Stars and Cans Cedomir Kostovic Silkscreen, no date Springfield, Missouri 24654
Nixon Impeaches G. Duoos; Celestial Arts; Orbit Offset, 1974 Millbrae, California 12107 President Richard M. Nixon and his top aides were deeply involved in an extensive cover-up of many White House sanctioned illegal activities to gather political intelligence on perceived enemies and preventing news leaks. The illegal acts included the wiretapping of reporters critical of the Viet Nam War and a massive campaign of political spying and 'dirty tricks' initiated against Democrats, leading to the Watergate Hotel break-in to plant bugs (tiny audio transmitters) inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee. . Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid being impeached.
"San Clementi Brand" is a parady of the Del Monte logo, and refers to San Clemente, CA, where Nixon lived and retired after his resignation. "Agnew", instead of "New" refers to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew who was charged with extortion, tax evasion, and bribery. He resigned in 1973, and became the first American vice president to resign from office because of criminal charges. Agnew pleaded no contest to tax evasion and was fined $10,000. His disgrace added to Nixon's problems.
Sun Mad Estér Hernandez Silkscreen, 1982 San Francisco, California 26493 The San Joaquin valley, where Ester Hernandez was born and raised, is the center of the raisin industry— 95 percent of California raisins are produced there. Her parents were agricultural workers and in the summer Ester would work in the raisin fields where many farms displayed the Sun Maid logo. Ester was inspired to produce Sun Mad when she discovered that the water table in her hometown had been contaminated by the area’s agribusiness.
By combining the familiar Sun Maid girl with Jose Guadalupe Posada’s graphic tradition of the calavera or satirically costumed skeletons, Ester links the raisins—usually considered to be a healthy, natural food—to illness and death because of the use of pesticides, fungicides and other toxic chemicals. She is also critiquing the many advertisements that use women to sell products.
Wash Your Blues Away! Karen Redfern Adbusters Media Foundation Offset, 1990s Vancouver, B.C., Canada 25415
Cannabis Artist unknown Offset, ca. 1969 United States 17726
UC Regent Rebate Upstart Offset, 1996 Los Angeles, California 7907 L-R: Newt Gingrich, Ward Connerly and Pete Wilson All three men supported California's Proposition 209 outlawing race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, widely known as affirmative action. Newt Gingrich, Republican Congressman from Georgia (1979-1999), coauthor of the 1994 Contract with America. Ward Connerly, a University of California Regent until 2005, is considered to be the man behind California's controversial Proposition 209 outlawing race and genderbased preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, widely known as affirmative action. Pete Wilson was the Republican Governor of California (1991-1999).
Ethnic Cleanser Mark Huntington Make It Stick! Offset, 2002 Garberville, California 25435 Design closely copies product packaging for “Miracle Gro,” a plant food that has nothing to do with the poster’s message. In 2002, Ariel Sharon, then Prime Minister of Israel, faced possible prosecutions for two war crimes that occurred 20 years apart: the September 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, and the killings in the Jenin refugee camp (West Bank) by the Israeli Defense Forces in April 2002.
During the 1982 Lebanon War, while Ariel Sharon was Defense minister, the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place, in which between 460 and 3,500 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps were killed by the Phalanges, Lebanese Maronite Christian militias. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had been sent to the camps at Sharon's command to provide the Phalanges with logistical support and to guard camp exits. The incident led some of Sharon's critics to refer to him as "the Butcher of Beirut". The Kahan Commission, an Israeli body convened to investigate the Sabra and Shatila massacre, found the Israeli Defense Forces indirectly responsible for the massacre and charged Sharon with "personal responsibility." for the crimes. Sharon was fired as Defense Minister by Prime Minister Menachem Begin shortly after the report's release, but he remained in successive governments as a Minister. On 18 June 2001, relatives of the victims of the Sabra massacre began proceedings in Belgium to have Ariel Sharon indicted on war crimes charges. In June 2002, a Brussels Appeals Court rejected the lawsuit because the law was subsequently changed under heavy U.S. pressure to disallow such lawsuits unless a Belgian citizen is involved. In April 2002, in response to escalating attacks on Israelis, the IDF launched a large-scale antiterrorist offensive against the Jenin refugee camp. Although claims of massacres were made, Human Rights Watch found no evidence for a massacre, but said "Israeli forces committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting prima facie to war crimes." The human rights organization also criticized Palestinian militants for having endangered the lives of Palestinian civilians in part by "intermingling" with them. In January 2006, Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and remains in a vegetative coma.
[Mumia Abu-Jamal-Think different?] Parody Productions Offset, 2000 Cincinnati, Ohio 13225
Mumia Abu-Jamal joined the Philadelphia Black Panthers in 1968 when he was 14 years old. At the age of 15, the Federal Bureau of Investigation—with the help of the Philadelphia Police Department—placed Mumia under surveillance in the covert Counter Intelligence Program known as COINTELPRO, amassing a file on him over the next decade that would run to 700 pages. Mumia became Minister of Information for the Philadelphia Panthers. Later he became a journalist and radio commentator. He was known for his support of the activist group, MOVE, and for his condemnation of the Philadelphia police for their habitual brutality against blacks. He served as president of the Philadelphia Society of Black Journalists, and has aired on National Public Radio and National Black Network.
