Black Panther Party Co-Founder Bobby Seale Talks About His Legacy And The Future Of The Party
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Black Panther Party Co-Founder and former chairman Bobby Seale was in town for a 45 year anniversary celebration.
Adequate Healthcare, employment, housing, education, economic parity...just a few of the points Bobby Seale says he and Huey Newton agreed would be the governing principles of the Black Panther Party when they created the group in 1966. He says he and Newton wanted the organization to be anchored in American philosophy, so they took some of the ideas from the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.
"I always love to say this," said Seale with a chuckle. "Back in the day, they called us hoodlums. What hoodlum do you know is going to paraphrase the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, you know? What we wanted [was] to organize politically around electoral community power. Not just about police, but about all the issues, " says Seale.
Listen to Cherri Gregg's interview with Bobby Seale...
Podcast
Seale says the Black Panther principles are relevant today. In fact, he says Occupy Wall Street protesters cite many of the same demands the panthers set forth more than four decades ago.
"More than half the points these guys are writing are reflected in my original 10 point platform and program of the original Black Panther party."
Seale says at one time the Black Panther Party had more than 5,000 members nationwide. He has repeatedly rejected the separatist views of the New Black Panther Party that surfaced in Philadelphia during the 2008 election.
Reported By Cherri Gregg, KYW Newsradio
