The Black Panther Party began over drinks, a gathering of a small group of people whose conversations grew into an entire field of committed actions around the world. The party also created its own signature cocktail, one that harbors some of the key ingredients for social change.
Party Leader Huey P. Newton's unofficial office was a soul food restaurant-bar in North Oakland called Bosn's Locker. Newton would hold court with the community for hours, often with his shotgun on display as the symbol of the party's work for the survival of Black life through armed self-defense from police violence.
"We drank beer and wine and chewed over our political situation, our social problems, and the merits and shortcomings of other groups. We also discussed the Black achievements of the past, particularly as they helped us to understand current events," wrote Huey P. Newton in his memoir Revolutionary Suicide. "In a sense, these sessions at Bobby [Seale's] house were our political education classes, and the Party sort of grew out of them." Read More...
