Film poster for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white poster for "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." The headline at the top reads "Watch Out! Sweet Sweetback is back to collect some dues!!" At center is an image of Melvin Van Peebles, in white against a black background, wearing a black hat and a mustache. At bottom, in black against a white background, is a collage of images of other characters and scenes from the film. Set in a black-bordered box is the text: [YOU BLED MY MOMMA / YOU BLED MY POPPA / BUT YOU WONT BLEED ME]. Along the very bottom edge in small black text is [Music by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE. Melvin Van Peebles' 'SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG" Released by KING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1971
• Distributed by: Kino Lorber, Kino Lorber, founded 1977
• Subject of: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Subject of: Earth, Wind & Fire, American, founded 1969
• Type: posters
• Medium: paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 41 1/8 x 26 15/16 in. (104.5 x 68.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blaxploitation films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Independent films
• Topic: Music
• Object number: 2012.82.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.