Cartoons by the late Ollie Harrington tell it like it was - and is

WHEN Oliver (Ollie) W. Harrington died last November at age 84 in Berlin, Germany, where he had lived in self-exile for 34 years, his death hardly stiffed a ripple in his native United States. Yet, in his field of cartooning, he was a giant, a consummate artist and social critic whose genius forged visual satire into a formidable weapon that he used relentlessly in his fight against racial injustice at home. Langston Hughes--no slouch himself when it comes to humor--called him "America's greatest Black cartoonist," an assessment that has stood the test of time.

Best known for his comic character "Bootsie," which he created in 1935 and which became an exceedingly popular fixture in the Pittsburgh Courier, New York City's Amsterdam News and many other Black newspapers, Harrington was a fierce and outspoken critic of what he called governmental apathy about lynchings of Black people, a position that made him an FBI target during the McCarthy witch-hunt era.

Disillusioned about the progress of civil rights and feeling stified in his artistic expression, Harrington, in 1951, moved to Paris, where he joined other Black American expatriates, including authors Richard Wright and Chester Himes. Ten years later, he relocated to East Berlin, where his cartoons made him a favorite among students and intellectuals. Before he died, Harrington became a visiting lecturer at Michigan State University. In praising the Bronx-reared cartoonist's contribution to the school, MSU School of journalism Director Stan Soffin said at die time, "His presence diversifies the opinions and perspectives available to the students on our campus."

Following are samples of Harrington's cartoons--most from the Walter O. Evans Collection of African-American Art--that testify to his artistry, his hilarious humor and his biting wit that was honed by his indignation over the racial injustices suffered by Blacks.