Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. collection, circa 1992-2026 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. collection, circa 1992-2026

ID: 01/MSS00100

Primary Creator: Kennedy, Amos Paul, Jr.

Extent: 20.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement:

The Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. collection consists of 15 series arranged by chronologically by year of accession. Series X combines unidentified pre-2011 accessions.

The collection is described at the item level. The contents of each print are transcribed in quotations, following the capitalization and wording of the prints as closely as possible.

Information contained in parentheses within the quotation marks is found at the top or bottom of the print. Often this information refers to the source of the quotation on the print or an organization involved with the event promoted on the print.

Text on the background of the prints is included in brackets within quotations. Any information in brackets outside of the quotations indicates design related characteristics of the given print to distinguish it from other prints with identical text.

Date Acquired: 00/00/1997

Subjects: Artists' Books - United States, Kuba (African people), Smoking -- Folklore, Tales -- Congo (Democratic Republic), Tales -- Nigeria, Yoruba (African people) -- Folklore

Forms of Material: African Americans - Music, American poetry, Christmas music, Miniature Books, Postcards, Proverbs, African, Spirituals (Songs)

Languages: English

This collection consists of letterpress art printed at Kennedy Prints!, Jubilee Press (also Jubalee), or elsewhere by Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. (1948-), an American letterpress printer, papermaker, educator, and social activist. Formats include postcards, posters, state road maps, and hand fans. There is also some additional promotional material for events with which Kennedy was involved. Some items for this collection are individually cataloged and searchable in Primo at the link below. Many are also digitized and available to view online as part of our Digital Collections.

See Administrative/Biographical History and Administrative Information for more information.

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1948. His father, Amos Paul Kennedy Sr., was a professor of agriculture and chemistry who taught at numerous historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) throughout his professional career. In 1972, Kennedy Jr. earned a BA in mathematics at Grambling University, and went on to pursue an MA in education.

Kennedy spent time in the Peace Corps during graduate school, which gave him the opportunity to teach mathematics in Liberia for 18 months. After contracting and recovering from malaria, he returned to the United States and settled in Gaithersburg, Maryland, taking a position with IBM as a systems programmer. He worked there for three years before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked for various computer firms and revived his interest in graduate school—this time for library science.

In 1981, Kennedy moved to Chicago, however, which once again put his formal academic plans on hold. While working for AT&T, he studied calligraphy as a hobby and took letterpress courses at Artist's Book Works, a small non-profit papermaking studio that opened in 1983. His initial interest in the printmaking process was peaked during a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, where he saw the town’s 18th century print shop and book bindery. After six months of coursework, Kennedy came into his own press and, being gifted four cabinets of type by a seasoned printer, quickly transformed his basement into a print shop. This private press was called Idiot Press, its name changing to Kennedy and Sons Fine Printing once he shifted his focus to commercial printing, and later to Jubilee Press (also Jubalee).

In 1995, Kennedy began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and studied graphic design under Walter Hamady (1940-2019), also taking courses on the history of African art and Vodún. At this time, he moved to Bayside, a suburb of Milwaukee, and worked out of a studio there. He graduated with an MFA in 1997, and in 1998, became the first Black faculty member in the School of Fine Arts at Indiana University.

While living in York, Alabama, in 2002, Kennedy shifted his interest from books to posters and cards. He spent much of the next decade honing his craft in a series of small Alabama towns while traveling to teach, speak, and sell his work. In 2008, he moved to Detroit, Michigan where he established his print shop, Kennedy Prints!.

Using wood type and hand presses, Kennedy produces large editions of wildly colorful, typographically driven posters on inexpensive chipboard stock. His method often involves overprinting multiple layers of text and making constant, subtle alterations to the color of the inks throughout each press run, making each print being subtly unique. He passionately addresses issues of race, freedom, and equality in his work, often incorporating proverbs and tales of the Kuba and Yoruba people of Africa, as well as the work of Black American poets, such as Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). Kennedy has printed under a number of press names, including York Show Prints, Kennedy & Sons, Fine Printers, and Kennedy Prints!

As more and more artists seek to steer away from computer-generated art, Kennedy is often credited with the revival of the letterpress in contemporary and folk art.

Artists' Books - United States
Kuba (African people)
Smoking -- Folklore
Tales -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
Tales -- Nigeria
Yoruba (African people) -- Folklore

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers.

Use Restrictions:

The RBML reproductions policies can be found here:

http://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/ReproductionServices.htm

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would damage materials or involve violation of copyright law.

Related Materials:

Amos Kennedy Digital Collection

Interview with Amos Kennedy (University of Wisconsin, Madison Library)

Amos Kennedy print collection (Library of Congress)

Processing Information: https://wiki.cites.uiuc.edu/wiki/display/librare/Home

Finding Aid Revision History: Revised 03/05/2026.

