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.

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.

WOMAN'S CONVENTION AUXILIARY NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION 65th Anniversary Program Dallas, Texas 1901 - 1966 : Theme "Together We Stand"

Souvenir Program, Published by the Woman's Convention Auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention, Dallas, Texas 1966. First edition. Softcover, illustrated green wrappers, side staple bound, 12" x 9", 62 pages, historically illustrated throughout with b&w portraits, and photographs of the Black woman and men leaders of the NCB. GOOD CONDITION: covers have edge and corner creasing and some closed tears to the top edge, internally light creasing to the corner-tips, and light wear from age and use, overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A remarkable historic documentation of the Black Women in the leadership roles of a pivotal African American religious and activist organization at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Scarce, none in OCLC collections worldwide.

The National Baptist Convention (NBC) was founded in 1895, A major organization of African American Baptists and the nation's largest Black religious organization. Unfortunately, the NCB was not supportive of women's leadership so in 1900 two Black Women Suffragists and Civil Rights Activists, Sarah Willie Layten (1864-1950) and Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) played pivotal leadership roles in founding the Woman's Convention Auxiliary to the NBC. Representing over one million Black Baptist women, the Auxiliary provided means through which women organized on state and local levels around religious, political, and social issues, making their place of worship an epicenter for Black liberation and social change.

Archive of RADICAL FINNISH SOCIALIST FEDERATION of FITCHBURG, MASS. 1914-1922

Includes:

80+ MANUSCRIPT PAGES (and two typed pages) describing STRIKES, CALLS TO ACTION, RED FLAG MARCHES, LABOR PROTESTS, POLICE BRUTALITY, etc. + 4 pages with over 60 SIGNATURES of FINNISH SOCIALIST FEDERATION MEMBERS including OSKARI TOKOI (see his Wikipedia page), and an interesting page from 1933 indicating this written archive may have come from a "time-capsule".

The 80+ manuscript pages (and 2 typed pages) are an important "I was there" look at many of the strikes, rallies, marches, speeches, battles with police, etc, that took place during the Finnish Socialist Federation's most radical era 1914-1922. The authors of these written "reports" are unstated. Many seem to be in the same hand. They are written in English.

The 60 signatures are on 4 pages with a "RAIVAAJA PUBLISHING COMPANY / FITCHBURG, MASS" letterhead, undated but likely c.1930. ("Raivaaja was a Finnish-language newspaper published from 1905 to 2009 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, by Raivaaja Publishing Company. For the first three decades of its existence the publication was closely associated with the Socialist Party of America." - Wikipedia)

Did these handwritten reports come from a Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Finnish Labor Society time capsule??? Maybe. There is a typed page, in Finnish, on "Finnish Labor Society SAIMA" letterhead dated 1933 that precedes the rest of the pages in the binder, which states (translated by Google):

******"That part of the Finnish people, who in the storms of time moved to this city of Fitchburg, during the last decades, would like to preserve for posterity some incidents from their phase-rich journey. As can be seen from the contents of the box, they were Finnish migrants, mostly young men and women who hoped that on this continent they would be able to partake of the warmer sunshine of a happy day than in the country of their birth. However, hard work was a condition of livelihood here as well, and that is why many of them became attached to the labor movement, whose struggles are described in detail in the various reports herein.

The box will be buried in the ground on Thursday evening, May 11, 1933, in a place known as Saima Park. Naturally no one knows when it will be found, but it is supposed to remain in the ground for several generations and after emerging will be solid material from the past for researchers of the Labor cause. In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, May 11, 1933. / Lauri Moilanen / Saima scribe of the Finnish Workers' Association."******

Each of the manuscript pages, the signature pages, and the "time capsule" page, are in plastic sleeves and collected in a three ring binder.

GOOD Condition: The signature pages and the "time capsule" page all have rust stains at the top, likely from metal clips or pins. The manuscript pages are all in remarkably good condition, bright, clean and clear. Like they've been archivally stored in a time capsule or something!

