December 31, 2009
Edel Rodriguez
In April 1980 several hundred Cubans, fed up witha bleak economy, stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havanna, demanding asylum. And over the next few days their numbers grew to over ten thousand. In response, Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone wishing to leave Cuba. And they could, as long as they could arrange to be picked up by boat. Family and friends in the United States quickly organized and sent hundreds of boats from Florida, in what became known as the Mariel boat lift. 120,000 people made it out of Cuba, among them a nine year-old boy named Edel Rodriguez. This 9 year-old boy went on to become one of the most celebrated illustrators in the United States
On this episode Debbie talks to Edel about his career and his celebrated illustrations of Donald Trump. “You don’t appease fascists. You really do confront it as strongly as possible. And that’s what I wanted to do with that cover.”
For more information about Design Matters or to subscribe to the show newsletter, go to DebbieMillman.com. If you love this podcast, please consider contributing to Debbie’s Drip Kickstarter community. Members get transcripts of every interview, invitations to live episodes, Q&A sessions with guests, and a brand new annual magazine. You can learn more about this at https://d.rip/debbie-millman. And if you like this podcast, please write a review on iTunes and link to the podcast on social media. Design Matters is produced by Curtis Fox Productions. The show is published exclusively by DesignObserver.com.
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