On November 10, 2020 comrades across Southern California met together at TheLAB805 in Ventura County, to create propaganda and art for financial development in the California Chapter of Black Hammer. The mission was simple: create t-shirts, cut stickers, and complete a photoshoot that represented Black Hammer’s 4 principles of unity.
It began at 11:00 AM. Comrades Tony, Cheem, DK and Chiefs Rico and Solimar met together outside TheLAB to discuss the agenda. The units washed their hands, equipped themselves with gloves and masks, and got to work.
80 blank t-shirts were sponsored by Leo as well as hundreds of stickers designed by CaliHammer members Itza and DK. The stickers were cut, counted, and distributed evenly amongst the ranks, and t-shirts organized by size. The two designs read “ARM THE POOR” and “REVOLUTION IS LIFE AND DEATH”.
The t-shirt design unanimously chosen was an East LA inspired graphic featuring the words “REVOLUTION IS LIFE AND DEATH” with a flower and skull in the center, surrounded by barbed wire. This design was created by Comrade DK and represents the cycle of life through death that is quite literally, revolution.
The owner of TheLAB, Leo, gave the Hammers a quick tutorial on the screen printing process and let them give it a go on some test t-shirts. Comrade Tony was the first to volunteer and quickly picked up on the finesse it took to properly squeegee the ink across the screen. It took consistent, even pressure, and just the right angle to ensure that the image was produced properly.
Comrades Cheem, DK, and Tony formed an assembly line of unity where one person would prepare the t-shirt on the press, another person would screen print, and the third comrade would place it in the oven to dry the ink. This system of organized labor sped up the process and evenly distributed the work between the comrades, rotating positions like clockwork. Pass, print, pass. It truly was a beautiful spectacle of comradery.
Around 3:00 PM, Chief Rico and Chief Solimar returned from outreach in the neighborhood, passing out PPE, posters and connecting with the community. It was at this time that Comrade Tony had to depart, shifting the Chiefs into the assembly line. For hours they went in this rotation of printing and collaborative effort to get the job done and even tuned in to the Tuesday Rally on Zoom.
It was around 8:00 PM when it was all finished and boxed to go. The comrades only stopped for a brief walk around the hood and to eat at a local mom and pop restaurant nearby. The final step was to do a photoshoot, which can speak for itself as revolutionary west coast art.
The CaliHammers get down differently. While they are joined by the principles of unity, they are forged unlike any other. From LA to Ventura all the way up to the Bay Area, they carry themselves, proud of their ancestry, and with deep cultural roots. The art created by this team and as a people was just the beginning of efforts as they organize ideas to fund their expansion to reclaim their lives, labor, land, and resources from the united snakkkes and other fascist empires across the world.
