Hill, Anita (b. 1956)
African American Women in Defense of Ourselves, Signed by Hill.

Latham, NY: Freedom Organizing Series: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Distributed by Syracuse Cultural Workers, 1992.

Poster designed by Amy E. Bartell, with a woman's profile adapted from a photo by Mark Leon; printed in red, black and green, with a manifesto in the center, and the names and home cities of the 1,603 signers; inscribed by Hill over the center panel, "To Diane with great appreciation, Best wishes, Anita Hill," nicely preserved; 29 x 19 in.

"Within hours of Anita Hill's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 11, 1991, Elsa Barkley Brown, Barbara Ransby, and Deborah King had launched a nationwide campaign to protest the events surrounding Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court. In a few days they had gathered 1,603 Black women's signatures for a three quarter page ad which appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, November 17, 1991. The ad also appeared in six Black newspapers. [...] The ads cost more than $50,000 and African American Women in Defense of Ourselves' ability to raise this sum in a few weeks, mostly from small individual donations, symbolized the success of an unprecedented grassroots effort to make the voices of Black women heard. Their action has become a catalyst for ongoing organizing to combat racial and sexual oppression and also to challenge the complex and painful reality of violence against women of color." (Quoted from the poster.)

Condition
For inquiries about condition, please contact:
Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: deastland@swanngalleries.com
Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: gmccormack@swanngalleries.com