What is the role of revolutionary art in times of distress? Zapantera Negra is the result of an encounter between Emory Douglas and autonomous Indigenous and Zapatista communities. It unites the bold aesthetics, revolutionary dreams, and dignified declarations of two leading movements that redefine emancipatory politics in the twentieth and twenty-first century.

Preface
Marc James Leger and David Tomas

Introduction
EDELO

ENCOUNTERS
1. Zapantera Negra Dialogues by Emory Douglas, Saul Kak and Mia Eve Rollow
2. Journey to Zapantera Negra by Rigo 23
3. One-Way Ticket: An Interview with Caleb Duarte

PLATFORMS
4. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program
5. Order From the Black Panther National Central Committee: Outline of Responsibilities by Rank and File
6. Position Paper on Revolutionary Art by Emory Douglas
7. Fourth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle
8. Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle
9. The Other Player

Emory Douglas is former Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, from February 1967 until its discontinuation in the early 1980s. Douglas’ art and design concepts were always seen on the front and back pages of The Black Panther newspaper,reflecting the politics of the Black Panther Party and the concerns of the community. Joining forces with Black Panther cofounders Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, Douglas was foundational in shaping the Party’s visual and cultural power and sustaining one of its most ambitious and successful endeavors.

Marc James Léger is an independent scholar based in Montreal. His essays in art criticism and cultural theory have appeared in Afterimage, Art Journal, C Magazine, Etc, FUSE, Inter, Parachute, Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, Journal of Canadian Studies, Canadian Journal of Film Studies, RACAR, Third Text, and Creative Industries Journal. Léger has exhibited artwork in Canada, the US, and the UK.

David Tomas is an artist, anthropologist, and writer. His production in the visual arts has its roots in a post-1970s critique of conceptual art’s disciplinary infrastructure. He is the author of several books, including Escape Velocity: Alternative Instruction Prototype for Playing the Knowledge Game (2012) and Vertov, Snow, Farocki: Machine Vision and the Posthuman(2013). Tomas is Professor in Visual Arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal.