1970s Archives - Picturing Black History

Singer and actor Harry Belafonte speaks at a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters to announce the formation of Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid. At left are actors Gregory Hines and Tony Randall and tennis notable Arthur Ashe.

African Americans and the Fight Against Apartheid

African Americans were closely involved in the fight against South African apartheid, with cultural icons, legislators, civil rights activists, and athletes all playing their part to call attention to the issue and to ultimately pass sanctions against South Africa.

Heavyweight champion George Foreman (r) and Muhammad Ali (l) exchange punches during their world heavyweight title boxing match in 1974.

The Rumble in the Jungle

In one of the most iconic and celebrated heavyweight fights, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman clashed in Zaire in 1974.

A photograph of three African American women who were identified as domestic helpers waiting for a street car, all three women are wearing coats and hats, two men and a woman who are white are also waiting on transportation, Atlanta, Georgia. 1939. From the New York Public Library.

Black Women’s Work and Leisure in the Black Mecca

The everyday lives and struggles of Black women in Atlanta reveal the roots of their activism.

PARIS - JANUARY 1974; Black Panther and writer Eldridge Cleaver, an exile from American justice, and wife Kathleen sit in their apartment in Paris France during their exile circa 1974

The Life of Eldridge Cleaver

Author of Soul on Ice and one of the most recognized activists for Black internationalism, Eldridge Cleaver went from militance to obscurity.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform 'Revelations' at Sadler's Wells in London, UK, June 1973.

Alvin Ailey’s Pluralistic Vision for America

The famed choreographer used his art to emphasize the universal resonance of African American stories.

July 1972: A group of youths spraypaint graffiti on a New York wall.

The Graffiti Art Movement in Philadelphia

“Coming to a Wall Near You!” From the 1960s to 1980s, Black teenagers in Philadelphia convinced the world that graffiti wasn’t vandalism, but public art rooted in protest and self-expression.

Plaque à l'entrée du siège du Black Panther Party en Algérie.

The Panthers and Palestine

The Black Panther Party—especially their International Section based in Algiers—embraced the Palestinian cause as part and parcel of their own struggle.

Graffiti covers the walls of the hotel room of Mark Essex.

The Writings of Mark Essex

Initially written off as “crazy,” the New Orleans Sniper’s ideas reflected a more widely held sentiment of rage among Black youth.

Remembering Alice Walker’s The Color Purple

Alice Walker’s act of generosity in writing The Color Purple forever revolutionized Black women’s literature.

The Imam of American Islam

Warith Deen Mohammed

Photographs and stories that changed the world

1970s