Home Exhibition Virtual TourFaith Ringgold, "Committee to Defend the Panthers"

Faith Ringgold, "Committee to Defend the Panthers"

Transcript of this podcast:

Committee to Defend the Panthers by Faith Ringgold is a reprinted serigraph from an original 1971 cut-and-pasted colored paper, pencil, and press type on paper. This serigraph is an incredibly bright and violently red print, where the artist addresses a political topic, the Black Panthers, and advocates in the defense of their movement.

For some additional background, The Panthers were a leftist black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California.

The text is first to emerge in Ringgold’s print - starting at the top of the print with bold black letters in all capital letters “Committee to” followed by a drawing of a multi faced figure. “ Defend” appears on the top and “the Panthers' ' right below the chin. The central figure, a black monochrome head of a bald man, with bright green lips, eyes, eyebrows and nose definition seems to be opening its mouth in a “shouting” perspective. Its bright red pupils are powerfully frightening: the non-human feel of the figure provokes distress. An undertext reads” Free all political prisoners'' , and right below “All power to the people”, with a bold emphasis on “All power `` and ''people.” Finally, the artist implanted an address at the very bottom left of the print: 11 E 13th St NYC and a phone number onto the right- 243-2260, guiding the audience to join a specific location, known to be the Panther offices, or simply call that number.

The poster, officiating as an “ad” for supporters of the movement, is part of a larger series on the Black Panthers that surprisingly lacks their official logo. This is a deliberate choice from the artist, who is showcasing here a personal gesture in favor of the movement.

Right by the Committee to Defend the Panthers, you will be able to find All Power to the People just recently reprinted by the Artist and Curlee R Holton, director of the David C Driskell Center and owner of Raven Editions. Once again, this series originated in 1971 and aimed to showcase support and advocate for the rights of the Black movement, despite tensions between them and the American government at the time.