Liberation Will Come from a Black Thing: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A paperback pamphlet version speech James Forman gave at the Western Regional Black Youth Conference in Los Angeles on November 23, 1967: "Liberation Will Come from a Black Thing.” Printed in black ink on white paper, the pamphlet has fifteen (15) pages and a saddle-stitched binding. The cover is white, with a black printed image of a boy with one arm stretched out and the other pulled back holding a rock, as if getting ready to throw it. The title of the speech appears in black text under the boy’s outstretched arm, with the author’s name in the grass at his feet. The interior contents include the text of the speech in which Forman advocates for a political understanding of the fight against racism and argues the fight for black liberation as self-defense against U.S. Imperialism. The back page of the booklet is a form to subscribe to the Students for a Democratic Society weekly newspaper, with a black and white photograph of a police car at the bottom right corner.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: November 23, 1967
• Written by: James Forman, American, 1928 - 2005
• Published by: Students for a Democratic Society, American, 1960 - 1969
• Type: pamphlets
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 9 × 6 1/4 in. (22.9 × 15.9 cm)
• Place printed: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: American West
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: Social reform
• Object number: 2023.43.2
• 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: © Estate of James Forman Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.