Black United Front of Cairo. Broadsides, 1971-1972

This collection contains two broadsides advertising events hosted by the Black United Front of Cairo in 1971 and 1972.

The Black United Front in Cairo, Illinois, was a coalition of Black activist organizations founded in 1969 by Reverend Charles Koen (1945-2018). Koen had also founded the Black Liberators in St. Louis, Missouri, the previous year. The Black United Front organized in response to a vigilante group called the “White Hats” or the “Committee of Ten Million”. The White Hats had been deputized by Cairo city officials in 1967 and harassed black neighborhoods and organizations. Although the group was ordered to disband by the State of Illinois in 1969, the harassment continued. The Black United Front organized demonstrations and boycotts of white businesses throughout the 1970s. The violent period of racial unrest in Cairo from 1967-1973 caused many residents to leave Cairo.

The first broadside in this collection is from 1971 from the Black United Front of Cairo, Illinois. The broadside is printed in black on an 8.5 by 14-inch sheet. It advertised the Cairo Solidarity Rally at Church of the Advocate. It includes a list of participants, including the Black United Front’s founder, Charles Koen, as well as Rev. Calvin B. Marshall, Rev. Muhammad Kenyatta, and Rev. Wycliffe Jangdharrie.

The second broadside, also from the Black United Front of Cairo, is from 1972. It is printed in black on a 10.25 by 13.5-inch sheet. It advertised the 3^rd Annual Survival and Solidarity Celebration at St. Columba Church. Participants listed include the Black United Front’s founder Charles Koen; Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette, two of three men known as the Soledad Brothers, who were accused of killing a prison guard in California; and Sallye Davis, mother of political activist Angela Davis.

The library purchased the 1972 broadside in 2022 and the 1971 broadside in 2023, both with the support of the Bruce C. Creamer Fund.