FREEP HELP NEEDED: Black Panther Leader Bobby Seale to visit Shepherd College (WV) Feb 3

The Martinsburg Journal (local 'Rat rag)

[Xthe17th]

From a brief in the Martinsburg Journal:

SHEPHERDSTOWN - Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther political party, plans to visit Shepherd College [Tuesday] Feb. 3 in a program sponsored by the school's office of multicultural affairs and the program board.
"A Night With Boby Seale" is scheduled for 6pm in Reynold's Hall, and the event is free and open to the public.
Seale was born in Dallas in 1936 and developed an interest in architecture. After growing up and joining the Air Force, he later enrolled in Merrit College in Oakland, Calif., as an engineering major. While attending college, he became interested in civil rights.
When Seale was 26, he began his own research into the role and history of African and African American people's struggles for constitutional democracy and civil rights. This was the beginning of a long journey for the group that emerged as the Black Panthers, a group that Seale co-founded.
More information is available by calling (304)876-5453.

[Xthe17th]

Seeking advice, information, and sign ideas.

Well, that's all I know so far. What do the experienced FReepers think? Is this opportunity worthy of a FReep? Anyone ever FReeped a Black Panther? Too dangerous? This is in a place David Horowitz would love - a leftist college campus in a town populated by government (Wash DC) workers. Who has deep background on this notorious group? It was their enemy black gang counterpart the "US" that created Kwaanza, right?

[Xthe17th]

Paging Doctor Raoul & the DC pros.

[Xthe17th]

Paging West Virginians. H-E-L-P !!!

[Xthe17th]

pinging for help

[Doctor Raoul]

Didn't Bobby do a BBQ cookbook? There may be some ideas in that.

Is he STILL a radical? If so, I'd say protest. If not, I'd pass. Any idea of his topic and has anyone heard him speak recently?

[WorkingClassFilth]

I think Chairman Seale is cashing in on the radical flashback tour, but these days he's far more the community activist than the radical firebrand. In fact, the 'new' Black Panthers were at loggerheads with the old duffers and legal threats were being made over the trade-mark, er, name.

These days, pendulous-uddered earth mamas and scrawny, gray-bearded RAT's like to ante up and go relive their youth at 'An Evening With [insert radical @sshole of choice]' type lectures given by dried-up scum that have finally realized the true value of their radicalism - ticket sales.

I think he's pretty toothless at this time, though, and with Brother Huey dead, the closest he gets now to "burn, baby, burn" was when he wrote a book on BBQ recipes a few years back.

CNN Interview:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/13/interviews/seale/

[WorkingClassFilth]

I have this book and Bobby's goober slaw recipe was a real letdown - definitely not worth the price these guys are asking for the book:

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookSearchPL

BTW, years ago I went to a circuit speech given by Eldridge Cleaver when he came in from the cold. He was busy suckering Christian audiences with tales of his conversion. I went up after his speechifyin' and book signing with the elect and pointed out one or two inconsistencies with his newly found religion and his concurrent launching of a "penis pouch" fashion line of men's clothing. I noted the the bourgeoise church goers that flocked to buy his cheesy 'Soul on Fire' book might not dig his alternative activities. At this point, Mr. Cleaver fell out of the spirit and into the flesh. His Christian body guards then hurried him away as he hurled his insults over his shoulder.

The old lefties were much more entertaining than the current crop of weenies.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Oops.

bourgeoise = bourgeoisie

Correct link:

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/search-handle-url/ix%3Dfixed-price%26fqp%3Dbrowse%0168293%02title%01barbeque%27n%20with%20bobby%26nsp%3Dstore%01zshops-rare-books%02referring-site%01bibliofind/102-7673399-7911336

[kristinn]

If it's free, go and listen. You never know what you might learn.

[tgslTakoma]

It might be interesting to just go in and listen to the lecture; and also to observe the students. You might find a few more conservative kids (for future WV freeps?) there than you thought.

Of course, You might also want to submit a question of your own...

"Mr. Seale, given your past work on civil rights for black folk, I wonder how you feel about coming to WV - where the citizens have the only US Senator who was a KKK Kleagle?"

Another...

"Mr Seale, how do you feel about the Democrat Party, the party of Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd, and how they seem to only like blacks when they need their votes?"

