City Government

Black Panther Party Co-Founder Bobby Seale Endorses Desley Brooks

Published

8 years ago

February 16, 2018

Desley Brooks’ campaign for reelection to the District 6 seat on the Oakland City Council was endorsed this week by prominent activist Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

“I endorse sister Desley Brooks for reelection to Oakland City Council,” said Seale in a press statement.

“Desley has been a vital voice in the fight for people’s economic, ecological and social justice empowerment,” said Seale.

“She is truly innovative in both thought and action.”

Seale is an organizer with over 50 years of experience. He co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense with Huey P. Newton in 1966 in Oakland.

The organization aimed to combat police brutality and create self-determined communities for Oakland’s Black residents.

The organization also famously provided programs filling basic needs for people neglected by government efforts and cut off locally funded efforts.

Seale said Desley Brooks is the only candidate working towards these same goals today.

“Her legislation on jobs, housing, environmental injustices and community development have ensured that the people of Oakland have a chance to grow with the city, not be pushed out of it,” said Seale.

Brooks works for equity in all areas of Oakland governance, according to her backers.

She authored the nation’s first Cannabis Equity Program, designed to open access to the rapidly expanding industry to Oakland residents who have borne the brunt of the racialized war on drugs.

Brooks introduced legislation that created the Department of Race and Equity, which ensures that all city departments look at whether their plans and programs produce equitable outcomes for city workers, contractors and residents.

She also supported the family members of police shooting victims and community calls for accountability of the Oakland Police Department, pushing for meaningful reform from her position as the chair of Oakland’s Public Safety Committee.

“I’m honored to have the support of such an iconic leader.” said Councilmember Brooks. “The foundation laid by Bobby Seale and others continuously inspires me to place the most vulnerable people in our communities at the center of our progress.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Oakland Council Seeks to Safeguard Soda Tax Funds

Don't Miss

Peralta Colleges Offer Best African American and Ethnic Studies Courses in the Country

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

1 week ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”