Emory Douglas was an art student at City College in San Francisco, CA when he decided to join the Black Panther Party. He traveled frequently from San Francisco to Oakland to spend time with the organization’s founders, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. One visit, Seale was designing the cover for the first issue of the party’s newspaper, The Black Panther, and Douglas offered to assist. That moment led to Douglas’ role as the Art Director for the paper and the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, a position he served from 1967 to the 1980s.
Douglas’ work is easily recognizable – his bold lines, fearless imagery, and use of text jumps off the page. His intent was to create clear, powerful imagery that could communicate effectively to the paper’s audience, many of them being poor and illiterate. Every design was a visual representation of the revolution – the injustices, the solidarity, the anger, the fight, the blood, and the power. The Black Panther reached thousands of readers.
Huey P. Newton would have been 73 years old today. A charismatic and intelligent leader, Newton’s passion to eradicate the injustices experienced by black and brown people is still inspiring. For creatives, Douglas’ artwork is just as powerful. He illustrated a entire movement with intent and style. He still creates, although independently, and his work continues to discuss political and social injustices such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic, prison-industrial complex, and crime within the black community. See what Douglas’ is doing now at his website, http://emorydouglasart.com/.
{all power to the people}
pics + brushes 