FIREBRANDS : FIVE POEMS. A chapbook of ANARCHIST RADICAL POETRY by JUAN ORTEGA, WILDER BENTLEY, NORMAN MACLEOD, LAWRENCE A. HARPER, FRANK ANKENBRAND, JR. Published by The Burlington Chapbooks, Philadelphia, 1935. Printed by ALPRESS in a LIMITED EDITION of only 175 copies. This is the fifth publication in the Burlington Chapbooks series. Chapbook / Booklet, heavy stock paper covers, paper title label on the front cover, string bound, 5.5x8.5 inches, six numbered pages of poems, plus an unnumbered Title Page, Contents Page, and Colophon Page. The poems are: CHAUVINISM, by Juan Ortega; ANARCHIST PORTRAIT IN CALIFORNIA, by Norman Macleod; LAST PRELUDE, by Lawrence A. Harper; TO A POET OF THE PROLETARIAT, by Wilder Bentley; and FOR THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONIST L. F., by Frank Ankenbrand, Jr. GOOD condition, a bit of wear to the corner tips, a small area of light shorelining to the top edge of the title page; overall remains tight, bright, clean and unmarked. One of the nicer copies this delicate chapbook that I have seen.

AMERICA, LOOK AND LIVE! by Helen W. Wood. An autobiography of her conversion from Communism to evangelical Christianity.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the author on the first blank page: "Sincerely Yours / Helen Wood Birnie / John 15:13". (John 15:13 reads "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.") Helen Wood Birnie is Helen W. Wood's married name.

Published by American Soul Clinic and Printed by Bedrock Press, Los Angeles, 1952.

Softcovers, booklet, side stapled, 5.5x8 inches, 77 pages.

GOOD condition, some light soiling and signs of handling to the covers, otherwise tight, bright, clean and clear. A nice copy.

Helen W. Wood was a lifelong white activist working to defend the rights and save the souls of African Americans. In the 1930s she was a Communist Party organizer. She converted to Christianity while working in the defense of an African American youth in Iowa charged with murder. The Iowa Communist Party opposed her work, but her efforts were supported by the local evangelicals. This began her conversion from Communism to Evangelical Christianity, a process completed in a Los Angeles skid row mission where she continued to work to better the lives of African Americans in need of help.

Though an Anti-Communist tract, it is also an interesting autobiography that envisions evangelical Christians as people who would not tolerate racism (especially from a President).

Scarce, especially so SIGNED.

JCR / JUNTA DE COORDINACION REVOLUCIONARIA / ELP ERP MIR MLN. "THIS IS THE VIETNAMESE ROAD. THIS IS THE ROAD WHICH THE PEOPLES MUST FOLLOW. THE ROAD WHICH AMERICA WILL FOLLOW... / CHE". A poster celebrating both CHE GUEVARA, REVOLUTION and the Victory of the VIETNAMESE over their oppressors. The poster is printed in black and red on white paper and shows the face of Che Guevara. It measures 15 x 23 inches (41 x 60 cm). Though neither the Artist, Place, or Date is stated, the poster is known to have been produced by the Inkworks Press in 1977. In fact, you can find the image and date of this poster on the Inkworks Press online archives.

(Inkworks Press, Berkeley, was an important radical press that was founded in 1974. It was very active in the later 70s, and only recently closed its doors for ever.) VERY GOOD condition, there is some light age toning to the white border; there are some corner tip creases and a few small edge scrapes; the lithograph was stored rolled and there are some light creases from having been thus stored. The poster will be sent safely rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

CONCIERTO con PEDRO TERAN: INTERPRETADOR de la CANCIÓN REVOLUCIONARIA. SCREENPRINT POSTER, printed on heavy stock paper, 17.5x23 inches (44.5 x 58.5 cm). This poster was obviously printed in support of the Nicaraguan Revolution and the Sandinistas. 1979 was an important year in the NICARAGUAN SANDINISTA REVOLUTION. The Oakland Museum has a copy of this original poster in its poster collection. On the Museum's online site, OCMA, it shows an image of the poster and provides relevant information about it, including the 1979 printing date. No printer information is given. Poster has a black background with white text. In the center is an image of Pedro Teran singing and playing the guitar. The poster reads, "Concierto Beneficio para el Ministerio de Cultura de Nicaragua/ Concierto con Pedro Teran / interpretador de la canción revolucionaria / October 28, 3-7 PM/ $2.50 / St. John Lutheran School / south Van Ness & twenty-first st. / San Francisco / Tambien: Musica de Los Peludos, Tardeada, Comida y Bebidas". VERY GOOD condition, there is some light age toning to the white border; there are some corner tip creases and a few small edge scrapes; the lithograph was stored rolled and there are some light creases from having been thus stored. The poster will be sent safely rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

