Enlivened, Aware, Awake:
Symbols of Activism

Though a raised fist is now widely understood as a gesture of Black Power and solidarity against anti-Black racism, it was also used among early gay rights activists in the 1970s. The photograph of young, invigorated protesters in Su Negrin’s poster was taken by photographer Peter Hujar in 1969 for the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). One of the original coalitions of gay rights activists, the GLF formed in New York City in the direct aftermath of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, and advocated for the end of discrimination against queer communities; they were particularly interested in housing equality and bodily autonomy. Though Hujar’s photograph depicts white activists, it is important to recall that queer BIPOC, such as Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, among others, were pivotal figures within the Gay Liberation movement.

Negrin’s poster, like Hujar’s original photograph, was used to advertise the GLF. Merging the photograph with a mandala design bearing the words “Let Go,” Negrin creates a bright, idealistic vision of LGBTQ+ activism.

On May 9, 1970, student demonstrators convened, fists raised, in Chicago’s Grant Park to protest the Kent State shootings in Ohio and the ongoing US military conflict in Southeast Asia. Only five days earlier, National Guard soldiers opened fire on peaceful anti–Vietnam War protestors on Kent State’s campus, killing four students and injuring nine. The event ignited mass protests across the country and served to further shift public opinion against the war.

Raised fists were a hallmark of student activism, especially in protest of the Vietnam War, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The iconic fist graphic first appeared in 1968 in a poster designed by Frank Cieciorka, a San Francisco Bay Area graphic artist, challenging the Vietnam War draft. Other variations of the graphic surfaced in a 1969 Harvard University student strike and in flyers from Students for a Democratic Society, a national activist organization that adopted a strong anti–Vietnam War and pro–Black Power platform.

Shortly following his release from twenty-seven years in prison, South African political revolutionary and African nationalist Nelson Mandela triumphantly raised his fist before a crowded stadium. Perhaps the salute honored the endurance of antiracist resistance in the face of immense suppression, particularly of Black voices, by the apartheid government. In 1994, Mandela—the leader of the African National Congress—became the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

This photograph serves as an important reminder that antiracist activism and Black Power are not confined to the United States. Although Mandela’s leadership and the formal elimination of apartheid marked an immense milestone in South African politics, white supremacy and social stratification remain deeply entrenched throughout the country. South African political leaders and activists continue to fight against the lasting social and economic legacy of apartheid.