{"id":1474,"date":"2008-09-18T18:41:10","date_gmt":"2008-09-19T00:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/?p=1474"},"modified":"2014-06-29T10:16:11","modified_gmt":"2014-06-29T16:16:11","slug":"emory-douglas-and-billy-x-jennings-keepers-of-the-flame-and-guardians-of-the-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/emory-douglas-and-billy-x-jennings-keepers-of-the-flame-and-guardians-of-the-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Emory Douglas and Billy X Jennings: Keepers of the Flame and Guardians of the Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 291 of The Black Commentator on September 18, 2008<\/a>
\nRepublished in worldproutassembly.org (2005-2011) on September 18, 2008
\nRepublished in Black Panther Party History Month magazine, October 2009 Issue (Laney College, Oakland, CA) presented by The Commemorator and It\u2019s About Time (PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n

By Larry Pinkney<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grasping what has been achieved in the past is an important foundation upon which to build for the present and the future. Without this foundation we are but directionless leaves, blowing in the wind.<\/p>\n

The Black Panther Party awakened a radicalized political consciousness in the\u00a0United States\u00a0and throughout the world, whose impact is multi generational and continues down to this very day. Two veterans of that era and of \u201cthe [Black Panther] Party\u201d are today utilizing both art and history as a means of linking the not-so-distant past with the pressing concerns and ongoing political struggle of the present. These two persons are artist\u00a0extraordinaire<\/em>\u00a0and former national Minister of Culture of the Black Panther Party, Emory Douglas, and\u00a0premier<\/em>\u00a0historian and former Black Panther Party member, Billy X Jennings.<\/p>\n

Brothers Emory and Billy X both made it quite clear to this writer that they have been, and are continuing, to work in concert with\u00a0many<\/em>\u00a0other sisters and brothers to educate and \u201cinspire\u201d the generations of today\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0the future. It is in this vein that the\u00a0ongoing<\/em>\u00a0stories of Emory Douglas and Billy X Jennings are presented to you, the reader. May you too be inspired\u2026<\/p>\n

No successful political movement, party, or organization can effectively function in a vacuum. There are various components needed to sustain, nurture, and spread it. Art is one of those components that plays a significant role in this regard. With respect to the Black Panther Party and beyond, the art of Emory Douglas shaped and crystallized the imaginations and political consciousness of an entire generation of Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White peoples, nationally and around the world. The relatively recently released book titled,\u00a0Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas<\/a>\"\"<\/em> [Edited by Sam Durant and Published by Rizzoli Publications],\u00a0presents 225 images that definitively illustrate the power and increasing significance of Emory\u2019s art. There is an adage which says that \u2018the proof of the pudding is in the taste.\u2019 Indeed, this book makes that point poignantly clear in the case of the art work of Emory.<\/p>\n