This is a landmark civil rights trial in which the plaintiff claims to have been unconstitutionally subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by the conditions at Soledad prison in 1965.

Robert Charles Jordan, Jr., Plaintiff v. C. J. Fitzharris et al, Defendants. Published by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, September 6, 1966. Memorandum Opinion and Order by U.S. District Court Chief Judge George B. Harris. Legal document, stapled bound typewritten sheets, 8.5" x 11", 22 pages. VERY GOOD Condition: light age toning, a small paperclip stain, tiny edge tears to rear cover, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

In 1966 a Black prisoner named Robert Charles Jordan, Jr. filed a lawsuit against the Superintendent of Soledad prison charging "cruel and unusual" punishment. What was surprising about this case was that the court found in Jordan's favor. Mr. Jordan was locked in solitary confinement in a "strip cell" at Soledad Prison. The complaint goes on to detail many more inhumane conditions and treatment. After the court ruled that Jordan had in fact been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, the Superintendent of Soledad, Cletus Fitzharris, remained at the head of the prison for 5 more years. He was then promoted to deputy director of the California Department of Corrections. Robert Charles Jordan Jr. was born in 1939 and was 27 years old when he filed this case. He had been convicted at age 19 of assault and has remained, as of 2020, incarcerated in a California prison. The Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s pushed (at national, and local levels and in legislatures and courts) to recognize that the government disproportionately policed, incarcerated, and oppressed people of color and the economically disadvantaged. Court litigation records like this detail the horrific treatment incarcerated people continue to endure in prison.

FOR PEACE IN INDOCHINA, END MILITARY AID.

POSTER, 2 color offset printing, unmounted, 17x23 inches. Art by Lucia Vernarelli, with her printed signature on the right side of the image, and her artist's monograph on the left side of the image.

The full text of this poster reads: "FOR PEACE IN INDOCHINA, END MILITARY AID - IMPLEMENT PARIS PEACE ACCORDS PROVISION FOR THREE PART COALITION GOVERNMENT AND PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN & RECONSTRUCTION AID THRU U.N. AGENCIES - may 4 thru 11."

This poster was published by a large coalition of peace groups supporting the Paris Peace Accords to end the war in Vietnam, c.1973.

The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973, however the U.S. Congress never ratified the accords and the treaty was broken numerous times. The U.S. ended up fleeing Vietnam in 1975.

NEAR FINE CONDITION. Just a touch of handling and edgewear. The poster will be shipped carefully rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

A lovely, historic poster documenting the movement to end the War in Vietnam.

MAI 68 - Archive of JOURNALS and HANDBILLS PUBLISHED DURING the MAY-JUNE FRENCH STUDENT-WORKER REVOLUTION that Changed French Society forever.

(1) NINE ISSUES of ACTION - The French Resistance Newspaper created during the STUDENT-WORKER REVOLUTIONARY STRIKES that for a period shut down the French Economy and Government. Newspapers, mostly single-fold broadsheets to make 4 pages, folded in half horizontally as issued, unfolded front page measures 14.5x21 inches (37x53 cm). Seven of the issues were published in June 1968 and two in July 1968. The ACTION newspaper was published from May 1968 to June 1969. It is the issues that were published in May and June 1968, during the Student-Worker strikes and actions, that are the most difficult to find.

(2) TEN FLYERS / HANDBILLS calling on STUDENTS and WORKERS to take part in the REVOLUTIONARY STRIKES. Single sheets, Most 8x10 inches (20x25.5 cm). Six were printed in May 1968, one in April 1968, one in June 1968, and two are undated.

