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Black Panther Dispute
From a news story by
CNN San Francisco Reporter Rusty Dornin
February 2003
He looks more like a college professor than a former radical [or] a
revolutionary that once advocated the overthrow of the United States
government.
Bobby Seale [was] a cofounder of the Black Panthers with Huey Newton
in the sixties. [It was] a group that made headlines for shoot-outs
with police but also for creating anti- poverty programs, health clinics
and for pushing rights for all minorities.
Now the battle cry [for] Seale and former Black Panther David Hilliard
is against a group calling itself the New Black Panthers. They say it's
a rip-off of their legacy.
Bobby Seale cofounder of the Black Panther Party says, "They have
a skewed, narrow-minded, xenophobic black power gesturing that has nothing
to do with the progressive form of what we were about as a political
revolutionary organization in the sixties."
[Now they are] turning to the establishment they once hated, the original
Panthers say they plan to sue the New Panthers in federal court for
trademark infringement.
This is Huey Newton in the wicker chair, which is one of the most recognizable
images...
They won a round in state court in Texas five years ago after obtaining
the trademark to the Black Panther name and logo. New Black Panther
party leader Malik Shabazz, a Washington DC attorney, says a lawsuit
would be a frivolous fight.
Malik Shabazz [says], "The Panther belongs to the people. We are
the new generation, and the previous generation should be embracing
us, loving us, and caring for us because we're doing what they used
to do."
That includes self-defense and feeding programs, getting kids off the
streets, and protests.
The New Black Panthers [are] protesting in front of the Holocaust Museum.
Seale and Hilliard say they would never have done this.
Malik Shabazz says, "Zionism is a dirty religion. It's an evil
philosophy."
What kind of impact does that have on your reputation?
David Hilliard [speaks], "They send these messages of racism, of
xenophobia, of anti- Semitism that has nothing to do with our Black
Panther party."
David Hilliard says, "Mr. Shabazz maintains that you guys are just
failed revolutionaries and are just jealous of what he's doing.
"We're not jealous of
Malik Shabazz. We abhor what he's doing to our history."
Part of that history [was] an armed march on California State Capitol
in 1967.
A TV news report from that time says, "They're heavily armed; whether
they're loaded or not, nobody knows."
In 1967, carrying guns into the legislature was legal. Police, instead,
arrested the Panthers for disturbing the peace. Shabazz says those acts
were more outrageous than anything his group has done.
Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panther party says," It’s hypocritical
for anyone in the previous generation to attack young black men and
women for standing up."
But Seale and Hilliard say that [the] new generation can stand up anywhere
they want; just don't do it in their name without their permission..
Additional Notes:
According to Bobby Seale,
there is no New Black Panther Party. He is against racism, and terrorism
and lends his support to the September 11th victims’ families.
The original Black Panthers Party broke up in the 1980’s. Seale
is proud of the Black Panther legacy and does not want another group
to use their name.
The New Black Panthers hope to see Israel destroyed. Also, they want
payment to descendants of former slaves. The official name of the new
group is the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
For additional information,
look at these Web sites:
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