Poster House

Mr. Gordon’s 10^th grade history classes, accompanied by Ms. Thompson-Brett, visited the Poster House museum for a guided tour of their exhibit Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party. During the tour, students viewed original posters created by artists working with the Black Panther Party, including some related to prominent leaders such as Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis. The tour guide asked students to consider the audience, messaging, and context of the different images in considering how the Black Panther Party was trying to shape its image to the public. Afterwards, students created their own political posters in groups related to causes that matter to them today. This field trip connected to their most recent unit on the post-WWII era, in which students were asked to consider whether national security trumps personal liberty. The unit involved examining examples of when these priorities come into conflict, such as during the period of Japanese Internment during World War II, the era of McCarthyism, and the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which illegally surveilled and disrupted the Black Panther Party, the Civil Rights movement, and others.