Complementing Emory\u2019s art is the stalwart work of Billy X Jennings, whose visionary understanding of and commitment to preserving the enormously important legacy of the Black Panther Party is manifested on the\u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/a><\/em> website at\u00a0www.itsabouttimebpp.com<\/a>\u00a0of which Billy X is the primary architect. Virtually any and everything of significance, pertaining to the sisters and brothers of the Black Panther Party and its continuing legacy today, is to be found on the\u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/a><\/em> website. Among his many tasks in the Black Panther Party, Billy X served as the assistant to the late Brother Huey P. Newton, and is now and has for many years been, putting former [Black Panther] Party members and\/or their families in touch with one another while researching, sharing, and spreading the true legacy of the Black Panther Party nationally and internationally.\u00a0Notwithstanding<\/em>\u00a0the hard work of the former national\u00a0leadership<\/em>\u00a0of the [Black Panther] Party, Brother Billy X correctly emphasizes that there would have been no Black Panther Party without the brothers and sisters of its \u201crank and file<\/em>,\u201d many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle by giving their very lives, while others\u00a0still<\/em> today are languishing in U.S. prisons.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the legacy and enormous impact and relevance today of the former Black Panther Party and the ongoing struggle for justice are, in fact, inseparably\u00a0intertwined<\/em>. This is why, for example, the \u2018George Jackson Lives<\/em>\u2019 Photo & Mixed Media Exhibit, which will be on view from September 21 – October 19, 2008 at the New Black World in West Oakland, California, [sponsored by\u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/a><\/em> and Marcel Diallo] is already causing much excitement and anticipation. It is very important to note that the aforementioned exhibit is \u201cthe first<\/em> George Jackson exhibit in\u00a0America.\u201d It will include videos, numerous photos, and period articles from the\u00a0Oakland Tribune<\/em>, the\u00a0San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>,\u00a0The San Francisco Sun Reporter<\/em>,\u00a0The Black Panther Paper<\/em>,\u00a0The Berkeley Barb<\/em>,\u00a0The Berkeley Tribe<\/em>,\u00a0LIFE Magazine<\/em>,\u00a0TIME<\/em>\u00a0etc. The late George Jackson was an internationally known member of the Black Panther Party and the author of the two best selling books titled,\u00a0Blood in My Eye<\/a>\"\",<\/em> and\u00a0Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson<\/a>\"\"<\/em>. He was ultimately murdered by prison guards at San Quentin prison in August of 1971. [Reference the It\u2019s About Time website for more information on the exhibit and George Jackson].<\/p>\n

Also, on October 17 & 18, 2008, in Atlanta,\u00a0Georgia, there will be an \u2018Arts & Culture Conference of the Black Panther Party\u2019 where, among other things, there will be an art exhibit of\u00a0Emory Douglas<\/em>. The exhibit will be located at the Southwest\u00a0Arts\u00a0Center, The Auburn Library, of\u00a0Georgia\u00a0State\u00a0University. However, it must be reiterated that \u2018the impact and relevance\u00a0today<\/em>\u00a0of the former Black Panther Party and the ongoing struggle for justice are in fact inseparably\u00a0intertwined<\/em>.\u2019 Thus, at the conference, there will be workshops including one wherein former U.S. Congresswoman & current \u2018Power To The People\u2019\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Presidential candidate – Sister\u00a0Cynthia McKinney,<\/em>\u00a0along with noted author, law professor, and former national Secretary of Communications for the Black Panther Party – Sister\u00a0Kathleen Cleaver<\/em>\u00a0will be discussing the\u00a0infamous\u00a0<\/em>[and no doubt\u00a0ongoing<\/em>\u00a0U.S. Government program to \u201cneutralize, frame, discredit, imprison\u201d and\/or \u201cmurder\u201d political activists] known as COINTELPRO i.e. the Counter Intelligence Program. The\u00a0current<\/em>\u00a0cases of the \u201cSF8\u201d (San Francisco), the \u201cAngola\u00a03\u201d (Louisiana), and the \u201cOmaha 2\u201d (Nebraska) are three cases of imprisoned veteran Black Panthers\u00a0today<\/em> that are related to infamous U.S. Government COINTELPRO activities. [Reference the It\u2019s About Time website for further information].<\/p>\n

The international dimensions and impact of the Black Panther Party, are further highlighted by the fact that poet, musician, activist, and former member of the Black Panther Party – Sister\u00a0Charlotte O\u2019Neal<\/em>\u00a0will be traveling to the conference from where she lives in\u00a0Tanzania<\/em>, East Africa. Additionally, it should be noted that the week after the\u00a0Atlanta conference, there will be a major exhibit on the Black Panther Party in\u00a0Manchester, England\u00a0from the 30th of October into March, 2008. Subsequently, Brother Emory Douglas will be making a presentation in\u00a0London,\u00a0England, at the London School of Economics, prior to traveling to\u00a0Cologne,\u00a0Germany, where he will make an additional presentation.<\/p>\n

