Puppet Show

In 1970, the Yale student film collective May 1st Media made two 16mm works supporting the Black Panther Party’s New Haven chapter to help spread the word of their community-based activities. Puppet Show is a charming curiosity that sees the story of Panther Lonnie McLucas, who was convicted of murder in 1969, being performed for neighborhood children at the Party’s local headquarters. And Mayday—commissioned by Yale University’s president— documents the massive demonstrations that took place in New Haven during the spring of 1970, in response to the trials against national Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins, founder of the local chapter.