#bobby seale
Huey P. Newton (seated on porch) watches Donna Howell and the children of the Intercommunal Youth Institute. Photo: Lauryn Williams, 1972
The Oakland Community School (OCS) was one of the most well-known and well-loved programs of the Black Panther Party. Point Five of the Black Panther Party’s original 1966 Ten Point Platform and Program, emphasized the need to provide an education that, among other things, taught African American and poor people about their history in the United States. To this end, the Oakland Community School became a locale for a small, but powerful group of administrators, educators, and elementary school students whose actions to empower youth and their families challenged existing public education concepts for black and other poor and racially marginalized communities during the 1970s and 1980s.
Historically, however, the educational programs of the BPP started long before the OCS with the vision of the party’s leaders. As early as 1967 Huey Newton and Bobby Seale began speaking to high school youth at San Francisco/Bay Area public schools. In 1969, in U.S. cities where there were strong BPP chapters, liberation schools staffed by volunteer party members opened in storefronts, churches and homes. These after-school programs were created to give academic support to black and other poor youth. These community school programs created a forum for young people to explore a factual history of America and a sense of connection and community.
(viaErika Huggins)
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A Black Panther feeds his son at the “Free Huey” rally in Oakland, California. February 17, 1968.
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You can pre-order The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History, by David F. Walker and myself, now!
It will be released in January 2021 through Ten Speed Press.
David Walker and I put a lot of work into this book and we can’t wait for you to read it!
Pre-Order Now!
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