RONDO DAYZ & BROKEN ROBOTS
By Mizz Mercedez
Yes, I own it. As a Baby Boomer, I was one of those kids who collected comic books back in the day. I remember my collections of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash, and the Justice League of America. Much as I enjoyed them in a world of fantasy, as an adult, there was one pesky fly in the ointment—none of the characters looked like me, unlike today when you have Black Panther.
That being said, I present to you the newest comic creations by our own Mizz Mercedez—Rondo Dayz and Broken Robots.
Dedicated to Floyd Smaller, Rondo Dayz honors the history of St. Paul’s Rondo community. During a class discussion, Mizz Mercedez’s students are upset about what happened to so many families that lived in Rondo prior to the construction of I-94. In response to their questions, she teleports them back to 1957 and the start of Trumpet Newspaper and the Backyard Circus.
From there, our Mizz Mercedez takes her class forward to different points in time, spotlighting the Who’s Who in Rondo and significant events affecting the community, leading up to the first Rondo Dayz celebration in 1983.
The first paragraph of this comic book is both powerful and sets the tone: “The elders in your life will have keys to the future! Be sure to listen, their stories will show you the way!”
Where Rondo Dayz highlights the richness of our history, Broken Robots takes us into a not-so-distant future, one where students at the Rondo School of Arts are absorbed in social media, technology, and the ubiquitous cell phones. This book shows us what happens when schoolwork suffers and students have allowed digital technology to control their minds, leading to bad choices in their interactions with and treatment of others, not to mention “Detention!”
I appreciate Mizz Mercedez’s ways of engaging the reader, both entertaining and teaching simultaneously. Indeed, her comic books appeal to adults as well as children. Even as a Baby Boomer, I learned more about the history of the Rondo community while remembering facets of it as well. In Broken Robots, I give her a hat tip for illustrating the dangers of overdependence on technology in our daily lives, when it is not used wisely.
Rondo Dayz and Broken Robots are available through her website, mizzmercedez.com.
Thank you, Mizz Mercedez, for your love for and pride in the community, and for carrying our history forward in your creative, engaging way. Looking forward to your next installments!
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
