Armed with intelligence, love and a new vision for the Black community, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense on Oct. 15, 1966, in Oakland.

Part of the national “Black Power Movement” happening all across the U.S., the primary motivation of the Black Panther Party was to educate and organize the community to protect and defend itself from the onslaught of police brutality. The BPP’s signature document “The Ten-Point Program,” entitled “What We Want, What We Believe,” was soon established to outline the basic human rights demands of the Black community, including food, clothing, shelter, land, education and justice, among others.

You can witness the resurrected spirit of the Black Panther Party by attending one several events being held this month in Oakland.

Although the socialist agenda to feed, clothe and shelter its citizens appealed to the community at large, the armed struggle aspect of the Party appealed to masses of youth who were disillusioned with the nonviolent tactics of the civil rights movement. The Party soon expanded its vision and action to include “Survival Programs” to meet the immediate needs of the community, including free breakfast programs, free health clinics, grocery giveaways, education programs, senior services, free bussing to prisons, prisoner support and legal aid programs, to name a few.

At the height of its eminence, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense expanded its programs and membership nationwide to cities like Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. It also gained international recognition and support groups sprang up in countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Israel, Japan, China, England and Germany and inspired the formation of other like-minded organizations in the U.S. like The Brown Berets, The Red Guard and The Gray Panthers.

Labeled by then FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States," the FBI launched a “counter-intelligence program” known as COINTELPRO, contrived to dismantle, disrupt and destroy the Party through the use of informants, infiltration, surveillance, agent provocateurs and outright assassinations to defuse its influence, incriminate its members, break its spirit and undermine community commitment and support.

Despite its trials and tribulations, rising and falling, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense remains “The sole black organization in the entire history of black struggle against slavery and oppression in the United States that was armed and promoted a revolutionary agenda, and it represents the last great thrust by the mass of black people for equality, justice and freedom,” according to The Huey P. Newton Foundation. The legacy of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense lives on in the hearts and minds of “the people.”

Events being held this October include:

Saturday, Oct. 13 - noon
Rally @ City Hall
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza 

Speakers, poetry, BPP members, music by Caribbean All-Stars. The BPP Alumni committee will be giving certificates out for community service awards.

Saturday, Oct. 13 - 2 p.m.
Film showing, Photo Exhibit, Speakers, Music and Book Signings, Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Steve McCutchen, Meres Si Gilbert.
Geoffry’s Inner Circle, 410 14th St.

Elbert “Big Man" Howard will speak about the writing of his brother in “Panther on the Prowl." Other authors include Steve McCutchen, writer of “We were free for awhile" and Meres Sia Gilbert reading poems from her book "Twirl in the Smoke."

Oct. 1-31 - During library hours
BPP Photo Exhibit
West Oakland Library

Oct. 1-31 - During library hours
BPP Photo Exhibit
Oakland Main Branch

Oct. 5-29 - 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment
First Love Art Gallery, 440 Telegraph
“THE POINT IS… Art Representing the Relevance of the Black Panther Party’s 10 Point Program in the 21st Century."

Featuring the Oakland Maroons: Tarika Lewis, Emory Douglas, Karen Seneferu, Malik Seneferu, Duane Deterville, Chris Herod, Refa One, Phavia Kujichagulia, Eesuu Orundide, Tureeda Mikel. Curated by Refa One and Duane Deterville.