SF: Exhibit of Radical Underground Newspapers at Babylon Falling

Babylon Falling in association with It’s About Time presents an exhibition of radical underground newspapers from the sixties and seventies in the United States. The exhibit will be comprised of a variety of original copies of Berkeley Tribe, Berkeley Barb, The Realist, Chicago Seed, East Village Other, Catholic Worker, Civil Liberties, I Wor Kuen, American Report, SDS New Left Notes, and the Black Panther Party Newspaper.

Billy X Jennings, who has graciously opened up his archive for Babylon Falling, will be leading a brief discussion on the history of the radical underground press in America. Emory Douglas, the former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, will also give a short talk on the role that art played in these papers.

Join us here at Babylon Falling for the opening reception and talk on Thursday, February 19th 2009 from 6-9pm. There will be drinks and music as always. The event is wheelchair accessible. The exhibition will run through March 11th.

About Billy X Jennings and It’s About Time

Billy Jennings grew up in San Diego and moved to Oakland in June 1968. He was Huey Newton’s assistant and a member of the Black Panther Party from 1968 to 1974. He currently works as the Black Panther Party archivist, running the website It's About Time (itsabouttimebpp.com), and working to preserve the true history of the Black Panther Party through education. It’s About Time represents Black Panther Party Alumni worldwide.

About Emory Douglas

At eight years old Emory Douglas moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to the Fillmore District in San Francisco. He studied commercial art at the City College of San Francisco. Present since the early days of the Black Panther Party (BPP), Emory officially became a member in 1967 offering his talent as an artist to Bobby Seale’s nascent Black Panther Newspaper. From 1967 until the party’s dissolution in the early 1980s Emory oversaw the layout and publication as the BPP Minister of Culture, and his artwork graced the pages of the paper (which reached a circulation of 400,000 copies per week at its peak). Many of those images were also to be seen pasted up on the streets throughout the Bay Area. Emory currently lives in San Francisco and continues to lend his talent, voice, and vision to the causes in which he believes.

About Babylon Falling

Babylon Falling is a concept-driven independent bookstore with a focus on the spirit of Revolution. In addition to new books, we also carry similarly themed collectible toys, posters, artwork and DVDs, and our own in house clothing line featuring designs submitted by those artists who have exhibited here. The name of the store reflects the owner's Jamaican heritage, where the word Babylon is an all-purpose euphemism for both oppression and those who oppress. The phrase Babylon Falling then, is at once an affirmation and a demand.

Previous shows at Babylon Falling have included Hal Lawrence, Robert Bowen, David Choong Lee, John Felix Arnold III, Emory Douglas, Le Bijoutier, Roger Steffens & Peter Simon, David Ball, buZ blurr, C3, Shawn Mortensen, and most recently local artist David Young.

For pictures of past events at Babylon Falling please see: www.babylonfalling.com/Events.html