poor people's campaign
visual design • illustration • cultural organizing
narrative
The 2018- Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) is a continuation of Martin Luther King’s original 1968 campaign. The goal of the campaign was to challenge the popular narratives around poverty and its causes. Using extensive printmaking, organizing art builds, collaborating with local organizations and artists, I aimed to craft a visual identity that can be expressive, form unity, and support building power for the underrepresented.
Research to support PPC was to look into the visual culture of the social movements of the 1960s. This ranged from works like Emory Douglas of the Black Panthers as well as the National Welfare Rights Organization. From there, the ongoing question was how to update the visuals given where we are now, looking at contemporary organizations such as JustSeeds and modern methods of production, e.g. screenprinting.
research
visuals
In the end, the feeling that was aimed to convey visually for PPC was mass organization. The feeling of many in participation, any committed to the campaign. Instead of looking at ways to uplift a particular spokesperson, the designs were crafted pieces of participation from every member. The feeling in the end should be one of sensing the majority and their commitment.