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.

COMMUNES and COMMUNITARIANS in AMERICA. Compiled by Helen Kromer.

Published by Grossman Publishers, New York, in association with Jackdaw Publications, London, 1972. Published as JACKDAW No. A4 (American Jackdaw #4). ISBN: 0305620525.

Portfolio containing Facsimiles of Rare Historic Documents relating to Communes and Communitarians in America.

Inside the printed folder is a 4 page pamphlet that provides an Introduction, brief descriptions of the items, and a Table of Contents. Laid in are 10 FACSIMILES and 6 BROADSHEETS.

Condition: The printed folder that contains the items is in GOOD MINUS condition, the black tape that is normally on the folder's edges has been removed leaving a whitish track where the tape used to be, and the folder has some creases from handling, otherwise the folder is bright and doing its job well. The inner pamphlet, facsimiles and broadsheets are in VERY GOOD condition, bright, clean and unmarked.

This collection provides a wonderful look at the Communal and Communitarian movement, aka Communitarianism, in the United States.

Long out-of-print and hard-to-find.

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.

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.

DECLASSIFIED: By Authority of the People. Volume I, Number 5.

April 14, 1969. Published in the Applied Electronics Laboratories, Stanford, California. This RARE ORIGINAL ISSUE was Printed on AEL Presses During the Nine-day Occupation. 8.5" x 11", Original Stanford Electronics Laboratories letterhead, side staple bound, 8 pages. "Declassified" began with the occupation of the Applied Electronics Laboratories (AEL). Printed between April 10 and May 12, the first issue was called "Unclassified", with subsequent issues titled "Declassified". On April 3, 1969 Stanford University students formed a coalition to take action against Vietnam War related research at Stanford. Backing up their demands with more direct action, they seized the Applied Electronics Laboratory on April 9, vowing to hold it until the administration capitulated. This nine-day sit-in at AEL, known as "The April Third Movement" ultimately brought an end to Stanford's secret military research. The students turned the laboratory printshop into an underground press distributing "Declassified" and other sensational exposés on AEL and the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). They managed to hold out for nine days until Stanford's president threatened to suspend them. Stanford Electronics Laboratories (SEL), part of SRI, had been running CIA sponsored electronic communications and surveillance research and other classified war contracts for the armed services. The April Third Movement was part of a national youth movement on university campuses across America - the Stanford students were successful in eliminating classified research at Stanford and contributing to the protests that ended the Vietnam War. This Rare Original Document is in GOOD CONDITION: Complete as issued. Just light wear, and stiff vertical/horizontal creasing affecting all the pages, from having been folded into quarters, otherwise bright, clean, and unmarked.

San Francisco Express Times DON'T VOTE FOR SHIT issue, Vol. 1, No. 41, October 30, 1968. Published by Trystero Company, San Francisco, California, 1968. Marvin Garson, editor.

A time capsule of concentrated 1968 radicalism with articles by Paul Williams, the founder of the pioneering rock 'n' roll magazine Crawddady!, Marjorie Heins, civil liberties lawyer, writer, teacher, and founder of the Free Expression Policy Project. Artworks by underground comix artist Ron Cobb and pioneering underground comix artist Jaxon, Photographs by Black Panthers Photographer Steve Shames, and Berkeley underground Photographer Nacio Jan Brown, Part II of an interview with William S. Burroughs that took place in Terry Southern's apartment, and much more. First edition. Complete as issued, newspaper format, folded as issued, 16" x 11.5", 16 pages, illustrated throughout with historic b&w photographs and drawings. VERY GOOD CONDITION: originally mailed with recipient name/address and postage stamped in upper margin, light toning, and light wear from age and use, overall a solid, bright and clean copy.

The rear cover features an announcement of a "PRE-ERECTION DAY PARTY" put out by the Black Panther Party represented by Eldridge Cleaver and the Yippies (Youth International Party headed by Abby Hoffman) represented by Jerry Rubin, the party was an eccentric mixture of Panthers and Yippies, plus recording artist Phil Ochs, Floating Lotus, the Magic Opera Company and others, this graphic invite was also issued as a now very rare and sought after poster.

Primary underground newspaper of the San Francisco counterculture during the late sixties and early seventies. Inherently controversial, the weekly San Francisco Express Times was the paper the radical left read to keep up with the anti-war movement, the trials of political prisoners like the Soledad Brothers and Angela Davis, political corruption, and Bay Area dope like concerts, protests, vegetarian recipes, holistic health care, and local ads. The paper was radical enough that the FBI put a paid informant on the staff. It changed its name to Good Times after the March 25, 1969 issue.

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.

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)

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a strong ally of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) and had worked with Union President David Dubinsky on many important issues. JFK's assassination affected everyone and the editors of Justice printed a Memorial Edition which also included a Message of Support to Lyndon Baines Johnson from Dubinsky. JUSTICE was the official publication of the ILGWU from 1919 to 1995.

JUSTICE: International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Volume 45, Issue 23, December 1, 1963. Published by the ILGWU, Jersey City, New Jersey, David Dubinsky President, Leon Stein Editor. Newspaper, 4 large leaves vertically folded into 8 pages, 16.5" x 11.5". Folded horizontally as issued. This original 1963 newspaper is in VERY GOOD CONDITION: small mailing label pasted to front page margin with penned number beneath, wear and small tears to the vertical fold but holding well, toning as normal and some light signs of age and use, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A scarce JFK Memorial issue of this pioneering woman's labor union journal.

This JFK Memorial Edition features a full page portrait of JFK with a black memorial border on the front page, inside, within a black memorial border is President Kennedy's Inaugural Address delivered on January 20, 1962 with a b&w photograph of him speaking from the White House balcony. This is followed by the text of JFK's speech before the Convention of the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFLCIO) in New York City on November 15, 1963, also with a black memorial border and b&w photo of him speaking. The back page shows a b&w photo of LBJ and a Message of Support in his new role as President of the United States sent to him by union leader David Dubinsky.

Founded in 1900, ILGWU was one of the largest and most significant labor unions in the American Labor Movement and one of the first with a primarily female membership. It's role in the history of women and immigrant Jewish and Italian women continues to be relevant today. Justice was published in English, Italian, Spanish, and Yiddish with much variation in content.

***** About the ILGWU from the Kheel Center for Labor Management Documentation and Archives Cornell University Library:

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was founded in New York City in 1900 by mostly Socialist immigrant workers who sought to unite the various crafts in the growing women's garment industry. The union soon reflected changes in the sector and rapidly organized thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled women, mostly Jewish and Italian young immigrants. Exemplifying the "new unionism," the ILGWU led two of the most widespread and best-known industrial strikes of the early Twentieth Century: the shirtwaist makers' strike of 1909 in New York City and the cloak makers' strike of 1910 in Chicago. The union also tried to adapt to the fragmented and unstable nature of the industry. It adopted the "protocol of peace," a system of industrial relations that attempted to ensure stability and limit strikes and production disruption by providing for an arbitration system to resolve disputes.

The ILGWU exemplified the European-style social unionism of its founding members. They pursued bread and butter issues but provided educational opportunities, benefits, and social programs to union members as well. In 1919, the ILGWU became the first American union to negotiate an unemployment compensation fund that was contributed to by its employers. The ILGWU also pioneered in the establishment of an extremely progressive health care program for its members which included not only regional Union Health Centers but also a resort for union workers, known as Unity House. The Union also had an imaginative and pioneering Education Department which not only trained workers in traditional union techniques, but provided courses in citizenship and the English language.