Page 105 - Sale 2271 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana - March 1, 2012

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176
(BLACK PANTHERS.) SEALE, BOBBY.
Birthday party. Happy Birthday
Bobby, Happy Birthday Tim. Tim is free, FREE BOBBY.
Silkscreen psychedelic
poster, 17x13 inches.With a small double-sided psychedelic flyer, repeating the design of
the poster with a “hippy-yippie credo” on the reverse, 8-1/2x11 inches; some wrinkling
and creases where folded.
[San Francisco, 1970]
[1,000/1,500]
A very scarce survival for a public “invitation” to a party at Speedway Meadows,Golden Gate Park.
Posters and flyers like this, printed on small home presses and mimeograph machines, were common
during the late 1960s and early 1970s in Haight-Ashbury and Oakland, California. In 1970,
Bobby Seale was being held pending trial in Connecticut.The New Haven trials were accompanied
by a large demonstration in New Haven on May Day, 1970, which coincided with the beginning
of the American college Student Strike of 1970.The jury was unable to reach a verdict in Seale’s
trial, and the charges were eventually dropped. Seale was released from prison in 1972.
177
(BLACK PANTHERS—MILITARY.)
[SMITH, BILLY DEAN.]
Billy Dean Smith.
14
pages 8vo, original pictorial wrappers.With small
centerfold poster, “free Billy Smith, Free Us All”
* Up From the Bottom, volume II, Nos 1 and 2.
folio, 12 pages each. In excellent condition for
such poorly-printed material.
San Diego; Los Angeles, 1972
[600/800]
Billy Dean Smith was an African American G.I accused
of the “fragging” murder of two white officers in Bien
Hoa, Vietnam in 1971. The term “fragging” comes
from the use of a fragmentation grenade, and was
peculiar to the Viet Nam War. Fragging most often
involved the murder of a commanding officer (C.O.) or
a senior noncommissioned officer perceived as unpopular,
harsh, inept or overzealous, especially if he was deemed
to be seeking glory for himself. Dean’s case became a
rallying point for many black G.I.’s and the cause was
taken up by the Panthers and anti-war groups.
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