URL: https://go.library.illinois.edu/AmosPaulKennedyJrCatalog

Box and Folder Listing

Series 10: 2022 Accession(s)

Sub-series 1: Small prints

Box 9

Folder 6: “Afraid is a country with no exit visas. (Audre Lorde)”, 2021

Folder 7: “all Earthly Goods We have only on Loan (An Arabian Proverb)”, 2021

Folder 8: “Any great change must expect opposition because it shakes the very foundation of privilege (Lucretia Mott)”, 2021

Folder 9: “AS LONG AS YOU GOT MONEY COMING IN THAN GOING OUT, LIFE IS GOOD. (Arlander Paul Kennedy, Sr.)”, 2021

Folder 10

Item 1: “At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and this center is everywhere. It is within each of us. (Black Elk)”, 2021

Item 2: “At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and this center is everywhere. It is within each of us. (Black Elk)”, 2021

Folder 11: “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include than be included for who I exclude. Mama Mocha”, 2021

“Coffee” printed multiple times in the background.

Folder 12: “BLACK LIVES MATTER”, 2021

Folder 13: “Cease being a drudge, seek to be an artist. (Mary McLeod Bethune)”, 2021

Folder 14: “Communities & gardens go together like peas & carrots. (Just Harvest)”, 2021

Folder 15: “Creation is everything you do. Make something. (Ntozake Shange)”, 2021

Folder 16: “FOOD JUSTICE IS SOCIAL JUSTICE. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank”, 2021

Folder 17: “For me a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and elect but to be elected. (Michelle Bachelet)”, 2021

Folder 18: “Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently (Rosa Luxemberg)”, 2021

Folder 19: “FOOD IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT (Pittsburgh Food Policy Council)”, 2021

Folder 20: “FRESH FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE. Food justice is REVOLUTIONARY. UNITY AND SECURITY. Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers”, 2021

Folder 21: “FRESH FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE. GROW OUR OWN. Having food is a privilege that everyone is entitled to. Honey Helping Hand. UNKNOWN, PA. 412 Food Rescue”, 2021

Folder 22: “GOD IS TRANS”, 2021

Folder 23: “GRAB the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear (Zora Neale Hurston)”, 2021

Folder 24: “GROW OUR OWN. Our community should only hunger for justice not food. Islamic Center of Pittsburgh”, 2021

Folder 25: “HEALTH is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased. (Shirley Chisholm)”, 2021

Folder 26: “I used to get everything done by saying please. Now, I dynamite ‘em out of my path. (Huey P. Long)”, 2021

Folder 27

Item 1: “I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want, and get it. (Eugene Debs). NappygRam”, 2021

Item 2: “I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want, and get it. (Eugene Debs) SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY.”, 2021

Folder 28: “If we give our children sound self-love, they will be able to deal with whatever life puts before them. (bell hooks)”, 2021

Folder 29: “If you cannot dazzle them with your BRILLIANCE, baffle them with your bullshit.”, 2021

Folder 30: “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute. (Thurgood Marshall)”, 2021

Folder 31: “Life is very short and we must do what must be done in the now. (Audre Lorde)”, 2021

Folder 32: “Man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard. (Standing Bear)”, 2021

Folder 33

Item 1: “MEDICINE if you ain’t in it for de money, GET OUT!”, 2021

Item 2: “MEDICINE if you ain’t in it for the money, GET OUT!”, 2021

Folder 34: “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that knowledge will help set you free. (Assata Shakur)”, 2021

Folder 35: “Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of woods before sunrise. (George Washington Carver)”, 2021

Folder 36: “Revolution is not a one-time event. (Audre Lorde)”, 2021

Folder 37: “Slavery has never been abolished from America’s way of thinking. (Nina Simone)”, 2021

Folder 38: “Slavery is dead, but the spirit which animated it still lives. (Frances Harper)”, 2021

Folder 39: “Stratford Junior High School. 1959. 2019. You learned to deal with other people in society, so in that respect, I think it was GOOD. (Lance Newman) APS DESEGREGATION A 60th Anniversary Tribute Honoring the Past, Envisioning the Future February 2019.” “(on back side) The four students are Ronald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, Gloria Thompson”, 2021

Folder 40

Item 1: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. Democracy means that you have the right to vote without intimidation and undue burdens. (Deforest Soaries)”, 2021

Item 2: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want, and get it. (Eugene Debs) SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY.”, 2021

Item 3: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. Our only hope is to control the VOTE. (Medgar Evers)”, 2021

Item 4: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. The very act of voting is a political act. (Aparna Sen)”, 2021

