The Black Panther Party

Big Man Elbert Howard Black Panther Party founding member
Big Man (far right), Black Panther demonstration, Oakland CA, July 1968. Photo courtesy of Pirkle Jones

Elbert "Big Man" Howard is one of the original founding members of the Black Panther Party. Big Man was a Black Panther from 1966 to 1974. During that time he served as Deputy Minister of Information and was a member of the Central Committee and the International Solidarity Committee. Many remember him as the first editor of the BPP newspaper and Party spokesperson.

Big Man has a vision for a new museum in Oakland CA to celebrate the rich and diverse community and its history. Read more about Big Man's dream for the West Oakland African American Heritage Museum and Research Center.

Richard Aoki documentary film

AOKI is a documentary film chronicling the life of Richard Aoki (1938-2009), a third-generation Japanese American who became one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party. Filmed over the last five years of Richard’s life, this documentary features extensive footage with Richard and exclusive interviews with his comrades, friends, and former students. Viewers will learn about Richard’s childhood in a WWII Japanese American concentration camp, growing up in West Oakland, and serving eight years in the U.S. military. The film explores previously unknown facts about the formation of the Black Panther Party such as how Richard became intimately involved in its founding and contributed the first two firearms to the Party. AOKI highlights how Richard’s leadership also made a significant impact on individuals and groups in the contemporary Asian American Movement.     tickets...

Fred Hampton Jr., Chairman of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee—CCOP, will speak at Sonoma State University Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7:00 PM in Stevenson Hall RM 1002. The title of the talk will be, "You Can Kill a Revolutionary but You Can’t Kill the Revolution." Fred Hampton Jr. will discussing the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of his 21 year -old father Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and his comrade 22 year old Defense Captain Mark Clark. Both killed by the U.S. Government in 1969.

Special Guest for the event will be Sonoma County resident Elbert (Big Man) Howard co-founder of Black Panther Party Oakland.

Chairman Fred Hampton Jr, is not only a former political prisoner, he is the son of the assassinated deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party who was born 2 weeks after the government murdered his father and incarcerated his mother, on December 4th, 1969.

This is a free event for students. A $5.00-$10.00 donation will be accepted for general admissions—no one turned away for lack of funds. This event is sponsored by Project Censored, Media Freedom Foundation, SSU MECHA, www.blockreportradio.com, SF Bay View Newspaper, Brown Berets, Barrios Unidos, NAACP & Black New World and Sociology 425 Urban Research Methods class at SSU—Peter Phillips Instructor.

Fred Hampton Jr

Big Man Elbert Howard Black Panther Party founding member
Big Man, BPP 40th Reunion, Oakland, 2006
photo copyright 2006 Jerry Whiting