black community members were arrested for possesion. And that doesn't account for those who used the drug but weren't caught. That terrible white powder destroyed families, neighborhoods, communities and cities in a single sniff. However, Oakland was neither the first nor the last to fall into drug abuse. On top of the danger drugs provided, gangs such as the Hell's Angles motorcicyle gang grew increasingly popular and police brutality occured freequently. As of 1969, only 16 of the city's 661 police officers were black. This did not help the rising tensions between the predominately Black community that the OPD (Oakland Police Department) targeted and the largely White police force. While having almost equally the same amount of population in the city, 27.3% Black and 25.9% white, 48%, nearly half, of all OPD car searches and %65.8 of all motorcicyle searches were of Blacks. However, this is not the worst. While inappropriate searches of the Black community laid the foundation for mistrust, it was larger incidents such as Bobby Hutton's death in 1968 that really set the tone. At the young age of 17 years old, Bobby Hutton was stripped down and murdered outside the front door of his own home. The first member to join the Black Panther Party, he was shot 12 times after surrendering to the police. Other cases such as Denzil Dowell's, were key as well. So, while the type of person plays a large role in the outcome of their actions, we have to acknowledge the environment that shaped our leaders into who they were. Because, as it is commonly known, we are a product of our environment.
"We make the world we live in and shape our own environment."
movement, and the kind of environment needed to get that trait out of you. With Bobby Seale and the militant style Black Panthers, that environment was a small city buried deep in the trenches of racism; Oakland, California. Haunted by decades of segregation, drug use, gang violence, and police brutality, Oakland was the perfect place to start a revolution, and a militant one at that. Surrounded by many rich, predominately white cities, the city fell victim to the outbreak of crack-cocaine. What little community bonds the city had, were torn apart by the demons we call drugs. In 1960, an estimated 34% of all
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: BORN FROM THE REVOLUTION
To truly grasp whom Bobby Seale was, you have to thoroughly understand the kind of signifigance that the Black Panther Party had in his life. You have to know what kind of person you need to be to start a