[Warrior Nurse]

You could also ask him this Mr. Seale when you were protesting the Vietnam War in Chicago 1968 how did it feel when the Democratic mayor (Richard J, Daley) of that city had you arrested and the judge one Abraham Lincoln Maravitch had you bound and gaged like a slave? Yet now you walk lockstep with the jackbooted socialists.

[pageonetoo]

It could make for an entertaining evening... I may try for tickets for his talk, and followup with questions. I see nothing to be gained from standing in the cold, icy winds of WV...it would only add to his credit... page

[ZOTnot]

I don't know anything about him. I guess Shepherd is doing the political correctness thing.

[mountaineer]

What a shame that Shepherd is full of lefty nuts (like the Greens who, judging by the failure to update their website, aren't all that active, and WVPeace). Perhaps some well-worded letters to local newspapers, protesting the use of college funds for such nonsense, would be worthwhile.

[beckett]

My sister once had lunch with Seal some 15 years ago in Philly. She was interviewing him about a cookbook he'd written. She told me that he more or less laughed disparagingly at his Panthers' days, calling it all a bunch of foolishness. She said he sounded pretty level headed and moderate politically. Maybe he's swung back the other way since then, but, FWIW, that was her take at the time.

[bmwcyle]

Kerry lost the war he was in. Bush won the two wars he lead.

[sauropod]

When? What time of day?

[Daveinyork]

In my radical days, I knew some Panthers. I bought my little red book from them, as well as my Mao button. They were touting Mao as a hero. Then they abandoned him for Che. Then, they abandoned him and featured Kim Il Sung in their publication as a great hero.

I remember their "Revolutionary Peoples' Constitutional Convention" in Washington in 1970 or 1971. I was taking pictures for a local radical publication. A panther official tried to take my camera. "We authorize all pictures!" was his reason.

I also remember that one of the speakers was Huey P. Newton, who was recently released after being in prison on suspicion of murder, and notably absent was Bobby Seale, who was awaiting trial in New Haven, CT, for participating in the torture murder of a suspected police informant.

A rally was held in New Haven demanding his release. I was there watching Abbey Hoffman, resplendent in his suede surfari suite, smoking a joint. The bathrooms were declared to be "liberated" meaning that they were gender neutral, men and women waiting together in the same john lines. That rally was organized by none other than one Hillary Rodham.

Horowitz knew the top echelon Panther leaders personally, and knows of at least one murder that they got away with. I've grown up a lot since those days, and the incident with the camera turned my thinking, ever so slightly, at first, in a better direction. I've grown up into a conservative Republican.

The Panthers were a collection of Marxist ideologues, white hating bigots, drug users, drug dealers, street thugs, and hustlers.

They were actually, in one of their more rational moves, strong advocates for Second Amendment rights. In California, in their early days, they held right to carry gun rallies. But, they never stressed the responsiblity that goes with the right, and in their Reading PA branch office, a loaded hand gun was left out where some kids could find it, and one of them had his eye shot out.

Those are my memories of the Panthers. I hope there are others who can provide more hard information.

[cmsgop]

Neat and Informative , Thanks.....

[Libertina]

A rally was held in New Haven demanding his release. I was there watching Abbey Hoffman, resplendent in his suede surfari suite, smoking a joint. The bathrooms were declared to be "liberated" meaning that they were gender neutral, men and women waiting together in the same john lines. That rally was organized by none other than one Hillary Rodham.
Wrong then, wrong now.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Hey, that's my alma mater! Graduated with honors. Then went on to get a graduate degree from WVU. To bad it is on a Tuesday, otherwise I might have made a pilgrimage back to the old stomping grounds to check up and see what's new. But thanks for the ping...

[Libloather]

...he began his own research into the role and history of African and African American people's struggles for constitutional democracy and civil rights.

Print this and ask him if skin color matters when being called African-American -

MINORITY REPORT
White African-American boy not 'black' enough for award
National debate sparked after Caucasian student seeking 'race-based honor' booted out of school
Posted: January 25, 2004
3:37 p.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The Omaha suspension of a white high-school student originally from South Africa is sending shock waves across America as debate rages over who can claim rights to the term "African-American."

South African native Trevor Richards suspended over African-American campaign

The case centers on Trevor Richards, a junior at Westside High School, who moved from Johannesburg to Nebraska six years ago.

