‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: Vanguard of the Revolution’, 2015
DIRECTED, PRODUCED & WRITTEN BY: STANLEY NELSON
A PBS DOCUMENTARY
FILM REVIEW – BY NANCY SMITH, FEB 18, 2016
An amazing archival & living history document, I was lucky enough to catch a PBS screening on my TV yesterday.
All these people I had heard tell about, but never really knew the facts about – came to life with wall-to-wall archival photos. The historical record, fleshed story & behind-the-scenes narratives are provided by a wide array of players – from all sides of the story: from FBI informants to the very compelling first person accounts provided by luminaries such as: KATHLEEN CLEAVER, ERIKA HUGGINS & JAMAL JOSEPH. All three, still very much alive, strong & vital . . . and, who had been there. in person, played a role, & lived through it. how can you beat that ?
so often with these historical PBS documentaries, fascinating as they are, we have only the archival footage, the old sienna, or black & white photos, the strips of journals and scraps of letters. dry, crusty, newspaper clippings – imbedded, colored, intentionally or not, and still interesting, don’t get me wrong – with the ‘bias’ of their times, which is invaluably telling – in its own way.
here, we have the real voices of a remarkable generation – an incredible oral history rolls out, closely following the chronological timeline of the events, and enriching our ‘take’ beyond all hope & imagination. It’s really a remarkable accomplishment. the film has a beautiful cinematic rhythm, too. not too shrill nor militant in tone – but it ‘packs’. the archival footage of then FBI Director J. EDGAR HOOVER – proves our by now, only ‘inherited’ subliminal thoughts on the guy – to be right on. ugly, ugly as sin. secret files, unfair trials, brutality, killings, by outright assassination, or by paper trails, as in no true affordable legal representation, etc. etc. at one point it even drops that even the ‘personal’ security guard with . . was it Fred Hampton or Huey Newton, or both – was a federal agent/informant.
on the other side, although the empowerment was real, and the uniform went a long way towards making the exploitive white folks wake up, and feel threatened, the proud afros, the cinematic black leather jackets, and the ubiquitous guns, was not so much truly terrorist in nature – as it was posing. strutting. these guys weren’t thugs, they were pop cultural visionaries, & as I write that – hope I’m not offending anybody – from the perspective of 2016 – they didn’t bomb schools, derail trains, blow-up suicide, mass machine gun, or poison. they walked their walk, they talked their talk, they strutted their stance. it was a form of power, but it was not terrorist, as we know it. it was militant, it was organized, it had a target, but it was also kind of by and for ‘writers’ – if you know what I mean. Bob Dylan was subversive, too. it was just finally time for a change, and these guys seized it. as far as I could see, they got pretty beat up, too. in the process. it was urban resistance, the militant style was their most potent weapon.
for artists, I think we all love anything ‘archival’ and esp of the photographic record . . one of the inherent visual strengths of the film – is just watching the self-empowerment & pride that glows out from these young strong faces. usually all we get to see in PBS records of the history of the USA . . are the beat-downs, the sadly mis-used & doomed genius musicians, and the true root/giants of our culture . . or the severely kicked-in-the-backside, if not lynched, downtrodden ordinary folk from the Jim Crow era. ok, occasionally we get brilliant film portraits of the modern gifted black women writers, like Zora Neal Huston and Alice Walker. this doc was so much different. you had to wonder, over and over – at the power of the Party, which came, truly – from within.
the other surprising aspect of the film, that will captivate artists is the actual artwork that runs through the film, and even informs the film’s final credits – artwork by EMORY DOUGLAS – the “Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture and chief art director for their newspaper for 12 years.” Today we would call that – an indie zine !! a cross between folk lore, folk art, and mid-century revolutionary art. And lucky for us, as this documentary is made to celebrate the 50th (!!) of the movement – a very youthful and sweet Mr. Emory Douglas is still around and kicking, teaching, and making art . . to tell us his story – in the first person. priceless. I always saw the soulful woodblock print-type art. . on the covers of the books by the black woman writers I so revere, I never knew from where it had sprung, now I do. boy, is his time for global recognition overdue, or what !!
