The Black Panther Party has not had a strong presence in Davis. Nonetheless there have been times when this revolutionary group and Davis have overlapped.

A couple of members from the commemoration committee for the BPP were coming to Davis mid November 2007. they'll be putting on presentations and trying to garner solidarity with student groups for their campaign of getting younger kids reading. Some of the visitors are/have been members of the BPP, including one that started the breakfast program.

Chronologically:

  • 1960's and 1970's - The Sacramento chapter sold the Panther paper throughout the area, which included the campus of UC Davis. 1
  • October 11, 2006 - UC Davis Professor Clarence Walker commented on the BPP in a San Francisco Gate article. 2
  • October 20, 2006 - Former Black Panther Party member Angela Davis came to UC Davis and spoke at Freeborn Hall. The event was sponsored by the Women's Resource and Research Center. Articles: UC Davis Dateline (also appeared in UC Davis Spotlight).
  • November 18, 2006 - Davis People's Free School put on a lecture entitled "Revisiting the Panthers", led by Prof. Clarence Walker.
  • August 26, 2006 - KDRT DJ KenjiYamada interviewed former BPP member Flores Forbes on his experience with the group. 3
  • November 15, 2007 - California Aggiearticle about former Black Panther coming to speak.

See Also: Activism

Comments:

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2007-09-25 10:54:58   I saw Bobby Seale at a Malaquias Montoya art opening at the UCD Basement Gallery. I wanted to tell Mr. Seale how much i admired the Black Panthers and all the work he had done, but, I was wearing a skirt and wasn't sure how the BPP felt about cross dressing, so I didn't even say hello. —PxlAted

  • dang, that's sweet. your comment should be integrated into the main body. did you know bobby seale had been bound and gagged in the courtroom during his court case? i was told he's the only person that's happened to in the us...dunno.
    • No, it's relatively common. I used to hear the Public Defenders debating if it was a help or hindrance when it happened to their clients. IIRC, it is a judicial order enforced by the bailiff when a defendant (who has to be in the courtroom) keeps disrupting the judicial process. Some people try to simply shout and/or threaten their way out of court, and the question was always if the outbursts or the jury watching them in shackles and gagged is worse. (And yes, some of the outbursts and rants can actually be worse for the defense than their client sitting there shackled and gagged). Another common reason for shackles was suicide attempts. There's a unique thud and low tone when a human body hits a 5th floor hurricane resistant window trying to go through and is bounced back that I don't think I'll ever forget. He is far from the only one. —JabberWokky

Footnotes

1. http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:_bcclIKNCvYJ:www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Chapter_History/pdf/Sacramento/Sacramento_Chapter_of_the_Black_Panther.pdf+sacramento+%22black+panther+party%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a
2. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/11/BAGCELMSVT1.DTL
3. http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3YIgBNKFeooJ:www.kdrt.org/shows/the-civil-left/the-civil-left+%22uc+davis%22+%22black+panther+party%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us&client=firefox-a

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