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by Dr. Tiffany Caesar
Fredrika Newton, president and co-founder of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation and widow of Huey P. Newton, states that the foundation was “inspired to create their own museum so they can be in control of the narrative” as it concerns the newly opened Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland.
The Black Panther Party Museum, located on 1427 Broadway, Oakland, is currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and by appointment. You can get more information about the Black Panther Party Museum or book the space for a community event by emailing info@hueypnewton.org. You can follow their main social media handle @hueypnewtonfoundation on Instagram, and the newly launched handle @blackpantherpartymuseum. In addition, visit their website, hueypnewton.org.
In discussing the creation of the Black Panther Party Museum, Fredrika reveals, “The national park conservation association sponsored this delegation of us to go to Alabama to look at Civil Rights Historical Sites and when we were there we met with Bryan Stevenson at the Legacy Museum … and we saw an example of a museum being done outside of the national park service that had the autonomy to tell their own story.” The delegation to Alabama included members of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, electees and department heads of Oakland, and representatives of the National Park Service.
Dr. Xavier Buck, executive director of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation and co-founder of the Black Panther Party Museum, shares: “This is just Phase 1. We are just getting started. We moved into this space in December 2022. Just 13 months later we are open for regular hours for the Black Panther Party Museum. We have two exhibitions open – one on the rank and file members of the party called “Revolutionary Grain,” the other one, “Each One Teach One,” the history of the Oakland Community School. Coming in the spring we have a Black Panther Party virtual reality experience. There will be three exhibitions at all times.”
He continues, “We are creating a prototype. This a 3,000-square-foot space. It’s beautiful and perfect for what we are doing right now, but already on Day One we have outgrown it, and so we are looking for a bigger space. This is Phase 1, and there is plenty more to come.”
Fredrika adds, “We are in the process of creating a Black Panther Party National Park! So in conjunction with creating the first Black Panther Party Museum, we are also working in tandem with the National Park Service to create a Black Panther Party National Park. Congresswoman Barbara Lee is spearheading it at the Congressional level.” Fredrika states, “This is an American story, and it deserves to be told on that level”.
She further explained that the future Black Panther Party National Park will be here in Oakland. “It is a part of the Urban Park Initiative that the National Park Service created a few years ago. It is to highlight areas in urban cities like Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond or Stonewall National Monument in New York. These are really good examples of urban parks. It will not be one site in Oakland but several sites that are historically significant, like the King Center in Atlanta. The Black Panther Party existed in 46 cities, not to mention internationally, so there is no reason not to believe that this can’t be the largest urban park in the United States.”
According to the book, “The Black Panther Party: Service to the People Programs,” by the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, the Black Panther Party For Self Defense was created in Oakland in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. They were college students in search of true equality, freedom and agency for Black people. The ideas of the Black Panther Party spread like a wildfire to become not just a national front of resistance, but an international force against colonial regimes everywhere.
The organization followed a 10-point program that included their goals and directions encouraging quality education, healthcare and protection from police brutality. In their 16-year reign, the Black Panther Party created many programs and initiatives to help the Black community, including their best known program that provided free breakfast for school children. These survival programs were created to help people deal with oppression.
The merging of political thought and action made this organization a challenge to America’s racist tradition that encouraged docility and conformity within people of color communities. However, the Black Panther Party had no desire to be a part of that dream and decided to create a new space fully governed by Black Power. Their views garnered a lot of attention, which caused misrepresentation and attacks from governmental forces which led to their demise. The organization was described as the “greatest threat to the internal security of the country” by former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as mentioned in “Black against Empire : The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party” by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin Jr. Discussions surrounding the origin and history of the Black Panther Party continue today.
Therefore, it is important to preserve the legacy of the Black Panther Party with the correct narrative through scholarship, art, programs and public initiatives. Several years ago, the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation created public art in the Bay Area to further commemorate the legacy of the Black Panther Party.
Fredrika describes it: “In 2021, the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation commissioned sculptor Dana King to create a bronze bust of Huey. … We also had the street name changed from Ninth Street to Dr. Huey P. Newton Way. This bust sits on the corner of Mandela Parkway and Dr. Huey P. Newton Way and was the first permanent public art piece to commemorate the legacy of the Black Panther Party here in Oakland, California, where this party started. That was the first initiative that we did in terms of public art.” Close to the Huey P. Newton bust is the West Oakland Mural Project that includes the Women of the Black Panther Party Mural and Mini Museum. The whole area provides a great historic stamp of the legacy of the Black Panther Party.
