The Black Panther Party

While many think of West Oakland as the home of the Black Panther Party, you are standing right in the heart of their origins. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale were both born and raised in Temescal, graduated from Oakland Tech Highschool and went onto Merritt College. Temescal, once an Italian neighborhood, hosted a largely black population in the 1960s up until recently when Oakland housing prices cause Temescal to transition toward an upper-class white population. Newton and Seal formed the Negro History Fact Group at Merritt College and after the murder of Malcolm X, morphed into the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party was founded as a self-defense response to protect Black people from police brutality. The 10-point program was penned right here in Temescal. Pictured are Seale and Newton from their high school days.