A Century of Struggle Poster and Guide

“A Century of Struggle: A Cen-Tree of People’s Movements in the USA” by Ricardo Levins Morales and Janna Schneider. Source: RLM Art Studio

Ricardo Levins Morales and Janna Schneider’s remarkable and classroom-friendly “Century of Struggle” poster was originally published by the Northland Poster Collective in 2000. It is a “Cen-tree” collage featuring more than 700 illustrations celebrating the history of 20th-century U.S. social movements. The new guide to the poster offers a few reflection questions, but mostly, it helps locate and identify individuals and movements included. The guide is organized into 10 sections: Cultural Work, Right to Remain, Gay Liberation, Faces of Struggle, Electoral Activism, Strikes, Rural Organizing, Political Prisoners, the ’76 Bicentennial, and Anti-Globalization. Each entry — e.g., the AIDS Quilt, the International Hotel struggle, Wounded Knee, ACT UP, Lucy Parsons, Septima Clark, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Seattle Ladies Tailor Strike, the Harlem Tenants Strike, Southern Tenant Farmers Union, Black Panther Party, and the “Battle of Seattle” — gets coordinates on the locator grid to help students and teachers identify individuals, movements, and events. Great for art or history classes, or for anyone who wants to be reminded about the magnificent people’s history of the 20th century. [From Rethinking Schools.]