He Is The Mastermind Behind The Black Panther Party's Iconic Visuals
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2023
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s been decades since they disbanded, but we all know the visual identity of the Black Panthers. Think: the logo, the bold, bright colors, the illustrations of revolutionaries and cops. If that rings a bell, you need to know this artist.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's been decades since they disbanded, but we all know the visual identity of the Black Panthers. |
| 0:07.2 | The logo, the bold bright colors, the illustrations of revolutionaries and cops. |
| 0:13.9 | If that rings a bell, you need to know this artist. |
| 0:18.8 | This is Two Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:30.0 | In January 1967, Shui Newton and Bobby Seale bet a young man named Emory Douglas. |
| 0:38.2 | Having studied art in college and while incarcerated in his youth, |
| 0:42.4 | Douglas offered to help with the print production of the Black Panthers' official newspaper. |
| 0:48.5 | He'd go on to design 527 issues and become essential to the Panthers' iconic visual identity. |
| 0:58.3 | Douglas became known for uplifting powerful Black revolutionaries, depicting police officers as pigs and refining the Panther logo. |
| 1:08.1 | He eventually went from revolutionary artists to the party's Minister of Culture. |
| 1:14.1 | But though Douglas Genius was behind this distinct, accessible style, his focus was on what he called we art, not me art. |
| 1:26.8 | His purpose was to inspire international unity among Black people. |
| 1:32.6 | The solidarity came in the artwork, said Douglas in 2021. |
| 1:36.8 | It spoke a language that transcended borders. |
| 1:48.8 | Today's Black movements have a visual identity too. |
| 1:52.5 | Artists use graphic design elements to craft protest materials, |
| 1:56.7 | social media, infographics, videos, and more. |
| 2:00.1 | There are endless possibilities to share a message and many continue to honor the Panthers' legacy while doing so. |
| 2:08.5 | Douglas's work reminds us that we all share a different role in the movement for Black liberation. |
| 2:16.2 | There are artists, protest strategists, cooks, writers, self-defense leaders, healers, and so, so many more. |
| 2:24.4 | Who are you? Who do you want to be? |
| 2:28.2 | In order to move towards the future, you've got to look to the past. |
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