Political Art of the Black Panther Party: Cultural Contrasts in the Nineteen Sixties Countermovement

Student's Name

Melissa Seifert, Minnesota State University, Mankato

1st Student's Major

Art

1st Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Students' Professional Biography

Melissa Seifert is a student in the Art Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Mentor's Name

Alisa Eimen

Mentor's Email Address

alisa.eimen@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

College of Arts and Humanities

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

The Black Power Movement found its beginning in the late fifties with sit-ins and freedom rides, which conveyed a new racial consciousness within the black community in the United States. However, these initial forms of protest were non-violent. The civil rights movement did not see a great deal of violence until nineteen sixty five when Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party. Through the pages of the Party's newspaper the Black Panther, resident artist Emory Douglas used his drawings to persuade action and vengeance. His work is similar in style to the work of Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. While these artists thrived in the culture of the nineteen sixties, Douglas was widely unpopular, or rather unrecognized, despite what I will argue is an obvious resemblance. In contrast to Douglas' work, critics wanted to see non-resistant ideas portrayed in art. These could be found in the work of Warhol and Lichtenstein. But even when Warhol's work began to convey images of race and violence, there was no change in his popularity. This begs a comparison between the popularity of Douglas and Warhol, as they both depicted scenes of violence. Upon comparison, the conclusion that Douglas' art was unacceptable for discriminatory reasons, lack of an influential audience, and also for its subject matter, which transformed the weak protestor into an armed and power force, can be reached. Women's roles in the Party will also be discussed in comparison to the typical image of the female in the nineteen sixties culture.

Recommended Citation

Seifert, Melissa (2009) "Political Art of the Black Panther Party: Cultural Contrasts in the Nineteen Sixties Countermovement," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 9, Article 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1068
Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol9/iss1/15

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