On View
1968 & Beyond Gallery
Exhibition
A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond
Published by
Freedomways Associates, Inc., American, 1961 - 1985
Edited by
Bond, Jean Carey, American
O'Dell, Jack, American, 1923 - 2019
Clarke, John Henrik, American, 1915 - 1998
Kaiser, Ernest D., American, born 1916
Jackson, Esther Cooper, American, born 1917
Devine, John
Written by
Rev. Jackson, Jesse, American, born 1941
Katz, William Loren, American, 1927 - 2019
Davis, Angela Y., American, born 1944
Walker, Alice, American, born 1944
Imara, Damu, American, 1951 - 2006
Crider, Tyrone, American, 1959 - 2017
Amis, Barry D., American
Subject of
Harris, Patricia Roberts, American, 1924 - 1985
President Carter, Jimmy, American, born 1924
Date
1980
Medium
ink on paper with metal
Dimensions
H x W x D: 9 × 6 1/16 × 1/8 in. (22.9 × 15.4 × 0.3 cm)
Caption
Freedomways magazine ran for twenty-five years from 1961 to 1985. Released quarterly during that time, Freedomways was a leading African American theoretical, cultural, and political journal tackling major social and political issues, especially the Civil Rights Movement. The journal’s founders, led by editor Esther Jackson, included Louis Burnham, Edward Strong, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Shirley Graham Du Bois. Under Jackson’s direction, Freedomways became the leading radical Black left publication that gave a platform to veteran and newer writers, thinkers, activists, artists, and educators. The periodical ran their works and tackled issues of progressive politics, civil rights, colonialism, Pan-Africanism, prison and justice reform, education activism, art, literature, poetry, and urban decay.
Description
An issue of Freedomways magazine, Volume 20, Number 2, 1980. The front cover has an off-white background with white type inside a bright yellow-orange block at the top that reads: [Freedomways / A QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT]. The cover features three edge-to-edge yellow-orange tinted photographs, designed by John Devine, capturing sociopolitical current events. The top photograph shows President Jimmy Carter with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Patricia Roberts Harris touring the South Bronx. The middle photograph shows people on unemployment lines and the bottom photograph is an image of Three Mile Isle nuclear plant. In the top left corner of the cover in large black type is a caption, [In a new decade, the struggle continues].
The interior consists of 112 pages made up of white paper with black ink. The pages contain articles, poetry, images, and book reviews.
The back of the magazine has an off-white background and features two vertical yellow-orange tinted photographs in the same style as the front cover. The top photograph shows a mass of people marching for union recognition in Laurel, Mississippi. The bottom photograph shows the Ku Klux Klan during a cross-burning. To the right of the images black and orange type lists articles featured in this issue The text reads: [Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced / Jesse L. Jackson / To Save Our Nation / Angela Davis / On the Cuban Question / Jean Carey Bond / People vs. the Klan / William Loren Katz / New Poetry by Alice Walker / Books reviewed include: / A Short Walk by Alice Childress / Sally Hemings by Barbara Chase-Riboud / A Young Genius in Old Egypt / by Beatrice Lumpkin / Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough].
Place printed
New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted
New York City, Bronx County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
Classification
Books and Published Materials
Type
magazines (periodicals)
Topic
Activism
Black Press
Civil rights
Government
International affairs
Labor
Literature
Poetry
Politics
Social reform
U.S. History, 1969-2001
White supremacy movements
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Dr. Maurice Jackson
Object number
2021.20.36
Restrictions & Rights
Unknown – Restrictions Possible
Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5f965e4d0-6173-4b4d-92cd-259de07c11e1

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

Share this page