though of course, following the lives and different sets of circumstances of the various leaders, and even the heroic small ‘folks’ who get caught up in the party’s momentum – they all glowed with charisma and down home fire, coming from NYC 2016 – you can’t not appreciate their street style. and smarts. drives. dreams, goals. just such a beautiful, beautiful generation. again, I’m not saying this, to be smart-ass, nor to trivialize their fight, plight, brutalization, tragedy & the crass covert way the American system ‘played’ them, and the so-called ‘democratic’ gov’t failed them. except in New York, bye the way, witness the ultimate freedom of the New York 21.
just put it this way: the white cops, and the white feds look like mad-crazed un-educated nasty, rural dogs. fat, sweaty, mean, ill-clothed, and just so full of fear. such an attractive look, no wonder time is on the Black panther side, you are what you – eat.
there is one other one small slice of cinematic telling included here, that maybe won’t mean much to many, and . . if you blink you’ll miss it, so I’m mentioning it. and that’s the brief alliance of the Black Panther Party . . with THE YOUNG PATRIOTS aka the HILLBILLY NATIONALISTS – the young revolutionary voices that sprung up out of the deep, raw poverty & the outright government abuse of the stubborn & early-rooted Appalachia. if you are into quilts, fiddles, banjos & vintage hand-painted Southern Potteries – Blue Ridge dinnerware, you know what I’m talking about. another folk art rich area of America – that also got really ripped off. American dream, right. I think they were among the first to fight in the Revolutionary War, the Mountain Boys (?), and, the first to be ripped off by the new nation – by GEORGE WASHINGTON, himself, who taxed the hell out of their whiskey & beer industry, even stole the recipe – for his own big money-making use.
so yeah, with all the authentic first-hand accounts, and the glorious, if steely archival clips . . and, ‘clips’, i.e. moving film . . not just still black & white photographs – it’s hard to believe this film comes out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party . . whose full and
official title always was – and is: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. self-defense being the key phrase.
and, after 9-11-2001, and certainly in light of the recent sad, brutal & shocking events in Paris, and elsewhere & even still here at home in the urban trenches, and it’s not just in the streets, bye the way: why isn’t . . ‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON’ up for an Oscar this month, why wasn’t the awesome JAMES BROWN biopic, ‘GET ON UP’ . . sweeping up at last year’s Oscars ?
don’t get me started, but even so . . repeat after 9-11, and on-wards – I think we all should really really think hard, about our ‘domestic’ policing, and I hope we can as a nation, better appreciate . . 50 years on, just how truly revolutionary their stance, their ideology, their intellect, their artistry, their power, their poetry, their militancy, their voice, their struggle . . was.
‘Black Panthers from Sacramento, Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park in Oakland, CA, 1969.’
courtesy of PIRKLE JONES & RUTH-MARION BARUCH
photo via: PHOTO GALLERY – THE BLACK PANTHERS.COM
‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD of the REVOLUTION’, ARTWORK BY: EMORY DOUGLAS
ANDY MISTER, ‘Fred Hampton’s Deathbed’, 2015. carbon pencil on handmade paper on panel, 20 x 16 in.
FRED HAMPTON, 1948-1969. African-American activist & revolutionary. Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party – who was gunned down in his sleep – by the ‘authorities’.
see: FRED HAMPTON
ps:
behind every joker . . the tears of a clown, ain’t that the truth !!
UP-DATE:THURS FEB 18, 2016 – 12:46 PM
growing up Canadian, and, just not knowing . . everything !!