Item 5: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. This is why I say it’s the ballot or the bullet. It’s liberty or death. It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody. (Malcolm X)”, 2021

Item 6: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. Voter apathy was, and will remain the greatest threat to democracy. (Hazen Pingree)”, 2021

Item 7: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. VOTING is a civic sacrament. (Theodore Hesburgh)”, 2021

Item 8: “STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION. VOTING is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed. (Deforest Soaries)”, 2021

Folder 41: “The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. (Zeno)”, 2021

Folder 42: “There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt. (Audre Lorde)”, 2021

Folder 43: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. (Ida B. Wells)”, 2021

Folder 44: “There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it. (Ida B. Wells)”, 2021

Folder 45: “The work of the insurrection will go on. (Denmark Vesey)”, 2021

Folder 46: “THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY. Belinda Stewart Architects, PA,”, 2021

Folder 47

Item 1: “If you have experienced anger, sadness, anxiety, enlightenment, or deprogramming while listening to this podcast then, THIS IS HELL”, 2021

Item 2: “SOVEREIGNTY over democracy. THIS IS HELL. (Max Liboiron)”, 2021

Item 3: “This is HELL! It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. (Fredric Jameson)”, 2021

Item 4: “THIS IS HELL. GOD’S FAVORITE PODCAST. Prove us wrong.”, 2021

Folder 48: “Those who do not move, do not notice their chains. (Rosa Luxemburg)”, 2021

Folder 49: “Treat the Earth well. It is not given to you by your parents. It is loaned to you by your children. (A Kikuyu Proverb)”, 2021

Folder 50: “We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live. (Lucy Parsons)”, 2021

Folder 51: “WE WANT completely free healthcare for all Black and oppressed people. The Sixth Point of the Black Panther’s Ten Point Program, revised in 1972”, 2021

Folder 52: “What the people want is simple – they want an America as good as its promise. (Barbara C. Jordan)”, 2021

Folder 53: “Whatever we do affects everything in the universe. (White Buffalo Calf Woman)”, 2021

Folder 54: “When a man moved from nature, his heart becomes hard. (A Lakota Proverb)”, 2021

Folder 55: “When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind. (Pauli Murray)”, 2021

Folder 56

Item 1: Kennedy Prints LLC USPS mailing label. “KENNEDY PRINTS LLC, P.O. BOX 7489, DETROIT, MI 48207, EARTH” Stamped with “Socialist Workers Party” logo, 2021

Item 2: Kennedy Prints LLC USPS mailing label. “KENNEDY PRINTS LLC, P.O. BOX 7489, DETROIT, MI 48207, EARTH” Stamped with “American Negro Emancipation Centennial” logo, 2021

Folder 57: “SAVE OUR USPS” small envelope, 2021

Folder 58

Item 1: Mailing Envelope postmarked 21 Jul 2021. “UNITE! WORKERS” printed on envelope, 2021

Item 2: Mailing Envelope postmarked 9 Aug 2021. “FIRE! lil louie” printed on envelope, 2021

Item 3: Mailing Envelope postmarked 9 Aug 2021. “FIRE! lil louie” printed on envelope, 2021

Item 4: Mailing Envelope postmarked 15 Nov 2021. Red and yellow design printed on envelope, 2021

Item 5: Mailing Envelope postmarked 29 Aug 2022. “Greed kills with impunity” printed on envelope, 2021

Item 6: Mailing Envelope received Sep 28 2022. Green and orange design printed on envelope, 2021

Item 7: Mailing Envelope postmarked 17 Dec 2022. “Smiles cost nothing, Tell men to smile!” printed on envelope, 2021

Sub-series 2: State road maps

Box 9

Folder 59: “PUBLIC THRIFT. 10237 JOSEPH CAMPAU HAMTRAMCK, MI,” Official Michigan State Road Map, 2021

Folder 60: “SOVEREIGNTY OVER democracy. MAX LIBOIRON,” Official Michigan State Road Map, 2021

Sub-series 3: Posters

Box 30

Folder 1: “A CORPORATE CALENDAR AND A MEGASTORE SELLING YOU A JUNETEENTH A COOKOUT CHECKLIST.”, 2021

Folder 2: “all is NOT equal with Black and Brown communities. (Michele Washington)”, 2021

Folder 3: “BE KIND. Art Gallery of Windsor", 2021

Folder 4: “FIRST WE ARE HUMAN! MUNdO SIStERS", 2021

Folder 5: “FOR ALL THE THINGS MY HANDS HAVE HELD THE BEST BY FAR IS YOU. (Andrew McMahon)”, 2021

Folder 6: “FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL", 2021

Folder 7: “GOD IS TRANS", 2021

Folder 8: “I KNEW GOD WAS TRANS BUT I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE BLACK!”, 2021

