Day of International Solidarity with the People of Zimbabwe
Third World Liberation
This 1967 poster, by Cuban designer and filmmaker, Alfredo Rostgaard, promotes a Day of International Solidarity with the People of Zimbabwe. The poster was published by OSPAAAL, the Organisation in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America, the main publisher of international solidarity posters in Cuba. Notably, these colorful propaganda posters were not designed to be posted on walls within Cuba, as others were. Instead, they were folded and stapled inside the magazine, Tri-Continental, where they were then distributed internationally. Rostgaard was the artistic director of OSPAAAL for nine years, beginning in 1966.
Alfredo Rostgaard
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1967
poster
Zimbabwe Liberation Day
Third World Liberation
This poster, promotes a Zimbabwe Liberation Day event in Pittsburgh, sponsored by the local chapter of the African Liberation Support Committee. According to the African Activist Archive, “The African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC), a black activist organization that supported Pan Africanism, was organized at a conference in September 1972 in Detroit, Michigan. ALSC grew out of the first African Liberation Day (ALD) on May 27, 1972 that drew some 60,000 demonstrators in cities across the U.S. and Canada. The first ALD grew out of a trip of a group of black activists to Mozambique's liberated areas in the summer of 1971. One of the activists on that trip was Owusu Sadaukai who, upon his return, convened a meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina that led to the first ALD demonstration, which was designed to show support for African liberation struggles. A second ALSC conference was held in 1974 and was attended by 51 local committees from 27 states and six countries. ALSC organized African Liberation Day each May, and in 1973 demonstrations were held in more than 30 cities with an estimated 100,000 participants. The 1973 African Liberation Day included a call to boycott Portuguese products and Gulf Oil because of its operation in Angola. By 1974 ideological conflicts and other factors including class and regional differences weakened the organization. Many of those who had been involved in ALSC went on to found or join other organizations supporting African struggles against colonialism and apartheid.” During the late-1970s, the United States and Soviet Union engaged in diplomatic maneuvers to discuss Cold War politics on the African continent, including Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia).
unknown
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. late-1970s
poster
Jornada de la Marcha Combatiente Hacia el Moncada
Cuban Revolution
On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro led a small group of revolutionaries in an attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The barracks was the second largest in Cuba and had been named for General Guillermon Moncada, a heroic figure from Cuba’s War for Independence in the 1890s. The attempted coup failed, with eight killed, several more wounded and more than seventy captured and tortured by the Batista regime, including Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul. Fidel Castro initially escaped into the countryside, but was later captured and placed on trial. During the theatrical trial, Castro famously said, "You may condemn me. History will absolve me." Following the 1959 revolution, Castro would mark the storming of Moncada as the start of the struggle against the Batista regime. This poster commemorates that event.
unknown
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1980
poster
FSLN Flag
Anti-Colonialism
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a Democratic Socialist political party and movement in Nicaragua named after Augusto Cesar Sandino, who led the opposition struggle against the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. When the Sandinistas took power in the late-1970s, the United States, particularly the administration of Ronald Reagan, worked to undermine the regime as a part of a broader military interventionist policy against Latin America in the 1980s. The Reagan Administration funded and helped train the Contras, which sought to disrupt economic development and social programs in Nicaragua and overthrow the Sandinistas. After the U.S. Congress outlawed arms sales to the Contras, the Reagan Administration illegally continued the funding, resulting in the largest of many scandals during the Reagan years.
FSLN
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. 1980s
flag
Nguyễn Thị Bình
Anti-Vietnam War Movement
Nguyễn Thị Bình is a Vietnamese communist leader and politician who helped negotiate and signed the Paris Peace Treaty of 1973, ending the War in Vietnam. Bình was born in 1927 and joined the Communist Party in Vietnam in 1948. Her anti-colonial activism led to her imprisonment by the French from 1951-1953. During the War in Vietnam, Bình received increasing international attention, serving on the Vietcong’s Central Committee, head of the South Vietnamese Women’s Liberation Association and as the foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, an underground government opposed to the regime of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. Bình was seen as an international symbol of Third World women’s liberation. After the war, Bình served in a variety of roles in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, including two terms as Vice-President from 1992-2002. This poster is signed and inscribed, “Best wishes for American Women’s Liberation.”
unknown
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. early-1970s
poster
Tengo Puerto Rico En Mi Corazon (I have Puerto Rico in my heart)
Puerto Rican Nationalism
The Young Lords Organization (YLO) functioned as a Puerto Rican nationalist group geographically focused in large urban areas such as Chicago and New York City. The YLO sought to address U.S. imperialism, Puerto-Rican self-determination, and public health access.
Young Lords Organization
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. late-1960s
Button
Physical Object
New York Committee in Support of Vieques
Puerto Rican Nationalism
This pamphlet, written in Spanish and English, is sharply critical of the U.S. military presence on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
New York Committee in Support of Vieques
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. 1980
pamphlet
"From Slavery to Freedom: A Story from Angola," by Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Angola Liberation Movement
This artifact includes an essay about the history of colonialism in Angola and the struggle for liberation, as well as a comic.
