![]() In short, what I’d learned in books about the Black Panthers (and political protest in general) was only the start of a political education. I learned, for example, the real-world differences between radical and revolutionary, as well as the true meaning of well-worn expressions such as “all power to the people.” Through David I also came to see that feeding poor school children was as revolutionary as standing down the police. You could say that David was giving me gifts from the beginning, in the form of political teachings I couldn’t have gotten through books. Newton Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Party’s legacy, David and I did everything from giving away free books at public housing complexes and organizing a Black Panther history tour to teaching a college course on the Party and writing the blueprint for the Black Panther Party curriculum in Oakland’s public schools. The poster was a gesture of appreciation for serving unofficially as his assistant for ten years. David became my mentor in 1993 when I met him in Oakland, California, where the Party originated the year I was born. The poster was a gift from David Hilliard, one of the founding members of the Black Panthers and their first chief of staff. ![]() It’s one of the most iconic images from the 1960s protest era, and I like to think that Huey, who died in 1989 before I could ever meet him, at least figuratively watches over my work. In it, he sits famously in a wicker chair, a spear in one hand, a rifle in the other. It’s captioned in a framed lithograph of Huey that hangs over my desk at home. ![]() ![]() After all, African-Americans around that time were rioting in cities across the nation.Īlthough I don’t like guns, I see this quote about “the wrath of the armed people” every day. In Huey’s case, his colorful language is essential to the message, and it’s hard to imagine him expressing himself in a less incendiary way. Forget the lyrical turns, if they cloud the message or storytelling. I sometimes think I’ve carried this influence of and preference for direct speaking into my work as an editor, even if unconsciously, when I ask writers to tell me more clearly what they mean. Black people with guns, if provoked, will shoot and presumably kill policemen in self-defense. I have a special fondness for Huey’s early rhetoric-he says exactly what he means in the most unambiguous, if admittedly colorful, language imaginable. Among other things it gave me a new appreciation for language. It’s about the most unlikely beginning for a gay book editor that I can think of, but the experience helped shape my work. But as Huey grew intellectually and became a world-renowned black liberation leader himself-the biggest, in fact, in his moment in time-that rhetorical influence became less apparent, the language still provocative but more academic, more sophisticated, less outright inflammatory. You can tell the quote comes early in Party history because Huey’s fiery rhetoric owes an obvious debt to Malcolm X, the spiritual father of the Party when it was established in 1966. He was cofounder and leader of the Black Panther Party, the largest black liberation movement in US history. “The racist dog policemen must withdraw from our communities, cease their wanton murder and brutality and torture of black people, or face the wrath of the armed people.” That’s Huey P.
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