I posted this artwork by ANDY MISTER . . because it really resonated with me. as a pure visual. raw, powerful. skills. I was first drawn to look at his work yesterday, I had checked it out before . . by the seemingly ‘random’, but very catchy !! & simple, ‘single unit’ image of a ‘small’ object – he had just posted to Instagram.
you know, the single cell . . of the big info aggregate. it’s fun to see what grabs our attention – in the huge sea of images & info we swim in.
that’s what I mean: how one small image can grab your attention . . and before you know it – you are up, off and running down info highway. Alice in Wonderland – among the infinite universe of Instagram posts.
in this case . . first I googled FRED HAMPTON & I found out who he was. and I was amazed. and I thought that – was that. but I guess there was a reason why ANDY MISTER had highlighted this particular work of his, done in 2015 – on his homepage.
because . . a couple of hours later I turn on my TV – and there is the PBS documentary . . ‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: Vanguard of the Revolution’ . . playing in my living room, on my big screen. I almost fell off my couch, oh yeah. the serendipity of the ‘info’ food chain & catching the wave.
the life of a dedicated ‘super-encounterer’, oh yeah.
jump started from: art.
now, that’s what makes me feel – it’s all for REAL.
sometimes in the search for art, I call that “following the bread crumbs” . . but this was much more than that – because it was such a random , a lucky, random connect. the power of the digital web. the power of the digital collective mind. the power of the . . ‘info trippin’.
talent seeking. world understanding. they used to use TAROT CARDS back in the day. before computers & smart phones.
just joking, maybe.
which I only found because . . an artist I follow, ever since I saw his work at LITTLE CAKES back in the 2000s . . BRENDAN MONROE . . @brendantheblob – did the huge wonderful illustration that accompanied it & took up 3/4 of the NYT, Sunday Review page of . . Jan 3, 2016.
I don’t have emojis on this keyboard – or I’d be going crazy with fireworks !!
fer sure.
it’s interesting to see ‘scale’ or ‘size’ . . . which is trending small in the art world, i.e. sticker art, i.e. Instagram & social media in general . . . also manifesting in the quote unquote: ‘real’ world – across many levels.
here’s 3 BIG ones:
the state of global health, global currency & . . global FASHION.
1. in the FILE UNDER: tell me I wasn’t right, category . . . and the huge threat of the ultra ‘tiny’- to OUR . . . human tiniest.
and, also FILE UNDER: it doesn’t take a rocket scientist that maybe it’s NOT a good idea to add pesticide to human drinking water.
apparently some common sense science, as opposed to the rigid old world science of the ‘unseen and therefore does not exist kind’ . . by some Argentinian scientists, Red Universitaria de Ambiente y Salud – are linking the surge of micro-cephaly with the wide spread use of a mosquito larvicide, Pyriproxyfen which has been widely added to Brazil’s drinking water (!!) in an effort to destroy mosquito eggs (a tiny unit of life – if there ever was one) & larvae (ditto).
Manufactured by SUMITOMO Chemical . . which is linked in turned to MONSANTO – which in turn is moving further & further away from the association – as more articles on this are published . . Sumitomo claims Pyripoxtyfen “had been approved by the WHO to combat mosquitoes and that extensive testing has shown that it doesn’t cause nervous system damage or affect reproductive ability.” Further, there are widely published “assertions by the Brazilian gov’t and U.S. health ‘authorities’ that there is NO scientific basis linking the use of the chemical to the birth defect”.
Tell that . . to the people of Flint, Michigan who were told by their good ole American gov’t & elected “authorities” – that their drinking water was safe. super high levels of lead are a threat to the cognitive development of their next generation(s) of babies (our tiniest unit of life).
“A gov’t truck sprayed a street with insecticide in Brazil’s capital, Brasilla, on Thursday”. note: the children being exposed.
PHOTO: ADRIANO MACHADO/REUTERS via WALL STREET JOURNAL
2. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY . . going smaller, too !!
in an effort to fight forgery, tax evasion, and make life harder for “terrorists, drug dealers, financial criminals and human traffickers (!!) and, to help with ‘negative interest rates’ – “former treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers is calling for a global agreement by monetary authorities to STOP issuing notes worth more than $50 or $100.
WALL STREET JOURNAL, PG C2. Wed Feb 17, 2016.
3. SHOES !!!!!!!!
you know – those tiny things you wear on your smallest appendage.
of course, nowhere is the (relatively) tiny impish monkey . . wreaking more havoc – than in the world of fashion. SHOES – the smallest unit of the ‘look’: have it right or lose it all. no in-betweens. no second chances.
