I Just Interviewed a Member of the Original Black Panthers

in #america3 years ago

Yesterday I met with original Black Panther, Larry Pinkney.

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This was for my project about George Floyd Square, but, naturally, our interview went much deeper than that.

Larry shared some of his history with Malcolm X:

"I saw Brother Malcolm evolve. ...he opened his arms and his mind and his heart."

And he shared how the Black Panthers grew their movement:

"One of the ways we attracted new brothers and sisters--we played Aretha [Franklin] and had it blasting on the sidewalk."

But more than this, we discussed his ideas, experience, and insights on today.

Differentiating the spirit of his movement from those he sees today, Larry said, "The positive that came out of [our] movement! To be young, gifted, and black! It was about, 'Hey, let's reach for the stars. We can do this!'"

"We had revolutionary principles. There were just certain things that we would not do... Where are our principles? If we lose our principles, we lose everything. Everything!"

In fact, he's differentiated himself so much from today's activists, that he's now seen as a bit of a radical in another direction:

"What I have seen more often than not, is that people like myself are viewed as a threat, even by people you'd think would be open."

But then, he reached back into his memory for some wisdom around that:

"Brother Malcolm warned us: 'If you're not careful, the media will have you loving your enemies and hating your friends.' And that is precisely where we are today."

This, he says, is just part of the revolving cycle of society:

"They say history repeats itself. History does not repeat itself. People repeat history."

Lastly, he offered some surprising history and thoughts about Minnesota:

"There is a certain goodness about the people of Minnesota. When I came to Minnesota, I went to the small town of Marshall. And I found those people to be amazing. They were mostly farmers and their families. And when I think of Minnesota, that's the Minnesota I think of--honest, hard-working, and give a damn about humanity."

This conversation will be its own video-podcast. Look for it soon on my YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/c/ThePeriphery