Black power print

Abstract

This photographic essay focuses on the cover art of a wave of black radical periodicals which emerged in the United States during the 1960s to shed light on the intersections between Black Power, graphic design and black print culture. By examining the graphic design and artwork employed by ‘little black magazines’ such as Liberator, Soulbook and Black America, we can see the origins of a Black Power visual aesthetic which was most memorably rendered through the work of Emory Douglas and the Black Panther community newspaper during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In turn, I argue that such cover art can be understood as just one example of the visual intersections which emerged between black radical activism and black print culture in the United States during the years following World War II.