Historical Moments Pamphlets
by Rich Black
In the last few months of 2011 into early 2012, the issue of police violence once again burst into the mainstream with the treatment of Occupy protesters.
While we were appalled at the violence directed at peaceful protesters by law enforcement, we were also dismayed that this phenomenon was treated as a novel one. The incidents were discussed in a way that was divorced from historical context. After all, the black and white images of police dogs being unleashed on peaceful protesters during the black freedom movement of the 1950s and 60s would not have been alien to the young people who were abused by law enforcement in New York and Oakland at the Occupy protests. Police violence is unfortunately not new.
In an attempt to inject some historical memory into the current considerations of police violence, Project NIA and the Chicago Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) Teaching Collective decided to develop a series of pamphlets to inform and educate the broader public about the longstanding tradition of oppressive policing toward marginalized populations (including some activists and organizers).
by Tyrone Boucher
This series titled “Historical Moments of Policing, Violence & Resistance” features pamphlets on various topics including: The Mississippi Black Papers, the 1968 Democratic Convention, Resistance to Police Violence in Harlem, Timothy Thomas, the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre, Oscar Grant, the Danzinger Bridge Shootings, Chicago Red Summer, the Slave Patrols, and the Young Lords, among others.
The pamphlets are available for free downloading on this site. Please spread the word about the availability of these publications & let us know if you want to contribute your own pamphlet to the series (see “get involved” page for more information).
We’ve also put together an interactive historical timeline of policing and resistance in the United States.
by Bill Hudson
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Every single person who worked on this series volunteered his or her time to this effort. We are grateful beyond words for your support and for your talents.Special thanks to the following people who made this project possible:
Authors: Samuel Barnett, Martha Biondi, Lisa Dadabo, Billy Dee, Lakeesha J. Harris, Julie Hilvers, Mariame Kaba, Eric Kerl, Olivia Perlow, Emily Pineda, Lewis Wallace
Editors: Mariame Kaba, Laura Mintz, Emily Pineda, Gina Tarullo
Graphic Designers: Madeleine Arenivar, Micah Bazant, Antonia Clifford, Eric Kerl, Mauricio PinedaPAMPHLET SERIES
You can download individual pamphlets below as PDF documents. Check back every month as we will be adding new publications until the end of this year.Volume 1 — Historical Moments in Police Violence: The Mississippi Papers (PDF – for viewing online) by Mariame Kaba and Mauricio Pineda
Volume 2 — Historical Moments in Police Violence: 1937 Memorial Day Massacre (PDF – for printing as a pamphlet) and/or 1937 Memorial Day Massacre (PDF – for viewing online) by Samuel Barnett and designed by Madeleine Arenivar
Volume 3 — Historical Moments in Police Violence: An (Abridged) History of Resisting Police Violence in Harlem (PDF) by Mariame Kaba and designed by Eric Kerl
by Billy Dee
Volume 4 — Historical Moments of Police Violence: “We Don’t Want This to Look Like A Massacre:” The Danzinger Bridge Shootings – text by Mariame Kaba/ art and design by Billy Dee. This pamphlet was designed to be an accordion book and so printing it might be a bit challenging. Here is the TEXT (PDF) for the publication. Here are the IMAGES (PDF) that Billy created to accompany the text. The tricky part is that you will need to enlarge the images on your computer to be able to see them well. We are making a few hard copies of this pamphlet which will be available soon for purchase as a fundraiser for our work. Stay tuned for more information about this soon.
Volume 5 — Historical Moments of Police Violence: The Police Execution of Oscar Grant (PDF) by Olivia Perlow and Lakeesha J. Harris and designed by Antonia Clifford
Volume 6 — Historical Moments of Police Violence: Chicago Red Summer 1919 (PDF) for viewing online by Elizabeth Dadabo & designed by Madeleine Arenivar. Chicago Red Summer 1919 (PDF) for printing.
Check back in early July for the next set of pamphlets that we will release…
