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The Black Panther Party's most captivating and charismatic leader has been dead for 20 years, and the once-notorious black power group splintered apart years earlier. But those who gathered Thursday at the Oakland Library were transported back in time as women of the Black Panther Party rekindled memories and showed that the social-justice programs created four decades earlier still are very much alive.
Thursday's program was offered as part of Black Panther History Month. Numerous photos, books, buttons and poster art provided by historian Billy X Jennings served as the backdrop.
Although the women of the Black Panther Party were often overshadowed by Huey Newton and co-founder Bobby Seale, they provided the backbone for the group's most important work, and they developed and sustained the group's social justice causes such as free breakfast programs for children and community schools.
The Rev. M. Gayle "Asali" Dickson recalled the feeling of community within the party and how it gave its members the courage and power to stand up for justice and equal rights — messages that resonated with black people and others around the world. She said those goals are still alive today in her work as educator, senior housing administrator and artist.
Dickson worked alongside Emory Douglas, the party's cultural minister, to create the bold images for the Black Panther newspaper. The images illustrated the biting, social commentary on the
"We felt that if you couldn't read, you'd still get it through the images," she said.
Majeedah Rahman joined the Black Panther Party in 1969. The Contra Costa College professor laughed Thursday when she recalled how her small stature at the time belied her strength and resolve to some in the party who thought she should go back home.
Instead she became a leader and developed the educational curriculum for the Black Panther Liberation Schools, later renamed the Oakland Community School. Her work in the community didn't stop with the Panthers. In 1988 Rahman founded the Healthy Babies Project in the Acorn Housing project in West Oakland, going door to door with other volunteers to educate pregnant women about the importance of prenatal care.
She reflected on the surge of violence in the black community and urged audience members to help young people find their way.
"Children were looking to us for help and guidance and we let them down, but it's not too late," Rahman said. "We need to get those messages to our children."
The West Oakland Library is hosting an Underground Newspaper Exhibit this month, and on Oct. 23 and 24, Laney College will host a Black Panther Party Book Fair and Teach In. For more information about Black Panther History Month events, go to www.itsabouttimebpp.com.
Reach Cecily Burt at 510-208-6441. Check out her blog at www.ibabuzz.com/westside.