Unable to make a living as a conventional journalist because of his controversial views, Mumia supported himself by driving a taxicab in Philadelphia. One night in 1981 he spotted a police officer beating and arresting his brother, and went to find out what was going on. At that point, Mumia’s story diverges from that of the police. The police version is that Mumia shot the police officer twice in the head. Mumia maintains that another person in the crowd that gathered shot the officer. Mumia was also shot by police and almost died that night. The main civilian witnesses at the trial were two prostitutes. One changed her description of the assailant several times. The other subsequently stated that she was under pressure by police to testify. Witnesses to support Mumia’s version were never called to testify, and many inconsistencies were not examined. The prosecutor won a death sentence. Mumia’s name was second on the list of death-row prisoners facing the electric chair. Groups such as Amnesty International, the PEN American Center and Human Rights Watch have all questioned the fairness of the trial. In December 2001, Abu-Jamal's death sentence, but not his conviction, was overturned by Federal District Court judge William Yohn. Both the prosecution and the defense have appealed Yohn's ruling. Abu-Jamal is presently incarcerated in the maximum-security State Correctional Institution Greene, near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. An international campaign is currently being waged to obtain a new trial.
Ice Cold Corporate Campaign, Inc. Offset, 2003 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 20405
Helado Corporate Campaign, Inc. Offset, 2003 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 20399 The Killer Coke Campaign and other activists are focussing their attention on Coca-Cola’s human rights abuses in Colombia. Since 1996, eight union leaders at Coke’s Colombian bottling plants have been murdered and hundreds of other workers have been tortured, kidnapped and/or illegally detained by paramilitaries that are often working closely with plant management.
The International boycott was launched in 2003, and many student activists joined in the fight against Coke’s crimes. In October, 2003, students at the University College Dublin, the largest university in Ireland with more than 20,000 students, passed a binding student referendum to ban all Coke products from student-run facilities. Another significant victory came with New York University’s 2005 ban on Coca-Cola products when the company failed to meet the university’s ultimatum that an independent third party be allowed to investigate the allegations of human rights abuses in Colombia. The Campaign will soon be aggressively promoting protests against Coke's financial support network. This will include activities directed at SunTrust Banks and Barclays Bank in England.
Boycott Nestlé Rachael Romero San Francisco Poster Brigade Offset, late 1970s Berkeley, California 5257 Nestlé Boycott Every 30 seconds a baby dies from unsafe bottle feeding. Each year ten million infants suffer from severe diarrhea, malnutrition and disease because they are not breastfed. Over one million of them die, while those who survive often suffer permanent physical and mental damage. From 19771984 an international boycott against Nestlé Products was organized to protest the promotion and sale of infant baby formula to developing nations.
Mothers were told that formula was better than breast milk, and sufficient "free samples" were given to last until the new mothers' own milk dried up. Due to lack of sanitation, high illiteracy rates and poverty, the necessary preparation conditions and adequate quantity of formula were rarely available. The boycott was the largest non-union consumer boycott in history, targeting Swiss-based NestlĂŠ which has 50% of the market share of the infant formula industry. The boycott was reinstated in 1988 when NestlĂŠ and others broke their promise to abide by the World Health Organization, and is still in effect. The problem is no longer limited to developing nations. It is a pressing issue in the United States as well, with welfare families spending as much as 39 percent of their low income on formula.
Guess Who Pockets the Difference? Common Threads Artist Group Offset, 1995 Los Angeles, California 5662 Guess? Boycott GUESS? is the line of American name-brand clothing and fashion accessories that uses a question mark as its emblem. They also own the line Marciano.
Founded in 1981, Guess? was one of the first companies to create designer jeans. They introduced their trademark black-and-white ads in 1985, featuring photographs of fashion models and actresses such as Drew Barrymore, Anna Nicole Smith, and Paris Hilton. During the 1980s, Guess was one of the most popular brands, but began a downturn during the nineties as a result of increasing competition, and growing criticism of their use of sweatshops and sexist ads. In 1990, a women's rights group based out of California called for a boycott, calling Guess ads sexist and demeaning to females around the world. In 1992, Guess contractors faced litigation from the US Department of Labor due to failure to pay their employees the minimum wage or adequate overtime. Rather than face a court case, $573,000 in back wages was paid to employees.
In 1996, the company was sued by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), again because of failure to pay the minimum wage or overtime to workers. The settlement, supervised by the US Department of Labor, saw the reinstatement of 8 workers found to have been illegally fired and another $80,000 in back pay given to workers, but almost immediately afterward Guess announced that it was moving its sewing production to Mexico. The company denied that the move was related to these court cases, but its public image continued to suffer. In October 1997, Guess filed a libel suit against Common Threads, a Los Angeles women's group, after they held a poetry reading about the struggle of garment workers. Guess later withdrew the lawsuit, thereby avoiding the court's scrutiny of the company's labor practices.
