Date of Award

12-2018

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. Zoann Snyder

Second Advisor

Dr. Thomas VanValey

Third Advisor

Dr. Richard Yidana

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Douglas Davidson

Keywords

Black Panther Party, Black Panther art, Black Panther newspaper, content analysis

Abstract

The Black Panther Intercommunal News Services (BPINS) was one of the most powerful black presses and a mechanism to build an imagined political community. Unfortunately, the scholarly and sociological literature examining the artwork of the Black Panther Party published in BPINS has been inadequate. Most work to date focuses solely on one artist, Emory Douglas, the Party’s Minister of Culture and primary editor of their press. Many other artists contributed to the collective endeavor of art and organization at large. The artwork of the Black Panther Party was a communal enterprise geared toward the promotion of political consciousness through visual literacy. This dissertation is a content analysis of that artwork published in BPINS over its 13-year publication. Using systematic sampling, 313 images were collected and analyzed focusing on four historical transitions of the Black Panther Party and how artwork shifted from a Black Nationalist revolutionary stance to a reformative intercommunal focus.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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