“Where is your heart? What is your position,” are questions that Bobby Seale consistently asked the group of students, as he spoke in the Opal Johnson-Smith Auditorium during a S.P.I.T. Knowledge lecture hosted by the Office of Special Programs and Cultural Series on Feb. 16.
Seale, founder of the Black Panther Party, USA, kept the students entertained by his colorful impressions of people from his past and vivid memory of his first encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As he heard King’s profound words of boycotting, and ending racial discrimination among all people, Seale was in awe.
Seale explained, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the first African-American who inspired me to evoke change within my community.”
He then began to briefly elaborate to his audience about his experiences growing up in the streets of Berkley, Calif.
“I didn’t know that I could change the thoughts of the people around me,” said Seale.
Seale worked as a college recruitment officer, member of the United States Army, carpenter, and mathematical engineer which gave him many avenues to bring about change.
He explained how he felt if people don’t feel they have the power to change peoples’ thoughts, then they have failed before even trying.
After discovering that it takes only one person to cause change, Seale then began to form the Black Panther Party.
Seale’s organization was all about organizing the people to cause change rather than rioting and violence.
The requirements for membership in the Black Panther Party included, no black man or woman serving in the United States Army, all blacks who were convicted by all white juries, and those blacks who knew they had a right to defend themselves against racists’ attacks, just to name a few.
Seale added that the Black Panther Party wasn’t just about the empowerment of African-Americans, but it was about the empowerment of all people.