In 2005, Guess began catching the eye of many new people (mainly teens) who were unaware of Guess's earlier history. Since mid-2003, the Guess stock has continuously risen, eliciting nothing but positive reviews from stock holders and Wall Street, though the wider community has more mixed opinions. GUESS who's still in trouble? from materials provided by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and the Asia Monitor Resource Center After revelations in 1996 that Guess clothing was being produced in sweatshops and illegal industrial homework operations, Guess was put on probation by the U.S. Department of Labor. Then, five Guess sewing firms, including the #1 violator in the country, were cited in a Labor Department report on minimum wage and overtime violations in the garment industry for the 4th quarter of 1996. The top violator, a Los Angeles firm called Pride Jeans and a major producer of Guess jeans, owed its workers over $100,000 in back wages. In January, the Labor Department removed Guess from its "Trendsetter" list indefinitely.
In March, 1997, another key Guess contractor, Jeans Plus, was indicted by the National Labor Relations Board for the illegal discharge, intimidation and surveillance of workers who spoke out against sweatshop conditions. In September 1997, Guess filed a libel suit against Common Threads, a Los Angeles women's group, after they held a poetry reading about the struggle of garment workers. Guess later withdrew the lawsuit, thereby avoiding the court's scrutiny of the company's labor practices. Two film makers have joined college students protesting Guess' sweatshops at each stop in a Guess Independent Film Tour. Guess is the corporate sponsor of screenings of "Girls Town" and "Hype" at universities across the U.S. But the directors of those two films are speaking out against Guess for using sweatshops. On March 8, International Women's Day, a sewing machine operator at V.T. Fashion Image Inc in the Philippines, died 11 days after collapsing in exhaustion at her job. Co-workers denounced the system of quotas set by the factory, which produces clothing for Guess, the GAP, Liz Claiborne and other major brands. (Liz Claiborne is a member of the Presidential task force on sweatshop issues.) For a Guess campaign action packet, contact UNITE at (212) 265-7000 x 821, gcough@uniteunion.org, 1710 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Nobody Should Be a Slave to Fashion Common Threads Artist Group Offset, 1996 Los Angeles, California 9419
Starvebucks Eric Lindroth Digital Print, 2006 Northridge, California 26406
Starbucks: Issues of Fair Trade and the Use of Growth Hormones In February 1994, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug, rBGH, to inject into dairy cows to make them produce more milk. Virtually every industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the sale of milk from cows injected with rBGH. Despite over five years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve rBGH milk. Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious dangers to both to human health and to the general welfare to dairy cows. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to reject rBGH dairy products, they could be effectively eliminated from the market. Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between consumers in North America and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The chief concern of the Fair Trade movement has been to ensure that the vast majority of the world's coffee farmers (who are small holders) get a fair price for their harvests in order to achieve a decent living wage. While Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand. For more information, please contact http://www.organicconsumers.org/ or http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/background.html
PINCHE Juan Fuentes Silkscreen, 2007 San Francisco, California 29671 Day of the Dead The Last Fucking Corporate Cup of Coffee
You Have the Right to Organize Nicole Schulman Graphic Work Offset, 2006-2007 United States 32030
The Grim Sneaker Eric Lindroth Digital Print, 2006 Northridge, California 26407
Logo Liberty Bell Mark of the Beast Silkscreen, 2007 Los Angeles, California 26478
Break All Ties With Apartheid Africa Fund Offset, early 1970s United States 25627
Ceylon Tea Rupert GarcĂa Silkscreen, 1972 Oakland, California 3389
Cuba-52 Rene Mederos Silkscreen, 1973 Havana, Cuba 6671
American Investment in Cuba Patrick Thomas Silkscreen, 2002 Barcelona, Spain 26476
McAfrika Artist unknown Offset, date unknown Place Unknown 22668
Alternative Libertaire Alternative Libertaire Offset, circa early 1990s Brussels, Belgium 22669
[Coca-Cola] Rodolfo Tejera Silkscreen, 1980s San Francisco, California 10023 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Russian revolutionary and the first head of the Soviet Union, is shown drinking a coke. Designed by a Cuban artist while in the U. S., the artist is making an ironic statement about the attraction of “forbidden� Western products. In 1972, Pepsi signed an agreement with the Soviet Union that made it the first Western product to be sold to Russian consumers. Coca Cola was considered synonymous with capitalism, and was only legally sold in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Pugno Chiuso Contra il Razzismo USA [Fist Closed Against Racism in the USA] Offset, ca. 1968 Italian Communist Party (PCI) Rome, Italy 5818 Translation: Smith and Carlos at the Olympic Games Bare Feet: the poverty of the black people Black Glove: the mourning of the black people Closed Fist: the willingness to fight The Italian Communists are with them against imperialism and racism Tommie Smith and John Carlos, winners of the gold and bronze medals for the1968 Summer Olympics 200 meter run in Mexico City, raised black gloved fists and bowed their heads when the Star Spangled Banner was played.
Both were shoeless, but wore black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, and Carlos wore a string of beads, to commemorate black people who had been lynched. They were simultaneously protesting the Viet Nam War, and racism at home. Their gesture became front page news around the world; Smith and Carlos were suspended by the United States Olympic Committee and stripped of their medals. Silver Medal winner, Australian Peter Norman, supported their protest, and all three athletes wore OPHR (Olympic Project for Human Rights) badges. Norman was ostracized when he returned home. The three remained friends. When Norman died in 2006 of a heart attack at the age of 64, both Smith and Carlos gave eulogies and were pallbearers at his funeral in Australia.
