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Detroit: National Committee to Combat Fascism, Ministry of Information, 12845 14th St., [1970]. Illustrated broadsheet, 11” x 8.5”. CONDITION: Good, uneven toning, minor soiling, creasing, and chipping, two .25” tears along margins.

A scarce broadsheet raising awareness of the plight of the “Detroit 15” and soliciting money for their legal fund.

Featuring an image of Huey Newton standing with a shotgun, the recto of this broadsheet announces that the “Detroit 15” are members of the Detroit chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), who were jailed on October 24th, 1970 following an incident between Detroit police and members of BPP’s organizing bureau, the National Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF). The circumstances of their arrest on charges of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder are described as follows:

[The Detroit 15] were in or near the N.C.C.F. office on Saturday evening, October 24, when two pigs beat two black youths who were selling the Black Panther Newspaper. The people in the community responded by defending the two brothers, and when more pigs came on the scene with their guns out and shooting, the people again defended themselves, leaving one pig dead and another wounded. A whole army of officers converged upon the N.C.C.F. office, and finally, after about eight hours, the 15 sisters and brothers inside surrendered. 

Noting that “Money is badly needed,” the committee appeals to readers to “Give to political prisoners defense fund.” For further information, interested parties are advised to contact the phone number provided. While the Detroit chapter was smaller than most BPP chapters, due in part to the presence of other more established civil rights groups and Black nationalist organizations, the Detroit police engaged in illegal harassment and violence against the group to discredit and disband it. The event described here was the culmination of rising tension between the Detroit chapter and the police. All fifteen individuals were tried and acquitted on murder charges, although three were convicted of felony assault.

Text on the verso describes the BPP, its founding, its goals and actions, and the persecution it has faced at the hands of the police and the U.S. government, including the murders of its leaders, Bobby Hutton and Fred Hampton. The committee observes that BPP and NCCF offices across the U.S. have been “attacked and ransacked by police officers. And now Detroit joins the list, just as the N.C.C.F. here was beginning to start a free community health clinic and to gain the support of the community.” The text concludes: “Huey says ‘We don’t hate white people; we hate the oppressor.’ And so do we. We say right on Huey P. Newton. Power to the Black Panther Party! Power to the People! Free the Detroit 15!”

No copies recorded in OCLC.

A scarce broadsheet issued by the Black Panther Party to raise funds for the Detroit 15.

Item #9056

Price: $750.00