It is noteworthy that October is\u00a0Black Panther History Month<\/em>\u00a0and it will be observed by persons not only in the\u00a0United States, but also in Africa, Europe, and elsewhere on the globe. The legacy lives and is embodied in today\u2019s\u00a0ongoing<\/em>\u00a0struggles for social, economic, and political justice.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with today\u2019s ongoing struggle and the legacy of the Black Panther Party, Brother Billy X noted that, \u201cPeople don\u2019t realize that [for example], the [Black Panther] Party also worked with and supported [labor] unions\u201d including \u201cthe MUNI [transportation] union of municipal drivers in San Francisco, the [automobile workers] union in Fremont [CA], the ATF [American Teachers \/ Association Federation]\u201d, etc. There continue to be many unknown and positive dimensions to the legacy of the Black Panther Party that relate directly to the struggles of the present day 21st Century. These are being shared and delineated to people far and wide by de facto Black Panther Party historian Billy X.<\/p>\n

Both Brothers Emory Douglas and Billy X highlighted that they were and continue to be \u201cinspired\u201d by the Black Panther Party. Brother Emory put it this way: \u201cI was inspired by what was going on [in the 1960s and 1970s] and fortunate enough to have the desire to want to do something and be a part of the movement, particularly the Black Panther Party, and my art work is a reflection of the ideology and the politics of the [Black Panther] Party. This art work would not have existed the way it was had it not been for the Black Panther Party.\u201d In fact, the young people of today who are doing with some of the same and\/or similar issues that were being addressed when the Black Panther Party existed can, as Emory stated, draw upon his art work \u201cto be inspired, not necessarily to duplicate it.\u201d In this, the 21st Century, the art of Emory Douglas continues to be in service to the people, young and old alike.<\/p>\n

Brother Billy X Jennings commented that: \u201cMany of the social programs that exist in the\u00a0United States\u00a0today are\u00a0watered down<\/em>\u00a0versions of programs started by the Black Panther Party, including medical programs, programs for prisoners, seniors programs, and community police review board programs as well as numerous other programs.\u00a0They began with the Black Panther Party.\u201d Indeed, an example Brother Billy X noted is a dental program, originally started in Portland,\u00a0Oregon, by the Black Panther Party, though no longer staffed by Black Panther Party members, \u201cstill<\/em>\u00a0functioning today.\u201d Thus, even though the Black Panther Party was ultimately physically \u201cneutralized\u201d and decimated, its accomplishments are nonetheless in many ways indelibly stamped on the political and social landscape and ongoing struggles of today. For a certainty, the true legacy of the Black Panther Party continues to \u201cinspire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The misconception held by some that the Black Panther Party was strictly a male political organization is forthrightly dispelled by historian Billy X on the\u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/em> website with a huge section (including subdivisions) devoted to \u2018Women of the Black Panther Party<\/a>\u2019 [http:\/\/www.itsabouttimebpp.com\/Women_BPP\/salute_women_index.html<\/a>]. There could have been no viable Black Panther Party without the many women who were an integral part of the rank and file\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0of its national leadership. Indeed, as Brother Billy X stated, \u201cThe\u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/a><\/em> website of the Black Panther Party Legacy and Alumni serves a\u00a0multitude<\/em>\u00a0of functions.\u201d Another of those functions was in evidence when, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, it served as a\u00a0communications link,<\/em>\u00a0putting storm victims in touch with each other, be they former [Black Panther] Party members or not.<\/p>\n

From the poignant, incomparable, and inspirational art work of Emory Douglas to the diligence and integrity of Billy X Jennings in preserving the true legacy of the Black Panther Party; the essence of our struggle – the struggle of Black, Brown, Red, Yellow and White peoples – continues to be that of attaining\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0economic, social, and political justice in our communities, our nation, and our world.\u00a0Billy X Jennings and Emory Douglas, along with so many other sisters and brothers, remain true to the embodiment of this continuing struggle. They continue to inspire and challenge us. Can we do any less?<\/p>\n

Onward then brothers and sisters! Onward\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n