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Disrupted

Jerry Craft and Barbara Brandon-Croft are cartoonists who broke out of the boxes drawn around them

By Kevin Chang Barnum,
Emily Charash, Wayne Edwards, Khalilah Brown-Dean, Meg Dalton, Catie Talarski
Published May 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM EDT
On the left is a photo of Barbara Brandon-Croft who appears to be sitting in her studio. On the right is a photo of Jerry Craft in front of a black background.
1 of 4  — Cartoonists_Disrupted.png
Barbara Brandon-Croft (left) and Jerry Craft (right).
Photo on the left by Gioncarlo Valentine. Photo on the right by Hollis King.
The covers of Jerry Craft's books 'New Kid,' 'Class Act,' and 'School Trip.'
2 of 4  — Jerrry Craft Bookcovers.png
The covers of Jerry Craft's books 'New Kid,' 'Class Act,' and 'School Trip.'
HarperCollins
Cartoon by Barbara Brandon-Croft of a woman talking her boss' response to Black History Month.
3 of 4  — Barbara Comic Strip.png
Barbara Brandon-Croft's comic strip 'Where I'm Coming From.'
Barbara Brandon-Croft / Drawn & Quarterly
A photo of Barbara Brandon-Croft sitting next to her father Brumsic Brandon, Jr. They appear to be looking at drafts of comic strips.
4 of 4  — Barbara Brandon-Croft with her father
Barbara Brandon-Croft with her father, the creator of the comic strip 'Luther,' Brumsic Brandon, Jr.
Barbara Brandon-Croft

This hour on Disrupted, we are listening back to our interviews with Black cartoonists who pushed their medium forward despite the reluctance of newspapers outside of the Black press to nationally syndicate their work. Jerry Craft talks about his banned, award-winning graphic novel New Kid, in addition to his latest book, School Trip. Barbara Brandon-Croft discusses her pioneering comic strip Where I'm Coming From and her new book, a collection of her comic strips. That book is also titled Where I'm Coming From.

GUESTS:

  • Jerry Craft: author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid, Class Act and School Trip. He is also the creator of the comic strip Mama's Boyz and a former Connecticut resident.
  • Barbara Brandon-Croft: creator of the comic strip Where I'm Coming From. Her new book is a collection of her comic strips and is also called Where I'm Coming From.

This episode originally aired on March 1, 2023.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Tags
Disrupted Black Voices
Kevin Chang Barnum
Kevin Chang Barnum is a producer for Connecticut Public Radio’s weekly show Disrupted. Kevin grew up in Connecticut and started his radio work at his graduate university’s radio station, KUCI. He has also worked for HRN, a network of food and beverage podcasts.
See stories by Kevin Chang Barnum
Emily Charash
Emily Charash is a podcast producer for Seasoned and Disrupted. She also produces branded podcasts for museums, cultural institutions, and businesses. Emily grew up in Newtown, Connecticut and loves UCONN women’s basketball!
See stories by Emily Charash
Wayne Edwards
Wayne Edwards is a freelance producer at Connecticut Public contributing to multi-platform productions, including ‘Disrupted’, ‘Where Art Thou?’, and ‘Cutline in the Community’.

See stories by Wayne Edwards
Khalilah Brown-Dean
Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean is an award-winning scholar at Wesleyan University, author, and host of 'Disrupted' on Connecticut Public.
See stories by Khalilah Brown-Dean
Meg Dalton
Meg Dalton is the director of audio storytelling and talk shows for Connecticut Public where she oversees the station’s talk shows and podcasts, including the limited series 'In Absentia'.
See stories by Meg Dalton
Catie Talarski
Catie Talarski was a senior director of storytelling and radio programming at Connecticut Public.
See stories by Catie Talarski

Funding provided by:
The Connecticut Office of Film, Television and Digital Media

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