Militants. Racists. Separatists. These were just a few of the words Elmer Dixon remembers being used to describe the Black Panther Party. Yet nothing, he says, could be further from the truth.
Aiming to set the record straight and inspire a new generation, Dixon joined four other former Black Panthers at the Otter Student Union Thursday night, sharing firsthand accounts of the party’s rise and fall. The panel capped off “A Day With the Panthers,” a celebration made up of five separate events honoring the 60th anniversary of a movement that reverberated across the nation and beyond.
“To be members of the Black Panther Party, to be in the position that we were in, we put our lives on the line every day. When we stepped out of the office, any day, we could have been assassinated,” said Dixon. “You don’t do that out of hate and anger. You do that out of love for the people.”
Among Dixon’s fellow panelists were his brother Aaron, with whom he co-founded the party’s third-ever chapter in Seattle; Mel Mason, who was raised in Seaside and became a successful Bay Area labor organizer before joining the Black Panthers; Gayle Asali Dixon, sole female graphic designer for the party’s highly successful newspaper; and Billy X Jennings, a Black Panther historian who also curated a showcase of over 200 photos, books, artwork and newspaper clippings featured in the OSU throughout the all-day event.
The celebration was co-hosted by the Helen Rucker Center for Black Excellence, Black Students United (BSU) and the Village Project – a Seaside-based organization founded to serve the local Black community that has since expanded to include other people of color and the LGBTQ+ community as well.
In the hours leading up to the Panther Panel, other events were hosted in and around the Otter Student Union, including Black Panther Party trivia at Otter Thursday, a meet and greet with HRC student leaders and screenings of Black Panther historical films such as “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “The First Rainbow Coalition.”
“The Black Students United were honored to be a part of Day With The Panthers,” said the BSU in a written statement. “This was a very significant event for our small but mighty Black population here at CSUMB…We were grateful for the opportunity to hear firsthand about the history, influence, and legacy of the Black Panther Party, and BSU is eager to incorporate elements of the party’s program into our campus community.”
The panel was a highlight of the celebration, attracting an audience of several dozen students and community members of all ages. Panelists reflected not only on the misconceptions and government aggression the Black Panther Party faced, but on the lasting impact of the work they achieved, asserting themselves not as activists, but as revolutionaries.
“The difference between an activist and a revolutionary is that a revolutionary detests and hates the oppression of people,” said Elmer Dixon. “And if you hate the oppression of people, you’re gonna do something about it, which is what moved us into action. We didn’t have time to wait.”
The panelists also emphasized the significance of CSUMB to the local Black community. Last semester, the BSU organized a protest in response to incidents of bigotry on campus, including multiple cases of racist graffiti found in and around student housing. That protest brought together not just students, but community members like Mason and representatives of the Village Project, among other local organizations.
“The colleges and the universities are a place where dissent begins. That’s where the Black Panther Party began, on a college campus,” said Aaron Dixon. “Our youth are the most valuable commodity that we have…students play a very important role, so it’s important to hook up with programs that are working in the community.”