As a white kid growing up in America I “knew” the Black
Panthers were scary, radical, militant and dangerous. As an adult, I was more skeptical of what I
knew about the Black Panthers, but it really was not until earlier this year,
when PBS ran Stanley Nelson’s film The
Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution that I began to learn the
real story. (Everyone needs to see
it). It is a more nuanced and complex
story of a militant activist group that created so much positive change. It is a story of community empowerment and a
story of people coming together to improve lives.
Today I got over to the Oakland
Museum for their new exhibit All Power
to the People: Black Panthers at 50.
After a grim week, where the most hateful and racist elements of American
society have remerged to remind us that they are still there – it was a
wonderful thing to visit a museum for such a positive and uplifting message reminding
us that when we come together we can accomplish so much good.
I come to expect the best from the Oakland Museum and was not
disappointed. It is an excellent exhibit
that infuses art and artifacts placed within both a historical past and an
active present. The exhibit website
provides more details, but I particularly like seeing both the art from the
period, for example the art of Gayle Dickson that appeared in the Panther
newspaper and new work that includes powerful, disturbing and yet aesthetically
pleasing pieces. For example We The People, a quilt made by Hank
Willis Thomas from decommissioned prison uniforms and Ellen Bepp’s word piece
made of the names in hand cut paper titled 100
Unarmed African Americans Killed by Police in 2014.
Every year there is one or two “don’t miss” exhibits that come
to the Bay Area. This is the one. You have until February 12, 2017.
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