Rank and File: Archival Poetry in Action

Artists were rank and file members of the Black Panther Party. They were not outsiders or embellishers, but people who used their words, images, photographs, and design to strengthen and carry the movement forward.

• Writers filled the pages of The Black Panther newspaper with food for thought and calls to action.
• Photographers documented programs and community work.
• Illustrators created posters, buttons, and other ephemera that carried the Panther’s messages into the streets.
• Poets sharpened the Party’s vision with language that stirred people’s hearts and demanded change.

Their labor also helped to build the Panther archives: newspapers, flyers, photographs, and other ephemera that have preserved our collective memory of the movement. To make and to keep an archive can be a radical work itself. Come learn and participate as we explore how artists were not only rank and file members of the Party but stewards of its history.

In this workshop, we will study Panther archives to see how artists were both movement builders and stewards of memory. Then, through poetry, printmaking, and button-making, we will create works of our own, adding to a living archive that connects past and present.

Facilitators:

Lyn Patterson is a poet, educator, and facilitator whose work bridges art and community. For this workshop, Lyn will guide the photo-mapping session, inviting participants to reflect on Panther themes through image and text.

Jude Garcia is an archivist and cultural worker at the Huey P. Newton Foundation. Jude works at the museum doing many things, and also helps to preserve and maintain archival materials. They will share about this work while holding space for button making.

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