H. RAP BROWN (1967-69) Photo archive

H. Rap Brown. 1967-69. [New York]: Wide World Photos, 1967-1969. Group of 9 vintage original 7 x 9″ (18 x 23 cm) and 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm) black-and-white photos. All with mimeographed text attached and stamp on verso of Wide World Photos. Overall near fine.

Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (born Hubert Gerold Brown; 1943-2025) was an American activist who served as the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s. Calling himself H. Rap Brown in that period, he was one of the primary spokesmen for the Black power movement.

Brown was perhaps best known for his provocative comments during the ghetto riots in the “long hot summer of 1967”, such as “Violence is as American as cherry pie” and “If America don’t come around, we’re gonna burn it down.” He was also known for his autobiography, Die Nigger Die!. He briefly served as the Black Panther Party’s minister of justice during the six month alliance between SNCC and the Black Panther Party. Needless to say, Brown was in continual trouble for his then outspoken views, and was repeatedly indicted in multiple locations. (Wikipedia)

This archive represents a turbulent period in Brown’s era of social activism. Included are photos of Brown:

• at an anti-Vietnam War conference;
• surrounded by supporters as he gets released on bail from a Maryland court where he had been indicted for incitement to riot;
• emerging from a Harlem classroom where he “taught black history and the movement”;
• with his lawyer, William Kunstler, after Kunstler arranged his release into his custody for charges filed in New York for violating court-ordered travel restrictions;
• kissing a supporter as he emerges from a New York City bail ruling in federal court;
• arriving with two companions at JFK Airport after a flight from Chicago;
• at a microphone, text reads: “Addresses a Negro rally in the St. Albans section of Queens, He called on Negroes to arm themselves against a ‘honky white conspiracy of genocide’”;
• emerging after a meeting with African American students at Columbia University involved in a sit-in, protesting the building of a gymnasium in a park;
• issued in 1970 when he was reported missing.