Social and political change in America did not just happen randomly; it was through deliberate effort on the part of disenfranchised and oppressed people in the country organizing to fight for their human rights. However, this was only achievable with a group effort and understanding that people have, "power in numbers," but exactly how was this message conveyed? Through what means did activists spread awareness about the civil rights movements, and how did they utilize these means to inspire change? Artwork and political imagery often collided during civil rights movements to spread awareness regarding the movement, and the civil rights movement in America was no different. Propaganda posters utilized color, photography, lighting, and specific imagery to spark emotion within the audience. Coupled with very simple yet catchy slogans, they inspired the audience, as both a group and as an individual, to join their movement and use their power in numbers to build a better America.
"Propaganda" posters, for lack of a better term, are the most obvious and intense way that a political or social movement is spread. They often address the audience directly and invites them to participate in the movement as well, such as the, "Protect Her Future; Register And Vote," poster. These posters address the reader directly and involve them in the events depicted in the poster, appealing to their emotions and subtley influencing them to participate in the movement. Many posters also use graphic imagery that appeals to the, "shock value," such as the, "Power To The People George," poster and the, "I Don't See an American Dream, I See an American Nightmare," poster, in which the art depicts events that are very visceral and upsetting for the audience to see, and will influence the reader into participating in the movement to counter that violence. A few posters are not American, however I included them because I felt that they were extremely relevant here. These posters do not incite the audience to fight back against an oppressor, but rather they incite the audience to support Black Americans in their fight against oppression. They use imagery that unifies Black and Chinese people, as well as revolutionary imagery that is shared by the struggles that both Black and Chinese people can relate to. This creates a sense of solidarity, similar to the posters that seek to unify Black Americans as a whole against racism. Oftentimes, the poster artist will utilize color and motion to get their point across. Many artworks depict the subject as merely a black silhouette on a white background, symbolic of Black Americans' struggle against white-power racism. The color red is also used in more political posters to symbolize The Communist Party, or other political parties associated with the color red. The propaganda posters shown tend to involve the audience more often that not-- they call upon the audience to act against racism and to join their movements. They utilize certain imagery and subjects to evoke emotion within the readers that add to their persuasiveness, attempting to appeal to their own experiences to convince the audience to "act now" and get involved in political and social change.
These photographs were chosen because they stood out to me, and did to me exactly what a "propaganda poster," is supposed to do. Annotating and analyzing these photographs wasn't especially difficult because they evoked emotion within me as well and all I had to do was describe what exactly in the photograph sparked those feelings. I also chose them because I felt like they exemplified my theme in the most extreme way—they reminded me a lot of the songs, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," and, "This Is America," the most. These artworks were a way for the movement to be heard, and they were a way to speak out against the injustices in America. Many of them were critical of the police and the violence against Black Americans, which is echoed in, "This Is America." I saw that many of the ideas in, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," were present throughout many of these images, especially because, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," speaks of the idea that change (i.e. revolution) is not easily digestible, it is a hard pill to swallow, and that change cannot be incurred while you sit down and watch it from afar— you must participate in the movement for change to occur. This "call-to-action," and involvement of the audience in the lyrics is reflected in these images, and both tend to use the same persuasive tactics to get the same message accross.