Today I happened to check the Little Free Library in front of my house, and there was a political cartoon book in it. I wasn't familiar with it, so I took it in the house to take a look. African-American* cartoonist Walt Carr's self-published Just Us! is full of fantastic cartoons. Carr is from the Baltimore area, and is living (I hope) in Columbia, MD. A gag cartoonist turned political cartoonist in his old age (literally, he was born in 1932), these are hard-hitting cartoons of the type you'd expect in a Keith Knight publication. I'm very grateful to whomever put it in my LFL as I didn't pay much attention to the Washington Post article (citation below) on him that came out during the pandemic. I don't know how you can buy his book now - the Amazon link on his website says they don't have it in stock. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum is the only library in WorldCat that claims to have a copy.
Here's a list of material that I found on him that I will be adding into the Comics Research Bibliography. I've sent an email asking for an interview - as you can see below, he was still active last year.
Walt Carr’s website CARRtoons plus - http://carrtoonsplus.com/index.html
Just us!
Walt Carr
[Uptown Press], [Baltimore, Maryland], 2019
Carr releases collection of his legendary cartoons
by Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire
New Pittsburgh Courier September 30, 2019
https://newpittsburghcourier.com/2019/09/30/carr-releases-collection-of-his-legendary-cartoons/
Walt Carr Cartoons for “Just Us”
D. D. Degg
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/09/27/walt-carr-cartoons-for-just-us/
Aunt Jemima cartoon causing ruckus in Ohio [Walt Carr]
Alan Gardner
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/12/03/aunt-jemima-cartoon-causing-ruckus-in-ohio/
Political cartoonist Walt Carr
Doug Kapustin (photos)
Baltimore Sun October 15, 2019
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2019/10/15/political-cartoonist-walt-carr/
Columbia political cartoonist’s book ‘JUST US!’ showcases a black perspective on current events
By Jess Nocera
October 16, 2019
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2019/10/16/columbia-political-cartoonists-book-just-us-showcases-a-black-perspective-on-current-events/
‘Just Us!’ Should Have Everyone ‘Laughin,’ ‘Signifyin’
by Stacy M. Brown
Washington Informer July 25, 2019
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/just-us-should-have-everyone-laughin-signifyin/
Howard resident, author Pamela Woolford tells the untold stories of black Columbia [Walt Carr]
By Capital Gazette February 19, 2020
https://www.capitalgazette.com/2020/02/19/howard-resident-author-pamela-woolford-tells-the-untold-stories-of-black-columbia/
Walt Carr Follow-Up
By Sean Kleefeld
Kleefeld on Comics February 11, 2021
http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2021/02/walt-carr-follow-up.html
A Black political cartoonist’s new book pokes and provokes. He’s planning another [in print as A veteran Black cartoonist takes setback in stride].
Courtland Milloy
Washington Post September 30, 2020, p. B1, 3
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/black-political-cartoonist/2020/09/29/43fc8dc8-0270-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html
Columbia cartoonist among first to highlight struggles of Black Americans [Walt Carr; online as Cartoonist highlights struggles of Black Americans in mainstream publications]
WBAL Feb 16, 2021
Lisa Robinson
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/cartoonist-walt-carr-highlights-struggles-of-black-americans/35521322 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMwcPM2ntSw
Avery, Jaha N. 2023. Those Who Saw the Sun: African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South [Walt Carr oral history]. United States: Levine Querido.
A Talk With Cartoonists Ray Billingsley, Walt Carr and Angelo Lopez
Angelo Lopez
Apr 2, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=J2w9ZbErZ88
*"Black" really isn't helpful when it comes to search engines finding an article, hence I'm using the older term.
