Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, sat in the Oakland Auditorium in 1962 where he was first inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful ideas about how to fight racism in the United States.
Nearly 50 years later, Seale got the chance to speak at the 10th Anniversary MLK Jr. Statue Rededication Ceremony on campus Thursday night.
“He was the activist of activists for me,” Seale said.
Seale spoke in the Black Power Movement class taught by professor Leonard Moore earlier in the afternoon. Seale has written several books, including “Seize the Time,” which he wrote from jail between 1969 and 1972. In 1963, he ran for mayor of Oakland and lost.
The event was sponsored by African-American Affairs, a student agency within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s Multicultural Information Center, as well as the Distinguished Brothers of the Epsilon Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. King was an Alpha along with many other prominent black men, including Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall and W.E.B. DuBois.
Kheri Henderson, agency co-director of operations, said the group worked to plan a special event for everyone, not just the black community.
“This is for all people; we can all learn from each other,” she said.
Senior Larry Chapple, president of the UT Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, said he wants to do something to impact his community as previous fraternity members before him have.
“I’m coming here with open ears,” he said. “I’m trying to soak everything up.”
The event featured performances from UT students and groups, including the Student African American Brotherhood and Umoja.
Liberal arts sophomore and SAAB member Nick Poole recited a poem entitled “And We Remember,” emphasizing the legacy of Dr. King. Gregory J. Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement, and Student Government President Liam O’Rourke also spoke at the ceremony.
“[King] wasn’t an idealist, he was a realist,” O’Rourke said, “He wasn’t asking anything of anyone that shouldn’t have been expected.”
Seale, has only fond thoughts of King, although he never had a chance to shake his hand. While King was one of Seale’s greatest influences, other Black Panther members disagreed with his nonviolent approach to social change.
Seale explained that the Panthers did not believe in sitting back and letting police barge in on peaceful protestors.
“[King] did criticize us for our self defense rights,” he said in an interview with The Daily Texan. “If we are getting shot at, I’m going to shoot back.”
Seale also did not view the Black Panthers like other radical groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan.
“We never stoop to the low-level mentality of the racist,” he said.
The MLK Sculpture Project’s Web site says students began plans to erect the statue in 1987. It was finally unveiled in the fall of 1999.
“We should think about UT’s role,” Vincent said. “This is a shining example of UT changing lives.”
