Almost here… the first edition of Publics and Publication Nº1; Emory Douglas. Rumor has it that our neighbor, Marlon James, is going to write the forward to it as well!
Here’s a bit of a primer to Emory’s genius.
Against the Picture – Window: A Time of the Phoenix Compendium is rolling and ready for its release during the Young Patriots Uptown walking tour Friday afternoon in Chicago. Can’t wait! This book is fantastic.
BLACK GIRL – Shirley Clark
They call me black girl,
But yet, I am not black.
I say to myself , “why do they call me black?”
Black means something dead or bad.
I know I am not dead for I am breathing.
I don`t feel like I`m bad,I`m good.
But then again what is bad? What is good?
They call me black girl
I don`t understand.
I do understand that, that is my name
They put on me.
So be it me or not be it me.
I am proud, I stand tall, I am brave
And strong.
I cry , laugh, and reach out…
They call me Black Girl.
1973 TOP
from Against the Picture – Window: A Time of the Phoenix Compendium
Sun, Dec. 13, 2015 ⁄ 4:30–5:30pm
Publics and Publication: A Conversation with Emory Douglas
As part of an intermittent series of conversations taking place at Beyond Repair entitled Publics and Publication, Emory Douglas (artist and former Minister of Culture for The Black Panther Party) and Sam Gould (Editor of Red76) will discuss the role of the BPP’s newspaper, The Black Panther, as not simply a fixed object existing to move information along, but a very specific device to form a public around the desires and ideals of the Black Panther Party and its orbit.
The conversation will touch on both the practical elements of putting out the paper, but equally as much the theoretical role and value of The Black Panther and how it served as a tool to illustrate distance between individuals, a device that opened up a space of questioning for the reader, pragmatically, within their day. Inasmuch The Black Panther was both a physical object, allowed to travel relatively freely within the world, but just as much a subject, a tool for public-making afforded a nature as complex as its readership.
Not solely with an eye towards the past, the conversation will utilize the history and role of the paper in its moment as a way to consider the tactical uses of publication within our own moment, both here in Minneapolis’s 9th Ward, and further afield.
Early in the new year a book will be produced from the evenings discussion, available for sale at Beyond Repair and online. Sales from the book will be used to create new actions, publications, programs, and more to address the role of the 3rd Precinct within the 9th Ward of South Minneapolis and how the precincts actions affect the quality of life of 9th Ward residents.
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We’d very much like to thank the folks at Juxtaposition Arts, as well as Penumbra Theatre, and the Walker Art Center, for their support and collaboration in bringing Mr. Douglas to Minneapolis and Beyond Repair.