Official Olympics Police State Fireworks Graphics Silkscreen, 1984 Los Angeles, California 3130 Los Angeles officials invoked heightened security measures in response to later discredited reports that the city faced a threat of terrorist action during the 1984 Olympics that would be comparable to the Palestine Liberation Organization's attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Stop The Olympic Prison S.T.O.P. (Stop The Olympic Prison) Offset, 1979 Syracuse, New York 21054 Produced by the New York Moratorium on Prison Construction and the National Moratorium on prisons as part of a campaign to challenge plans to convert the Olympic athletes' dormitory facilities in Lake Placid, New York into a state prison. This poster made legal history when it successfully survived a lawsuit by the U.S. Olympic Committee to prohibit this unauthorized use of the Olympic logo.
What Will the Olympics Stand for this Summer? freetibet2008.org Offset, 2008 Place Unknown 28832
Olie Boycot [Oil Boycott] Komitee Zuidelijk Afrika Werkgroep Kairos Silkscreen, circa mid-late1980s Amsterdam, Netherlands 17477
Demands a boycott of oil from South Africa during the racist Apartheid regime (1948-1991). Extensive text on reverse side details the boycott and embargo.
Blood for Oil Jos Sances Silkscreen, ca. 1991 Berkeley, California 11973 "No Blood for Oil" was a popular slogan to oppose the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. This poster twists the slogan to affirm that the US government and multinational oil companies do support wars fought for oil. It is also a parody of one of the first posters produced to oppose the first Gulf War. President George Bush senior is depicted.
EsS.O.S! Anthony Garner Digital Print, 2003 Barcelona, Spain 26442 EsS.O.S! was originally a small pen and ink drawing to illustrate an article entitled "Oil" that discussed world distribution, diminishing supply, greed, etc. The article was published in a Catalan newspaper in 2002. Following the invasion of Iraq, the artist decided to simplify the image and turn it into a color poster, adding the bloodstains to reinforce the idea of the price of oil in terms of human lives.
Unocal Stop Sacrificing Women for Oil Fund for the Feminist Majority Digital Print with hand-colored letters, 1990s Los Angeles, California 10149 In 1998, women's rights organizations accused UNOCAL, a U.S. oil company, of entering into a business partnership with the Taliban government of Afghanistan, despite its record of human rights abuses against women and girls. Representatives from the Feminist Majority, the National Organization for Women, the Women's Alliance for Peace and Freedom in Afghanistan, protested outside UNOCAL's annual shareholders meeting in California.
When the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban seized control of the Afghanistan capital Kabul in September 1996, women and girls were forbidden to work outside the home, all schools and universities were closed to female students, all women were forced to wear the Burka, completely covering them from head to foot. Women who defied these orders reportedly have been shot or stoned. UNOCAL has also been criticized by human rights groups and pro-democracy activists in Burma for allegedly providing the Burmese government with $150 million annually for helping to construct a pipeline. This money, says Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently under house-arrest, will "only serve to entrench the regime" widely known for human rights abuses. Although UNOCAL, denied all charges that it was dealing with the Taliban, a delegation of high ranking Taliban officials met with UNOCAL in Texas in December 1997 to discuss the building of a multi-billion dollar oil and gas pipeline across Afghanistan. UNOCAL also entered a $1 million contract with the University of Nebraska to train workers in Afghanistan specifically for pipeline construction. The plight of women under the Taliban regime provided the United States with a tidy moral justification for its invasion of Afghanistan-a talking point that Laura Bush took the lead in driving home. "The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women," Bush said after the 2001 invasion, adding that thanks to America, women were "no longer imprisoned in their homes." Six years later, the burka is more common than before, an "overwhelming majority" of Afghan women suffer domestic violence, and honor killings are on the rise. Health care is so threadbare that every 28 minutes a mother dies in childbirth-the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Girls attend school at half the rate boys do, and in 2006 at least 40 teachers were killed by the Taliban.
We’re All About Shells Scott Boylston Two Brothers Custom Silkscreen Silkscreen, 2007 Design: Savannah, Georgia Printing: El Monte, California 26481 Shell Oil Boycotts In the 1970s and 1980s, Shell Oil supported apartheid. Shell Oil was singled out by antiapartheid campaigners for providing fuel to the notoriously brutal South African army and police. During the same period, Shell was accused of breaking the UN oil boycott of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) by using its South African subsidiary and other companies in which it had interests. Shell responded to the boycott by hiring a PR firm to run an anti-boycott campaign.
In the 1980s, the boycott expanded and was endorsed by scores of national organizations including the AFL-CIO, the National Organization of Women (NOW), and the anti-apartheid lobby, TransAfrica. The Shell boycott was the first phase of what the Washington-based Free South Africa Movement dubbed an "Economic Education Campaign" to publicize the vital contribution which multinationals make to the apartheid state. In the 1990s, Shell Oil Murders Human Rights Activists in Nigeria
In Nigeria, thousands of Ogoni people saw their farms and livelihoods destroyed throughout the 1990's by Shell's irresponsible oil drilling, gas-flaring and murder of protesters. Ken Saro-Wiwa, an Ogoni human rights activist and writer, devoted his life the peaceful struggle against Royal Dutch Shell and their ecological rape of Nigeria. International attention focused on Shell’s barbaric practices when they set up Saro-Wiwa and eight of his comrades to be executed by the corrupt Nigerian government in 1995. Shell continues to wreak environmental havoc on the land of the Ogon, and has admitted to paying the military, which brutally silences voices crying for justice from the government of Nigeria and Shell, along with other multinational oil corporations.
