My name is Mark Roberts, I designed the save deep ellum logo – actually, I co-opted and reworked a (in)famous gesture and set some type around it. People have recently written some very well crafted letters voicing their concerns about the symbolism behind the logo. The gist of their assertions is a raised fist is an anti-semitic gesture, which was certainly not my intention, so I did a bit of research and wanted to respond to these claims.

The Black Panthers iconic raised fist gesture was the only reference to its anti-semitistic origin from the letters I received. But during the same time period the Jewish Defense League, a militant Jewish organization, utilized the actual raised fist symbol as their logo, surrounded by the star of David. Far previous to this Loyalists in Northern Ireland often use a clenched fist on murals depicting the Red Hand of Ulster. And according to Wikepedia these groups that have used some form of the raised fist as a symbol, many predating the Black Panthers by hundreds of years:
American Indian Movement
Anarchist Black Cross, a political prisoner and prison abolitionist organization
Women’s Liberation
Food Not Bombs, an anti-capitalist free-food sharing organization
International Brigades - International volunteers who fought to defend the democratic, Second Spanish Republic from the fascist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
International Socialist Organization, US-based socialist movement
Italian Radical Party
Kach
Otpor youth movement
IRA - The Irish paramilitary organisation
Red Army - Supporters of Russia’s communist government during the Russian Civil War, 1917-1923
Saor Éire - A radical Irish revolutionary group
Socialist Youth Front
United Farm Workers of America
Weatherman or Weather Underground

A large number of these organizations have political views which are generally far left of center (even further than my own personal views). But not a single one I could find, sans perhaps the Black Panthers, could be construed having overt anti-semitic views. And furthermore, I have not found one instance when a raised fist represented oppression towards another group.

My personal connection is from the viewpoint of having been raised in a Union town and seeing imagery on strike signs on the waterfronts of Tacoma. And what has consistently drawn me to the concept behind the symbol is one of “many weak fingers can come together to create a strong fist”.

So I hope this explanation helps us come together. I enjoyed investigating this and if you do find any instances of anti-semitism in regards to this symbol email them to me. But unless I see something more compelling, I will continue to believe the preponderance of the evidence weighs in favor of my viewpoint – which is a raised fist is widely accepted symbol of group struggle.

Take the power back!

-Mark