Black Panthers celebrate in Seattle

Yes, there's been progress, and it's good to see a black man running for president. But there's still injustice, still division between the rich and poor, still so much work to be done.

That was the consensus among the men — once core members of the Black Panther Party's Seattle chapter — who talked among themselves Saturday at the Yesler Terrace Community Center, where a celebration was held to commemorate the group's 40th anniversary. The men talked about what progress they've seen since the years when they had the "audacity to follow the police," in one member's words, and to question their tactics.

Men and women of color now can more easily climb above their individual circumstances, they said. But, they said, black people as a whole are no better off.

Aaron Dixon, who cofounded the Seattle chapter of the legendary civil-rights group, said he sometimes feels something akin to despair when he thinks about the outsourcing of jobs, global warming, class separation, the hopelessness of the poor and the push by corporations to control the world's resources.

Still, he and most of the other former members continue to work in nonprofits and keep working to secure equal rights.

The now-defunct Seattle chapter was the first formed outside of California and was initiated through the work of Dixon, his brother Elmer and Bobby Seale, co-founder of the movement in the Bay Area. The group was never anti-white, members said. Its mission was to advocate for the poor and protect the oppressed.

But frustration grew during the early years as members watched what they saw as increasing violence by police against blacks.

Across the country, Black Panther groups became known for patrolling and keeping watch on the police, informing them and others of people's constitutional rights.

"It was audacity to follow the police," said Rashad Byrdsong, former leader of the Tacoma chapter. "And it is audacity to have hope."

Some of the group's activities landed Seale and others in courtrooms and in jail.

Following the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Seale was the eighth defendant charged with inciting riots in the high-profile "Chicago Seven" case.

During his trial, he was ordered bound and gagged by the judge, who eventually had him removed from the court for his outbursts. The charges were ultimately dismissed.

These days, the 71-year-old Seale is a mainstay on the college-campus lecture circuit. In his lectures, he compares the activism of the 1960s with current social and human-rights advocacy in a high-tech and globalized society.

After talking with so many young people who want to know how they can make a difference, he says he has hope.

"It's all about continuous consciousness-raising," he said. "It's a spiritual thing that is part and parcel of the human liberation project. All 6.1 billion of us are interconnected, interrelated and intertwined."

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com