2005 Boycott in Ireland The most recent organizing effort against Shell Oil is taking place in Rossport a small community in Northern Ireland where “Shell to Sea� organizers are attempting to protect Irish Natural Resources and protect lives. Shell Oil along with two other multinational companies, Statoil and Marathon, are attempting to exploit the Corrib natural gas field off the coast of Ireland. Instead of processing the gas in the usual way, on a rig offshore, Shell wants to build a dangerous, experimental pipeline to pump raw, untreated gas from the seabed over land, through residential areas, to a huge refinery which they plan to build 6 miles inland. The pipeline and refinery will destroy the pristine coastline and endanger hundreds of lives. In April 2005, Shell was awarded a High Court injunction against the people of the area to prevent them from protesting against the scheme. Five men, The Rossport Five, refused to cooperate and spent over three months in high-security conditions in Cloverhill Prison. Shell Oil is a massive contributor to Global Warming and Climate Change – the greatest threats to life on earth.
Alaska ﾃ僕-sardinen Klaus Staeck Offset, 1989 Heidelberg, Germany 13143
Translation: Alaskan Sardines in Oil Exxon Mobil Corporation is the parent of Esso, Mobil and ExxonMobil, companies that sell fuels and lubricants around the world under the Esso brand name. This poster refers to the disastrous oil spill that occurred On March 24, 1989, when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons (42,000 mﾂｳ) of crude oil. The spill was the second largest in U.S. history.
BP - Brutish Petroleum Eric Lindroth Digital Print, circa 2005 Northridge, California 34335 This poster was produced five years before the disastrous 2010 British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Also known as the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, it is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. An explosion on April 20, 2010 killed 11 men, injured 17 others, and spewed about 4.9 million barrels of oil—or 205.8 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf over the next three months. Although it was capped on July 15, 2010, the spill caused ongoing and extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.
R.I.bP. EMEK Silkscreen, 2010 Fairview, Oregon 36079
Stop Offshore Drilling Steven Lyons CREDO Mobile Digital Print, 2010 Fairfax, California 35974 This poster was Credo Mobile Phone Company's response to British Petroleum’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Credo called on subscribers and activists to ask the EPA to hold BP accountable for the catastrophic amounts of oil that were belching into the gulf. At the time the White House had not taken decisive action.
It's the Real Thing for S.E. Asia Artist unknown Silkscreen, 1970 Berkeley, California 4949
Bombing of Cambodia In March 1969, President Nixon ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia, a land of farmers that had not known war in centuries.An estimated 100,000 peasants died in the bombing, while 2 million people were left homeless. In April 1970, Nixon ordered US troops into Cambodia. When the invasion was announced, US college campuses erupted in protest. At Kent State University in Ohio, four students were killed by panicky national guardsmen who had been called up to prevent rioting. Two days later, two students were killed at Jackson State College in Mississippi.
Following the shootings, There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, high schools, and even middle schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of eight million students, and the event further divided the country along political lines. Some of the striking students at UC Berkeley began silkscreening hundreds of protest posters onto used computer paper, such as this one using the Coca-cola slogan "it's the real thing" to depict napalm.
[annotation from Art Against Empire]: The Coca-Cola slogan “it’s the real thing” refers here to napalm, a syrupy kind of jellied gasoline that creates a field of fire. President Lyndon Johnson authorized the use of napalm in 1965, and it was used in Viet Nam to burn forests and villages and people, without discrimination. It burns everything at a temperature of 9001300 degrees centigrade /1650-2375 degrees dahrenheit. It even burns under water—water spreads it, but does not put it out. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John Pratt (retired) used to "go along on flights" where napalm was dropped. "When it goes off, it's sort of like dropping gasoline and lighting it at the same time. It covers [the ground] like a fiery blanket, burns everything that it hits." Dow Chemical was the military's sole supplier of Napalm.
Chanel Violet Ray Offset, 1969 California 5870
Think U.S.A. Union of Stoned Anarchists Sture Johannesson Offset, ca. 1969 Sweden 26474
New! Improved Mace Gary Short Offset, 1969 United States 16087 Poster about Police Brutality in the 1960s "Our medium is the massage," one of the many slogans and logos used in this poster, is a paraphrase of a 1967 bestseller and cult classic by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore. The book was originally titled, "the medium is the message," but a printer's typo resulted in "the medium is the massage." McLuhan subsequently used both titles as the error proved his point.
