Amos P. Kennedy, Jr.

Amos Kennedy, Jr. was a successful computer programmer for AT&T when he saw a printing press at colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and stopped in his tracks. At age 40, he decided that his corporate life was over. He had found his calling, he says, as a printer and provocateur. He now runs a highly regarded letterpress poster shop in Detroit, Michigan (Kennedy Prints), and is a vibrant example of the revival of handmade crafts. Amos is unafraid of asking uncomfortable questions about race and artistic pretension. His trademark blue overalls (with a pink dress shirt) are meant to reaffirm his self-described identity as “a humble Negro printer.” This is more than a bit disingenuous, but Mr. Kennedy, thankfully, likes to provoke.