About the FINNISH SOCIALIST FEDERATION (from the University of Minnesota Libraries website:

******"The Saima Workers' Society of Fitchburg, Mass. was founded in 1894 as a Finnish workers' organization. In 1905, it joined the Socialist Party, thus making it the oldest Finnish Socialist chapter in the United States. In 1906, it joined the Finnish Socialist Federation, and by 1924-1925 was the largest such chapter in the country, with over five hundred members.******

The Black Riders Liberation Party is a revolutionary descendant of the Oakland born Black Panther Party founded by imprisoned gang members in a Youth Authority college class in 1996. The Black Commune Program is an upgraded version of the original Black Panther Party's Ten Point Platform and Program, which includes the demand for treatment of AIDS patients and an end to capitalists smuggling drugs into Black communities and adds a point on ecological destruction as it relates to the oppressed.

THE BLACK COMMUNE PROGRAM BROADSIDE

Produced by The Black Riders Liberation Party, Oakland, California, no date, circa 2010. Photocopied, white paper, 17" x 11". VERY GOOD CONDITION: stiff vertical and horizontal creases from being folded in half twice, and some crinkles and creases from handling, overall a solid and bright copy of this scarce Oakland Black Riders manifesto.

The Oakland BRLP Chapter was created in 2010 during the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant. Known for their community advocacy work, they gave public presentations on the Black Commune Program and passed out these broadsides at their events between 2010 and 2015 until the Chapter closed.

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.

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.

DESPERTAR LAGUNERO Libro Que Relata La Lucha Y Triunfo De La Revolución En La Comarca Lagunera (AWAKENING IN THE COMARCA LAGUNERA A Book that Recounts the Struggle and Triumph of the Revolution in the Comarca Lagunera). Text by José Reyes Pimentel, Photographs by Enrique Gutmann. Front cover design by Alfonso Maldoado, back cover design by Salvador Pruneda. Published by Talleres Gráficos de la Nación, México City, 1937. Text in Spanish. First edition, first printing limited to 40,000 examples. Softcover, illustrated wrappers, 9" x 6.75", 287 numbered pages, illustrated with 31 full page b&w photographic plates and 126 in-text photographs, designs and musical notation. GOOD CONDITION: spine covering chipped at the bottom edge, light bottom fore-edge bump, a penned gift inscription from Charles Gauld, Library of Congress on the ffep, and light wear from age and use, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scarce.

A Mexican post revolutionary modernist photobook that brilliantly reveals the struggles and triumphs of the 1937 anti fascist revolution in Mexico. Gutmann's photographic work promotes Mexico as a progressive nation and is itself a high point of working class mobilization and artistic collaboration that reveals the fundamental role artists had in constructing a new national identity. Artists and worker movements were mobilized and radicalized during the six year presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940). The solidarity of the Mexican working class catalyzed a democratic and socialist order out of which Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, LEAR (League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists) an important artists collective arose in 1934. Gutmann promoted a socialist concept of Mexico, his photography provided a modernist discourse to promote the nation as modern. Featured in Horacio Fernandez, The Latin American Photobook. Despertar Lagunero is considered one of the finest Latin photobooks produced in the revolutionary spirit of the times. Gutmann, a German Jewish exile who came to Mexico in 1934 immediately joined LEAR. During the 1930s he was an influential journalist and editor with direct access to the president. Gutmann published photographs in the LEAR journal Frente a Frente (Face to Face), in various newspapers, as well as in Gustoavo Ortiz Hernan's novel Chimeneas (another standout photo book of the period).

Photographer Enrique (Heinrich) Gutmann (b. Lithuania 1906-1950 d. Mexico City) Jewish German exile, anti fascist activist, propagandist, journalist, editor, photographer and photo montage artist whose work conferred nationalism and promoted Mexico as progressive nation. Fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany, Gutmann emigrated to Mexico in 1934 a year after the book burnings and Reichstag fire in Germany. He emigrated with his wife of Mexican heritage, who had been compelled by the Reich Ministry to prove she was a pureblood German. His arrival in Mexico was marked by Lázaro Cárdenas's quest for a socialist democratic Mexico, a perfect refuge from European fascism and totalitarian regimes. Gutmann died in Mexico City at the age of 44 after being struck by a car.

