Emory Douglas Quotes

United States, Painter
May 24, 1943

Emory Douglas worked as the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until the Party disbanded in the 1980s. His graphic art was featured in most issues of the newspaper The Black Panther. As the art director, designer, and main illustrator for The Black Panther newspaper, Douglas created images that became icons, representing black American struggles during the 1960s and 1970s.

Artists have a way of instantly communicating essence. Things are made clear, almost like a language, and so art is a powerful tool to communicate with the community.

Emory Douglas
- Art
- Communicate
- Tool
At that time the African American community was not a large reading community. They learned from observation and participation. So we had a lot of visuals that they could identify with. Photographs and short captions, as opposed to long, drawn-out essays and editorials. They were visual interpretations of the conditions people lived in. Inner cities, poor communities. Combined with revolutionary imagery. The people saw themselves in the artwork. They became the heroes. They could see their uncles in it. They could see their fathers or their brothers and sisters in the art.

Emory Douglas