Flier for an African American Resource Machine benefit with Eldridge Cleaver: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A flyer for a benefit hosted by the African-American Resource Machine advertising a presentation by Eldridge Cleaver. The flyer is mostly off-white with a black silhouette of a man dominating the center left side of the flyer. The top and bottom of the flyer have thick black bands with the name [ELDRIDGE] and [CLEAVER] writing in negative space, off-white text. There is a small red design in the black band in the top right corner. Printed vertically and along the right edge, and horizontally along the bottom edge, is repeating black text that reads [African-American Resource Machine]. Next to the silhouette, at the center right, is the benefit information printed in black text that reads [Saturday, / April 14 / Artist's Television Access 2pm / 992 Valencia St. / San Francisco / 824-3890 / BENEFIT: A A R M]. The ticket price is printed in black vertical text next to Cleaver’s last name, [$18]. There is a quote by Cleaver printed in negative space, off-white text over the shoulders of the silhouetted figure that reads: “The system is evil. It is criminal; it is / murderous. And it is in control. It is in / power. It is arrogant. It is crazy. And / it looks upon the people as its proper- / ty. So much so that cops, who are pub- / lic servants, feel justified in going onto / a school campus, and spraying Mace in / the faces of the people.” The back of the flyer is blank with two handwritten pencil inscriptions in the top left corner.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1990
• Illustrated by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Eldridge Cleaver, American, 1935 - 1998
• Subject of: African-American Resource Machine, American
• Subject of: Artists' Television Access, American
• Type: fliers (printed matter)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 11 × 8 9/16 in. (28 × 21.7 cm)
• Place used: San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Race discrimination
• Object number: 2019.22.10
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.