Oakland marking 60 years since founding of Black Panther Party

Welcome back. This week marked 60 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale right here in Oakland back in 1966. And this weekend, there are celebrations to mark the organization's legacy and look forward to the future. For more on this, we are joined in the studio by Frederica Newton, activist, former Black Panther Party co-founder and co-founder of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. Thank tell us about the events happening this weekend and what you hope people learn from them well this weekend marks as you said the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party and all weekend we're celebrating um we're having a street name change today at noon where we're changing four blocks of Broadway to Black Panther Party Boulevard we've had speakers from all over the country come we've had workshops we'll have more today um and this evening we'll have a gala and many many many Panthers have come veteran Panthers have come from all over the country to um celebrate this occasion so it's like a bit part celebration part reunion part looking towards the future absolutely what do you hope when people come this weekend what do you hope they learn and remember about the organization ah good question i hope that they learn exactly what we did the sacrifices made um by many many thousands actually of young men and women who were willing to put their lives on the line to um to for the um for their community out of love for their community we were found we were an organization based on love with an ideology and there are people there are many many misnomers about the Black Panther Party and we hope to educate people, let people know what we did so that they can be inspired to do that currently and in the future. You were there during the early days. Can you describe what it was like to be right at the beginning of this movement? Actually, I didn't come in until 1971 after I met Huey. And I was actually, I was inspired because people were so young. I was a little intimidated before I came into the party, and when I came, I saw that these young men and women were sacrificing so much, and it just inspired me to know that at a young age, I too could make a change. I was just 19. For people who aren't familiar with the history, tell us about some of the important contributions the Black Panther Party made. The Black Panther Party actually established 65 survival programs. we call them survival pending revolution some of those um are still in existence today we fed thousands of hungry children we started sickle cell anemia testing when at the time there was no research going on about sickle cell anemia we passed out thousands of groceries in the park we um registered people to vote we understood how important that was we tested for lead poisoning. I mean, 65 actual survival programs. Black people were dying in their communities because the ambulances weren't coming in the black community. So people were actually dying in their homes. And two women in North Carolina, two Panthers, decided to take this on, became paramedics and got their own hearse. I think it was a hearse that was donated and they used it for an ambulance to take people to the hospital. So what I'm describing here are basic needs that weren't being met by the government that the Black Panther Party did. When you look back on the last 60 years of the Black Panther Party, are you feeling optimistic about the future or maybe concerned? You had written that you don't want this struggle to be a, quote, relic of the past. What do you mean by that? Well, I mean, I want people to be inspired that the current conditions mimic in many ways the conditions in 1966 and so and and actually maybe they're worse because we had we made advances and now they're being taken away so i have a both and thought that yes we can be concerned as we should be and i'm extremely optimistic or let me say i'm very optimistic because of who i have around me who i work around me most of the people that i work with are very very young um i mean they're young adults they're creative they're courageous they have imagination and and technology and that's available to them that we did not have that combined with the wisdom of the um people who've been through this in the past so it's i i have both and both i'm both concerned and optimistic yeah it's good to leave on an optimistic note thinking towards the future because the legacy of the party and all the social programs and community programs continue in many different ways. Frederica Newton, thank you so much for coming into the studio, shedding light on this important part of Oakland and American history. Thank you for having me. And we want to let folks know that there is a Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland. Absolutely. That they should come check out if they want to learn more. Oh, please. We're right at 14th and Broadway, 1427 Broadway, the Black Panther Party Museum. It's free. We're open Wednesdays through Saturdays. And today, please come out. We're having a huge celebration at noon. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Okay, let's send things over.