Black Panther Party

Emory Douglas created the striking graphic images that came to represent the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, ‘70s and early’80s. The group was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, and was one of the first organisations in US history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation.

Symbolising the civil unrest of the times, Emory Douglas’ images were used to illustrate the Black Panther, the party’s weekly newspaper. Over the years, the Black Panther’s “Revolutionary Artist” made countless artworks, illustrations, and cartoons, which were reproduced in the paper and distributed as prints, posters, cards and sculptures.

Thanks in large part to Emory Douglas’ powerful visuals the Black Panther Party delivered a forceful message to a community ravaged by poverty, police brutality, and poor living conditions. The organisation was discontinued in the early 1980s.

Emory Douglas is today recognised as an artist in his own right, and his works have been mounted in solo exhibitions around the world and included in the 2008 SydneyBiennale. Currently, he has a major retrospective exhibit on display at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City.

“Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution” will be delivered at 6.30pm on Monday 24 August in room 1.439, “Glass Box”, Engineering Building, (20 Symonds Street). The lecture and Power Point presentation is free and open to the public.

room 1.439, “Glass Box”, Engineering Building, (20 Symonds Street)