S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition , celebrating 60 years of the Black Panther Party's community service. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. What does a promise of freedom mean to a child who's hungry , or a family that can't count on protection from the people sworn to protect them? Well , 60 years ago this month , Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale set out to not only answer that question , but to be the answer to that question. They founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland. Their ten point program championed employment , decent housing , education and an end to police brutality. It challenged economic exploitation that insisted , and they insisted that black people have the power to determine their own futures. The Panthers monitored police while armed. They organised free breakfast for kids and other community programs here in San Diego. A chapter was formed in 1967. Today we reflect on that history and look to the future. And joining me to do that is Henry Wallace , an original San Diego Panther and chairman of the San Diego Original Black Panther Party for Community Empowerment. Henry , welcome.
S2: Thank you.
S1: Also with us is Caron Cameron , chief of staff of the San Diego Black Panther Party. Kiran , welcome to midday Edition.
S2: All right. Thank you for having us. All power to the people. Yes.
S1: Yes. And Yusef Miller , a local Black Panther organizer who serves as field marshal. Yousef , welcome to you , too.
S3: Thanks for having me. All power.
S1: So , you know , Henry , I got to start with you because this this here in San Diego started with you. So take us into the San Diego. You knew as a young man. What did the city's promise of opportunity look like from your neighborhood? And what led you to join the Panthers?
S4: Yeah , it was very bleak for people of color , especially blacks and Mexicans. Uh , we owned nothing. We , uh , were basically segregated over into an area called frontier. Uh , and we wind up migrating over to Logan Heights area , uh , which they named , uh , southeast San Diego. And , uh , at that time , uh , we were like , up under a system of apartheid. Uh , we couldn't move from one area to the other without police harassment. They talk about driving while black. It was walking on while black , uh , sitting while black , talking while black. The police would see more than two of us together , and they want to harass us. So , uh , we were up under occupation by the very people that we trusted with our tax dollars. Uh , we had believed that , you know , if , uh , we are paying our taxes , that we should get representation. But yet we found ourselves fighting for just simple civil rights , and , uh , we couldn't get any jobs. I mean , they had one token black , uh , police officer that they eventually , uh , promoted up to lieutenant , which was , uh , Johnny Williams. Uh , we didn't have any county employees that we could point to , you know , to say that blacks are being represented. They relegated them to office work or janitorial services. Uh , the same thing with private institutions. Uh , if our mothers or fathers got a job , nine times out of ten , it was being a maid at somebody's house or , uh , being a a a janitor at a at a facility like a Amazon or something like that. You know the pre Amazon's. Well it was it was a bad situation for black people.
S1: And when you got involved into the organization what did you believe you could change.
S4: Well I seen the possibility of what we could do because I didn't know that we had any. What? Quote civil rights. I was taught by example. No one told me that I had the right to bear arms. They didn't tell me I had a right to question the police. Why they were harassing me. Why are they doing what they were doing? And when the Black Panther Party showed up on the scene , or they started off by educating the population. So when I heard that , that was music to my ears. Um.
S2: Um.
S1: You know , it's , um , it's it's been 60 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party , and a lot has changed since its founding. Yes , still a lot to do , though.
S4: Still a lot to do. We still have problems with voter registration , uh , you know , getting our people in , uh , political offices to represent our community because they always find a way to disrupt the system. So you have , uh , what's called we , the Black Panther Party , believe that capitalism plays a big part in how our communities black , white , Hispanic and all that function. And so they have these think tanks that sit there with big money , finding a way to disrupt the system and get people in office like somebody that's in office now. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. And Ron , what people might not know is that a new branch made up of younger Panthers started shortly after the original San Diego chapter. Um , sort of dissolved. And so can you talk about the distinction there? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So , uh , it came in the wake of Chairman Wallace going to Oakland and having a conversation with some original Panthers about what happens next with Big Man. Uh , and that going on. Um , and just also , you know , the times are very , very telling with the , the current political landscape. Um , and , you know , that's one of my main concerns , even , you know , to this day is how do we equip the youth and get them prepared to carry the baton and run with it moving forward? You know , with the , uh , observation and the education that we need a real education outside of , um , academia you know , how do we get agency in our communities , how we hand that off to the youth? Um , yeah. So , um , you know , the a few important people know. You know , I'd like to do the boots on the ground organizing about , you know , the younger Panthers. I go to Morris High , I go to Lincoln High. I've been at every university , you know , talking about some of the education or , you know , in solidarity with the Palestinian movement or a lot of other things going on. Um , but yeah , it's more empowering. I wouldn't even say more important now more than ever. Um , but it's it's still very important. And a lot of original needs from ten point platform still haven't been met. Um , you know , and , uh , you know , like they said in the party , you know , there's a black person anywhere. There's a Black Panther party. So , um.
S1: How do you prioritize?