I’m serious. anybody in the fashion world is going to agree, or else lose their job – this year. if you haven’t called the right shoe . . you have nothing. zero. zilch. doesn’t matter how fashion-forward, or pretty the frock. how ‘fresh’ or young the model, or DIY down & dirty the props.
wrong show: game over.
and it’s not just calling the right style: flat, pointy toes, sneaker construction – it also breaks down within all that. ballet flats – out. pointy toes, but heels too high – out. sneakers – too high of a platform sole: out.
you gotta be on your toes – to master the fashion scene in this year of the tricky monkey !!
style editors: good luck.
PUBLIC SCHOOL . . for DKNY – does semi-chunky urban boot, just right. of course !!
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, WSJ – MARCH 2016 WOMEN’S STYLE
DIOR . . has got the dressy shoe – nailed.
the kittenish heel, preferably in metal !! is the big winner this season. but this higher one, a modified kitten heel if you look closely. though slightly chunky, still / but just . . on it’s very tippy tip toes .. . makes the mark. helped by the sharp contrast colors, black & white rule. maybe red. two tones are good. but absolutely no nude, nude is so over. so dated. (sorry, Bloomingdales & Princess Kate/Duchess of Cambridge).
and a nice big bow, or buckle – is fab. esp in the front of that long pointy toe – voila !! tres chic. and everything else, fuggetaboutit.
don’t you just love how fashion world is so . . cruel. so fas-chist.
so art world-like.
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, NYT STYLE MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FASHION Feb 14, 2016
shoes by – PACO RABANNE. ($860)
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, NYT STYLE MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FASHION Feb 14, 2016
CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION . . SNEAKER.
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, WSJ WOMEN’S STYLE – MARCH 2016
and just to pull it . . . FULL CIRCLE / art world-wise for the . . purists, lol !
(tiny) video game inspired . . ski STICKERS . . to put on your skis, and – which also appeared as embroideries . . on & by: LACOSTE – AW 2016 collection.
image via Instagram . . @wallpapermag
NASTY NECKFACE will be airbrushing shirts . . LIVE TODAY !!!
at the LA ART BOOK FAIR !!!
8 BALL ZINES . . presents:
NASTY NECKFACE – CUSTOM AIRBRUSH SHIRTS !!!
ONLY 50 SHIRTS !!! – GO GET ‘EM !!!
TODAY – SAT FEB 13, 2016 / 3-6 PM
LAABF / LA ART BOOK FAIR – 2016
MOCCA GEFFEN – 152 CENTRAL AVE, L.A., CALIFORNIA
poster image via Instagram: @8BALLCOMMUNITY
like, I said: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY !!
image by NASTY NECKFACE via Instagram:@nastyneckface1
and, just because . . .
1) I . . can !!
2) LMAO
3) I’m a hard-core, natural-born contrarian !!
image by NASTY NECKFACE via Instagram: @nastyneckface1
NYC . . street legend CHRIS RWK / ROBOTS WILL KILL . . .
has work in the FAB – ‘YAB’ group show at GALERIE F in Chicago.
this is the LAST weekend – to catch the show, though all the works remain – up for sale, on their website store.
Chris RWK – YAB sticker (boy)
size: 8.5 x 11 in.
price: $100
markers on paper sticker – this work is unique & was created specifically for this exhibit.
image & purchase info: Robots Will Kill – YAB – Galerie F
http://www.galerief.com/portfolio/robots-will-kill-yab-sticker-boy/
Chris RWK – YAB – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL sticker
size: 8.5 x 11 in.
price: $100
markers on sticker paper – this work is unique & was created specifically for this exhibit.
image & purchase info: Robots Will Kill – YAB – GALERIE F
we FINALLY . .
caught up with Chris RWK – at VOLA VIDA on the Lower East Side, this past November 2015.
CHRIS RWK . . . paintings on canvas
left: ‘Feeling Grey With a Hint of Blue’, mixed media. 12 x 24 in.
($800)
right: ‘Still Rings True’, mixed media, 12 x 24 in.