(3) SERVIR LE PEUPLE. "SPÉCIAL 1er MAI / 32 PAGES / Sommaire en page 3". Published on MAY 1, 1968 - the beginning of the Student and Worker Revolutionary Protests and Strikes in France. Newspaper, folded in half horizontally as issued, 11x16.5 inches (28x42 cm) unfolded. This special edition on MAI 68, published on May 1, 1968, is an important artifact of the 1968 French upheaval.

(4) TWO ISSUES of L'ENRAGÉ published in June 1968. L'Enragé was a satirical journal founded by Jean-Jacques Pauvert and produced in France during the May-June 68 events. Eight pages, printed on newsprint paper, 9x12 inches (23x30.5 cm

FAIR to GOOD CONDITION: All the issues and handbills have edgewear including chips and closed tears, folds, creases, toning, some holes at the folds, etc.; but all are complete and holding together.

The lasting social impact of what became known as MAI 68 was substantial, recent political events to the contrary!

MAI 68 - About the MAY 1968 FRENCH STUDENT & WORKER REVOLUTION (from Wikipedia):

******Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which have since become known as May 68 (French: Mai 68), the economy of France came to a halt. The protests reached a point that made political leaders fear civil war or revolution; the national government briefly ceased to function after President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France to West Germany on the 29th.

The unrest began with a series of far-left student occupation protests against capitalism, consumerism, American imperialism and traditional institutions. Heavy police repression of the protesters led France's trade union confederations to call for sympathy strikes, which spread far more quickly than expected to involve 11 million workers, more than 22% of France's population at the time. The movement was characterized by spontaneous and decentralized wildcat disposition. It was the largest general strike ever attempted in France, and the first nationwide wildcat general strike.

The events of May 1968 had a lasting impact and continue to influence French society. The period is considered a cultural, social and moral turning point in the nation's history.******

About ACTION Newspaper (from Wikipedia / translated by Google):

******ACTION was an activist newspaper created at the beginning of May 68. The first issue, released on May 7, 1968, launched a call for a "GENERAL STRIKE AND PERMANENT INSURRECTION". The strikes and insurrections that followed in May and June 1968 shook France to its core.******

MODERN UTOPIAN: COMMUNES, JAPAN. By Richard Fairfield, with Photographs by Consuelo Sandoval, Sankichi Nomoto & Mamo Kato.

"Material on Japanese communes was compiled from personal experience and interviews in the communes themselves with added material and insights from other writers and visitors, including Meyer Steinbach, M.D.; Noboyoshi Tezuka, Michael Howden, and staff of the Japan Kibbutz Association."

Japanese Communes in this book include: Itto-en Community; New Village; Ohoyamato Ajisai; Shinkyo Commune; Yamagishi-kai Association; Hokkaido Yamagishi-ism; The Tribe; and more. (I wonder if Haruki Murakami based the commune in his book 1Q84 on one of these?)

Published by Alternative Foundation, San Francisco, 1972. First Edition. ISBN: 0912976020

GOOD condition, the covers have some light toning and corner creases; internally just lightly used, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, presentable copy.

RARE and interesting look at the Japanese Utopian Communes of the early 1970s.

Celebrity Criminal and murderous Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Ann Soliah built bombs, helped kidnap Patti Hearst and spent decades on the run posing as upper class housewife Sara Jane Olson.

WANTED BY THE FBI: KATHLEEN ANN SOLIAH

Published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C., June 20, 1978. Broadside, printed on cream card stock, 8" x 8", horizontal fold for mailing, with list of FBI offices on the verso, illustrated in b&w with two portraits of Soliah, her ten finger prints, and signature. VERY GOOD CONDITION: two pea-size hole punches in the upper margin as issued for placement in a law enforcement binder, lightly affecting text, light signs of age and wear, overall solid, bright and clean. An excellent example.

The Symbionese Liberation Army was a radical cult advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. In 1973 they murdered Oakland Superintendent of Schools Marcus Foster, in 1974 they kidnapped publishing heiress Patty Hearst who apparently got Stockholm syndrome and indelibly became the semi automatic brandishing Tania during an SLA fundraiser at a bank, and a few months later they got into a huge shootout with the Los Angeles Cops. The surviving members were the subject of the largest FBI manhunt since Dillinger.

