Through the process of re-chronologizing the collection, we distinguished four stages of the live of Huey in a rattan chair. Essential in the definition of the stages is the role of the author. Or, in other words, who is remixing the original image to tell their story?
Even though Huey and the Central Committee of the Black Panther Party banned the image from the Party’s official communication strategy, it was in the public domain for the taking. In the 1970s and 80s, the image is appropriated by others than the Black Panther Party. The image moves from the political to the pop.cultural arena. New versions were made by music-and-magazine-cover-artists and photographers. This is the first moment that other artists use the image of Huey in a rattan chair as a template to build derivative work on. We see next to references to the struggle for black liberation (e.g. the cover art for Eddie Kendricks’ People… Hold On, 1971), a cynical caricature of the rattan chair on the cover of Tom Wolff’s essay Radical Chic (1971), that criticizes the role of white celebrities that affiliate themselves with black radical groups.
A new original was conceived through the album cover of Funkadelic’s Uncle Jam Wants You, rescue dance music “from the blahs” (1972). The cover features a photo by Diem Jones of George Clinton in the role of Uncle Jam sitting in a rattan chair, with patent leather boots, holding a ‘bopgun’ in one hand and some sort of metallic-tube-with-globe (resembling a Van de Graaff generator) on the other side with the one-nation-under-a-groove flag in the background. This image is a humorous remix that teletransports the militancy of black liberation to the dancefloor (to rescue it “from the blahs”). On the inner sleeve, graphic artist Pedro Bell, turns Jones’ version upside down and outer space and transforms Uncle Jam into the psychedelic sci-fi cartoon superhero sitting on a skull.
The rattan chair and the 1970s and 80s are undeniably linked to each other. In this age, the rattan chair has become a popular fashion prop, that transforms every person in it into a cool, hip and sexy superstar. From Al Green’s I’m Still in Love With You (1972) to Francis Giacobetti’s photo of Sylvia Kristel as Emmanuelle (1974), the examples are abundant. They are, however, not always a distinctive reference to ‘Huey in a rattan chair’. For that, we need more than the chair alone with a rebel or a person of color in it.
Through the process of re-chronologizing the collection, we distinguished four stages of the live of Huey in a rattan chair. Essential in the definition of the stages is the role of the author. Or, in other words, who is remixing the original image to tell their story?
When hip hop rose from a local underground movement to a mainstream global phenomenon in the early 1990s, it brought its cultural-political history, ideology, vocabulary, and visual references to the pop.charts. Huey in a rattan chair was one of those references. More than a music genre, hip hop was and is a cultural movement that originated from the black urban areas; the same areas where the Panthers were ‘policing the police’ and were organizing their community service programs. The militant tone-of-voice, that favored the politics of Malcolm X over Martin Luther King, was in line with the Black American experience hip hop was narrating to its global audience.
At the end the 1980s, Public Enemy became known for their outspoken political message. To emphasize this, they remixed in their stage performance, music videos and coverart the militant imagery from the Black Panthers (e.g. in the fashion and dance routines of the S1W’s). Front man Chuck D is one of the first artists —that we found— to take a seat in the rattan chair for a photo that was published in 1991’s Spin Magazine. Soon other hip-hop artists followed, paying homage to the original ‘Black Urban Warrior’.
With Beyonce’s performance at the Superbowl half time show in 2016, the Black Panther revival reaches its epitome of fame. For this performance, Beyoncé was both praised (as an artist that used her position to address police brutality in the Black community to an All-American audience) as well as criticized (as an artist that is promoting a violent hate group or for being hypocritical for using the Panthers but not embodying anti-capitalism. In her Formation Worldtour 2016, the rattan chair was part of the show, and many black superstars, e.g. Serena Williams, JayZ and Kendrick Lamar took a seat. The introduction to the Panther legacy to a new generation, was affirmed by the box-office success of the Marvel’s Black Panther (2017), which includes references to Oakland and the Party.
Next to popular music, in this era we see the references to ‘Huey in a rattan chair’ pop-up in the art world, especially in activist art and performance/appropriation art. Referencing the image is, on one hand, an act of appreciation or a way to educate the viewer about the overlooked history of black liberation (e.g. Sam Durant’s Proposal for Monument to Huey Newton at Alameda County Courthouse, 2004). On the other hand, the image is used as a template for remixed version. The image and its elements are being appropriated by artist to raise awareness of racism and how it intersects with other discriminatory practices. Think of feminism, liberation and colonial history (e.g. Jeannette Elhers and LaVaughn Belle’s I Am Queen Mary, 2018). In conclusion, the template of the image is so powerful, that it always sends out the message of ‘revolution’, and the way the elements are filled in, makes clear which revolution the author is talking about.
Patta is a Dutch streetwear brand. Patta is slang for shoe. “For the Patta Spring Summer 2021 headwear release, we have designed a range of functional head pieces in a variety of everyday colours as well as patterns that are seen throughout the rest of our inline collection. Fabricated in wool mix with a faux leather band and adjustable fabric band at the rear, the Patta Military Beret comes in a traditional military beret fit. For branding, a golden Patta Script Logo metal applique is stitched to the front of the piece.” (Patta.nl)
For the Judas & The Black Messiah (2021), Gravillis Inc. recreated the iconic work of Emory Douglas as a movie poster. Gravillis Inc is a full service design studio, based in LA, dedicated to creating thought-provoking advertising campaigns. Earlier, they have worked with the artwork of Douglas for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods.