Bank of Amerika Isle Vista Branch Metamorphosis Offset, 1970 Santa Barbara, California 3163 In February 1970, a rally was held at the stadium of the University of California in Santa Barbara to respond to national and local issues including the firing of several radical faculty, police harassment of black student activists, and the ongoing Viet Nam War. Police harassment of students leaving the rally, including the arrests of several demonstrators, escalated into a struggle for control of the college community of Isla Vista, during which the Bank of America was burned down. The Bank of America was the largest bank in California, had a number of branches in Viet Nam, and was a symbol of corporate support of the war. Two months later the temporary Bank of America structure was also burned down, and a student defending the bank structure was killed by a police sharpshooter who claimed his gun went off accidentally.
Johnson's Baby Powder Gary H. Brown Felix Greene, photographer Silkscreen on sheet metal, Santa Barbara, California, 1968 5912 Johnson’s Baby Powder has nothing to do with the actual Johnson & Johnson product, but targets Napalm, a syrupy kind of jellied gasoline that showers hundreds of explosive pellets upon impact. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the use of Napalm in 1965, and it was used in Vietnam to burn forests, villages, and people without discrimination. It burned through everything, at more than 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It stuck to people and then burned some more, sometimes down to the bone. It even burned under water—water spread it, but did not put it out. The child shown in the poster was burned by Napalm.
Air Force Lt. Col. John Pratt (retired) used to "go along on flights" where napalm was dropped. "When it goes off, it's sort of like dropping gasoline and lighting it at the same time. It covers (the ground) like a fiery blanket, burns everything that it hits." Dow Chemical was the military's sole supplier of Napalm, which meant that when its use in the Viet Nam War became controversial, Dow was the only corporate target. Anti Dow slogans can be seen in several other anti-Viet Nam war posters.
Who Profits From Your Pride? Steve Bodzin San Francisco Print Collective Silkscreen, 2001 San Francisco, California 16978
Blood And Oil Ruben MacBlue Stencil, 2002 Hollywood, California 18427
Two Years of War And Occupation Camille Not In Our Name Offset, 2005 United States 24081
I'm Loathin' It Qian Qian Digital Print, 2005 Springfield, Missouri 25590
Over 1000 U.S Troops Killed in Iraq CH Offset, 2004 California 23164
Genital Electric Eric Lindroth Digital Print, 2006 Northridge, California 26405
iRaq [Abu Ghraib Prisoner] Forkscrew Graphics Silkscreen, 2004 Los Angeles, California 22889
iRaq [Man With Whip] Forkscrew Graphics Silkscreen, 2004 Los Angeles, California 22007
iRaq [Man with Rocket Propelled Grenade] Forkscrew Graphics Silkscreen, 2004 Los Angeles, California 22012
iRaq [Man with Rifle Held Aloft] Forkscrew Graphics Silkscreen, 2004 Los Angeles, California 22016
U Been Served John Carr Silkscreen, 2005 Los Angeles, California 26479
The Spoils of War Winston Smith Silkscreen, 2000 United States 32445
Oil Soldier Nicolas Lampert Offset, circa 2007 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 32572
Crude Reality Chuck Sperry Sam Newbury Silkscreen, 2010 Place Unknown 32664
Burning The Planet For Profits Greenpeace Offset, 2002 Luxembourg 25998
Acid Rain Plagues U.S. Mariona Barkus Offset, 1982 Los Angeles, California 1254
ACID RAIN Acid rain is a toxic rain produced by nitric and sulfuric emissions. Through studying the layers of glacial ice, it was discovered that a large increase in acid rain production began with the onset of the industrial revolution. Electricity generation, factories, and motor vehicles are the largest exporters of these harmful emissions. Though acid rain was discovered in 1852, it wasn't until the late 1960s that scientists began widely observing and studying the phenomenon. When acid rain falls back onto the earth, it directly affects water, and has adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and soils, killing off insect and aquatic life as well as causing damage to buildings and having possible impacts on human health.
No Patents on Life! Artist Unknown Offset, circa 1994 Munich, Germany 22671
GenManipuliert Greenpeace Offset, circa 2000 Hamburg, Germany 25416 Translation: Genetically Altered One cannot be nourished with genetically modified food Genetically Manipulated So that you can be quite certain to have genetic technology on your plate. Manipulated additives for questionable quality. We offer you the flesh of animals that have eaten genetically manipulated food. With us you can really eat with genetic technology, our well known suppliers guarantee it. No genetic technology in food.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (and micro-organisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination. While traditional cross-breeding methods have been practiced for centuries, GMOs may be derived from the recombination of gene material from differing species, including humans. The development of GMOs has caused large debate in terms of unanticipated environmental effects, food safety, and morality. European are refusing to import GMO foods, and US consumers are demanding that they be labeled. To-date, the US food industry has refused. Its supporters claim that GMO's offer a way to quickly improve crop characteristics such as yield, pest resistance, or herbicide tolerance, often to a degree not possible with traditional methods. Further, GM crops can be manipulated to produce completely artificial substances, from the precursors to plastics to consumable vaccines. GMO critics state that the power of genetic modification techniques raises the possibility of human health, environmental, and economic problems. These include unanticipated allergic responses to novel substances in foods, the spread of pest resistance or herbicide tolerance to wild plants, inadvertent toxicity to benign wildlife, and increasing control of agriculture by biotechnology corporations.
