By Edward Henderson
‘We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.’ This is the first of the ten point platform the Black Panther Party operated from. As we kick off black history month in 2016, the yearning for freedom and power in minority communities are still prevalent. Henry Wallace, former member of the San Diego chapter of the Black Panther Party, believes honoring the past in its proper perspective is the first step towards a fruitful destiny.
The year was 1966. The chaos and spirit of the Watts riots had worked its way up to the Bay Area. Wallace was 13 and recently moved to the area from San Diego. While walking through downtown Richmond with his family, the young man witnessed police on rooftops shooting at people who were rioting.
“That brought me into the civil rights movement as a young man,” Wallace said. “Police would pull us over and put guns to our heads.”
When his family moved back to San Diego, his sister started dating the defense minister of the San Diego chapter of the Black Panther Party. After learning more about what they were doing in the city, Wallace’s mother wanted to get involved. It wasn’t long before the rest of the family joined her.
“We had a chance to talk to them and I was very impressed with what was going on,” Wallace said. “I saw (police brutality) with my own eyes and when they told us we had the right to bear arms I was down for that.”
Wallace’s mother was a main contributor to the free breakfast program at the Black Panther headquarters housed on 29th and Imperial in Southeast. They often traveled to rallies and fundraisers at San Diego State and La Jolla. Wallace received much of his education at the rallies by listening in on conversations and lectures. At the rallies he also made connections that quelled his disdain for white people.
“Being able to talk to white people about our problems and seeing that some of them actually weren’t racist and wanted to help us was a memorable experience. I realized the world wasn’t just totally racist, it was more of an institutional thing,” said Wallace.
His family even took part in programs where white college students could live with black families to learn more about their culture. Wallace believes experiences like this involving the Black Panther Party are overlooked and wants to clear up many of the misconceptions created by mainstream media about the organization.
“I want to let people know we were freedom fighters back in the days and reclaim the work we did in the community,” Wallace said. “The Black Panthers and other such groups were branded as terrorist. I reject that title. We were freedom fighters and patriots.”
Today Wallace performs in a band and is in the process of writing a memoir entitled ‘The Panther’s Journey.’ The passion instilled in him during his years in the party are very much present to this day.
“I believe we along with the youth in our community were very successful in initiating change in the way the establishment dealt with our community. We were no longer viewed as Hollywood cartoon like characters but as a community to be reckoned with. Our slogan power to the people is exactly what we meant,” said Wallace.