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.******

ORIGINAL PINBACK BUTTON created for the November 15, 1969 Protest and March on the US Capital against the war in Vietnam. Organized by The New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (New Mob Comm) / produced by Horn Co., Washington DC / Philadelphia, PA, 1969. Printed in black, blue and white, 2.5" diameter. EXCELLENT CONDITION: a bright, wearable and relevant original piece from the era when protestors voices were heard.

Buttons were essential tools of persuasion in the antiwar movement. They symbolized the visual language of the counterculture in compelling, graphically innovative ways. Coalitions of American antiwar activists formed between 1966 and 1970 to organize large demonstrations in opposition to the Vietnam War. In the earliest major demonstration nearly 100,000 protesters gathered in Washington, DC. By 1970, two-thirds of Americans believed military engagement in Vietnam was a mistake.

End the War, Get Out Now!

Original Clash Promotional Poster circa 1978. Halftone, printed on paper, issued rolled, 27" x 20" inches.

From a 1978 black & white photograph taken by Pennie Smith during a photo session for the promotion of the band's second album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978). A Russian propaganda poster was used as the photo's backdrop. GOOD CONDITION: surface creasing and scratches, egdewear, touch of waviness, overall a solid and bright vintage punk poster. Will be sent rolled in sturdy mailing tube. Uncommon.

Formed in London in 1976 The Clash was one of the most successful bands from Punks first wave in the 1970s, early Clash gigs were notoriously violent establishing them as a leading voice of Punk Rock. Clash members were vocalist Joe Strummer, guitarist Mick Jones, bass player Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon.

Artist Pennie Smith (b. 1949) is one of the United Kingdoms most acclaimed rock photographers. She created one of the most iconic Punk Rock photographs ever, the cover image for London Calling by The Clash.

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, Malcolm 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.

EXTREMISTS RIGHT AND LEFT

Concern: A Discussion Series. Published by Silver Burdett Company, Morristown, NJ, 1970. Softcover, illustrated wraps, side staple bound, 10" x 6", 56 pages, illustrated throughout with evocative b&w photographs and bold red and blue graphics. VERY GOOD CONDITION: former owners name stamp on the inside of front and rear covers, light bookplate remnants on inside front cover, light edgewear, some age toning and light signs of use and wear, overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

Scarce 1970 work addressing the radical counterculture, race and extreme political polemics. The "Concern" series was a set of discussion booklets aimed at engaging students in critical thinking and discussion around various social issues. They were used in school settings to promote dialogue and understanding of complex topics like violence, poverty, and civil rights.

THE JOURNAL OF BLACK POETRY, Fall 1967, Volume 1, Number 6

Published and edited by Joe Goncalves for all Black people everywhere, San Francisco, 1967, first printing. Illustrated wrappers, side staple bound, 10" x 7", 38 pages, illustrated with 3 b&w photographs, graphics and a powerful centerfold image by Black Panther artist Emory Douglas before he joined the Black Panther Party. Also includes work by Sonia Sanchez, Marvin X, Gwendolyn Brooks and others. GOOD CONDITION: covers are lightly toned and have light foxing mainly to the edges, rear cover has offsetting to its upper portion and a light horizontal crease, the staples are rusted but holding well, the inner pages have a small spot here and there but are overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A complete, respectable copy.

The Journal of Black Poetry is a radical example of an independently published poetry journal that popularized the imagery and racial characteristics of the Black Arts Movement, the only American literary movement to merge art with a political agenda. More than a poetry journal, it published criticism, reviews, and news about Black cultural issues. The Black Arts Movement was a controversial literary faction that emerged in the mid 1960s as the artistic arm of the Black Power Movement, a militant political mobilization that rejected the integrationist tactics of the Civil Rights era that preceded it.