—?either in our work or in our community. It’s about positive individual steps, right?

And I’ll try to keep drawing cartoons that speak to this, try to expose what I see, create dialogue without hatred, as we move FORWARD as a country.

Dogs Of Halloween

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Last week, Liza, ventured downtown with her tablet,  stylus and a huge umbrella to draw the annual New York City Dog Parade, held in Tompkins Square Park.  It was crowded, rather cold and rainy–in other words very Halloweeny– but the spirit of fun was extremely high.  The ratio of people to dogs was also high, but Liza chose to capture primarily the main event: the dogs. CBS This Morning is publishing her dog drawings all day long on Halloween today on their Instagram and website.  Enjoy!  Woof woof!