For Immediate Release: January 3, 2007

EDUCATE TO LIBERATE :
The Schools of the Black Panther Party, 1969-1982

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(Oakland, CA)— During a time of sloganeering, “Educate to Liberate” prevailed as a fundamental component of the mission of the Black Panther Party and its grassroots social programs of the 1970s. In recognition of the 35th anniversary of the Oakland Community School, the Oakland Public Library, with assistance from the It’s About Time Committee, presents the exhibition, Educate to Liberate: The Schools of the Black Panther Party, 1969-1982, from January 15, 2008 through April 15, 2008 in the Oakland History Room at Oakland’s Main Library, 125 14th Street.

The exhibit includes photographs and other artifacts related to the party’s successful educational programs from a collection gathered by Billy X. Jennings, Black Panther Party historian, augmented with items from the collections of the Oakland Public Library.

Begun in 1969 as the first of its “liberation” schools in Berkeley, party-sponsored centers quickly spread throughout the country. These efforts culminated in 1973 with the purchase of a building at 8501 East 14th Street (now International Blvd.) in Oakland’s Elmhurst district for the Samuel Napier Inter-Communal Youth Institute. There it flourished as the Oakland Community Learning Center where educators developed new methods that have since been adopted to revitalize the teaching of urban children across the country. Its success led the Oakland Unified School District to attempt similar efforts at recreation centers across town.

Besides the exhibition, a program and reception will be held at the West Oakland Branch Library on February 16, 2008 at 1801 Adeline Street, starting at 1:00 pm. The reception will also be honoring Huey P. Newton, who is being celebrated in another exhibition at the West Oakland Branch Library throughout the month of February. For further information, please contact the It’s About Time Committee at (916) 455-0908 or Steven Lavoie in the Oakland History Room of the Oakland Main Library at (510) 238-3222.

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