Introducing the Latest Bummer Global Exchange Labor/Community Strategy Center Offset, 2003 Berkeley, California 20804
Zurück zur Natur [Back to Nature] Klaus Staeck Offset, 1985 Heidelberg, Germany 13196 Édouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) of 1863 outraged 19th century audiences by showing a naked woman next to fully-clothed men in a contemporary context without using the pretext of a mythological story. By adding coke cans, picnic bag and a Mercedes, Staeck hopes contemporary viewers will be as outraged now by the trashing of nature.
Wir Bringen die Pole zum Schmelzen [We Bring the Poles to the Melting Point Most Catastrophically] Klaus Staeck Greenpeace Offset, 1988 Heidelberg, Germany 13147 Translation: Everybody only talks only about the climate—we break it and make a good profit on it: by the production of 140000 tons of FCKW [Fluorine chlorinated hydrocarbons] per year. Kali and Hoechst, the Climate killers
Chlorofluorocarbons, Ozone Depletion, and Global Warming Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are compounds containing carbon, chlorine and fluorine. CFCs were created in 1928 and first used on a large-scale basis in the 1950s. Sold under the trade name of Freons, CFC’s were extensively used in refrigerators and air conditioners, in the production of plastics used for insulation and packing materials, as solvents for electronics, and as a propellant in spray cans for paint, insect repellants, and deodorants. After the 1970s, CFCs were discontinued in their use as aerosol propellants. When they were disposed of before 1990, they were not tightly controlled and were allowed to escape into the atmosphere, simply contributing to the problem. After the Clean Air Act of 1990, tight new regulations and requirements were put on service stations and car manufactures in an attempt to limit the amount of CFCs unnecessarily released. CFCs destroy the ozone in the stratosphere (15 - 20 km above the earth's surface), and the greatest Ozone loss is over Antarctica. Ozone (O3) is poisonous to humans if breathed in, but is important to life in that it filters out or absorbs short wavelength ultraviolet radiation (u.v) in the 280 - 320nm range which can cause serious sunburn, skin cancer and eye disorders. The inertness and lack of water solubility of CFCs mean they are not destroyed nor are they dissolved in rain water so they stay in the atmosphere for a very long time and diffuse up to the stratosphere. In the 1980s, Greenpeace launched a campaign against the largest producers of CFC’s in Europe: the chemical companies Kali-Chemie and Hoechst. Hoechst also translates as “Highest”, so the poster uses the double meaning of the name to both highlight the company, and its role in contributing to global warming. In the 1990s, many Hoechst and Kali-Chemie plants throughout the world ceased production of CFC’s.
Dead Animal Combo Meal Friends of Animals Offset, circa 2000 Darien, Connecticut 26042
Tortured Chicken Nuggets Friends of Animals Offset, circa 2000 Darien, Connecticut 26040
Pizza Topped With Any Two Animal Remains! Friends of Animals Offset, circa 2000 Darien, Connecticut 26045
They Used to Make Us Pick it Herschberger Offset, 1991 New York, New York 5180
AIDS Crisis Gang ACT UP/NY Offset, 1990 New York, New York 6484
Enjoy AZT Bullet Vincent Gagliostro Avram Finkelstein ACT UP Offset, 1990 New York, New York 33732
Cancer Sticks Community Printers Offset, 1992 San Jose, California 10066
I Miss My Lung, Bob California Department of Health Services Offset, 1998 Northern California 26475
Mr. Camel's Kid Club Doug Minkler Silkscreen, 1990 Berkeley, California 26491
Brought to you by Philip Morris Joan Roelofs Digital Print, 2008 Keene, New Hampshire 29413 Edgar Degas’ signature ballerinas epitomize high art and culture. Contemporary culture, including ballet, art exhibitions, public television, and sporting events, increasingly depends upon corporate sponsorship. Philip Morris is a frequent and prominent underwriter in order to deflect attention from their role as a major producer of a proven carcinogen. In 2002, Philip Morris changed its name to Altria. Many critics have called this a transparent attempt to clean up the company’s image. That many ballet dancers smoke, despite the proven health risks, is an additional irony.
Tobacco Votes Trudy Cole-Zielanski Offset, Date Unknown Virginia 32133
Sun Raid EstĂŠr Hernandez Silkscreen, 2008 San Francisco, California 31696 In 1982, EstĂŠr Hernandez, designed Sun Mad [poster #3 in this exhibition] to call attention to the pesticides and other poisons used to grow our food. In 2008, she riffed on her own iconic poster, now calling attention to the escalating attacks on immigrants. In 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was replaced by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The INS had been part of the Department of Justice. ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
iMigrate Sasha Costanza-Chock Digital Print, 2007 Los Angeles, California 26485
Plays on Apple’s popular iPod ads.
Income Gap THINK AGAIN Offset, 1999 San Francisco, California 10220
Gap Boycott Since the 1990s, both the US Gap Inc and Gap International have been accused of making extensive use of sweatshop labor. In 2002, Africa Forum and Unite, the union of textile employees, joined forces to demand a boycott the international retailer, which operates a global network of 3600 factories and more than 4,000 retail shops. Activists charge Gap with encouraging the exploitation of workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Lesotho, El Salvador and Mexico. Workers gave accounts of working long hours for low pay, and facing health hazards and brutal working conditions at factories making Gap products.