Folder 9: “LIGHT & SHADOW. An exhibition, print sale & auction to benefit CERF +. Shelter in Place Gallery June 14-28 2021. Exhibiting Artists: Christina Bothwell, Anne Lindberg, Yetunde Olagbaju, Walker T. Roman, Leigh Suggs. Curated by Caroline Kipp", 2021

Folder 10

Item 1: “MEDICARE FOR ALL” [black], 2021

Item 2: “MEDICARE FOR ALL” [red], 2021

Item 3: “MEDICARE FOR ALL. WE WANT completely free health care for all Black and oppressed people. WE BELIEVE THAT the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care. The sixth point of the Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program, revised in 1972.” [red and black], 2021

Item 4: “MEDICARE FOR ALL. WE WANT completely free health care for all Black and oppressed people. WE BELIEVE THAT the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care. The sixth point of the Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program, revised in 1972.” [black and red], 2021

Folder 11

Item 1: “NFT ART", 2021

Item 2: “NFT ART IN NOTHING WE TRUST. NSF Bureau of Printing est 2021", 2021

Folder 12

Item 1: “NFT LAST FOREVER THIS POSTER WON’T!", 2021

Item 2: “NFTs LAST FOREVER THIS POSTER WON’T! IN NOTHING WE TRUST. NSF Bureau of Printing est 2021", 2021

Folder 13

Item 1: “THE NFT BUREAU OF PRINTING, IN NOTHING WE TRUST, NSF Bureau of Printing est 2021", 2021

Item 2: “Not a Fucking Thing. IN NOTHING WE TRUST. NSF Bureau of Printing est 2021", 2021

Folder 14: “OF CELEBRATION AND EXPECTATION, OF FREEDOM DENINED BUT FOUND AND OF THE FREEDOMS TO COME.”, 2021

Folder 15: “Our societal FUTURE depends on centering the MARGIN (June Grant)", 2021

Folder 16

Item 1: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS", 2021

Item 2: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS. 4240 Cass Ave UNIT 105 DETROIT", 2021

Item 3: “SOURCE BOOKSELERS. THE ARTS", 2021

Folder 17

Item 1: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS. A UNIQUE NICHE OF NONFICTION BOOKS", 2021

Item 2: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS. BY AND ABOUT WOMEN", 2021

Folder 18

Item 1: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS. HEALTH AND WELL-BEING", 2021

Item 2: “SOURCE BOOKSELLERS. HISTORY AND CULTURE", 2021

Folder 19

Item 1: “STOP STEALING. EAST FERRY/WARREN ASSOCIATION MEMBER", 2021

Item 2: “STOP STEALING", 2021

Item 3: “EAST FERRY/WARREN ASSOCIATION MEMBER", 2021

Folder 20: “THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY. Belinda Stewart Architects, PA. Restoring and Celebrating the Beach and Significance of Buildings and Communities since 1990", 2021

Folder 21: “USING MOTHERHOOD AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE. (Jennifer White-Johnson)”, 2021

Folder 22: “VISIT THE FIRST MUSEUM IN THE USA DEVOTED TO POSTERS. POSTER HOUSE. 119 W 23rd Street New York, NY", 2021

Folder 23: “We are Black men who are proudly gay. What we offer is our lives, our love, our visions. We are risin’ to the love we all need. We are coming home with our heads held up high. (Joseph F. Beam)”, 2021

Folder 24: “WE HAVE TO BE EXTREMELY BIASES TOWARDS JUSTICE. (Chris Rudd)”, 2021

Folder 25

Item 1: “WHO TAUGHT YOU TO LOVE?", 2021

Item 2: “WHO TAUGHT YOU TO LOVE?” oversized zine by Hank Willis Thomas, 2021

Folder 26

Item 1: “WHOSE JUNE TEENTH? OF CELEBRATION AND EXPECTATION, OF FREEDOM DENIED BUT FOUND AND OF THE FREEDOMS TO COME.”, 2021

Item 2: “WHOSE JUNE TEENTH?”, 2021

Folder 27: “WORDS WONDER WISDOM. HARBOR SPRINGS FESTIVAL OF THE BOOK. September 24-25 2021. Harbor Springs, Michigan", 2021

Folder 28: “You Can Be: Think of me when you look at the stars at night, The stars and me are much alike so beautiful and bright, There might be something or someone in your way, Just follow your dreams every day, So stand up for your rights, You will find it a wonderful sight, I wish for all of you to see, The heard working people inside you and me, But to do that you have to learn to be anything you want to be. (Allison Patrice Kennedy)”, 2021

Folder 29: “PROCEED AND BE BOLD! tribute to my friend, amos, the humble negro printer", 2022

Unidenfitied artist signature.