Criminalization of Black Lives
These two images are from the same poster in 1971 highlighting a serious issue of the carceral state and its violence and unfareness against black men.
Poster 1
This poster shows an image of Black Panther leaders in Northern California. Below it highlights the message of unfair treament in the courts to black men. Who were constantly targeted for acts of violence and sentenced to crimes they did not committ or recieving outraeous sentences for petty crimes. Many Black men in this time were innocent but targeted by the carceral state and we can see that reflected through this poster. It highlights the name and location of two trials. The first being Huey P Newton who actually started the Black Panther Party in Oakland California in 1966, because he was fed up with police violence against his community. With protest and ressiliance Huey was set free of the charges against him (Britannica Editors, 2025). The second being tried is David Hillard a Civil Rights activist first in Los Angeles and then making his way to Oakland where he alongside Huey joined the Oakland Black Panther Party to fight for better education for Black students (African American Registry). He also began the rally to free Huey when he was on trial. David was place on trial for a statement he made saying "We will Kill Nixon" the president at the time, although he did not mean this literally and said it in a brief moment he was taken in by the FBI and senteced to 1-10 years of prison (African American Registry).
Poster 2
The bottom of the poster express that these men were accused of crimes they did not commit in 1971. It explains that a white police officer was kidnapped and killed and Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee were randomly selected and taken in for these murders. It details their innocence and the unfairness of the prison and law system that allowed for them to end up in those positions. The poster also highlights what happened after the men were taken into jail and how the trials went. Providing an informative insight at how America as a nation has struggled to provide equality to black lives with these men who were unfairly being charged with murder.
This poster is meant to bring a community together to fight for a cause against violence on black men and woman. The term "Smash Colonial Violence" is referring to the violence that was used during the periods of colonization 1500-1900 (African People’s Solidarity Committee, 2021). It was a time were violence was used to take land from people and force them to take part in a system they did not want to be in such as slavery. This statement is used then in the poster from the 1970s as a slogan used to argue against the treament of Dessie Woods.
The bottom portion of the poster explains that, Dessie Woods was a Black woman in Georgia who, on June 17, 1975, defended herself from a white man’s attempted rape. She resited his violence against her body and was criminalized for it. She was then sentenced to 22 years in prison in Georgia, but her arrest and conviction sparked a national campaign of solidarity. Her case hit close to home for many because if she was defending herself against violence and being severly punished for it what did this mean for other women of color? Her arrest and similair protest to these were part of a larger movment called "The July Fourth Movement to Free Dessie Woods." It included major protests in the San Francisco Bay Area and California under the slogan “Free Dessie Woods! Smash Colonial Violence!”