In a YouTube-video that was posted on April 15th by Insider, Elaine Brown —the acting chair of the Black Panther Party from 1974 to 1977— discusses the accuracy of the portrayal of the Black Panther Party in films such as “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021), “Forrest Gump” (1994), and “The Butler” (2013). Brown has personal connections to Seale, Fred Hampton, and Jean Seberg, and she comments on their depictions in “Panther” (1995), “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (2020), and “Seberg” (2019).
Da 5 Bloods (2020), a movie by Spike Lee that was released on June 12, 2020 via Netflix, explores the history of Black soldiers who fought for the U.S. in the Vietnam War. Gravillis Inc. who worked with Lee on the marketing of Da 5 Bloods, invited Emory Douglas, to collaborate on a poster for Da 5 Bloods based on his September 1969 artwork of the crying soldier.
The anti-racism demonstration on June 10th at Nelson Mandela Park in Bijlmer, Amsterdam, drew more than 10.000 participants. Among them this three protesters: all three are wearing black (leather) clothes with one of them wearing a baret. All raising their fist in the Black Power salut.
On June 3, during a Black Lives Matter protest in Decatur, Georgia (USA), a group of protesters drew the attention of the press. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “They said they were Black Panthers, and they looked the part with all-black attire and black berets adorned with a cat-head patch. Their leader was a tall, thin black woman armed with an assault rifle and a determined look.” The English newspaper The Daily Mail headlined a report: “Armed female Black Panther leads her comrades including a white recruit on a march through Georgia”. The group that was at first wrongly identified as New Black Panthers (which is seen as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center), said they are actually part of the Black Panthers Revolutionaries Atlanta Chapter, “the newest Black Panther Party here in Atlanta.” An article in Vice.com exposed the group as ‘Actors Dressed as Black Panthers’, who are in no way affiliated with the orginal Black Panther Party of the New Black Panther. ““Nobody was paid” to wear the faux-Black Panther outfits or attend any of the protests.” Michael Pierino Miller, one white man in the group, made sure. Another member of the group, Spiike G, apologised to the original Black Panther Party “for using [Black Panther imagery] and to my people for going about it the wrong way,” […] “We wanted to uphold the ideas and views as the OG’s so we threw in [Black Panther]. He said he “wanted to be a symbol of hope” for protesters. “It wasn’t for fun or anything like that.”
Found on eyeondesign.aiga.org: “Matt Thame of Studio Auto, Strut Records designer, also wanted to move away from [Lemi] Ghariokwu’s style in his cover for Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s 2018 Black Times. Instead, the cover image referenced both the Black Panthers and police photofits: “Lemi’s approach was perfect for the Fela artwork of the time,” says Thame, “and while his work had a strong socio-political message as well, this was a fresh new release, and so deserved to stand out from previous artwork — it needed to capture the feel and direct power of the Black revolutionary.””
In the short clip ‘The New Face of the NRA‘ from 2018, College Humor ridicules the double standard of the NRA (National Rifle Association) regarding the right for every American to bear arms. This reminds us of the Mumford Act and the Sacramento demonstration of May 2nd, 1967. The black actor is wearing the Black Panther attire: black beret, black leather jacker and black turtleneck and bandolier.
In late November 2015, a parade of black-face caricatures named Black Pete, encountered a small group of anti-blackface protesters. A small selection of these protesters were dressed in black uniforms and berets, with raised fist, were chanting anti-Black Pete slogans. According to Hans Visser, president of the local shop owners association, this “immediately led to a fearful and threatening sphere.”
This event eventually resulted in questions in parliament by the right-wing party PVV calling the Black Panther Party a “murderous and totalitarian cult”, and an “organization that excels in anti-white racism” with “prominent leaders (e.g. Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton) who are hard-boiled criminals, responsible for rape and assault?”. ‘Gelijkwaardigheid Begint Nu’ (Equality Now), the organisation that led the anti-Black Pete demonstration, has announced that it does not appreciate the stigmatization. “We kindly ask you not to portray the demonstrators as dangerous and scary and to ask yourself whether you would have these thoughts if these were white young men with the same attire”.
1994 Hollywood blockbuster ‘Forrest Gump’ tells the story of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose only desire is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart against the backdrop of historical events that shaped the 60s and 70s of the US. One of the scenes features Forrest beating up ‘Jenny’s’ abusive white boyfriend in the setting of a Black Panther Party Headquarter, complete with posters of Guevara, Newton, Seal and artwork by Emory Douglas.
The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) is a U.S.-based black nationalist organization founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1989. Despite its name, the NBPP is not an official successor to the Black Panther Party. Members of the original Black Panther Party have insisted that the newer party is not legitimate and “there is no new Black Panther Party”. (wikipedia)
During the active political life of the Black Panther Party, the act remixing their visual language and message was already en vogue. An inspiring example of the cut-and-paste method is “Huey Must Be Set Free“, found on page 23 of The Digger Papers, a collective en give-away publication by the Diggers in August 1968. “The Diggers were one of the legendary groups in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, one of the world-wide epicenters of the Sixties Counterculture which fundamentally changed American and world culture. […] The San Francisco Diggers evolved out of two Radical traditions that thrived in the SF Bay Area in the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the New Left/civil rights/peace movement. […] The Diggers combined street theater, anarcho-direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda of creating a Free City.” (more at www.diggers.org)
