Radical Solidarities in Popular Presses in the 1960-70s

Between 1965 and 1975 there were more than 2,600 popular presses in the U.S., including 300 Chicano/Latino publications, according to the "Mapping Social Movements Project" from the University of Washington. Although archival and historical projects such as this provide invaluable quantitative data on various movements and its popular presses, they are limited by excluding comparative analysis on collaborative movements, movements outside the U.S., and by undervaluing visuals and artwork as important tools for social movements, especially as they are used in popular presses. Therefore, this paper highlights the dissemination of artwork in popular presses, particular images from Mexico's Taller de Gráfica Popular (Popular Graphics Workshop/TGP) in the Chicano and Black Freedom Movements in the 1960s and 70s.

As a printing collective that focused on the immediate problems of a post-revolutionary Mexico and the larger fight against fascism and towards national liberation in other countries, the TGP distributed their images beyond the typical art institutions and audiences. Since the 1930s and 40s in Mexico, the TGP has printed its images in popular presses, including Miguel Hidalgo, El Maestro Mexicano, Tricolor, and Futuro. In the 1960's and 70's, their images began to appear in the U.S. popular presses, including the United Farm Workers' newspaper El Malcriado and the African-American theoretical journal Freedomways. Through an analysis of these TGP reproductions and art circuits, this paper will help audiences understand the transnational artistic and political connections and solidarities between Mexican, Chicano, and Black artists and activists from the 1930s through the 1970s.