The original RLM illustration shown on this puzzle, “Lunch Counter,” is based on a famous photograph of a lunch counter sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963, in which both black and white students took part. Despite violent assaults by white mobs and the risk of prison time, the sit-in movement helped win key demands of the Black Freedom struggle.
The puzzle is 16×20″ and has 513 pieces. For serious puzzle aficionados, get one of our other puzzles at the same time to save on shipping.
On February 1, 1960, four African-American students sat at a white-only lunch counter inside a Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth’s store. The tactic spread and, despite facing brutal assaults and prison time, it proved to be a key piece of the civil rights struggle.
On February 1, 1960, four African-American students sat at a white-only lunch counter inside a Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth’s store. The tactic spread and, despite facing brutal assaults and prison time, it proved to be a key piece of the civil rights struggle.
This set of 12 greeting cards is rich blend of facts and stories about coffee’s history, people and culture. Blank inside, the cards can be used for any (or no particular) occasion. The back of each card includes a short exposition about the image on the front.
Union made and brewed. Envelopes are included in the pack.
The featured artwork is from the book “Rimonim: Ritual Poetry for Jewish Liberation” by Aurora Levins Morales. Aurora is Ricardo’s sister, and her website can be found here.
Spot graphic from “Let All Trade Be Fair Trade” – Poster/card available here The background image “Tlatelolco” honors the Tlatelolco massacre committed by the Mexican state against people protesting the 1968 Mexico City summer Olympics.
Both these images give context to the January 1, 1994 beginning of the Zapatista Rebellion, after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect. This year is the 30th anniversary.
More information about historical dates in January:
Context and report of the action.“When I think of what Oñate did to the Acoma Pueblo, I have a vision of Indian men lined up to have one foot cut off.”
After Hurricane San Ciriaco in 1899 destroyed Puerto Rico’s coffee plantings, thousands of workers were recruited to cut sugar cane in Hawai’i. This gave birth to Hawai’i’s Puerto Rican community. Poster/card: San Ciriaco
Chairman Fred Hampton/Rainbow Coalition poster/card
“Had the Panthers followed today’s practices and looked just at the surface evidence, they’d have written the Patriots off as hopeless racists. Instead they asked why these folks were hurting: was their racism based on vested interest or had they been fooled into it. They concluded that in the big picture they all had more to gain as allies than enemies.” – From Ricardo’s 2010 blog post, Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: a political ecology of change
The spot graphic, “Soy Minneapolis,” was created several years ago by Ricardo for the Minneapolis campaign for Driver’s Licenses for All. The campaign was victorious at the statewide level last year, allowing undocumented Minnesotans to drive legally without fear.
More information about historical dates in August –
Poster featuring Ramon Emeterio Betances, leader of the 1868 rebellion against Spain. The “PROMESA” bill in his right hand connects El Grito de Lares to present day anticolonial struggle.
US colonialism, following in the footsteps of Spanish colonialism, genocide and slavery, has been a violent and criminal interruption of the inherent freedom of Puerto Rico and its people, and an assault on everything that sustains our lives and our land. It has caused us tremendous suffering and the loss of many lives. It has cost us great harm to our collective health and wellbeing, the theft of our natural wealth, our work, our agriculture, and the poisoning of our culture and our ecosystem.
The spot graphic for November is the t-shirt Ricardo and Northland Poster Collective made ahead of the “Battle in Seattle” in 1999. Ricardo drove there with boxes of shirts in a pickup truck and witnessed the historic direct actions that shut down the World Trade Organization’s meeting.
More information about historical dates in November-
January 22, 1973: Roe vs. Wade In Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court rules that the Constitution protects the right to an abortion without excessive government restriction.
Unrestrict Minnesota advocates legislatively to expand abortion access in Minnesota, where abortion is legal but unnecessary restrictions remain in place
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Saint Paul Federation of Educators used some re-worked RLM artwork to promote a joint protest, which turned out thousands in the bitter cold a few weeks before MFT went on a historic strike in March 2022.
