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"V.P. [mostly Onitsha]: Various publishers, ca. 1950s-70s. Collection of twelve original staple-bound pamphlets, most ca. 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" and 32-64pp. A few with toning or mild foxing to wrapper margins, but all generally in Very Good or better condition.The majority printed in 1971; others as early as 1959 and as late as 1972. An excellent, representative sampling of the popular literature that flourished in West African market stalls in the 1960s and 70s, most of it characterized by sensational (and even slightly prurient) content, rustic production values, and a disarmingly naïve (to a modern reader's eyes, at least) approach to its subject matter. All twelve examples of works bear the Onitsha, Nigeria imprint -Onitsha having been the epicenter of this publishing genre. Despite a brief vogue for these Onitsha chapbooks in the United States in the mid-70s (the period during which the few large insitutional collections of them were formed) most are now quite uncommon in the trade. It should be noted that most of these works were reprinted seemingly at random, sometimes with abridgements at other times with added matter; occasionally under a new author's name or pseudonym; almost always sans date. The cataloguer is deeply indebted to the painstaking work of Peter Hogg and Ilse Steinberg, whose landmark work Market Literature from Nigeria: A Checklist (British Library: 1990) was essential to identifying and dating these ephemeral works." -Lorne Bair

A pamphlet published by the October League (M-L), which advocates for "an expression of resistance to imperialism's vicious system of oppression against Afro-American people" and fighting against legal injustices surrounding segregation and discrimination. It aims to make an example of injustice through the wrongful arrest of young student, Gary Tyler, and outlines and analyzes the various circumstances surrounding his prison sentence.

A pamphlet that serves as a report of the Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. 83pp. It summarizes Civil Rights and segregation issues in the area of New Orleans and addresses public opinion on a number of related events that happened within the community over time and how they had been handled legally.

"Atlanta: Southern Regional Council, 1959. First Edition. Octavo. Staple-bound pamphlet. Printed wrappers; 83pp." -Lorne Bair The pamphlet discusses expanding voting access to the African American Community in the southern region of the U.S. and how there are still various obstacles and discriminations impeding their ability to vote and have a voice in the U.S. government.

"Washington: by the Author, 1917. First Edition. Staple-bound pamphlet. Octavo (21cm). Gray printed wrappers; [15] pp. Holes punched for binding at bulked edge, costing a few characters in text (but no loss of sense); covers slightly stained and pulled away from staples, but present and complete; Good or better. A strident criticism of American racial policy following America's entry into the First World War. Miller contrasts the allied rhetoric of international 'democracy' with the treatment meted out to the majoriy of Black Americans, and Black soldiers especially." -Lorne Bair

"Washington: National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, 1945. Second Printing. Octavo. Staple-bound pamphlet. Printed wrappers; 24pp. Seidman M218: A reprint, by a [Communist] Party organization in the civil rights field of an argument for the elimination of social discrimination by means of legislation... Segregation, in [the author's] view, can only further solidify Jim Crow in our legal system." -Lorne Bair

"Pamphlet published by the the Historical Research Club, University of Guelph. Guelph, Ontario: Alive Production Collective, n.d. [ca. 1976]. First Edition. Staple-bound pamphlet; [16pp]; illus. A brief political biography published shortly after Robeson's death in 1976. Little new content-wise, but an unusual Robeson item." -Lorne Bair

A pamphlet that contains three essays (41pp.), which address the idea of socialism and its relationship with the African American Community, especially in light of the injustices that spurned on the rebellions in Liberty City, Miami. It also analyzes the growing oppression felt by the African American Community as the 1980s approaches and what measures have been taken to fight against it.

"New York: Pioneer. Publishers, 1952. 31p., wraps, paper evenly toned. Trotskyist perspective on the killing of the Moores, who were active in Florida's NAACP and critical of police brutality until their deaths in a bombing on their 25th wedding anniversary near Sanford, Florida. They have been called the first martyrs of the Civil Rights movement." -Bolerium

"Washington: Austin Jenkins Publishing Co, 1921. First Edition. Stapable-bound pamphlet. Octavo (21 cm). Gray printed wrappers; 24pp. Holes punched for binding at bulked edge, else Near Fine. Response to Warren G. Harding's historic 1921 speech to a mixed-race audience in Birmingham, Alabama, in which he called for major improvements in political, educational, and economic opportunities for African Americans. Miller praises the speech at the outset but goes on to criticize Harding for his failure to extend social equality to Black as well: "...candor compels me to say, Mr. President ...that your platform based upon the assertion of 'fundamental, inescapable and eternal differences' of race is calculated, in the long run, to do the Negro as great harm as the Taney dictum would have done..." -Lorne Bair

"As a candidate, Bill Clinton slashed into Bush's Haiti policy while stumping for votes. For most of us who work in Haiti, however, it has been difficult to discern the differences in the policies of Bush and his successor. Clinton continued to send the refugees back home. Trade with Haiti increased, in spite of stated support for the embargo. And Clinton named as his envoy to Haiti a an who was considered by many of us to be on the sideof the military and business elite. Representatives of other countries have come to doubt Clinton's sincere support for a return to democracy in Haiiti. In October, 1993, after a small group of thugs prevented the docking of the USS Harlan County and the deployment of a multinational team of military engineers, one French military advisor offered the following assessment: "Do you know what the real problem is? The Americans don't want Aristide back, and they want the rest of us out."" - Paul Farmer, Open Magazine Pamphlet Series