Black Panther Party

The Black Panther Party Museum to Host an Evening of Film and Discussion on February 17th to Honor the Black Panther Party Co-Founder's 82nd Birthday

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation will host its annual celebration of Dr. Huey P. Newton at the new Black Panther Party Museum in downtown Oakland on what would have been announced his 82nd birthday – February 17, 2024, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  

Key Points: 
  • The funds to follow are slated for the further development of the Black Panther Party Museum and its work to tell the story of the Black Panther Party.
  • "I'm looking forward to sharing this special occasion in our museum with our community," added Xavier Buck, co-founder of the Black Panther Party Museum and executive director of the foundation.
  • The Black Panther Party Museum is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the true legacy and ideals of the Black Panther Party.

Gale's New Power to the People Archive Reveals the Historical Roots of Today's Counterculture and Social Justice Movements

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gale, part of Cengage Group, is helping faculty and researchers better understand how counterculture and social movements of the past have impacted and shaped today's society. The company has launched Power to the People: Counterculture, Social Movements, and the Alternative Press, Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century, a new digital archive that brings together materials that document the movements, events, individuals and grassroots organizations that worked to effect change in cultures and societies around the world. This unique collection offers a comprehensive view of the struggles and triumphs of activism over time, enabling users to make key connections and comparisons between past movements and the challenges humanity faces today.

Key Points: 
  • "As a whole, these pieces offer a unique reflection and authentic voice of the time before the growth of the internet and the birth of social media."
  • With Power to the People , researchers have access to a wide range of rare primary sources on social movements that have shaped modern Western history.
  • The archive paints a multifaceted picture of social history that highlights equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • The University of Bradford's Special Collections on Peace, Politics, and Social Change: highlights social movements around the world.

"Revolutionary Grain: Celebrating the Spirit of the Black Panthers in Portraits and Stories" to Open at Black Panther Party Museum in Downtown Oakland

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 11, 2023

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This October marks the 57th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. From protecting Black and oppressed communities from brutality to providing food, clothing and transportation through its "Survival Programs," the Black Panther Party was one of the most influential movements of the era.

Key Points: 
  • OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This October marks the 57th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.
  • On October 15th, documentary photographer Suzun Lucia Lamaina will present her powerful exhibit "Revolutionary Grain: Celebrating the Spirit of the Black Panthers in Portraits and Stories."
  • The opening will take place at the Black Panther Party Museum in downtown Oakland, 1427 Broadway, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    "I spent five years traveling the United States on a most radical mission: to capture contemporary portraits of former members of the Black Panther Party," said Lamaina.
  • The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the true legacy and ideals of the Black Panther Party.

Jenin has long been seen as the capital of Palestinian resistance and militancy – the latest raid will do little to shake that reputation

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Israeli troops withdrew from Jenin on July 4, 2023 after two days of heavy aerial bombardment and ground invasion.

Key Points: 
  • Israeli troops withdrew from Jenin on July 4, 2023 after two days of heavy aerial bombardment and ground invasion.
  • According to reports, 12 Palestinians were killed and over 100 wounded in what the Israeli military described as a “counter-terrorism operation”.
  • Understanding this history helps explain why the Jenin camp in particular has become a center of Palestinian militant resistance.

Camp conditions

    • The UN Relief and Works Agency established the Jenin camp in 1953, just west of the city.
    • Camp conditions have always been difficult.
    • The Jenin camp soon became the poorest and most densely populated of the West Bank’s 19 refugee camps.

The rise of militancy

    • Seeing no other path forward, many of the camp’s young refugees turned to armed resistance.
    • Such acts of apparent collective punishment reinforced the idea for many Palestinians that the Israeli occupation could only be ended by force.
    • By the time the second intifada broke out in 2000, many of the camp’s teenagers joined militant groups.
    • Like the youth of the 1980s, they, too, concluded that only armed resistance would bring an end to the occupation.

A cycle of violence?

    • In April 2002 the Israeli army invaded the Jenin camp, hoping to put an end to such armed groups.
    • It was during such a raid that Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli soldier.
    • The latest raid, as many journalists have noted, may be the biggest operation in the camp in 20 years.

Ja Morant shows how a 'good guy with a gun' can never be Black

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 23, 2023

Ja Morant, the 23-year-old star point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, was barely 1 year old.

Key Points: 
  • Ja Morant, the 23-year-old star point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, was barely 1 year old.
  • But his bursting athletic brilliance, so evocative of Iverson, comes with a cost: the perceived menace of the Black gangster.
  • On March 4, 2023, Morant posted an Instagram Live video of him displaying a gun at a Denver strip club.
  • Even when folks who look like Morant innocuously and legally possess a gun, they find themselves too easily typecast as villains.

Disciplining ‘thugs’ and ‘children’

    • When global sports icon Michael Jordan retired from basketball in 2003, the league found itself in a period of transition.
    • How would it continue to fill arenas, satisfy advertisers and spread its vision of a global game without its brightest star?
    • Not only did the NBA need a new crop of superstars to mitigate Jordan’s exit, but it also needed a fresh attitude.
    • Players openly professed their love for rap music, with stars like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Iverson and others recording and releasing music.
    • “This guy is so worried about being cool: ‘Look at me, man: Life is like a rap video.’”

