Edited by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Foreword by Austin Kleon. Text by Myron Beasley, Kelly Walters.
Celebrating the storied career of a beloved letterpress printer whose posters spread messages of racial justice
Detroit-based letterpress printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. is celebrated for his type-driven messages of social justice and Black power, emblazoned in rhythmically layered and boldly inked posters made for the masses. Citizen Printer tells Kennedy’s inspiring story and contextualizes his important work—and offers readers tools for lifting their voices, too. A vital monograph on a trailblazing contemporary Black artist, Citizen Printer features 800 reproductions representing the breadth of Kennedy’s posters and prints, plus original portraiture of the artist at work, a powerful artist statement and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon, all presented in a dynamic type-forward design from American Institute of Graphic Arts medalist Gail Anderson and Joe Newton. Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (born 1948) was working a corporate job for AT&T when, at the age of 40, he discovered the art of letterpress printing on a tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Kennedy then devoted himself to the craft, earning an MFA at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and teaching at Indiana University. He now operates Kennedy Prints!, a communal letterpress center in Detroit. Borrowing words from social justice heroes Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and others, Kennedy layers bold statements on race, capitalism, history and politics in exuberant, colorful and one-of-a-kind posters. Kennedy has been featured in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine and the Economist, and his work has been exhibited by the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and other institutions through the US. He was the subject of a 2012 feature-length documentary, Proceed and Be Bold!
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Hyperallergic
Angelina Lippert
Unlike so-called “fine printers” who have chosen to embrace letterpress as a precious form of high art, Amos’s work doubles down on the democracy and immediacy of printing. An excitement and urgency is present in each piece, resulting in posters that are equally informative and visually delightful.
Publishers Weekly
Carolyn Juris
The 800 reproductions here hint at the breadth of [Kennedy's] output and include engaging photos of the master printer at work.
Brooklyn Rail
Naomi Elias
A spirit of improvisation, pugnacious wit, and Black pride suffuse [Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.'s] work, making him a truly unique character.
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Hello Detroit! Friday, September 27 from 6–7 PM, Source Booksellers celebrates the storied career of the beloved letterpress printer whose posters spread messages of racial justice! Please join Source for this highly anticipated occasion, including a few questions and a book signing. continue to blog
Featured spreads are from Letterform Archive Books’ gorgeous and galvanizing new release, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer, on the legendary Detroit-based letterpress master whose type-driven messages of social justice and Black power have been stating truth and spreading inspiration for the last four decades. “Understand that, for me, printing is commerce, not capitalism,” Kennedy, Jr. writes. “It is a trade between one who practices a skill and another who values it. This trade directly empowers the skilled worker, not the capitalist who profits off that worker.
Understand that my very existence is protest.
The existence of Black people in America is an act of protest, of survival.
Everything I do is a manifestation of that protest.
Understand that my connection with the universe is most present in the printshop—that my deep love of printing for the masses has led me to a deep connection with ALL.
With time, I have realized that my people are actually ALL peoples.
Some folks have told me that my story has changed their lives—that my decision to leave a life as a business bureaucrat in favor of one as a letterpress printer gave them permission to leave the path they happened to be traveling for the path they truly wanted to travel. ‘I must go forth,’ they said.
I feel it is my duty to continue to make these cracks in our inhumane society so that others will have space to live their lives.
And the spaces that they make will expand the cracks for others, just as the space I make expands the cracks made by my ancestors.
One day our growth will rumble down the walls that separate our humanity.
I try to print a world into existence that is as welcoming and nurturing as the universe is to me, and I urge others to agitate, agitate, agitate for a world that is welcoming and nurturing to them.
I print for the glory of my peoples.”
continue to blog
Published by Letterform Archive Books. Edited by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Foreword by Austin Kleon. Text by Myron Beasley, Kelly Walters.
Celebrating the storied career of a beloved letterpress printer whose posters spread messages of racial justice
Detroit-based letterpress printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. is celebrated for his type-driven messages of social justice and Black power, emblazoned in rhythmically layered and boldly inked posters made for the masses. Citizen Printer tells Kennedy’s inspiring story and contextualizes his important work—and offers readers tools for lifting their voices, too. A vital monograph on a trailblazing contemporary Black artist, Citizen Printer features 800 reproductions representing the breadth of Kennedy’s posters and prints, plus original portraiture of the artist at work, a powerful artist statement and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon, all presented in a dynamic type-forward design from American Institute of Graphic Arts medalist Gail Anderson and Joe Newton.
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (born 1948) was working a corporate job for AT&T when, at the age of 40, he discovered the art of letterpress printing on a tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Kennedy then devoted himself to the craft, earning an MFA at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and teaching at Indiana University. He now operates Kennedy Prints!, a communal letterpress center in Detroit. Borrowing words from social justice heroes Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and others, Kennedy layers bold statements on race, capitalism, history and politics in exuberant, colorful and one-of-a-kind posters. Kennedy has been featured in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine and the Economist, and his work has been exhibited by the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and other institutions through the US. He was the subject of a 2012 feature-length documentary, Proceed and Be Bold!