Richards and his classmates, 16-year-old twins Paul and Scott Rambo, were booted from classes last week after distributing posters touting Trevor as a candidate for Westside High's "Distinguished African-American Student" award on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"The posters were intended to be satire on the term African-American," Scott Rambo told the Omaha World-Herald.

Principal John Crook says the posters were disruptive.

"It was offensive to the individual being honored, to people who work here and to some students," Crook told the paper. "My role is to make sure we have a safe environment, physically and psychologically. We can't allow that kind of thing to be hung up on our walls."

Records from 2002-2003 indicate only 56 of Westside's 1,632 students were black, and some in this year's student body were reportedly upset by Richards' poster.

Ironically, the first two recipients of the student award were white.

"It was not intended at the beginning to be one race only," Clidie Cook, who helps organize the annual event, told the World-Herald.

But Westside officials pushed to change that, feeling the spirit of the honor meant giving it to a black student, and by 2001, the ministerial alliance in charge specified it was for blacks only.

Since the suspensions last week, the issue has been picked up by the Associated Press wire service, and has become a hot topic for columnists, talk radio and Internet messageboards.

"There is no room at the inn for the viewpoints of conservatives, libertarians, Christians, or constitutionalists in the public indoctrination system," says David Huntwork, a conservative activist in Fort Collins, Colo., who criticized the squashing of "this gallant expression of grassroots activism."

The ABC television affiliate in Omaha, KETV, has been swamped with comments on its Internet messageboard.

Among the postings:

I attend Westside and I am in support for Trevor. Trevor is one of only maybe one or two other people that are actually from Africa. Trevor is more of an African-American than any other "African-American" at Westside. It is also wrong that there is an award for only black students when every other award at Westside is for everyone and everyone has an equal chance to receive those awards if they try.

If you mean black award, say black award. If you must be racist, that is.

Why are white Americans constantly hounded, ridiculed and stripped of any racial identity? Why is it OK for everyone to be racist, except white Americans? ... Can you imagine black students getting suspended for joining the "black student union" or any other black group on any campus, or workplace in America? This racism against white Americans must stop.

I think the administrators should be fired. This is going too far. Let's get a grip people! God this makes me sick. Fire those people!

As a Canadian white male, I have worked with and befriended a few black people. I never once heard them refer themselves as African-Canadians.

[T]echnically, Trevor is most likely Afrikaans-African-American or Dutch-African-American considering the white descendants of South Africa are from those European descents. So if you want to talk technically, he still is not eligible for this award. The truth is that everyone who is writing these absurd comments knows what African-American means. It is a black person. The term given to this ethnic group has changed over the decades from Negroes to colored people to black and finally African-American. It is a descriptor.

The label "African-American" is not universally used by blacks today, as evinced by companies and groups such as Black Entertainment Television, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, better known as the NAACP.

A search of more than 200 U.S. newspapers geared predominantly toward blacks finds at least 16 have the word "black" in the title, while only five have "African-American."

As WorldNetDaily reported last summer, a member of Congress, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, ignited national controversy when she reportedly sought an affirmative-action plan of sorts for hurricane names.

"All racial groups should be represented," Lee said, according to the Hill. She hoped federal weather officials "would try to be inclusive of African-American names."

[BillF]

I like Doctor Raoul's idea: if Seale is not a radical anymore, it's probably not worth a FReep. And by radical, I would mean the violence is OK, "all cops are pigs," etc. approach that the Black Panthers took. He still is a radical in the sense of the ultra-left wing of the Dem party, but probably a couple tough questions to him would be the best tact.

Sorry that I can't make it.

If you do protest or ask tough questions like the great ones suggested by tgsl, better make sure you have someone to watch your back.

It was great to see you at CPAC and have you join DC Chapter members for dinner!

[BillF]

When did you attend Shepherd? At that time was it "a leftist college campus in a town populated by government (Wash DC) workers" as described by Xthe17th?

[the_devils_advocate_666]

I graduated in 1986, and at that time it was still not a D.C. suburb. As for "leftist", I don't recall being a part of anything even remotely political... but I just may not have been aware of what was going on around me.

[snopercod]

Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panthers. This was their platform. Go getcha' cup of coffee while this loads up:

[Chi-townChief]

Bobby "Sweettooth" Seale? I thought someone had capped him ages ago.

[The Bat Lady]

Was this the same Bobby Seale who was running drugs for Clinton from the Mena airport?

[Daveinyork]

I never heard that one. Probably not.