RFK Bust

Not that I want to brag about this…again, but I want you to see this, And it’s not like it’ll get a lot of people gawking at it in my tiny apartment.

As you probably already know, I won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights journalism award for cartooning last May. They did a very nice online presentation since COVID denied us all an in-person awards banquet. Stupid COVID. I hate you, COVID. The check for winning arrived a couple of weeks ago and last night, or sometime during the day (I’m not sure when), the trophy arrived.

It’s a bust of RFK. When I first won the award, several of my colleagues were like, “and you get a badass trophy.” And I wanted this trophy. I told them, “I want the head.” I’ve seen photos of these before but they don’t do it justice. It’s huge and it weighs a little over 13 lbs, only two lbs if Dr. Ronnie Jackson weighs it. This will NOT fit on my windowsill with my Mr. Potato Head.

I had a very late night working on my CNN cartoon (Clay don’t sleep) and couldn’t come up for air or food until 10 p.m. I decided to go to McDonald’s and when I opened my apartment door, I found a huge and heavy box with my name on it in the hallway of my building. I was relieved it was by my door because sometimes delivery people leave packages for me outside the building or at the Chinese dumpling place downstairs.

I don’t have a place to put it. It sat on my work desk last night and on the kitchen table while I drew today’s cartoon. I have to buy a shelf for this and make room for that. I may have a plaque coming for winning the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists (I hope so), so I’ll put that on the wall near it along with the few plaques and certificates I’ve won in state journalism contests (that have spent years in boxes). Maybe I’ll make a nifty Zoom background out of it.

This is my first national journalism award so it’s a big deal for me. But ya’ know, if I win any more awards in the future, they’ll be big deals for me too. I was never confident I’d ever win one, or if I’ll get any more. And this year, I won more than any other cartoonist in the country. Go figure.

I really wanted to win the RFK because you win it with your work covering human rights, which to me are the most important issues journalists can cover.

A friend of mine with the Herblock Foundation told me they have his RFK bust in their office, and knowing we both have one of these is so surreal to me. I’m really not worthy to be in Herblock’s company.

Thank you, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights people. You rock!