Meet Robb Armstrong

We recently connected with Robb Armstrong and have shared our conversation below.

Robb , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

There are many personal traits that can benefit a person who is ambitious. I can’t think of a single thing more important than resilience. I was blessed to witness this first-hand because I am the youngest of five, being raised by a single mother. Dorothy Armstrong was an extraordinary person. If she had not succumbed to cancer at the age of 49, I believe she would have been the person in my family to become famous. My mom was active during the civil rights era, and even met Dr. King. During the 1970’s she went to war against Philadelphia’s racist Mayor, Frank Rizzo.
Three of his soldiers, masquerading as police officers, brutally assaulted my brother, Mark . While repeatedly calling him a “nigger”, they beat him beyond recognition in a case of mistaken identity. Mark was only 16, and was too frightened to adequately clear up the confusion. My mother fought for years to get justice done for our family. At the same time, she enrolled me in private school. Shipley School was 98 per cent white and nearly all-girls. Mom clearly wanted a very different life for me from the pattern of trauma befalling my siblings. Before Mark was abused by the police, my oldest brother, Billy, was killed in a gruesome subway accident. He was caught between the doors of a moving train, and torn in half on July 1, 1968. A few weeks later, on July 31, a Black character was added to the cast of the wildly popular comic strip, “ PEANUTS “. I always loved the strip, especially the antics of “ Snoopy”. Retreating into the world of comic strips always gave me solice, even while grieving the loss of my oldest brother. I could mimic the art of Charles Schulz. My mother would praise my rudimentary artwork and boast to her friends that someday I would become a professional cartoonist .
The addition of Franklin was just the affirmation I needed! By seeing a little child who looked like me in the funnies, I was able to do what my mother was always doing: I could see through the fog of my dark present and embrace a bright future!
In just 20 years I would not just meet my idol, Charles Schulz, but become his close friend. I signed my contract to write and draw “ JumpStart “ on October 2, 1989. I was the youngest cartoonist in America at the time.
PEANUTS was also launched on October 2nd in 1950. During my friendship with Charles “ Sparky” Schulz, I would discover that he and I shared many eerie commonalities like that. His mother passed from cancer just like mine, when we both were about the same age: 19…. He and I both sold our first cartoons to a real publication at the age of 17…and we both hit it big at the same comic strip distributor, United Feature Syndicate. In other odd twist, that syndicate came up with the names of our comic strips, too. Schulz wanted to call his creation, “ Li’l Folks”, but they changed it to PEANUTS, which he never liked. The same thing happened when I signed with them! I had entitled my strip “ Cherry Top”, and they changed it to “ JumpStart “! I never knew what the word had to do with my strip about a young, married Black couple, and Sparky never knew what “ Peanuts” had to do with ANYTHING!
The main thing Schulz and I had in common was our approach to our craft. As Sparky told me the day we met in 1990, “ Your strip has what PEANUTS has: great characters….and great characters, Robb…that’s the whole thing!”
I was only published in 40 newspapers when I heard this, and I had almost no fans yet. It was the encouragement I needed. What a boost! But the best boost was yet to come.
In 1994, about four years into our friendship, Sparky called me on the phone to ask me a favor. He told me he was working on a DVD called,” You’re in The SuperBowl, Charlie Brown”.
“ Robb, isn’t it strange that “ Frankin “ has no last name?
Schulz was frequently worried about the authenticity of the Black character in his strip. Justifiably, he felt less connection to Franklin than he felt with Charlie Brown and the rest of the cast.
Franklin had entered his iconic strip at the urging of a woman named Harriet Glickman, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. She was a Jewish schoolteacher, and began writing Schulz letters, imploring him to “ help ease the unrest” of a nation torn apart by racism and violence. She did not know Schulz, and this effort required determination and resilience. Schulz resisted adding a Black character for fear that the effort would come off patronizing. After all, what did a white mid-western man know about the Black experience? Well, Schulz was well-versed in the HUMAN experience and gave in to Harriet Glickman. The addition was controversial. Schulz’ own editor balked,” readers in certain parts of the country won’t like this, Sparky. We won’t run the strips featuring “ Franklin”!
“Either you run those strips exactly as I submitted them, or I quit”.
This bold stance by Schulz demolishes the notion that Charles Schulz was racist. Many years later, in a 1970’s Thanksgiving PEANUTS special, “ Franklin is shown seated separately from the rest of the gang at supper. In the internet era, accusations of Schulz’ racist intent in regard to the staging of that scene begin to fly.
In 1994, Schulz asked me if he could give “ Franklin” my last name-Armstrong.
Of course I approved and told Sparky it would be an honor. But alas, it has turned out to be so much more than that. It is confirmation that Dorothy Armstrong was right.
“Welcome Home Franklin” is now streaming on AppleTVplus. The screenplay was written by Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano, and Robb Armstrong.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Philanthropy is of the utmost importance to me. “ The Armstrong Project” is a collaborative effort between myself and PEANUTS Worldwide. It is an endowment and internship opportunity for students at two HBCUs: Hampton University and Howard.
I am also the national spokesman for The Police Athletic League. It is a program to engage youth and police officers in positive programs and activities.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The most important skill in life is listening. Your supporters and your critics are right.
Use what both are saying to try your best to improve.
Fearlessness is next. Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be concerned that some people may accuse you of being too aggressive as you are on your journey to achieve your goals.
And don’t quit. Never, ever quit. Keep punching even after the bell has rung!

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Everyone faces moments of doubt, no matter how successful you are. What’s most important for me to remember at times like that is this simple fact :
I did not get here without a lot of help. Help from family. Help from friends. Help from fans. Help from God. I even get quite a lot of help from the imaginary characters who populate my comic strip, “ JumpStart “. Now, before you suggest psychiatric help for me, please understand…my characters have survived and succeeded in the newspaper business because they seem real to people. They really are “ real” to me. They have a history, they go through the ups and downs of life along with me. I’m not like them in every way. I like creating them in a way that they live “ on their own” and figure things out. It’s divine, in a way…God lets us live on our own and figure things out, too. But in moments of doubt we can turn to our support systems and our faith.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://robbarmstrong.com
• Instagram: @robbtarmstrong
• Facebook: Robb Armstrong
• Youtube: Robbarmstrong
• Other: robb@robbarmstrong.com