Bobby Seale -- the co-founder of the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist Black Panther Party -- will be speaking on organizing & building people power in today's times, using his experiences from before, during, and after his time with the Black Panther Party. Just as the Black Panther Party utilized coalition politics, crossing all ethnic, religious, gender, and racial lines, to challenge the capitalist system that does not work for most of us, we -- students and community members -- must come together and organize to seize the time.



Main Event Details

Where: CU Boulder Campus. Mathematics Building. Room 100.

When: February 28, 2018, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm



Seale Signings: In MATH 170, Seale will be selling and signing stuff from 5:00 pm to 5:45 pm and 8:10pm to 9:00 pm. A ticket is not required for this.

Doors to MATH 100 for the Main Event will open at 5:45 pm. The event will begin at 6:00 pm and will be followed up with a discussion (rules for discussion to be announced later). A ticket is required for entry into MATH 100. In order to provide access to those with disabilities or any other needs, please contact us at iso@colorado.edu a few days in advanced, so we can make accommodations.

Regarding Tickets

Tickets are free for students, faculty, staff, and community members alike. The Eventbrite ticket link will be posted on February 12th at noon. Eventbrite will give you the digital code required to get in. Entry into the main event will be stopped once the room hits room capacity, per the university fire code. As such, tickets do NOT guarantee entry.

Per university general venue rules, the following Conditions of Entry and Attendance & Prohibited Items apply:

Conditions of Entry and Attendance:

No face coverings

No face coverings All persons and property are subject to search

All persons and property are subject to search Be prepared for airport-like screening, if deemed necessary

Be prepared for airport-like screening, if deemed necessary Rules subject to change without notice

Rules subject to change without notice No re-entry

No re-entry Visibly intoxicated or disruptive individuals will be refused entry or ejected from event

Visibly intoxicated or disruptive individuals will be refused entry or ejected from event Individuals violating any event rules are subject to arrest and prosecution (Colorado Revised Statute 19-9-117)

Prohibited Items:

All bags are subject to search

All bags are subject to search Skateboards, bicycles

Skateboards, bicycles Balloons, laser pointers, umbrellas

Balloons, laser pointers, umbrellas Sticks, poles, bats, etc.

Sticks, poles, bats, etc. Food, beverages, containers, water bottles

Food, beverages, containers, water bottles Weapons (including CCW), ammunition, knives, projectiles, pepper spray, or other hazardous items

Weapons (including CCW), ammunition, knives, projectiles, pepper spray, or other hazardous items Signs, banners, flyers, posters, stickers

Signs, banners, flyers, posters, stickers Alcohol, drugs, paraphernalia

Alcohol, drugs, paraphernalia Amplified sound or other noise makers

Amplified sound or other noise makers Animals (service animals permitted)



This event is made up almost entirely of student volunteers. The following student organizations are co-sponsoring the event:



• Cultural Events Board (CEB)

• United Mexican American Students & El Movimiento Estudiantil Xican@ de AztlÃ¡n -- UMAS y MEXA

• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

• Queer & Trans People of Color (QTPOC)

• Black Student Alliance (BSA)

• Committee on Rights & Compensation (CRC) Grad Student Union

• International Socialist Organization (ISO)





** More information on Seale and the Black Panther Party **



In October of 1966, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, coinciding with the release of their Ten Point Program document. As such, Bobby Seale was the co-founding Chairman and National Organizer of the BPP from October 1966 to July 1974.



While the Black Panther Party (BPP) is well known for their armed struggle against the police state in the USA, the former director of the FBI who led the infamous COINTELPRO, J. Edgar Hoover declared, "the Black Panther Party, without question, represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country" only after the Black Panther Party (BPP) began their Free Breakfast for Children program. The Free Breakfast for Children program was one of the many community programs that the party created when Bobby Seale and David Hilliard shifted the Party's focus to community programs. These programs were created in the presence of police violence and in the absence of accessible state programs -- even after Civil Rights legislation had passed.



Being anti-imperialist and asserting its solidarity with all oppressed peoples of the world, the BPP saw black communities in the USA as a colony and the police as an occupying army, framing the struggle against racism as part of the international anti-imperialist struggle. Huey Newton stated, "Because black people desire to determine their own destiny, they are constantly inflicted with brutality between the occupying army in Southeast Asia and the occupation of our communities by the racist police."



Before dedicating his life to serving the community, Bobby Seale was an engineer at Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics. Considering how the BPP and the 60's movement grew out of student activism, historical class analysis**, scientific research, and grassroots community organizing among other things, Seale will bring the BPP and 60's movement era full circle showing how times have changed and how we must organize for a more inclusive, democratic future.



Much of this information was taken from "Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party".



** Fun fact: The BPP held political education sessions every Wednesday night at 7:00 pm and Saturdays at 2:00 pm complete with weapons safety, when the BPP secured their first office at 5642 Grove Street, two blocks from Seale's home and one block from Merritt College.