Comrade Sisters
Women of the Black Panther Party
Ericka Huggins author Stephen Shames illustrator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:ACC Art Books
Published:10th Oct '22
£35.00
Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.
"A new photobook recalls the crucial but often overlooked role played by women in the Black Panther party" — The Guardian
"... I guarantee this book will give you a new respect for a generation of women militants." — Socialist Worker
"Comrade Sisters pairs Stephen’s intimate, incisive, and inspiring portraits and documentary photographs with testimonies from many surviving members and their kin." — i-D France
"Historically illuminating photos of women Black Panthers." — The Washington Post
Many of us have heard these three words: Black Panther Party. Some know the Party’s history as a movement for the social, political, economic and spiritual upliftment of Black and indigenous people of colour – but to this day, few know the story of the backbone of the Party: the women.
It’s estimated that six out of ten Panther Party members were women. While these remarkable women of all ages and diverse backgrounds were regularly making headlines agitating, protesting, and organising, off-stage these same women were building communities and enacting social justice, providing food, housing, education, healthcare, and more. Comrade Sisters is their story.
The book combines photos by Stephen Shames, who at the time was a 20-year-old college student at Berkeley. With the complete trust of the Black Panther Party, Shames took intimate, behind-the-scenes photographs that fully portrayed Party members’ lives. This marks his third photo book about the Black Panthers and includes many never before published images.
Ericka Huggins, an early Party member and leader along with Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, has written a moving text, sharing what drew so many women to the Party and focusing on their monumental work on behalf of the most vulnerable citizens. Most importantly, the book includes contributions from over 50 former women members – some well-known, others not – who vividly recall their personal experiences from that time. Other texts include a foreword by Angela Davis and an afterword by Alicia Garza.
All Power to the People.
"A new photobook recalls the crucial but often overlooked role played by women in the Black Panther party." - The Guardian
"But the Panthers were not simply a militia. They became a political party that emphasised black pride, community control and unification for civil rights." - FTWeekend
"This beautifully-produced book is a visual and written record of the contribution of the women of the Black Panther Party... I guarantee this book will give you new respect for a generation of women militants." - Socialist Worker
"Comrade Sisters pairs Stephen’s intimate, incisive, and inspiring portraits and documentary photographs with testimonies from many surviving members and their kin." - i-D France
"A stunning collection of historical photographs and contemporary conversations with female members of the Black Panther Party, this coffee-table book is destined to stir up conversation about race, politics and the ongoing journey of female empowerment in the fight for Black freedom." - Ebony Magazine
"This is an important and comprehensive work of documentation." - Morning Star
Stephen Sackur is in Oakland, California speaks to Ericka Huggins, an original member of the 1960s Black Panther Party who experienced violence, imprisonment and vilification in the controversial campaign for black power. - BBC HARDtalk
"Historically illuminating photos of women Black Panthers." - The Washington Post
"Rather, it’s about listening to those on the ground to learn what a community needs and wants, then working from the bottom up to make that a reality." - Blind
"Shames spent seven years taking pictures of the Black Panther Party and was one of the few outside photographers given access to its inner workings." - Hyperallergic
"This collection, from ACC Art Books, honors their legacy by weaving Huggins’s reflections on her fellow “comrade sisters” together with photographer Stephen Shames’s black-and-white shots of the Black Panther Party’s activities." - Hyperallergic
"Comrade Sister: Women in the Black Panther Party (ACC Art Books, 2022) shows rarely seen images of the women that were the backbone of the party." - BBC Culture
ISBN: 9781788841757
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1444g
192 pages