1400 sales = 20% off for you

 

This is me in Seattle at the Seattle Urban Book Expo and I'm writing to say thanks for supporting my books, art, merch, and shop. I just crossed the 1400 sales mark on Etsy and to show my. appreciation I'm sharing a special discount code FOR 20% off everything using "GREATESTSALE" as a thanks to you dear reader. You've got until Sunday night to use it or lose it. Peace!!

VISIT MY SHOP

Dig this? Check out my most recent interview on the podcast Rightnowish and please share it w/ a friend.

Black Work Talk Podcast- Chicago Teacher's Strike

"The function of schools for those who are in power is never to liberate those who attend them" -Stacey Davis Gates

This podcast is about the historic teachers strike in Chicago, the racial politics of school closures in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods, the privatization of education, and organizing.  And it immediately makes me think of school closures here in Oakland California, and in cities like New Orleans which were taken advantage of after hurricane Katrina.

LINK TO LISTEN

Stacey Davis Gates: 

Stacy Davis Gates is the president of the Chicago Teachers Union and the executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Before her election as president in 2022, Davis Gates had served as vice president and as political and legislative director. In the Fall 2019, she helped to lead a 15-day strike and to negotiate an historic contract that provides for smaller class sizes, ensures a nurse and social worker in every Chicago public school, secures sanctuary protections for immigrant families, and supports students and families experiencing homelessness. In 2017, Ms. Davis Gates was elected Chair of United Working Families, an independent political organization by and for working-class people and our movements. She also serves as a board member for the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE). Currently she is on leave from teaching high school social studies, which she did for more than a decade.

If you dig this check out the art from the Oakland Teacher's Strike

Art of Rob - Is now in 3 bookstores!

 

Sup with it fam? I'm excited to share that "Art of Rob" is making its way into actual community based independent bookstores. Juiced!!!! I love sharing information about bookstores because they are little cultural hubs for reading, art, politics, sometimes food, dating :), learning, and reading of course.

1. The Multicultural Bookstore - Richmond California

 260 Broadway, Richmond California 94804

https://www.multiculturalbookstore.com/

 This bookstore was founded in Richmond back in 2016 or 2017. It is Black owned and has one of the largest selection of kids books featuring children of color. Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, and Queer kids books. They specialize in picture books, but also carry middle grade, chapter books, YA, novels, biographies, and art books   :)

2. Marcus Books- Oakland California

 3900 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94609

https://www.marcusbooks.com/

 This is the oldest Black owned bookstore in country y'all. Originally founded in San Francisco and Oakland, the Oakland location remains a staple for the Bay and the Black community. I shopped there as a teen for textbooks, as a young father, and now as a book creator myself. They have the widest selection of Black literature in the Bay period. Novels, non fiction, comics, picture books, photography books, biographies, cards, and art books!!

3. Pegasus Books - Berkeley and Oakland

 2 Locations in Berkeley, 1 in Oakland

https://www.pegasusbookstore.com

 Pegasus has been in the bay since 1969. This is a very cool and progressive store that has cook books, kids books, comics, novels, zines, posters, art books of course, and they buy, sell, and trade books. There are three locations in the East Bay and my book is at all three so cop it there!

One of the most amazing things about bookstores (and libraries for that matter) is the possibility of discovery. You might not even know you would see your friend there or find a book that you know a friend would cherish. That being said, visit these stores if you're in the Bay. If there is a bookstore you cherish that would understand my little art book please let me know! My hope is that young people will discover something cool in this art book. Peace! Thx for reading. Stay tuned...

Note: If you have not received your book in the mail or you believe it got lost in the mail please message me here or email me at info@robdontstop.com If you'd like to purchase a copy directly from me you can using this LINK. 

Dig this? Check out this video of fathers day 2022 by Marcus books. And if you have a bookstore I should get the book into, please let me know.

video link

I was doing this for Furqan's First Flat Top too, getting it into indy stores one at a time.

Gift Box Feature 4 - Jambo Books (Georgia)

Jambo Books founder Mijha Godfrey

Back in 2019 I was contacted by the founder of Jambo Books, Mijha Godfrey to license some of my illustration for her incredible book box which has been featured on HuffPost, CNN, NBC, and LA Parent. I created the image for a series of posters featuring Black and Brown folks reading to children. or kids reading to themselves. 

Original print

She then applied the same illustration to the Jambo Book Box which features a different artist regularly! Cool, no?

Photo by Jambo Books

One of the things I always tell parents who are looking for diverse books is to visit their local library or. Bipoc owned bookstore to find gems. But so many folks don't live near a library or bookstore. Or it's a mission to get there. Book boxes are a great way to solve that problem by getting books for you little ones shipped directly to your door. 

Listen to Mijha talk about what her company does!

If you're a gift/book box owner and would like to get some of my merch, books, or illustration in your box give me a holler. Did you catch any of the other posts about the book box companies that featured my books, art, or merch? 