The NBA’s gun culture

    • In 2006, Stephen Jackson was suspended just seven games for firing a gun after an altercation at an Indianapolis strip club.
    • In 2010, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended for 50 and 38 games, respectively, after pulling guns on each other in the Washington Wizards team facilities.
    • And in 2014, Raymond Felton was suspended four games after pleading guilty to charges stemming from an incident where he threatened his estranged wife with a gun.
    • In 2018, during a trip to Israel, Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green posed with an assault weapon.

Was this ever about guns?

    • To me, the answer is simple: In America, armed Black folks conjures pathological criminality.
    • So if people are so sure of Morant’s villainy, I ask without a hint of snark: What does responsible Black gun ownership look like?
    • To me, this was never about guns – just as, back in the early 2000s, it was never about rap music or baggy clothing.
    • According to this warped, uniquely American fantasy, “good guys with guns” can never look like Ja Morant – and good guys can always kill bad guys.

Four Local Teachers Receive OnPoint's Prize for Excellence in Education Educators of the Year Award

Retrieved on: 
Friday, May 26, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore., May 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OnPoint Community Credit Union has announced the four winners of the 2023 OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education Educator of the Year awards:

Key Points: 
  • The four Educators of the Year will have their mortgage or rent paid for one year and receive $2,500 for each of their schools.
  • "This year's Educators of the Year respect their students as individuals and create educational experiences that truly connect and inspire them.
  • We are honored to recognize these educators and know they will continue to make a difference for their students and our region."
  • In the 14 years since the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education campaign launched, it has awarded more than $650,000 in prizes to 313 local educators and schools.

Tupac's 'Dear Mama' endures as rap artists detail complex relationships with their mothers, street life and the pursuit of success

Retrieved on: 
Friday, May 12, 2023

The past few years have seen many notable contributions to this genre.

Key Points: 
  • The past few years have seen many notable contributions to this genre.
  • 9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1995 and has since generated more than 257 million streams on Spotify.
  • “Dear Mama,” the documentary series, narrates the ins and outs of the relationship he had with his mother.
  • “Dear Mama,” the song, was released in 1995, the year before the rapper was murdered in Las Vegas.

Sounds across generations

    • Tupac’s autobiographic ode to his mother showcases the rapper’s storytelling ability with vivid and vulnerable details of their shared struggles and battles.
    • He intones to his “Black Queen, Mama,” and offers variations of “There’s no way I can pay you back / but my plan is to show you that I understand.
    • Below are some of my other favorite rap songs with lyrics devoted to mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other mother figures who raised the artists through the struggles they faced.
    • In most cases, they narrate their activities as a way to achieve a version of the American Dream, which in many cases includes securing a better standard of living for their mothers.
    • Tupac himself did this in “Dear Mama” when he wrote: “I ain’t guilty, ‘cause even though I sell rocks / it feels good putting money in your mailbox.
    • / Exaggerating a little bit so she’d get the point / Trying to get her to stop smoking.
    • / See her in the kitchen cooking fish or chicken depending / on what day it is.

Black students in Washington state played key role in the Civil Rights Movement, new book states

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 21, 2023

The Black Student Union, or BSU, at the University of Washington helped connect the Black Panther Party to Seattle.

Key Points: 
  • The Black Student Union, or BSU, at the University of Washington helped connect the Black Panther Party to Seattle.
  • Black Student Unions are active at numerous colleges and universities in Washington, including the two schools featured in my book, the University of Washington and Washington State University.
  • Like their 1960s counterparts, progressive Black students today continue to push their institutions to create, maintain and expand initiatives to graduate Black students, hire Black faculty and fund Black studies and related curricula.
  • Overall, today’s Black student politics and struggles for greater equity continue the legacy of the Black Student Unions of the 1960s.

The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation Announces the Launch of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Center for Research & Action in Downtown Oakland

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 30, 2022

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --In the 1980's, Black Panther Party co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton envisioned a research center that would shape the ongoing Black freedom struggle.

Key Points: 
  • OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --In the 1980's, Black Panther Party co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton envisioned a research center that would shape the ongoing Black freedom struggle.
  • Today, the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation announces the launch of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Center for Research & Action (HPNCRA) to honor Huey's vision and elevate the history of the Black Panther Party for an intergenerational audience of Oaklanders and visitors to the city.
  • The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the true legacy and ideals of the Black Panther Party.
  • The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is based in Oakland, CA, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party.

"American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton" Begins Oscar-Qualifying Run at Laemmle's Royal Theatre on September 2

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Co-director and producer Andrew Abrahams adds: "George Floyd was a tipping point, but racial profiling and excessive force against Black people by police has been a reality in the U.S. for decades. It was the fulcrum of the 1968 Huey Newton trial which our film depicts, and which the Black Panthers -- co-founded by Newton -- rallied against. The great lesson from People v. Newton is the importance of diversity among all players in the criminal justice system, including police, juries, attorneys, and judges.

Key Points: 
  • If the Newton jury came back with the widely expected first degree murder verdict against the charismatic Black militant, Newton would have faced the death penalty and national riots were anticipated.
  • ButNewton's defense team redefined a "jury of one's peers," and a groundbreaking diverse jury headed by pioneering Black foreman David Harper delivered a shocking verdict that still reverberates today.
  • "The Newton trial was monumental in the process of addressing racism in the jury selection process," said co-director Herb Ferrette.
  • It was the fulcrum of the 1968 Huey Newton trial which our film depicts, and which the Black Panthers -- co-founded by Newton -- rallied against.