Tebello, a Lesotho garment worker whose family members have become seriously ill as a result of working in a factory supplying Gap, said: "The factory is dusty. We can't escape breathing in the fibers. When we cough, if the T-shirt we were working on was made of blue fabric, then our mucus would be full of blue fibers." A Bangladeshi worker employed at a Gap factory in Chitagong recounted physical abuse at her plant. "If we make simple mistakes, they beat us up. I made some small mistakes one time, so the supervisor came and slapped my head and pulled my ears. And if we make mistakes, they don't pay us for our work." An Indonesian worker from a Gap plant in north Jakarta described how low wages left employees unable to buy enough to eat. The union accused Gap of systematically driving down wages. "We want Gap to stop exploiting sweatshop labor around the world," union organizer Steve Weingarten said. "We want them to pay a wage that allows a decent standard of living and allow workers to organize unions to improve their conditions in factories." Research International polled 1,500 young urban shoppers in 41 countries and found consumers were prepared to turn a blind eye to ethical malpractices when they involved favorite brands. A study by the UK food industry's Institute of Grocery Distribution found the majority of shoppers were equally unmoved by ethical considerations.
KLou Klux ClaNN Mexica Movement Digital Print, 2007 Los Angeles, California 33656 Lou Dobbs is a journalist, radio and television host, known for his vitriolic attacks against immigrants. In 2009. he was the only mainstream news anchor to give airtime to the “birther” conspiracy theory, challenging Obama’s legitimacy as president.
It's the Prisons Critical Resistance Freedom Winter Offset, 2000 Berkeley, California 11473 Poster design based on the popular orange-and-black “It’s the Cheese” advertisements promoting California cheeses. California Proposition 21, known also as Prop 21, was the largest crime-related measure in California history. Passed in March 2000, it increased a variety of criminal penalties for crimes committed by youth and incorporated many youth offenders into the adult criminal justice system. The No on Prop 21 movement opposed spending millions of dollars trying juveniles as adults and locking them up in adult facilities while underfunding education. The proposition received considerable controversy and was subject to vigorous protests by youth and human rights groups, but was eventually passed by 62% of the voters. Prop 21 was funded by Governor Pete Wilson, Republican (1991-1999), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Chevron, TransAmerica, Atlantic Richfield, San Diego Gas and Electric, and the Union Oil Company of California. At least one of these companies, Chevron, is known to employ prison labor (no benefits, no workplace rights, below minimum wage salaries). The California Prison Guards Union gave $2,000,000 to Governor Gray Davis, Democrat (1999-2003), for his 1998 campaign.
Since Prop 21, thousands of youth have been transferred into adult court regardless of the circumstances of their cases. It also expanded the number of crimes designated as violent and serious felonies, subjecting youth to longer sentences—often life sentences. Proposition 21 is not limited to violent crime. It turns low-level vandalism into a felony. It requires alleged gang offenders, with misdemeanors like stealing candy, to serve six months in jail. In February 2001, state Court of Appeal in San Diego invalidated provisions of the law requiring 14 to 17-year-olds to be tried in the adult courts.
Education Instead of Incarceration Galen Hong Digital Print, 2005 Frostburg, Maryland 24901 From a class project to design posters for Prison Nation under Fereshteh Toosi, Frostburg State University, Maryland, 2005/2006
Chance Go Directly To Jail Travis Miller Silkscreen, 2010 San Francisco, California 32722 Three Strikes The media, prison guard unions and law enforcement officials, and politicians looking to get elected by looking "tough on crime" have all instilled a wave of fear and outrage in the public over violent crime, despite the fact that crime has been declining since the 1970s. Much of this political movement has resulted in laws requiring mandatory sentencing. As part of this trend, in 1994, California voters passed Proposition 184, one of the strictest criminal punishments in U.S. history. Sold to the voters with the slogan "three strikes and you're out,� 184 prescribed that people with two violent felonies would get life sentences for any third felony conviction - even in cases where the third conviction is as minor as stealing a t-shirt, writing a bad check or small possession of drugs.
Dead Kennedys Frank Kozik Decay Music Import Images Offset, 1998 New York, New York 26457
Rage Against The Machine Emek Offset, 1999 Leicester, England, United Kingdom 26463
Jello Biafra With The Melvins Chuck Sperry Immoral Minority Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company Silkscreen, 2004 San Francisco, California 26453 Jello Biafra, singer with the legendary punk band the Dead Kennedys, has dedicated his life and music to political activism. His assumed name juxtaposes the gelatinous Kraft Foods dessert with the name of a short-lived African nation that was plagued by starvation.
The Smiths Morrissey Jo Slee Caryn Gough Offset, 1985 United Kingdom 26451
Morrissey took the famous image of a young Vietnam soldier (from Emile de Antonio's 1969 anti-war film 'In the Year of the Pig') whose helmet bore the words "Make War Not Love" and replaced them with his own message. In 2003, the album was ranked number 295 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The People's Record Ed Scarisbrick Warner Bros. Records Burbank, California Offset, 1976 26080
American Idiot – Green Day Green Day Cinder Block Scorpio Posters Offset, 2004 Brooklyn, New York 26458