Mississippi Freedom Fight/Self Determination for the Afro-American Nation poster

Collection — mapcase folder: 1

Identifier: 7896

Content Description

Silkscreened poster in red, green, black, and cream depicting African American women in a protest march, probably the November 25, 1978 National March on Tupelo, sparked by police brutality against African-Americans. Two of the marchers are wearing t-shirts that read "Justice for All." The poster features a quote from Alfred "Skip" Robinson: "The battle lines drawn in Tupelo do not end in Mississippi, but extend into every city and town in this country where discrimination and bigotry exist." Rubberstamp on the verso: "Unity, P.O. Box 26229, San Francisco."

Dates

1978

Biographical / Historical

Alfred "Skip" Robinson, quoted on this poster, founded the United League in 1978. A brick mason by trade, Robinson mobilized Black communities throughout northern Mississippi to demand "Jobs, Land, and Freedom." He taught armed defense and resistance tactics. With significant leadership by women, the residents fought against the illegal land grabs of 9 million acres by the government and agribusiness, boycotted white-owned businesses that did not hire Blacks, and protested the intense brutality and murders by the local police and Ku Klux Klan.