Refuse & Resist! Records
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Abstract
Founded in 1987, Refuse & Resist! (R&R!) was a New York City human rights activist group which organized demonstrations and protests for issues related to prisoner rights, immigrants, and reproductive rights. The organization was active until 2006. The Refuse & Resist! Records (1986-2008) contain material created and collected by the organization in the form of paper files, born-digital files, and audiovisual recordings. These files and recordings provide documentation for the administration of the national office; their state and city chapters; and their Artists' Network and Youth Network. These files include informational booklets, fact sheets, ephemera, press clippings, correspondence, issues of R&R!'s publication Counterattack, as well as recordings and promotional material for events including their National Conference, Resist in Concert!, and National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. The organization's archived website is also in this collection. Material related to the separate activities of R&R!'s Artists Network and Youth Network are almost entirely focused on events and protests related to the Mumia Abu-Jamal death penalty case.
Historical Note
Established in New York City in 1987, Refuse & Resist! was a human rights activist group founded by Emile de Antonio, Dore Ashton, Dennis Brutus, John Gerassi, William Kunstler, C. Clark Kissinger, Conrad Lynn, Sonia Sanchez, Rev. Fernando Santillana, and other activists. The organization's distinctive logo was created by artist Keith Haring in 1988. The group organized protests and demonstrations for various issues including immigration rights, reproductive freedom, anti-war, police brutality, prisoners' rights, and the death penalty, specifically supporting on a large scale the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. The organization's national office was located in New York City, however, over 30 local chapters were formed at the city and state level at various times in the history of the organization, including Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Honolulu, Hawaii; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Cleveland, Ohio; New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. They also formed other groups to support all their causes, including the Artists Network and Youth Network, both heavily involved in protesting the Mumia death penalty case. Refuse & Resist! officially dissolved in 2006.
Arrangement
Organized in four series:
Series I. National Office
Series II. Chapters
Series III. Artists Network
Series IV. Youth Network
File titles within each series are listed in alphabetical order and arranged chronologically within those title groupings.
Scope and Contents
The Refuse & Resist! Records (1986-2008) contain material created and distributed by Refuse & Resist!'s (R&R!) national office as well as their affiliated chapters and networks. This collection documents a human rights organization and the execution of their mission through distributed material, events, and organized protests during the late 1980s through the early 2000s. These records are representative of causes R&R! focused on, specifically anti-war, immigrant rights, reproductive rights, and prisoner rights (especially surrounding the Mumia Abu-Jamal case). This collection contains material created by the national office including promotional ephemera, by-laws, merchandise, and membership forms and mailings. R&R!'s National Council meeting files document discussions surrounding the organization's focus and planning for the coming year dating from 1987 to 2004. Recordings and planning files for R&R!'s Founding Conference in 1987 document the formation of the organization as well as panels and meetings surrounding this formation. Issues of R&R!'s publication Counterattack date from 1987 to 2001 documenting the activities and issues of the organization. Files on the planning and execution of R&R! workshops, talks, organized protests, and panel discussions are also in this collection. Events include a National Day of Protest, National Month of Resistance, and various Mumia Abu-Jamal-related events and protests. A large number of files on R&R!'s Resist in Concert! from 1988 and 1991 include promotional material, planning files, ephemera, notes, and correspondence requesting support and assistance from celebrity artists and musicians. The organization's archived website is also available in this collection: http://www.refuseandresist.org/ dating from 2000 to 2008.
This collection also contains material on United States city and state chapters including individual files accumulated about their activities as well as chapter starter kits and other support material sent from the national office.
R&R!'s Artists Network was a collective of artists who wished to connect with each other through the issues supported by R&R!. This network created their own projects and events including Mumia 911, a national day of art to stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal which included over 100 art events nationwide on September 11, 1999. R&R!'s Youth Network also focused on Mumia Abu-Jamal's case by organizing young people to protest and demonstrate, especially through their Philly Freedom Summer program and Act Your Rage events. This network also was involved in the support of reproductive freedom and police brutality.
Subjects
People
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Refuse & Resist! were transferred to New York University in 2006 by Kevin Coffee. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Please contact the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Refuse & Resist! Records; TAM 362; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
To cite the archived website in this collection: "Refuse & Resist!." Archived 03/2014. Refuse & Resist! Records; TAM 362; http://www.refuseandresist.org/; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials donated by Kevin Coffee on behalf of Refuse & Resist! in 2006. The accession number associated with this gift is 2007.015.
Custodial History
http://www.refuseandresist.org/ was initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2014 as part of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Web Archive. In March 2014, this website was migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Due to technical or privacy issues, archived websites may not be exact copies of the original website at the time of the web crawl. Certain file types will not be captured dependent on how they are embedded in the site. Other parts of websites that the crawler has difficulty capturing include Javascript, streaming content, database-driven content, and highly interactive content. Full-Text searches of archived websites are available at https://archive-it.org/organizations/567.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures.
An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns. Three digital carriers were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Forensic Toolkit.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
The following were removed from the collection: 8 cartons, 1 flat oversize box, and 1 rolled tube of duplicate material; commercial/widely available recordings (20 VHS, 1 audiocassette, 3 CDs, and 2 DVDs); and 5 floppy disks and 1 CD-R (TW-TAM-362-2--TW-TAM-362-4, TW-TAM-362-7--TW-TAM-362-9) were deaccessioned after forensic imaging and analysis determined items contained no usable data or damaged.
Take Down Policy
Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.
If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.
If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.
Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.
About this Guide
Processing Information
In 2014, the archived website was added to the finding aid as a series. In 2024 when the collection was processed the archived website entry was moved into Series I.
In 2024, all paper material was placed in archival folders and boxes. Oversized material was unfolded and placed in appropriately-sized containers. 90 pieces of audio and video recordings were labeled with unique identifiers, rehoused into boxes by format, and listed individually in the inventory.
One optical disc and 2 floppy disks were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.
