Black Panther Party exhibit shows other side of history
Black History Month: New exhibit shows Black Panther Party's social services side
The Black Panther Party Museum's new exhibit marks 30th anniversary of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, showcasing their social service programs, often overlooked in historical portrayal of Black Panthers.
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland is unveiling a new exhibit highlighting the party's wide range of social service programs that are often overlooked in the traditional accounting of Black Panther history.
It shows how sometimes history isn't just a thing of the past, but a living dialogue with people in the present.
Museum co-founder Xavier Buck, who has a Ph.D in history, says the exhibit "Survival Pending Revolution" highlights the party's sweeping survival programs for people in the 1960's and 70's.
"Most of its history, it has been demonized, and so we do a lot of work here to rectify that narrative and make sure the Panthers can speak for themselves," Buck said.
"This right here is the 65 survival programs that the Panthers had. This isn't just in Oakland, it's around the country," Buck said.
Programs such as free breakfasts for children, a school, free testing for sickle cell anemia and other health conditions, and even a free ambulance service in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"It was very racist in North Carolina, and they would not pick up Black people in the neighborhood to take them to the doctor. So the Panthers, they got a hearse. They converted it into an ambulance. They trained as EMTs, and did 24/7 ambulance service for their community," Buck said.
The programs aimed to help people in their communities survive, thrive, and find political empowerment.
"Because how can you wage a revolution when you're hungry, or you're sick, or you're uneducated? So they would provide these services," Buck said.
The new exhibit comes as the Huey P. Newton Foundation celebrates its 30th anniversary on Feb. 17, the birthday of Newton, who co-founded the Black Panther Party.
"If he were alive today, he'd be 83-years-old. So we're here in his spirit," Frederika Newton, his widow and President of the Foundation.
Newton has been working with other Panther Party veterans to add depth and nuance to history books.
"[The media] didn't portray a brother as anything other than a scary, angry Black man with a gun. But they didn't show him up at 5 o'clock in the morning feeding children."
For her and others, the museum has become a place to share personal stories of the racism they faced, and the ways they were trying to change that through the Panther Party's social programs.
Newton says she joined the Panther Party after returning from college in Oregon and deciding to remain in Oakland.
"In Oregon at the time, it was very racist in the town where we were in, they were still having Klan meetings, so we didn't even feel safe going out during the week, in the town of Salem, Oregon,"
The museum has become a safe space in Oakland, the city where the Black Panther Party began. Newton says people are encouraged to share and preserve oral histories.
"Somebody across the street at the bus stop the other day had a story. That happens all the time. So I encourage them to come in here. In the back we have a space where they can record their story," Newton said.
"This community has tons of archival, personal stories about the Black Panther Party and how it impacted their lives. That's history. That's history. That's very valuable," Newton said.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com. Call her at 510-326-5529. Or follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU and read her other reports on her bio page.