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, published by People's Press
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1976
pamphlet
For a Bicentennial Without Colonies
American Indian Movement
This broadside by the Native American Solidarity Committee pokes at the ironies inherent in the 1976 U.S. bicentennial celebration when viewed from the vantage of Native Americans.
Native American Solidarity Committee
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. 1976
newsprint
broadside
Seize the Time
Black Power
This leaflet calls for an armed self-defensive revolution in a post-1968 state, citing themes such as discrimination based on age, gender, race, and class. This leaflet also links the experiences of black Americans, particularly in urban spaces, to that of the Vietnamese peoples.
unknown
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. late-1960s or early-1970s
mimeograph
leaflet
The Black Panther, December 14, 1970
Black Power
Published on December 14, 1970, this issue of the The Black Panther includes articles on: housing discrimination and poor sanitation conditions in New York City; a garbage dump in Rockford, Illinois; a message to black entertainers; the Cabrini Green housing project; a police attack in Berkeley; a letter to the Black Student Union at Laney College; resolutions and declarations from the People’s Revolutionary Constitutional Convention; a message to black G.I.’s; anti-colonialism in Korea; updates on the cases of Bobby Seale, Ericka Huggins and Lonnie McLucas; the murders of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark just 10 days earlier in Chicago; anti-Imperialism and a war crimes tribunal that took place at the University of California; the case of Raymond Brooks and Katherine Robinson; Community Survival Programs; , the ten point program; Revolutionary Greeting Cards; and, artwork by Emory Douglas.
The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
December 14, 1970
underground press
The Black Panther, October 10, 1970
Black Power
Printed on October 10, 1970, this issue of The Black Panther is filled with various articles from other Black Panther Party chapters across the U.S., one particular article from the Philadelphia chapter compares police brutality in Philadelphia to the 1968 My Lai Massacre that took place during the Vietnam War. Another article from the Baltimore chapter highlights terrible conditions in the South Baltimore community due to episodes of police brutality and poor housing conditions. In Boston, the Panthers write about the right to free public school but are denied the right to walk freely to and from Curley School. The Bay Area National Lawyers Guild includes a "Guide to Know Your Rights" that outlines an individuals rights when stopped by law enforcement officials. Also included in this issue are articles about police repression in several cities; the case of Willie Turner, Jr; the Winston-Salem N.C.C.F.; General Motors; capitalism and dope; welfare system; Neo-colonialism and genocide; the trials of Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins; a youth conference; a Boston bank robbery; a letter from the "Soledad 7" thanking the Black Panther Party for their support; international news shorts; and, art by Emory Douglas.
The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
October 10, 1970
underground press
Osawatomie, June-July 1976, vol. 2, no. 2
Weather Underground
Newsletter of the Weather Underground summarizing the latest happenings in the underground, including a notice for an anti-colonial march in Philly, San Fran and L.A. on the bicentennial; news briefs including a short obituary of Phil Ochs; and articles about U.S. meddling in Cuba’s upcoming election; unemployment; the history of Reconstruction and its failure; “anti-imperialism vs. opportunity: a self-critique”; racism in Boston; indigenous sovereignty; and a piece of serialized fiction, “The People, The People.”
Weather Underground
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
June-July 1976, vol. 2, no. 2
underground press
FNL de Vietnam del Sur
Cuban Revolution
According to a 2015 article in Slate Magazine by Rebecca Onion, this poster was one of a set created by Cuban artist Felix René Mederos Pazos, "the product of a trip Mederos took to Vietnam in 1969, on assignment from the Cuban government's Department of Revolutionary Orientation.
Cuban artists often addressed international subjects, in alignment with the Cuban Revolution's political focus. (Other posters produced around this time expressed solidarity with anti-colonial guerrillas in Angola, Black Panthers in Watts, California, and the people of Hiroshima, Japan.) These Mederos posters repeated the slogan 'Como en Vietnam,' which was meant to encourage Cubans to emulate the resourcefulness of the North Vietnamese in their daily lives." Roz Payne travelled to Cuban during the 1960s-era as a part of the Venceremos Brigade.
To read Onion's full article, click here: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2015/05/01/history_of_cuba_and_vietnam_posters_by_rene_mederos.html
Cuban artist Felix René Mederos Pazos
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1969
poster
RAT Subterranean News, May 22-June 4, 1970
New Left
RAT Subterranean News was published in New York, starting in March of 1968 and was edited by Jeff Shero, Alice Embree and Gary Thiher, who had come North from Austin, Texas, where they worked on The Rag, another important underground paper. Whereas the East Village Other represented the counterculture point of view, RAT had a left political orientation. This issue covers a wide range of topics, including media and revolution; Joan Bird and Dionne Donghi; a labor walk-out at Bell Telephone in New York; the police killing of six black men in Augusta, Georgia; police killing of two students at Jackson State; street-fighting between Puerto Rican youths and police on the Lower East Side; poetry; the role of women in the labor movement; brief reports on anti-colonial struggles in Portuguese’s African colonies; corporate repression of indigenous people in Brazil; 9 days of global activism in May; revolutionary feminism; squatting; “The Woman-Identified Woman”; How to…; emergency first aid for street warfare; ads and personals; repression against marijuana advocates; letters to the editor.
