We Are Not Beasts of Burden
International Grape Boycott Day, May 10, 1969
Notes: A poster publicizing the grape boycott led by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers by one of the best-known graphic designers of the era.
The artwork depicts a bunch of grapes in the shape of a skull with a Chavez quote at the bottom taken from the Plan of Delano:
"We are men and women who have suffered and endured much and not only because of our abject poverty but because we have been kept poor. The colors of our skins, the languages of our cultural and native origins, the lack of formal education, the exclusion from the democratic process, the numbers of our slain in recent wars—all these burdens generation after generation have sought to demoralize us, to break our human spirit. But God knows that we are not beasts of burden, we are not agricultural implements or rented slaves, we are men. We are men locked in a death struggle against man's inhumanity to man."
Glaser (1929–2020) designed many well-known posters and album covers, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he also made this more overtly political poster. His single best-known work is probably the "I [heart] NY" campaign logo.
The poster is 23-1/2 by 36-1/2 inches, offset lithography on uncoated paper.
Edition + Condition: A very fine example, linenbacked.
Publication: 1969.
Item No: #11289
Price: $500