Justice Benjamin ’22, Marika Gould ’23, and Ryan Payne ’22 outlined the efficacy of protest movements and how visibility is a key factor for successful organizing. They connected Black Panther Party organizing to contemporary movements such as the “Stay Dangerous” movement and environmental action in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Stephen Shames, George Jackson’s funeral, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, Oakland, August 28, 1971, gelatin silver print, 13 ¼ x 19 ¾ inches, The Jack Shear Collection of Photography at the Tang Teaching Museum, 2017.45.16
‘Black Panther Archive’ with Professor and Director of Black Studies Winston Grady-Willis
Students in the “Black Panther Archive” placed primary source documents associated with the Black Panther Party from the Tang Museum collection in conversation with those of contemporary human rights movements. Students made connections between this earlier Black Panther Party activism, their own lived experience, and a range of twenty-first century movements and organizations that challenge structures of power in the U.S. and globally.
In studying issues of power and justice in this way, students embraced the notion of Sankofa, the driving principle in Black Studies which calls for the examination of global African experiences both historically and contemporarily, as well as the dynamic interplay between the past and present.
Students in the “Black Panther Archive” course looking at primary source material.
Panel Discussion
Amity Kaminski-Frankel ’22, Ciara McDonald ’23, and Dorree Ndooki ’23 discussed how the Black Panthers stood in solidarity with the Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements, as well as how intersectional identities complicate the social movements of today.
Allen Zak, Untitled (Angela Davis), 1969, ink on paper, 21 ⅝ x 16 ⅜, Tang Teaching Museum collection, gift of Jack Shear, 2017.45.8
Stephen Shames, Panthers line up at a Free Huey rally in DeFremery Park, Oakland, July 28, 1968, gelatin silver print, 13 ⅛ x 19 ½ inches, The Jack Shear Collection of Photography at the Tang Teaching Museum, 2017.45.12
Towards A New Constitution from The Black Panther Vol. V No. 22, Saturday, November 28, 1970, ink on newsprint, 17 ½ x 23 ¾ inches, Tang Teaching Museum collection, 2021.2.1
In this newsletter El Buchannan ’22, Orlando Burgos ’23, Sierra Bynes-Eason ’21, Jack Fitzpatrick ’24, and Aaron Shellow-Lavine ’23 speak to the Black Panther Party’s organizing principles, such as the Ten-Point Program, and how these methods of grass roots organizing influenced social movements around the world and to the present day.
Poster design by Juno Lorber, class of ’23
Poster design by Charlotte Squire, class of ’21
Poster design by Nick Cipriani, class of ’23
Poster design by Isaac Markman, class of ’22