Emory Douglas & buZ blurr connect at my old store/gallery back in 2008. Photo by the homie Shaun Roberts

And, for those who care about such things, here’s an interview that I did with buZ around that same time:

2 Sides To Every Boxcar

I hired out in ‘62 and didn’t start marking the cars until November ‘71. So that nine-year interim I was working various night jobs, and I had given up my idea on any kind of art, and had started reading novels like Vonnegut’s; all his greatest novels featuring his Kilgore Trout character—a writer that didn’t have readers, but he continued writing compulsively. I was also reading ‘Understanding Media’ by McLuhan, RD Laing’s ‘Politics of Experience,’ and those other heavy thinkers like Skinner and the conditioned response of his experiments and all that. So during all this time I had been in an afternoon job—it was one of the first times I’d had a regular daylight job—and most times I was working at night on switch engines and locals. So on this job I was working what they call the long field position, and I was down in the yard—the rail yard was downhill—and I had to keep the tracks from rolling out the north end so I had to keep the head brakes tied down on all the rails. So after I had that done, I was just laying down in amongst the cars to make certain they didn’t roll out. I had some free time so I decided to be a vandal myself, you know?

Rat Subterranean News (1970)

Seale was arrested in California in connection with the alleged New Haven, Connecticut torture-slaying of Alex Rackley, a Panther recruit from New York. Eleven other Panthers (mostly members of the New Haven BPP chapter) were indicted as well. The main witness against Seale and the others turned out to be one of the defendants, George Sams, a police infiltrator and former psychiatric patient who had worked his way into a position in the Panther security apparatus before being expelled from the party by Seale. As it turned out, Sams had accused Rackley of being an informer and had himself carried the bad-jacketing effort through a week-long interrogation during which the young recruit was chained to a bed and scalded with boiling water. Sams had then killed him, dumping the body in a swampy area where it was soon discovered by fishermen.

In the aftermath, one New Haven Panther, Warren Kimbro, pled guilty to second degree murder, not for having killed Rackley, but for not having prevented his death; he was sentenced to life in prison. A second, Lonnie McLucas, was tried alone, convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to 15 years. Sams, the actual killer, was also eventually given a life sentence, despite his various police connections.

Although it was plain that the culprits in this ugly matter had been dealt with—even the New Haven Police Chief James F. Ahern stated publicly that there was no evidence that Bobby Seale had been involved in Rackley’s death—the state proceeded to bring Seale, along with Ericka Huggins (widow of assassinated LA Panther leader Jon), another “notable,” to trial. Apparently, the hope was that the earlier confession and convictions would have tempered public sentiment against the BPP to such an extent that these defendants would be found guilty on the basis of party membership alone. In this the government was disappointed when the “jury in the trial was ready to acquit Seale but…two jurors refused to vote for acquittal unless [Ericka Huggins] was convicted. [Judge Harold M. Mulveny then] ordered both cases dismissed [on May 24, 1971] when the jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked.” State apologists promptly claimed “justice” had been served, but by then Seale had served more than two years in maximum security lockup without bail, much of it in solitary confinement, without ever having been convicted of anything at all, and was never really able to resume his former galvanizing role in the party. —The COINTELPRO Papers by Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall

Emory Grinds ‘Em Down

Emory Douglas

To celebrate the recent release of my book, On the Ground, the good people at Spoke Art Gallery in San Francisco will be hosting a one-night exhibit of newspapers from the sixties underground press this Friday. They’ll also be releasing the Emory Douglas print you see above. The image is featured on page 69 of On the Ground and originally appeared in the November 14, 1970 issue of The Black Panther, the official newspaper of the the Black Panther Party. The print measures 18”x24”, is signed by Emory Douglas, and is in a strict edition of 100. $50. Don’t sleep!

Opening reception - Friday, January 13, 2012

Complimentary refreshments - 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

One night only.

Spoke Art Gallery

816 Sutter St

San Francisco, CA 94109

We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings

First as Revolutionary Artist and later as Minister of Culture Emory Douglas oversaw the layout and publication of The Black Panther, which reached a circulation of 400,000 copies per week at its peak. Here he illustrates Point 4 of the Black Panther Party Platform on the back cover of a 1970 issue of the paper.

Tomorrow, October 15, marks the 45th anniversary of the birth of the Black Panther Party and Emory’s artwork was an integral element of the notoriously wide appeal of the Party. Below is the studio visit that Shaun Roberts and I did with Emory back in 2008. He talks about his childhood growing up in the Fillmore district of San Francisco, his involvement with the Black Panther Party, and his artwork.

The walls belong to the people. Emory Douglas’ artwork wheatpasted on the walls in Berkeley in the early 70s.