Black Panther Co-Founder Shares Group's Real Legacy with Students
New Pittsburgh Courier; City Edition › August 21, 2009
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Summary
[Seale] was joined in many of his civil rights activities by his good friend, Huey P. Newton. Seale described a Vietnam protest in 1966, shortly before the founding of the Panthers, during which Seale discovered he was a good public orator. The protest, however, ended in a fight with police and a sentence of one-year of probation for Seale and Newton.
As the party grew, so did opposition. Not all of the organization's conflicts with the authorities were wars of words. By 1969, Seale said fights with law enforcement officials had resulted in the death of 29 Panthers and 14 police officers. Many charges were brought against members of the party. Seale, himself, was famously tried for inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He and his co-defendants became known as the "Chicago Eight." Seale was cited with contempt for his frequent outbursts during the trial. At one point, the judge even had Seale bound and gagged to keep him quiet."We were about constitutional, democratic, civil, human rights," he said. "It's a profound piece of history." Seale was introduced by Larry Little, a WSSU professor and lawyer, who led the Winston-Salem Panther chapter in its heyday. Little traveled to California when he was 19 to be trained as a Pantner in order for the city's chapter to become an official part of the organization. He met Seale while he was behind bars in connection with the [Alex Rackley] murder. Little said, even in jail, Seale took the time to mentor him.See the full content of this document
Extract
Black Panther Co-Founder Shares Group's Real Legacy with Students
WINSTON SALEM, N.C.Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, spoke at Winston-Salem State University recently, relating how the controversial civil rights organization began.
Seale told a sizeable crowd that he didn't start out a civil rights activist, far from it. He took an interest in the centuries-long struggl...See the full content of this document
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