Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 51

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(BLACK PANTHERS.) Emory Douglas. All Power to the People [Black Panther newsboy]. Poster, 15 x 22¾ inches, on newsprint; no toning, vertical fold, minimal wear, blank on verso, spot-mounted to modern mat board in two spots. San Francisco, CA: [Black Panther Party] Ministry of Information, [1969]

Additional Details

A rifle-toting newsboy hawks copies of the Black Panther newspaper. The image originally appeared with different coloring in the 9 March 1969 issue of the Black Panther: Black Community News Service. It was not purely metaphor: the very next issue had an article recruiting boys to hawk the newspaper on the streets. See Vincent DiGirolamo, "Crying the News: A History of America's Newsboys," page 561; Art of Emory Douglas, pages 8-9 (illustration of the newspaper version).

The original newspaper printing was in brown and black, with the printed signature reading "Emory 69," and the publication date and page number near the left margin. We have also seen a version with similar colors but the newspapers in blue, and the signature reading "Emory 69," with artist credit lines and imprint in the lower margin. This version leaves the newspapers white, and the "69" has been removed from the signature.