PACK RAT was the underground newspaper published by the Berkeley High School Student Union (BHSSU) to advocate for radical educational and societal reforms. Using the typesetting machines at the Black Panther Party's national headquarters in Berkeley, the students covered antiwar activities, racial discrimination, women's liberation, student rights, and other contemporary topics. When the BHSSU tried to distribute the paper on campus, its members were suspended. When the BHSSU's activities expanded beyond Berkeley, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a file on the group in June 1970, which was closed when the students graduated.

PACK RAT Volume I, Issue I October 1969

Published by the Berkeley High School Student Union, Berkeley, California, 1969. First printing. Softcover newspaper, 17.5" z 11.25", 8 pages, folded as issued, illustrated with b&w photographs and graphics. This issue features articles on the Black Panthers, police violence, Malcom X, the Vietnam War, women's portrayal in the the mass media, protests, conspiracies, and more. A scarce example of youth participation in antiwar activism and its integration with student rights. Only 19 in the OCLC. GOOD Condition: Covers are toned, have several stiff creases, and a 2" closed tear at the front edge, otherwise a bright, clean, and unmarked.

Scarce Original Palestinian Poster published by the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, circa 1988. With graphic Intifada Middle East Arab Israeli Conflict iconography.

An international association of Maoist Marxist Leninist revolutionary parties, the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (circa 1984-2007) was a steadfast supporter of the Palestinian Intifada resistance movement in the West Bank and Gaza.

Off-set lithograph on newsprint, large format, 34" x 22.75". GOOD CONDITION: Folded, tiny tears where the folds meet at the center, toning to the edges and folds, tiny stab holes down the left margin about 3" apart, light edge wear, overall a solid, bright copy.

In Arabic and Spanish. Quite scarce, I have only seen an on-line version collected in The Palestine Poster Project Archives, an English and a French/Turkish edition of this poster were also printed.

Palestina:

Que el 'levantamiento de

piedras' prepare el terreno

de la guerra popular.

Movimiento Revolucionario Internacionalista

(Palestine: Let the 'uprising of stones'

pave the way for the people's war.

The martyrs of the stone uprising is the path of the peoples war

Revolutionary Internationalist Movement)

RIGHT ON! A Documentary on Student Protest by Maryl Levine, John Naisbitt, Graphic Design by David L. Burke

Published by Bantam Books, New York, London, Toronto, 1970. First edition. Softcover, illustrated wrappers, 7" x 4", 249 + (7) pages, graphically illustrated throughout with b&w photographs, illustrations and stylized text. GOOD Condition: light shelfwear and some creases to the covers, the spine has a few creases but the binding remains sturdy, 2 penned remainder lines on bottom page edges (edge of the closed book), internally the upper corner has some light shorelining, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A solid, respectable copy.

Illustrated in a graphic style similar to the influential Marshall McLuhan book "The Medium Is the Massage." A book design classic "Right On!" is a powerful visual collage of black & white photographs, graphics and text that captures the radical student protests of 1969 from fights for civil rights, Black Power, student power, Black studies programs and racial diversity to anti Vietnam War rallies and altercations with police. "Black studies are inevitable. Period."

This vintage counterculture monograph is based on a 1969 study of over 200 US college campuses conducted by the Urban Research Corporation of Chicago, a private commercial organization that monitored contemporary trends and prepared reports for a range of groups and institution. These protests occurred on campuses of all sizes and in every region of the country, but most occurred in large universities with more than 1,000 students.

Launched in 1977 SEARCH AND DESTROY was the very first Punk Rock New Wave Zine to emerge from San Francisco's nascent Punk Rock Scene. A visually arresting Punk Zine that immediately set the standard for D.I.Y. punk graphics, attitude and aesthetics. An iconic publication featuring the most influential underground punk artists through interviews, photographs, collages, and artwork. Jello Biafra thought it was the greatest underground zine ever.

