City Government

Black Panther Party Co-Founder Bobby Seale Endorses Desley Brooks

Published

7 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.”

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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4 days ago

June 7, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.