RAT Subterranean News
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
May 22-June 4, 1970
underground press
Fatigue Press, no. 33, September 1971
G.I. Anti-War Movement
Fatigue Press was one of a number of underground newspapers created by G.I.’s for G.I.’s during the Vietnam War. Fatigue Press was created by soldiers at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and published from 1968 to 1972. Articles in this issue address summary court martials; wage-freeze; Ft. Hood United Front policy; pollution; torture of children in jails; prostitution at Fort Hood; war bonds; poetry; the murder of George Jackson; Laos air war; lettuce boycott; Nixon's trip to China; the arrest of a staff member; U.S. control of Puerto Rico; Fort Hood United Front platform.
Fatigue Press
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
September 1971
underground press
New Left Notes, vol. 2, no. 3, January 20, 1967
New Left
New Left Notes was the official newspaper published by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This issue includes articles about the Selective Service System; Minneapolis Community Union Project (M-CUP); psychedelic warfare at the University of Connecticut; Bertrand Russell Foundation report; equality for women; draft resistance; upcoming spring mobilization against the war; proposal on the “domestic economic aspects of the war”; Puerto Rican independence; report from France; national office expenses; war crimes tribunal petition; literature list; letters to the editor.
Students for a Democratic Society
Bruce Pech
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
January 20, 1967
underground press
New Left Notes, vol. 1, no. 44, November 18, 1966
New Left Notes was the official newspaper published by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This issue includes articles about councilmanic redistricting; anti-draft activism; an anti-war event in London; a plea to the people of America from prominent Latin Americans against the War in Vietnam; Malcolm X, power, politics and organizing; the case of Jeff Segal; war profiteering; university reform; Latin American Defense Organization; Radical Education Project; planning for the upcoming National Council meeting; report from Columbia, Missouri; analysis of anti-draft conference in Chicago; report of activism by San Fernando Valley State SDS chapter; report from first Mid-Atlantic SDS meeting; protest by magistrates in Pikeville, Kentucky; African liberation in Guinea, Angola and Mozambique.
Students for a Democratic Society
Bruce Pech
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
November 18, 1966
underground press
The Guardian, April 16, 1975
New Left
The National Guardian was a radical, left newsweekly published out of New York City from 1948-1992. The paper was established by James Aronson, Cedric Belfrage, who were committed activists for the Progressive Party and Henry Wallace presidential campaign, as well as John McManus and Josiah Gitt, both liberal newspaper men, though Gitt quickly dropped out. In addition to the Progressive Party, the newspaper also held ties with American communists and the labor movement. The Cold War took a toll on the newspaper, with the decline of the Progressive Party and the rise of McCarthyism in the U.S. During the post-WWII era, the newspaper focused coverage on opposition to the Cold War and militarism, support for emerging anti-colonial struggles around the world, defense of those targeted by McCarthyism, advocacy for the black freedom movement. The newspaper continued to hold a cozy relationship with the Communist Party U.S.A., though it did break with the group over some issues, particularly support for independent political action beyond party control. The 1960s-era brought a new period of political rancor within the editorial ranks of the newspaper. In the end, the periodical changed leadership and renamed itself The Guardian. The Guardian took an increasingly Maoist line, supporting armed struggles against colonialism. During this period, the newspaper attempted to forge ties with SDS and SNCC, writing that "The duty of a radical newspaper is to build a radical movement.” "We are movement people acting as journalists," the Guardian′s staff now proudly declared. In 1970, further ideological fracture lead to the creation of a short-lived rival publication, The Liberated Guardian. In the later-1970s, a more hard-line Marxist-Leninist ideology eroded the newspaper’s reputation for investigative journalism. Readership and support for the newspaper declined through the 1980s and the paper ceased publication in 1992.
In this issue, articles cover the orphan airlift from Vietnam; the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam; Attica; Dominican protests in New York; United Farm Workers organizing in San Francisco; Joan Little; CIA red-squads; auto workers; unemployment; aerospace workers strike; San Francisco “Zebra trial”; government repression against the left; Milwaukee VA protest; the San Quinten Six; housing foreclosures; the Socialist Workers Party; economic recession; the October League; sectarian conflict on the left; Third World liberation struggles; Thieu regime in Vietnam; Soviet socialism; marketplace and letters.
Weekly Guardian Associates, Inc.
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
April 16, 1975
newspaper