Editorial cartoonist Mike Smith poses for a photo with the filing cabinets that house 35 years of cartoons created by Smith for the Las Vegas Sun Tuesday Feb. 9, 2021. The artwork is being donated to UNLV Libraries Special Collections & Archives.
Monday, July 4, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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Today, the United States of America celebrates our Independence Day — the anniversary of the day we declared ourselves to be free of British rule and the oppression of King George III. The result of our declaration was the American Revolutionary War.
The U.S. victory over the goliath British military, which at the time was the largest on earth and controlled massive territory on every inhabited continent, was nothing short of extraordinary, astounding, miraculous and monumental.
But we didn’t do alone. Without the assistance of the French, it’s possible those early American patriots would have been drawn into a war of attrition that we could not win. It took unity, heroism and the courage to admit when we needed help for a poorly funded, poorly outfitted and undertrained group of militiamen to topple what was then the world’s greatest military superpower and turn the Western world on its head.
This is one of the reasons we celebrate with bombastic displays of pride and exuberance demonstrated with red-white-and-blue parades and fireworks synced to timelessly patriotic music. It’s also one of the reasons why we, the editorial board, enjoy Independence Day so much.
It’s a reminder of our boundless potential to work together with our allies to do great things, and literally change the course of human history. Unfortunately, as history has shown, we also have the potential to do terrible things and to fail to live up to our own ideals.
We’ve written a lot lately about how America is in trouble. About how democracy is in trouble. And about how violent nationalism and white supremacy that we thought had been relegated to the dark corners of our communities is rising, organizing and growing once again.
We believe those statements. We believe that the United States has not faced a darker hour since the Civil War.
And yet, we also believe that our only hope of fulfilling the promise of our great nation for all its people is to recognize, celebrate, and recommit ourselves to that promise.
Celebration is important.
It offers us the opportunity to not only enjoy a moment, but to reflect upon and appreciate all that has been accomplished. It also offers us the opportunity to come together — as families, as neighbors, as community members, as Nevadans and as Americans.
That’s why, in addition to celebrating our Independence Day, the editorial board is taking a moment to celebrate our editorial cartoonist, Mike Smith.
Smith got his start here at the Sun, where we have been proud to provide a gallery for his art since 1983. At the time the Sun hired him, he was pumping gas by night for National Car Rental at Los Angeles International Airport.
Today, Smith continues to call Las Vegas and the Sun his home, but his art can be seen under the Las Vegas Sun banner in publications across the country including The New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
Recently, Smith was honored with the 2021’s Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Editorial Cartooning — a national award. Smith’s work was selected in competition with his peers at the largest newspapers across the country.
This simply affirms what we’ve all known: Mike Smith’s work in the Sun offers a unique and delightful critique of the world around us. His graceful sense of humor, acute eye for irony, refined perspective on events and deft illustration style are world class.
But as accomplished as Smith is, he will be the first to admit that he is just part of a larger team, and that team is just one part of the many incredible Las Vegas and Nevada communities.
“When I was young, if you asked me what it took to be a political cartoonist,” he said, “I would have answered with the usual inward-looking responses about constant reading, determination and consistency. But with age I’ve come to realize that many of the good things that happen in an artist’s career are due to relationships with the people you meet and work for and the feedback and support from readers. I’m grateful for all those people.”
We’re grateful for them too.
So, as we celebrate our Independence Day, we offer our deep appreciation and gratitude to our entire team at the Sun, and to you, our readers. We genuinely couldn’t do it without you.
We hope you enjoy a safe, healthy and joy-filled holiday. We hope you celebrate with loved ones and take joy in your and their accomplishments. And we hope that in your celebration, you find a moment to reflect on not only the history of our great nation, but on the future potential of who and what we could be.