Here they are: Booklandia (Portugal)

Los Amigos Books (Chicago)

Get The Bag (Ohio)

READ print 5

 

Yes y'all. This is a new art print for my READ series! I really dig how this turned out and hope you will too. The helmet is a reminder to dream, soar, and fly. This is the first in a new series of 4. There will be 8 in total.

Get a print here

I've done 4 of these already. If you haven't seen them you can check the series out 

and purchase the previous set here.

SF Zine Fest Sept 4th

 

Hey fam, I will be tabling at this year's San Francisco Zine Fest. If you've never been, it is a large event with lots of folks making zines and mini comics on all types of topics from social justice, identity, life stories, police brutality, bicycle repair, art, to fictional stories, sexuality, and relationships. It's great for young artists to check out and awesome for librarians, teachers, and professionals who are looking to build a zine or mini comic collection in spaces where young people frequent. Come through! It's at the SF Metreon. Here is the facebook invite.

MORE INFO

Here's a video featuring a walkthrough the SF Zine Fest and interviews w/ creators.

Video link

I participated in a reading where I talked about my work and my first art book at Silver Sprockets book store in the Mission District. And it was dope meeting other creators. Here are some photos from that visit!

Dig this? Check out these photos from my trip to Columbus Ohio for SOL Con.

Rightnowish! - Podcast interview

 

Yooo,  I'm a guest on "Rightnowish" a podcast/ radio show with Pendarvis Harshaw on KQED!! Been listening since it came out in 2019 and have loved listening to interviews with mc/writer Rocky Rivera, MC/Historian Dregs One, Futbolista/Medicine woman Dania Cabello, Muralist Timothy B, Artist/Curator Ashara Ekundayo, Designer/publisher Mike Nicholls, Cartoonist Breena Nuñez,  muralist Josue Rojas and his Mama, and series pieces like this summer's "Searching for a Kiki" with Corey Antonio Rose who lovingly shares Queer Black history.

Rightnowish seeks out a broad array of folks in music, film, activism, organizing, performing and visual arts. He gets in depth with each guest and topic in a very short segment that is so sincere, clear, and inspiring. Not since "Home Turf" , "Distortion to Static", or "Hard Knock Radio" have I heard such a wealth of folks who are talented but underrated by mainstream media be highlighted. That's actually how I found Pen, through his doc on Mike "Dream" Francisco.

But, what's even better is that the team of host/journalist Pendarvis Harshaw with producer Marisol Medina Cadena and editor Jessica Placzeck make the process and final product PROFESSIONAL. When you listen you know who the episode is about. And you can hear it clear and concisely. Not all podcasts do that! And when I think about how they condensed our hour long convo to this short but meaningful piece; I'm awed. Subscribe to this show, share it, donate to KQED, and follow the team!

LISTEN TO MY EPISODE: HERE

If you'd like to hear another interview or see some press I've gotten please visit this page

Inspiring Artist - Claire Wendling (born 1967)

 

Claire Wendling is an incredible illustrator from France who was born in 1967. I believe I heard about her very recently through Schoolism or the "Trojan Horse" YouTube interview with Karla Ortiz. She's an OG who has worked in illustration, comics, and animation. I love her figures. How much she studies the human body, animals, and creates creatures, relationships between beings, and the care she puts into her drawings which are amazing.

Yo, if you're new: This is where I share artists that have been inspiring to me in my work sometimes directly and other times indirectly. Do yourself a favor and check out her Instagram. I couldn't find a website for her but you can watch this interview with her.

Video link

If you missed the last inspiring artist I posted, check out Ami Thompson or Zeke Peña's work! And if you're still looking for more inspiration peep inspiration board 41 I made because everybody gets stuck. If you dig Claire's work you can get her sketchbooks at Stuart Ng Books online.

Postcard Deal 2 revamp

 

Want some postcards to send to family and friends? Here are a few i've made over the past year or two waiting to be sent. I just revamped this set on my shop.

Cop  just 3, 6, or all 9 of them here.

Dig this? check out the first set of postcards here

Power Struggle (MC) Documentary

Yo, brother Nomi aka "Power Struggle" (Beatrock, Odd Jobs, Kill the Vultures). Bro is an educator, musician, and organizer who not only writes about the struggles of working class people and does it with incredible hip hop songs. Nomi is from Minneapolis but he's been in the Bay for nearly 20 years and a comrade in this work to make art from the heart and simultaneously speak about the struggle for liberation whether it be specifically about Pinays, People of color, the Filipino diaspora, or young men of color. 

Listen to his new LP! Out on Beatrock music!

If you're in the Bay tomorrow you can catch him performing and listen to his new LP in Frisco!

And if you don't know him check out this short documentary about him by Eric Tandoc

Dig this? Check out this remix of Dead Prez's "Hip hop" by Pele Durian Funk