($800)
been a fan for a long, long time & CHRIS RWK . . knows it.
CHRIS RWK . . whips me up – a souvenir – to take home.
the appreciation, goes a long way – both ways !!
CHRIS RWK, VOLA VIDA, Lower East Side, NYC. Nov 14, 2015.
PHOTOS OF CHRIS RWK & his work, at VOLA VIDA, NYC: NANCY SMITH, NOV 14, 2015
in the spirit of . . .
ST VALENTINES DAY & . . . the CHINESE NEW YEAR of the MONKEY.
Monkey and LOVE go hand in hand, or what . . . ?
forget Cupid. that’s so, over.
Frank Ape NYC aka BRANDON SINES says:
Happy Chinese New Year! The Red Envelope show is up at GRUMPY BERT until Feb 28, 2016
image & message via Instagram . . @frank_ape
FRANK APE + pals . . STAR TREK / image via Sinesart.com
sub-title: STAR WARS vs the FLIGHT of the HUMAN Bio-Imagination.
at left, a peek of an enverlope by HENRY BOHAN, at center 2 pieces by DANIELE DeJESUS, someone who has specialized in the hyper ‘mini’ – for quite a while.
($80 ea.) one was already SOLD by the early start of the opening.
BWANA SPOONS . . . lol, you find me: speechless.
all . . the power to ya. Humans are so funny, aren’t they.
($66 ea.)
DIANNA XU . . . lol, I loved these.
a girl after my own heart. scale is scale is scale !!
size is relative . . and, things can get even smaller – in weirdo universe – that we call home.
($25) SOLD
lol, Collection: NANCY SMITH . . Theo bought me 3 of her pieces for Valentines Day.
DIANNA XU . . . so, scale this iconic Star Wars spaceship down, in another leap, i.e. from the real (relatively !!) huge sci-fi galactic traveler – to the tiny one, on this 3.5 x 6.5 in. envelope – and then we are talking, truly micro mini – as in: invisible to the human eye . . but, OUT THERE !! and probably all around us, as we speak.
($25) SOLD – Collection: Nancy Smith
DIANNA XU . . . the cutest, smartest sci-fi trip . . ever positioned on a tiny red envelope, or what ?!!
detail, DIANNA XU .
plus, that was my single fave part of the new STAR WARS: the newest droid . . BB-8 !!
great design – on ALL LEVELS.
DIANNA XU . .
($25) SOLD the night of the opening.
damn, I really wanted to buy that one, too.
JENNY ACOSTA . . this one was fun, too. it was actually in ‘real’ size. but seriously, consider the Star Wars scenarios above – in contrast !!
spaceship = candy. that’s what I’m talking . . about.
not to forget: the HUGE POWER of the HUMAN IMAGINATION !!
($90)
INKSWORTH, changing gears.
the human form in its most beguiling.
($200 – interlocking set of 3)
INKSWORTH . . . a flight of the bio human imagination.
as opposed to the Star Wars spaceship . . !!
‘imagination’ vs ‘space travel’ – where can one go . . . the furthest ?
on a tiny red envelope . . . only the tricky Monkey knows – for sure.
($150 – set of 3)
all the work is one-of-a-kind, produced expressly for this show on traditional red envelopes, 3.5 x 6.5 in.
you can shop online: Catalog/Grumpy Bert – Red Envelope show All Products
word to the wise . . they are going fast !!
priced to fly – made to . . ‘sting like a bee’.
go get ’em.
detail, EVAH FAN.
EV-AH !! . . an early master of the tiny, I was lucky enough to catch her work years ago at LITTLE CAKES, and it made a huge . . impression.
EVAH FAN used delicately, precisely cut papers. so her envelopes had a tiny, flickering level of 3-D. liek all the work in the show, the narrative was picturesque. very curious and beguiling. and like many of the artists in the show, she choose to – interact her designs.
detail, EVAH FAN
($120 ea.)
SHAWN CHENG, not everybody chose to illustrate the tricky Monkey, but the among those that did – the imagination ran . . free & wild.
($50 ea.)
detail, SHAWN CHENG.
crazy !! sting like a bee.