Education is also front and center at the Black Panther Party Museum in the “Each One Teach One” exhibit. Xavier mentions there is a chance for participants to “sit with the blueprint they created with the Oakland Community School. This is all about inspiring the next generation.”
The goal of the Huey P. Newton bust and the recently opened Black Panther Party Museum is to educate and allow everyone to participate in the experience by being inclusive of different learning styles. Fredrika says: “People learn in different ways. I have a strong belief that we can wed art and activism as an educational tool. I felt that it was important that children growing up in the city see someone who looks like them and learn the history of young men and women who laid down their lives out of love so that these boys and girls could thrive.”
The Black Panther Party Museum also encourages intergenerational dialogue between the young and old. The museum already displays the youth and elders working together and engaging in revolutionary change. Dr. Xavier Buck tells the reason he works tirelessly on preserving the Black Panther Party:
“I was a young activist living in New York, and the first book that was given to me was the ‘Autobiography of Assata Shakur.’ I didn’t know anything about the Black Panther Party at all, and that book just really opened my eyes wide open and I realized my generation was really looking back to the ‘60s and ‘70s and were trying to build continuity with our movements today and we didn’t know how to do it. We didn’t know where to go or who to contact. Thankfully, now that I’m here in Oakland, there are plenty of Panthers around who have been filling in those gaps.”
Also, you can see young people working in the museum like Bree B. Ali, who helps with customer care and tours. Bree is 21 years old and from LA. By immersing herself in the preservation efforts of the Black Panther Party, she actively engages the legacy every day. “When I grew up, my dad taught me a lot of information,” she says. “We knew a lot of people who were a part of the Black Panther Party organization. I am familiar with it.”
Bree states, “I think our younger Black people will have a sense of confidence in just knowing they’re free and knowing their history.” She adds: “You know a lot of things have changed over time. It can give the older generation an outlook on the younger generation perspective and overall bring us together closer through our history.”
The Black Panther Party Museum is an historic and necessary creation in the Bay Area, where Black people are struggling to survive due to the large number of black Oakland families living in poverty. The Black Panther Party Museum and the future Black Panther Party National Park contribute to the economic viability of Oakland by tapping into the revenue created by the National Park Service, according to the Black Panther Party National Park pamphlet.
As many Black people consider leaving the Bay Area, the initiatives of organizations like the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation to invest in preservation efforts concerning Black history gives the community something to be proud of and encourages Black families to stay. These institutions help grow our community while sharing a knowledge about one of the most revolutionary organizations in the world, the Black Panther Party.
“My hope is that this is not just a static museum,” says Fredrika Newton. “People claim this as a sacred space. We have had different events, including once a month there are meetings of 100 young and seasoned Black men in this space. The Men’s Wellness Project has a safe space to come and talk. We’ve had so many events where people come here to convene because it’s a safe and inspiring space. This is also a community space.” She revealed both Ryan Coogler and Angela Davis have participated in activities in support of their efforts. Fredrika affirmed, “The place is electric.”
Dr. Buck states: “My hope is that this actually sets a new model for museums in general. Here in Oakland this is a very special place. This is where the activists come. This is where the professionals come and incorporate the legacy in their own work. This is where the students come. This is where an entire new generation of people can engage with the Black Panther Party.” He concluded, “This is all about building continuity between movements.”
Fredrika announces the next major event with the Black Panther Party Museum is Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, on Dr. Huey P. Newton’s birthday. Therefore, the event is called “Happy Birthday, Huey!” The activities include the showing of a film, and the following night at the New Parkway Theatre in Oakland, filmmaker Cat Brooks will also display a movie she produced on Huey P. Newton. Fredrika smiled as she said, “There will be a whole weekend celebrating this man!”
Oakland is the lifeline of revolutionary action in Black History. The newly opened Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland adds to the tapestry of wonderful Black cultural heritage institutions in the Bay Area. Everyone should come and visit the Black Panther Party Museum. As Bree affirms, “It is new and open – and free right now!”
Dr. Tiffany Caesar is an Oakland-based scholar and activist. Her work emphasizes Black cultural heritage institutions, Africana women, pan-African political movements, reparations and self-care. She is currently an assistant professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University, where she teaches African American History and Black Lives Matter: Race and Social Justice Movements. She calls herself a “Black Woman’s Archivist” due to her research and writing about the lives of Queen Mother Moore, Margaret Walker and Phyllis Ntantala. Dr. Caesar is also the current chair of the Black Student Union/Third World Liberation Front commemoration efforts at San Francisco State University. Dr. Caesar can be reached at tiffanycaesar@gmail.com.