S2: Um , well , uh , at the end of the day , um , you know , we , we come in with the attitude that we will win , you know , into some of that , that the older mentality that , you know , we might not see the fruits of our labor in our time , but we have to make sure that the next generation is is equipped for that. Because , you know , whether it's a Black Panther Party is not a brand thing. It's a people's thing. So at the end of the day , the , the , the youth are we got to give them more credit than it's due. I think we've seen a lot of a lot of resonance of that in the last , you know , however many years. But the youth are ready. They just need to get a little bit more organized as to who we are.
S1: If you're you're on the ground as well. Um , let's bring this into the life of someone in San Diego today , right. Like , take us through , you know , one of your one of the community programs who comes to you. What do they need and what are you able to do?
S3: Well , let's take , for example , our our cross border justice program where started with Chairman Wallace and Chairman Ward and the rest of us. People come to us and say , hey , my loved one is being incarcerated unfairly across the border or on this side of the border. We need your support. We need your advocacy. We need you to stand up for us. We meet with the family , talk about the situation , and we show up in court. We show up at the jails. We talk to people in administration to make sure that things actually go , go and the best it can for that person. Now , I'm not trying to say that we have 100% success , but to know that the Panthers are still doing that work is very important to the community. I can't tell you how many black mothers have cried on our chairman's shoulder talking about , thank you for what you've done for my son or daughter in the situation that they're in , where nobody else would help them. And when it comes to cross-border justice , where our our black brothers and sisters and even our brown brothers and sisters are being jailed overseas , I'm not overseas , but in the next country. It's very delicate. But we don't shy away from those kind of fights because black mothers and black fathers need us for their children and individuals themselves. So we get the call , we get the emails , we get the texts and ask us to respond. And we look at the situation and make sure that it's something that is that the Panthers handle. And if not , we know how to outreach to our elected officials. We know how to outreach to our allies , our colleagues that are our Mexican brothers and sisters , the Brown Berets and so on.
S1: I mean , it sounds like there's there's a lot of you work with a lot of other social justice and civil rights organizations in order to serve the community. Yes.
S3: Yes. I want to give a strong brown power out to the to the Brown Berets , who we work with very closely. I want to give a shout out to the NAACP and the Urban League. I want to give a shout out to those groups because people need to know. And also the AAPI group that we also work with and our white brothers and sisters. We have white allies because we know it is a universal condition. We are a tribe of the oppressed. It's just that the Panthers and people like us are leading the way. But there are other people in the wake of oppression that need our support , and they start their own Panther projects. That's why you've seen in history there was the White Panthers , there was the Gray Panthers. The AME came out of , uh , after seeing American Indian Movement. After seeing the Panthers , so many people were inspired by the Panthers. Um , the Asians they had , uh , they don't use this term anymore , but was Yellow peril , uh , organization. But they all were inspired by the Black Panthers. So we are not a racist organization. We're not a sexist organization or anything like that. So lastly , I'll say all power to our female , uh , black Panthers , our pant dresses. They are very important and have always been in the Black Power movement.
S1: And tell me about that to you. Say all power to our women as well. And Henry , your sister helped found the local Black Panther Party. Um , tell me a bit about her and and how if you feel like the story of women who are involved in the movement is told enough.
S4: Yeah , well , my sister , Shirley , Shirley , Jean Meadows , she was a student here at San Diego State College when it was a college. And , uh , she and her boyfriend , Kenny Dimon , uh , were approached to open up the chapter here , and , uh , she dove right into it. I mean , she was out there in walking up and down the streets , finding people that would want to help support the community by becoming Black Panthers. So they went to Memorial Park , not Memorial Park , but Mountain View Park. And they found , uh , some guys down there and they recruited them and then process of recruiting them. Their girlfriends join , like Betty Horne and Gloria Bush and , uh , it's so many of them. Oh , God , I lose their name. But it was a bunch of women in the party that jumped right in , and it was more serious than some of the men were , you see. And so it was a great thing working with them without having that. Uh , well , I'm a man and you're the woman , and you got to do that. No , everybody was equal at that time. They learned how to shoot guns just like the men did. You know , they learned how to go out there and sell newspapers and , uh , help with , uh , the children program , the educational programs and stuff like that. And , uh , so , yeah , the women played a big part. Right?
S1: Right? And , uh , Karen , you really believe in uplifting women's voices. Tell me a bit about that.
S2: That's right. So , uh , even today. Um , in the Black Panther Party , um , uh , you know , the the sister comrades , they they get the job done , and I don't think we could organize it. And capacity we do. I know we couldn't organize any capacity we do today. Um , you know , without their support. Um , and it's important to know back then , you know , um , even the political prisoners , prisoners struggle , uh , in 1960s. And due to the fact to a lot of the brothers being locked up. You know , um , you know , they were faced with the task of , you know , running the Central Committee for the Black Panther Party , running programs , running all these things. Uh , because , you know , uh , and we still have a lot of political prisoners today. Um , but , you know , they were left with no choice. And , you know , it's it's a microcosm , you know , the prison , uh , revolution organization. It's all a microcosm. Microcosm of a bigger situation at hand. You know what happens when the fathers leave the home? What happens when the brothers leave the home? And how do we have agency over our lives and our back and our black families , you know , and how we keep those things in attack? And I think you'll find ten times out of ten that there's a strong black sister at the backbone of all these things. So , you know , it's just right in line with , you know , how powerful you all are.
