Political Posters
The Archive gathered posters from all streams of progressive activity — from movements of protest, liberation, and affirmative action, trade union and community struggles, to electoral and environmental organizing, community services, and visionary manifestos. It is strongest in work from the San Francisco Bay Area, but its scope is national: approximately one-quarter of its holdings come from out of state, primarily New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. These are complemented by a representation of international work. The collection consists of approximately 24,500 distinct titles.
The collection includes examples from well-known graphic artists including Malaquías Montoya, Emory Douglas, Rachael Romero, Rupert Garcia, Yolanda Lopez, Favianna Rodriguez, Carlos Cortez, Nancy Hom, Juan Fuentes, and Jos Sances, as well as material from seminal collective workshops such as La Raza Silkscreen, the Royal Chicano Air Force, Japantown Art and Media, Kearny Street Workshop, and Inkworks Press. Perhaps more important, the depth and breadth of the collection reveals the contribution of numerous lesser known or even anonymous artists whose cumulative impact on this democratic public art form has yet to be properly understood.
The cataloging of the AOUON Archive was made possible by a generous grant from the Stephen M. Silberstein Foundation.
1992
This is a black and white poster with a large photograph of an African man with his head sticking out of calm water from the mouth up. There is a wide margin around the photo, which takes up 2/3... |
1992
This horizontally-oriented poster is gold colored in the bottom 2/3, with a wavy top border giving way to a white background at the top of the page. There are black silhouettes of people engaged... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This white poster features a black and white image of an African American man, Bobby Seale, in the bottom two thirds of the page. Very large, black text in the upper left corner reads "Free /... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This black and white poster features an illustration of a group of African American men and women of all ages in the center of the pages. Large text at the top of the page reads "Black People Get... |
1988
This poster is printed on thick, yellow, textured paper. The central portion is screen printed with a black background and a yellow lion holding a sword and wearing a crown. "Ethiopia" appears in... |
1998
This poster has a wide, white margin around the outer edge. Inside, the poster advertises the "Black Expo / 98" at the "Oakland Convention Center". There is an orange box with a black silhouette... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This is a tan poster with a black and tan image of people burning several crosses in the center. Large, red text above the image reads "A Cross-Burning Is Racist Terror" and continues across the... |
1988
This is a white poster with a wide margin around a double-lined black border enclosing a black and white illustration. Black text in the top margin reads "Now Is The Time * Jesse Can Win In ''88... |
1977
This horizontally-oriented poster features a red, white, and blue illustration of a person with an American flag streaming out from behind their head. There are red, elliptical lines connecting... |
1979
This poster has a gray background with red, black, and green triangular sections extending from the upper left edge to the bottom of the page. There are black and white photograph cut-outs of... |
2003
This poster fades from black through blue to black again from top to bottom. There is a color image of Louis Farrakhan in the upper center of the page. A collage of images of rockets, fighter... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This horizontally-oriented poster is printed on gray, textured paper. A black and gray illustration of two African American men, depicted from the shoulders up, fills the page aside from a 2-inch... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This is a black, white, and gray poster with black text at the top reading "The Black Panther / Intercommunal News Service / Published Weekly By The Black Panther Party / .25c". There is a black... |
1970
This is a newspaper centerfold with a large, grayscale photograph of Bobby Seale from the waist up The photograph was taken by Stephen Shames. There is a quote concerning "Bobby Seale... |
1973
This is a white poster with black images and text. There is an illustration of the African continent covered with cracks and surrounded by a chain. Hands reach in from both edges of the poster... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This horizontally-oriented poster is composed of a black and white photograph of Eldridge Cleaver wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket and speaking into a microphone. He is visible from the... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This poster is printed in black on tan paper. There is an image of a police officer with "Philadelphia / State ___" printed on the back of his uniform filling the center of the page. A body is... |
1978
This is a white poster with large green text at the top reading "African Liberation Day ''78". The upper 2/3 of the page is filled with an image featuring green illustrated people against a red... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This is a beige poster with a thin black border around the outer edge. Inside the border is a black outlined illustration of a man and a woman in red patterned shirts. The man is standing in front... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This horizontally-oriented poster has a greenish yellow, double-lined border around the outer edge. Large, black text at the top of the page reads "Proud Nubians". There is a black, orange, and... |
1978
This horizontally-oriented poster is filled with a print of a gray and white illustration of 3 African Americans sitting in a room. Two are seated in the foreground and one in the background is... |
1998
This is a purple poster with half of a large, gray and white face filling the right half of the page. There are wavy yellow lines an a red circle on face''s forehead and a multicolored set of... |
1974
This poster has a 1.5 inch white margin around a black and white illustration of an African woman seen from the shoulders up. She is wearing strings of white beads around her neck and long... |
Late 20th Early 21st Century
This poster has a 3-inch white margin around a black and white illustration of a dark-skinned man in billowy white pants, a white tank top, and a cylindrical white hat. The man is holding a bow... |