It's a common saying that people change the times like the times change people. Often, if not always, this is the case. Because in the end, we are who our environment shapes us to be. The people we interact with, the places we go, and the things we see all affect how we are and in turn, we can choose to affect them. There is no doubt in saying that Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers were a product of the times they were living in, but regardless, changed them.They were, and still remain to be, the face of the Black Power revolution to so many. When you thought of being black and being proud, you thought of the Panthers. They had a spirit unlike any other group of that time. And that spirit never really dies. It lives on even if you don't. Bobby Sealle was no different. After leaving jail in 1971, Bobby Seale went to put back the pieces of the Panthers. Huey had become increasingly more interested in power and drugs than the revolution. Key members had left and stopped supporting the group. Others were being pursued and were seeking refugee in countries abroad, such as Cuba and Algeria. Chapters had disbanded due to gang violence and drugs. The groups that remained contiued to be infiltrated by the COINTELPRO; a group specifically made by the government to destroy the Panthers by any means necessary. Hate and mistrust had been constantly worked into the priciples of the Panthers, and the once popular revolutionay group was left to its demise, with only the most dedicated members sticking it out until the early 80's.
"You can kill the revolutionary but not the revolution."