NELLIE LE. there were lots of young women in the show – making the most of this auspicious moment – casting their charming nets, far & wide: narrative-wise.
($120 & $80)
detail, NELLIE LE.
so cute . . a kitty cat / darling dumpling. take that Mr. Monkey !! and hope you rattle your chopsticks with . . jealousy.
likewise . . mainstream art world, oh yeah.
oh, yeah !! ABE LINCOLN Jr.
holding the fort – for the bad guys, the old school, the OG.
($20 ea.) BOTH SOLD
& now proudly . . COLLECTION: NANCY SMITH . . oh, yeah !!
pick up those chopsticks, and put your money – where your mouth is, is what I always say – esp when the ‘sticker’ price is: (downright) doable.
and I did – JUMP.
I felt like I was out of my body throughout the entire opening – it was that GOOD. electric monkey . . circus. Lunar New Year. Chinese dragons, firecrackers, sparks. lots of red and gold & fantastic trips of the mind. Far Eastern turns of the pen, superstitious and wild exotic . . to cuddly dumpling, ivory chopsticks. old fables. everywhere, just tiny explosions of the imagination all the way around the room.
the man himself: ABE LINCOLN Jr . . with good friend, JEN.GENOTYPE
at left, CHRISTINA CHUNG, ($60)
the rest are by . . BRANDON SINES.
($80, $100 & $90)
and, so it rolled . .
detail, BRANDON SINES – note the tiny, tiny origami crane.
I mean really, things got smaller and smaller . .
while the (aggregate) show – got huger and huger.
hello, BRANDON SINES.
BRANDON SINES – sticker art.
he gave me one (!!)
well, he had just met me – but clearly . . he had my number.
WIZARD SKULL, sting like Ronald !! naked !!
one of the funniest.
($40) . . already with a red dot: SOLD
somebody jumped, made the $$ hoop shot.
ALEXANDRA BEGUEZ . . hail, the Year of the Monkey.
($65)
KIM KU . . another sharp-fingered cut-out artist.
($50)
KIM KU . .
KIM KU . . the world is TINY.
and the universe is way more strange – than we can possibly know.
KIM KU . . a tiny sliver of 3rd dimension.
DINKC.
DINKC . . is king, is all I’m gonna say. and, I don’t even know him.
($150 – for the set ?)
I think it’s sold anyway, I don’t see it in the online shop.
ANDREA KANG . . sort of like mid-century modern meets anime, and they light up.
($65 ea.)
KAYOUNG LEE, with work in the show.
from left: STICKYMONGER, 2 by KAYOUNG LEE & regrets, just the tip of . . CRYS YIN.
STICKYMONGER . . anybody been in a blizzard snowstorm, lately . . NYC !!
($60)
doing a double take: STICKYMONGER
($60)
ROB PLATER, obviously another . . king – on the scene.
($70 ea) – they were marked SOLD, before I even turned around.
MARK HINSON.
this is probably the ‘sleeper’ image of the show. totally off the grid.
if someone doesn’t buy it soon – I will.
($50)
from left: ROSE WONG, 2 pieces by MELISSA GUION and, MIKE HINSON.
MELISSA GUION, another cut-out artist, definitely outside the box – she turned the envelopes into firecracker paper lanterns.
($50 ea.)
MARK WANG . . c-r-a-z-y !!
($50)
4 more by MARK WANG.
ok, I’m . . speechless.
ok, . . killers !! don’t blink.
($45 ea.)
JEN TONG . . . beautiful assortment.
($65) some already marked SOLD
ZROPRO . . one set of 3, that made one interlocking image. there was a second set of 3 beside it, equally AWESOME.
in this case: the work looked huge. like a billboard.
($100 for the set). SOLD
you tell, em. Monkey. Monkey rule . . listen, up.
ADRIAN K. a running series of 5 dramatic pieces, luckily the kid who bought it – knew to buy all 5 !! Dragon !!
($60 ea.) SOLD . . to THEO CERIGO, lol.
(you might remember him – the indie curator of . . ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO’)