Founded and published by original Blue Cheer keyboardist V. Vale while working at City Lights Bookstore, Vale got his original funding from Allan Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. All the most important (and some forgotten) UK and US Punk and New Wave bands are represented including the Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Nuns, Pere Ubu, Crime, Dead Kennedys, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Screamers, Clash, Throbbing Gristle, Buzzcocks, Talking Heads, DEVO, Weirdos, Suicide, Avengers, Alternative TV, The Damned, Blondie, Weirdos, Dead Boys, The Cramps, Siouxsie & The Banshees, DNA, Sleepers, Zeros, Chrome, Cabaret Voltaire, Mutants, Patti Palladin, Helen Wheels, The Slits, and so many more. SEARCH AND DESTROY also bridged the punk scene with literary figures, visual artists, and filmmakers who influenced and were influenced by punk, surrealism and dada including Allan Ginsberg, William Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, John Waters, David Lynch, Bruce Conner, Russ Meyer, Diane Di Prima, Lou Reed, Steve Jones, Vivienne Westwood, and Nico Ordway. SEARCH AND DESTROY ceased publication with issue #11 in 1979, but in 1980 it morphed into RE/SEARCH which ran three punk issues in the same style. Afterwards the publication completely changed into a glossy book form featuring underground and counterculture topics.

Named for the Stooge's proto punk anthem, SEARCH AND DESTROY remains one of the most important, vibrant, and influential periodicals to emerge from punk. A Complete run of this seminal punk zine.

SEARCH & DESTROY: New Wave Cultural Research #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, Rebel Youth Culture #10, Future History #11, 1977-1979. Published and Edited by V. Vale, San Francisco, and RE/SEARCH #1, #2, #3, 1980-1981. Published by Rough Trade and Edited by V. Vale, San Francisco.

Newspaper format zine, 17.5" x 11.5", stiffly folded in half as issued and distributed, from 16 to 30 pages each, richly illustrated throughout with b&w photographs and punk imagery. VERY GOOD Condition with some typical toning here and there mostly to the covers and margins, occasional wear, small tearing at the folds, overall a bright, clean, unmarked and sound complete set. Search & Destroy Issue #1 is the second state, lacking the red stamping, issue #10 is a 1988 reprint, and RE/search issues #1 and #3 are 1988 reprints, the rest are original first editions/printings.

THE BLACK PANTHER Black Community News Service Vol. V, No. 25, Saturday, December 19, 1970 Published by The Black Panther Party Ministry of Information, San Francisco, California. First edition, first printing.

Newspaper format, folded as issued, 20 pages, printed on newsprint in orange and black ink, illustrated throughout with historic b&w photographs and graphics, with a brutally powerful image by Black Panther artist Emory Douglas (b. 1943) on the rear cover. GOOD PLUS Condition: the front cover has some wear and finger smudging to the horizontal and spine-fold, the paper has some age toning, some spots of foxing, and light edgewear, overall solid, bright, clean, unmarked and the iconic Emory graphic on the rear cover is excellent.

Emblematic of the Black Power Movement, The Black Panther is a visually iconic provocative weekly newspaper that politically engaged readers with BPP ideology, current events, and issues facing Black Americans that were central to the party's Ten Point Platform and Program, spotlighting abuse and killing by police, incarceration, the right to self-defense, inequalities of the justice system, and solidarity with social justice organizations and international human rights movements.

THE BLACK PANTHER Black Community News Service Vol. V, No. 20, Saturday, November 14, 1970 Published by The Black Panther Party Ministry of Information, San Francisco, California. First edition, first printing. Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale.

Newspaper format, 17.5" x 11.5" folded as issued, 20 pages, printed on newsprint in pink and black ink, illustrated throughout with historic b&w photographs, portraits and Black Power graphics, the rear cover has an intense image by revolutionary Black Panther artist Emory Douglas (b. 1943). VERY GOOD CONDITION: the front cover has a neatly penned phone number in the fore-edge margin, light wear to the horizontal fold, and a small tear at the bottom spine fold, the pages have some light age toning, and light edgewear, otherwise solid, bright, clean, unmarked and the iconic Emory graphic on the rear cover remains very bright. An important and hard to find cultural artifact.

Emblematic of the Black Power Movement, The Black Panther is a visually iconic provocative weekly newspaper that politically engaged readers with BPP ideology, current events, and issues facing Black Americans that were central to the party's Ten Point Platform and Program, spotlighting abuse and killing by police, incarceration, the right to self-defense, inequalities of the justice system, and solidarity with social justice organizations and international human rights movements.