KRISTEN WELKER (08:48:26): In honor of Black History Month, we shine a light on a young woman of color who is a part of an exclusive club. She`s a cartoonist. At just twenty-four years old, her work has already been featured in the legendary weekly magazine, The New Yorker This morning in our Sunday Closer, her illustrations are not only powerful statements that are making a cultural splash, they`re also making history.
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KRISTEN WELKER (08:48:52): Humorous, satirical and witty, iconic cartoons that bounce off the page of The New Yorker. For years, Elizabeth Montague, a young artist from New Jersey, admired these illustrations from afar but always had one concern.
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:49:06): I never saw myself really in the cartoons because they were all white.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:49:10): So in November of 2018 when Montague was just twenty-two years old, she wrote a letter to the editor.
(08:49:17): What did the letter say?
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:49:18): I could tell that there was a lack of representation. All the cartoons really looked the same.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:49:23): Emma Allen, The New Yorker`s cartoon editor, was impressed by Montague`s passion and wrote back immediately.
EMMA ALLEN (08:49:30): I asked her who she thought I should be looking at if she had cartoonist that she was particularly excited about who The New Yorker should be helping to launch, and she said me.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:49:40): With that, Montague submitted some of her favorite illustrations and was stunned when a few months later one of her cartoons was chosen.
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:49:49): I couldn`t believe it. I didn`t really believe it until I had the physical copy in my hands. I was like, oh, my gosh.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:49:55): Montague is the first known African-American woman to have a cartoon published in The New Yorker. ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:50:01): It feels like a bit of pressure but really good. I`m really proud of myself in that I`ve done this.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:50:08): What does that pressure look like? What does it look like for you?
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:50:11): I think there is, sometimes, obligation to feel like you have to represent everyone which isn`t really possible because I`m one person with one experience and one perspective, but I try to make my work as accessible to everyone as possible.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:50:22): Montague`s illustrations are rife with social commentary, race, gender, climate change.
EMMA ALLEN (08:50:29): Liz`s perspective is pretty incredible because she tackles these big issues.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:50:35): Her first cartoon in The New Yorker has the caption "Per my last e-mail." It features two women of color waiting for a response, a joke about office culture but also a commentary about the ongoing challenges faced by African-American women.
(08:50:49): It`s part of the idea of this to send the message that sometimes African-American women are overlooked?
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:50:55): Yes. Often overlooked and often unseen, just making sure that you take a minute to just see that, although I`ve had people messaged me and say, like, oh, I never noticed that both the characters were black. KRISTEN WELKER (08:51:05): Montague has had four cartoons published in The New Yorker and now supports herself as an artist, making it clear she`s only just begun.
(08:51:14): What is the message that you hope people take from your cartoons?
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:51:19): I hope that people just see how similar all of us are. This person might not look like me and they might not have hair like me, but I have that same feeling.
KRISTEN WELKER (08:51:29): What would you say to young people who might want to get into drawing cartoons or into art in general but who feel really intimidated?
ELIZABETH MONTAGUE (08:51:39): Fear isn`t going anywhere. Just really trust in your perspective and that, like, what you have to say is good enough because it is. And no one else can share your point of view better than you can.
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