Lalo Alcaraz, author of the first Latino and nationally syndicated comic strip “La Cucaracha”, is the first Latino to receive the prestigious Herblock Award 2022, in recognition of his editorial caricature and “passion, dedication and brilliance” in the coverage of civilians and other issues that include Latinos, according to NBC publication.  

Alcaraz is well-known for his culturally educational arts for the CovidLatino.org website, which helps spread information about Covid-19 vaccines and testing to Latino communities. According to another NBC News publication, the campaign was led by Gilberto Lopez, an assistant professor at Arizona State University's School of Transfrontier Studies, whose goal was to create a bilingual website along with art to end vaccine hesitancy among Latinos. “The educator hopes the website, which features animated videos in English and Spanish, debunks Covid myths that have spread in the Latino Community”.

Alcaraz received the $15,000 award from the Herb Block Foundation, named after the late editorial cartoonist Herb Block, who, for many years, was best known for his comments on the country's domestic and foreign policy issues.

Mexican-American, Alcaraz is a writer, producer, and cultural consultant for movie, television and animation. He has worked on projects at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and was a cultural consultant on Pixar's Oscar-winning animated film “Coco”.

Also according to NBC News, the Herb Block Foundation, in a statement, noted that “one of the most striking pieces in his portfolio is his powerful homage to Chicano artist Emanuel Martínez’s 1967 Tierra o Muerte (Land or Death). Alcaraz cleverly replaces Emiliano Zapata’s rifle with a vaccine needle and titles the image Vacuna o Muerte (Vaccine or Death), creating a work that draws inspiration from the past in order to tackle the current pandemic”.

 

“No other political cartoonist working in the U.S. brings as much passion, dedication, and brilliance to the fight for fair immigration at the border and justice for the Latino community. Lalo Alcaraz’s courage and unapologetic focus on these and other civil rights issues makes him a deserving recipient of the 2022 Herblock Prize”, the foundation added.

The award ceremony will be held next month at the Library of Congress, in Washington.