The background image for April’s calendar page comes from Ricardo’s poster, “Better Active Today Than Radioactive Tomorrow,” produced for Northern Sun Alliance in the mid 1970s.
Chairman Fred Hampton/Rainbow Coalition poster/card
“Had the Panthers followed today’s practices and looked just at the surface evidence, they’d have written the Patriots off as hopeless racists. Instead they asked why these folks were hurting: was their racism based on vested interest or had they been fooled into it. They concluded that in the big picture they all had more to gain as allies than enemies.” – From Ricardo’s 2010 blog post, Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: a political ecology of change
The May calendar art was all originally commissioned and is not available for purchase – but you might recognize the background from the poster “Begin With Research.”
When you consider Puerto Rico’s fertile land and tropical climate, it’s tempting to assume that conditions are ideal for farming—they’re not. This unfortunate reality becomes increasingly apparent in the new documentary, Serán las dueñas de la tierra (English title: Stewards of the Land), which follows the struggles of three young farmers. The film also marks the debut for director Juan Manuel Pagán Teitelbaum, who produced the feature-length documentary alongside his partner, Mariolga Reyes Cruz.
“One of my greatest inspirations has been the Latin American New Song movement, especially its Chilean pioneers. They transformed themselves from performers of and for the student left into the creators of an authentic voice for their people’s aspirations. Moving easily between songs of love and songs of land reform, between nonsense verse and traditional lament, they dissolved rather than accepted the barriers that divide politics from the rest of life.
What these musicians accomplished was to master the “dream language” of their people as expressed in ancient and contemporary musical traditions. They then used it to voice the secret hopes and feelings that were not finding expression in the commercial culture monopoly, dominated by imported, “Western,” music.”
Poster featuring Ramon Emeterio Betances, leader of the 1868 rebellion against Spain. The “PROMESA” bill in his right hand connects El Grito de Lares to present day anticolonial struggle.
US colonialism, following in the footsteps of Spanish colonialism, genocide and slavery, has been a violent and criminal interruption of the inherent freedom of Puerto Rico and its people, and an assault on everything that sustains our lives and our land. It has caused us tremendous suffering and the loss of many lives. It has cost us great harm to our collective health and wellbeing, the theft of our natural wealth, our work, our agriculture, and the poisoning of our culture and our ecosystem.
The plate and halftone images in October come from event posters designed by Ricardo for the “Guerrilla Wordfare” series in Minneapolis. The clock spot graphic was adapted from the classic “Time to Organize!” IWW image, for the zine version of Ricardo’s 2022 essay “What time is it on the clock of the police abolition movement?”
More information about historical dates in October –
“Another World Is Possible” depicts a vision of change, with art based on the nineteenth century Flammarian engraving. One side of the image shows strip mining, deforestation and police/military repression. The other depicts a healthy ecosystem, sustainable energy, and cooperation. With lots of unique features and hidden elements to discover, it makes for the perfect puzzle. Another World is Puzz-lable!
The puzzle is 16×20″ and has 513 pieces. For serious puzzle aficionados – get our other puzzles, “Cycle of Cooperation” and/or “Jackson Lunch Counter” at the same time to save on shipping.
Here is your free, printable monthly calendar for February 2020. This month features “Lunch Counter” (available as a card and poster). The monthly calendar is a simplified, complementary version of the Ricardo Levins Morales Liberation Calendar (2020 now available for purchase!) – featuring historical dates and a mix of new and old artwork, printable for use in your office, school, or you-name-it.
Click below to download the PDF. The calendar is formatted to print on 11×17 or A3 paper.
This collection of 6 posters highlights African American activists, icons and movements. The posters illustrate struggles both well known and lesser known. The whole set is great for schools and classrooms celebrating black history month, or to showcase inspirational African Americans any time of the year.