Probable innaugural issue (un-numbered) of this superb Black Arts journal, a monograph of Detroit artist Aaron Pori Pitts’ work. Pitts studied art at Los Angeles City College and the Odis Art Institute prior to moving back to Detroit. In 1969 he founded Black Graphics International, a local press dedicated to publishing his own and others’ work he believed deserved some white space.

The present issue is almost entirely filled with woodcuts of black artists, musicians, political and revolutionary figures: Nat Turner, Thelonious Monk, LeRoi Jones, Malcolm X are present, along with images of Chairman Mao. Pitts has also contributed several poems, and reproducing work by Al Young, Carolyn M. Sides, and Langston Hughes.

Source: Images & Text | Lorne Baire Rare Books