S4: And you can look at us. Afeni Shakur , Tupac's mother , you know , and the one over in Cuba. Asada.
S2: Asada. Asada.
S4: Asada. Yeah. Uh , you could see that the FBI was so threatened that they started targeting them and coming up with trumped up charges and stuff like that. Even the raid on San Diego's Black Panther Party back in 1967 , when they went up in there , they arrested a bunch of the Panthers out of there , and all they had up in there was a shotgun and a pistol , but they used that to. Yeah , trumped up charges.
S1: Well , and that that brings me to my next question about Cointelpro. How did that impact the Black Panther movement here? And what can be learned from that experience as you carry the legacy on? Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Well , the Cointelpro , uh , got affected because we were young and we didn't see the stumbling blocks that they were doing. We knew that we was fighting a racist system , but then they decided to start doing dirty things , like they took certain situations , like what happened up in Los Angeles between the Black Panthers and the US , and they used that to cause dissension in San Diego and other places. Uh , that situation there , they couldn't have planned it better. That was just something young people got into. But then FBI decided to make it like it was a conspiracy and threw out all types of stuff. So now everybody is starting to get suspicious of who I'm looking at. You know who's next to me? Stuff like that. So it calls to a division in it. So we was taken off track because of the propaganda that they did. They were writing letters and putting our names on it , sending it to the US , and vice versa. Sent pictures , demeaning pictures , which they were really famous for , that because they've been doing that to black people all our lives. If you look at the 1960 1950 cartoons that they fed us , that All Blacks looked like they was stepping up.
S1: The caricatures.
S4: To carry the bones in an old plate in the mouth. So they used that kind of stuff to disrupt the movement , because they said that they can't allow the Black Panther Party to , because people was following us.
S1: Its propaganda. Yeah. How do you move now?
S4: Now we move on with the understanding of what happened back in those days , and we see some of the same things happening just as recently as the 90s with the gang. You know , the Bloods and the Crips. They had them fighting and everything. They put on a bandana and go over and shoot one area and put on another bandana and go and shoot the other and cause the wars where those people starting to get together. So we got to learn from what happened back in the past so that we could be effective today.
S2: So that's right. And I will I will give credit , um , for the city of San Diego , I think , you know , across relations. You know , I got , uh , people all across southeast , and it's a really peaceful time , but it's also a really politically activated time. You know , so we got , you know , brothers over there , whether it be Lincoln Skyline or , you know , whatever group you're a part of. Um , the I think the peace in 2026 has been unprecedented for the city. And I'm really I'm really proud of our residents. You know , the odds and the youth for really connecting the dots and standing up there doing their own police patrols. They're doing their own accountability. They're helping people out , you know , so I think we have to give credence , though , to that and be able to recognize that , you know , um , the city of San San Diego , especially in the southeast. Is is getting it together. Um , and it's major , you know , it's major and it's , you know , you got things like Fat Cam bringing the people together , the community together.
S4: You know , cookout.
S2: OG cookout we have at Mountain View Park. And I think it's just a really a really good time for the city and that and we don't talk about the winds enough. We don't talk about , you know , we talk about what we've been through. We talk about division , we talk about these things , but we also have to give credence and recognition to the things that are happening. Because if we don't do that , then it's going to seem like we're just fighting the fight. That's just endless , that's perpetuated.
S1: People have to understand the purpose behind what you're doing and what it is that that's happening. So on the on the wins use of , um , where where do they sit as we reflect on 60 years?
S3: Well , as we look at 60 years , I like to always bring up the point that , Um , the Black Panther Party was modeled after the militancy of Malcolm X , and there was something really important happened when he came back from Mecca and he called himself Malik al-Hajj Shabazz. They asked him a very important question. Will you still allow them to call you Malcolm X , since your name is Malik Shabazz? He said something that is a guiding principle for me and the Panthers , as I am the field marshal for the Panthers here in San Diego , is that he responded , as long as the conditions still exist that caused the X , they can always call me Malcolm X as long as then. Therefore , as long as the conditions exist that that created the Panthers , there should always be Panthers.
S1: I've been speaking with Henry Wallace , chairman of the San Diego Original Black Panther Party for Community Empowerment. Karen Cameron , the chief of staff for the younger branch , for the younger branch of the San Diego Black Panther Party. And Yusef Miller , Black Panther and Field Marshal. Thank you all so much for this conversation and happy 60th.
S2: Thank you.
S5: Power to the people.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
