Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case 3G, Shelf DR6, Box 2

Think About It!

Poster
1972 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The civil rights movement undertaken by African-Americans reached the height of visibility during the late 1960s. By the early 1970s, militant black organisations such as the Black Panther Party (founded in 1966) were in decline due to a combination of loss of momentum, in-fighting, and powerful federal campaigns against black empowerment. In many ways, a poster such as this marks the end of widespread race-based political activism in America. The message put across in this poster is a conflicted one: on the one hand, the image depicts a powerful, fearsome black woman; on the other, her state of undress reveals certain underlying sexist attitudes. This tension is indicative of the time - the Feminist movement was underway, seeking to do away with exploitative images of women.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThink About It! (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour offset lithograph
Brief description
'Think about it!', black militant poster photographed by Dozier Mobley, USA, 1972
Physical description
Topless black woman with voluminous Afro hairstyle, wearing short-shorts. Belts of bullets criss-cross her chest. She stands defiantly with her left hand on her hip, holding an upright machine gun in her right hand.
Dimensions
  • Height: 71.1cm
  • Width: 55.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Think about it!
  • Photograph by Dozier Mobley (signed in type)
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Production
published in Atlanta, Georgia
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
The civil rights movement undertaken by African-Americans reached the height of visibility during the late 1960s. By the early 1970s, militant black organisations such as the Black Panther Party (founded in 1966) were in decline due to a combination of loss of momentum, in-fighting, and powerful federal campaigns against black empowerment. In many ways, a poster such as this marks the end of widespread race-based political activism in America. The message put across in this poster is a conflicted one: on the one hand, the image depicts a powerful, fearsome black woman; on the other, her state of undress reveals certain underlying sexist attitudes. This tension is indicative of the time - the Feminist movement was underway, seeking to do away with exploitative images of women.
Other number
LS.1127 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Accession number
E.214-2004

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Record createdJuly 9, 2004
Record URL
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