Carl Pope Black Lives Matter movement posters, 2020

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Summary

Creator:
John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture and Pope, Carl Robert
Abstract:
Carl Pope (1961- ) is an American artist and printmaker. Collection consists of two black-and-white letterpress posters on 22x14 inch cardboard. The first poster reads, "Black lives matter: it ain't what the news told ya!" The second reads, "Is America the America I learned to imagine?" The original posters were created and published in Pope's book, The Appearance of Black Lives Matter (2018). Pope then re-created them in 2020 in response to current Black Lives Matter movement events, distributing copies of the posters to movement participants for the purpose of displaying them in their respective communities. Acquired by the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture.
Extent:
1 Linear Foot (1 box)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.11886

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of two text-only letterpress posters on 22x14 inch cardboard sheets, with black lettering on a white background. The first poster reads, "Black lives matter: it ain't what the news told ya!" The second reads, "Is America the America I learned to imagine?"

The original posters were created and published in Carl Pope's book, The Appearance of Black Lives Matter (2018); one appears on the cover. Pope then re-created them in 2020 in response to current Black Lives Matter movement events, distributing copies of these posters to movement participants for the purpose of displaying them in their respective communities.

Biographical / historical:

Carl Robert Pope, Jr., known as Carl Pope, is an African American artist who works primarily in photography, video, and graphic art. Much of his work addresses issues related to race in America, police brutality, and what it means to be Black in America. He has also created artwork that relates to the AIDS epidemic and other social and political issues in the United States. He was born in 1961 in Indianapolis, Indiana and received his arts degrees from Bloomington University in Illinois.

He published the art book The appearance of Black Lives Matter in 2018 with Nicholas Mirzoeff; it is described by the publisher as "An intertextual conversation between artist Carl Pope and writer Nicholas Mirzoeff on the issues surrounding Ferguson, Baltimore and the activism of Black Lives Matter."

Acquisition information:
The Carl Pope Black Lives Matter movement posters were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2020.
Processing information:

Processed and described by Paula Jeannet, March 2021.

Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 2020-0076.

Physical facet:
2 letterpress posters
Dimensions:
22 x 14 inches
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Carl Pope Black Lives Matter movement posters, 2020, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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