Political Posters of the Sixties and Today
The 1960s and 1970s were two very tumultuous decades defined by civil unrest, active political discourse, and disillusionment with the government. During this time, posters became an important and widespread form of people and organizations expressing their political and social views. The posters of the 1970s expressed discontent and anger towards the war in Vietnam, highlighted the hypocrisy and excess of capitalism in America, showed support for the civil rights movement, and demonstrated discontent toward mass media and their misrepresentation of countercultural groups and activities.
During the 60s and 70s, various groups created posters as a way to highlight the disparity between the United States consumerism and the Vietnam war, which they felt was neglected by the mass media. The poster above merges a Chanel ad with a photograph of a drowning family in Vietnam, which juxtaposes the atrocities of the Vietnam war with American consumerism and expresses both a disapproval of the Vietnam War and our capitalist society. Students, individual activists, and organizations all took part in the creation of political posters, and many of these posters were printed in mass quantities and distributed to reach a wide audience and share their dissenting voice.
Posters were also an extremely important political tool of various civil rights and black power groups, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party. Because of the media’s bias against the civil rights movement, civil rights groups resorted to posters in order to promote their organizations and advertise their cause. The media often focused on black violence while providing no coverage of peaceful protests and violence against black people, and the press also portrayed organizations such as SNCC and the Black Panther Party in a negative light. Following the death of six African Americans at the hands of police at a protest, the BPP released a poster highlighting this brutality and the injustice of the lack of media coverage of this event. The poster’s subheading, “He Only Made Page 5,” highlights how the media disregarded and ignored injustices against the black community. Because of the lack of (and negative) representation in the media, the Black Panther Party and other civil rights organizations hired photographers and made their own posters to document their activities and promote their causes.
Similarly, political posters are regaining popularity in today’s troubling political climate. In light of the recent election of President Trump and his hateful and discriminatory policies, posters proclaiming their support for targeted groups and anger towards Trump and his policies have become widespread. Posters depicting Muslim women can be found on countless storefront windows and are a simple way for businesses to express their disapproval of the Trump Administration. In addition, posters have also garnered widespread attention at the countless protests that have occurred since the election. At the Women’s March following the Inauguration of President Trump, an estimated number of two million people marched in support of women’s rights and in opposition to Trump, with hundreds of thousands of people toting posters criticizing Trump and showing support for people of all ethnicities and religions.
Just as in the Sixties, posters today are a simple but powerful way to proclaim dissent and show solidarity; they are a simple and easy way to express one’s opinions and make a political statement. Whether people create their own content or use someone else’s design, every political poster is important and can have an impact. Political posters can be found online, at protests and marches, and posted on the street, and as such they have large audience and can be seen by millions of people. Posters are an important political tool that provide a way for the masses to take a stand and share their voice through a beautiful and meaningful medium of art.
