Meeting George Bush when I was a Black Panther (originally posted 10/19/08)

When I originally sent the piece below, it was the next morning after a debate between then Senator Obama and John McCain...I had saved the info, not even using it when Hillary Clinton brought up Obama's relation with a former Weatherman during the Democratic primary, for when I felt that it really would count...A dear friend of mine from the New York Daily News sent it to his Washington bureau...but heard nothing back..I sent a copy to all of the major newspapers in all of the big US cities...I heard nothing back...However, the biggest thing was: After I distributed this letter, to this day, no one has ever mentioned Obama's relationship with that Weatherman guy...Cheers!

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Dear Friends,

Sarah Palin has begun making more silly remarks. The latest one involves Senator Obama's alleged "association" with a "terrorist". To be sure, the idea that one is responsible for what another person either does or has done, because s/he has interacted with that person at some point, moves Sarah Palin up a notch, that is even higher than her current, well-earned position as "Ms. Universal Dunce".

In the late summer of 1970, about two weeks after the founder of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton, was released from 33 months in jail for something that he did not do, a number of Panthers were sent to New Haven, Connecticut, from around the country, in order to help reorganize our chapter there, after most of the members there were jailed on charges of having murdered a man named Alex Rackley. Because of his role as the chief officer of the Party, at the time of the alleged crime, Bobby Seale, along with the head of the Connecticut state chapter, Ericka Huggins, was charged with Rackley's murder as well, since prosecutors asserted that the aforementioned duo had "ordered" the murder.

At any rate, literally, upon entering the door of the New Haven chapter, when I first arrived from Boston, I was immediately assigned to set up what we called a "community education program". We had them all over the country, in each branch and chapter. They consisted of weekly meetings, that were actually classes, where folks from the community would come and, in this case, I would both preside over and lead the class, discussing a variety of topics that dealt with social issues that were pertinent to African Americans at the time.

Sometimes, we would talk about stories from the nationally-distributed Black Panther Party newspaper. Other times, I would bring mimeographed copies (there was no such thing as a Xerox machine yet) of published articles from various authors, or ones that I had written myself. For the nine or so months that I was stationed in New Haven, I continued those classes, which were always well-attended, with, usually, about a dozen people each class (which I always held on Wednesday nights at 6pm). Initially, I held classes in the Panther office (which was actually an entire house) on Sylvan Avenue. Later, I moved the class to a building where we would soon open up our People's Free Health Center, on Dixwell Avenue.

Also, during that Fall of 1970, now once again led by Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party convened the Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention. The plenary session was held in Philadelphia (around September, as I remember). The actual convention itself was held around two months later, in Washington, DC. Apart from my other duties, I was now assigned as the food coordinator for the entire East Coast, for that convention. While some people traveled there from the West and Midwest, most of the folks were Panthers and other progressives from the East Coast. Consequently, I was more like the "national" food coordinator. In any case, when the time came, with the help of, particularly "sisters” in the Party, I sent a Mack truck full of food to DC.

By the way, during the time that I was soliciting grocery stores, vegetable wholesalers, and even Dunkin' Donuts, receiving large donations for a "day care" center (which was a new concept at the time), the aforementioned donors had no idea that they were feeding the 2, 000-plus people who would be attending the Black Panther Party's upcoming convention. Most of all, community generosity, both business and personal, was abound.

Nonetheless, one Friday night, after having spent the day collecting food for the Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention, before going back to Panther headquarters, as I sometimes did, I decided to stop by the "Black House" on Yale campus. (The Black House at Yale was the name that brothers at Yale chose for their ”separate” dormitory.) After hanging out with the brothers for what was, probably a couple of hours, I imagine, I headed back to the office. As I was walking off of Yale campus, I was passing by a building, when suddenly a couple of European American or "white" guys yelled out from a second or third floor window, inviting me up for a drink.

Now, I must add that, for some reason, I keep remembering that there may have been somebody else with me, that is a "community worker" (which was the name that was given to people who were not actually "Panthers", per se, but who helped in doing a lot of duties like selling our newspapers and serving at our nationwide Free Breakfast Programs for children, and so forth). Nevertheless, I accepted the offer of the, seemingly, slightly intoxicated guys and went into the building, up the stairs, and into a room that was filled with about 25 college students who were all dressed formally. I introduced myself and all of them took turns shaking hands with me. Soon, we began what would become a roughly two hours or more journey of debating political issues, while, simultaneously, one of the main hosts, a guy named George, constantly kept my glass full of wine.

Early on, by the way, I identified myself as a Black Panther, although my outfit made it unnecessary for me to do so (black leather jacket with "Off the pig!" and other type buttons on the lapel, a black cap, black pants, and black combat boots). Nevertheless, they told me that they were a campus group called "The Party of the Right". Initially, I thought it interesting that they would want me to stay and "party" with them, considering the name of their group and the reputation of mine. You must recall that that was 1970, the same year that, only abou a year earlier, the legendary F.B.I. chief, J. Edgar Hoover, proclaimed that "The Black Panther Party is the number one threat to internal security in America".

Initially, there seemed to be a lot of debate, with me representing the "revolutionary" side, and a couple of other guys (who were standing next to George) defending the "reactionary" aka "conservative" point of view. After about a half of an hour or so, suddenly, some blond guy who was wearing glasses, and standing next to me, started agreeing with me. Before long, others chimed in with him. I stopped my dialogue with my initial verbal combatants and said, "I thought that all of you people were conservatives?" Then the blond guy in the glasses said, "No. We are all mixed up politically. We just use this name, because the administration leaves us alone, thinking that we're different than all of the radical groups on campus. That way we get to drink on weekends with no trouble".

We all just fell into a kind of friendlier "vibe", at that point. George kept feeding me drinks. He was a very gracious host. I have always remembered him fondly. After I left them that night, on, at least, a couple of occasions, I ran into George either on or near Yale campus. We would always stop and rap for a minute or two.

It was only many years later that I realized, from research, that when I knew him, he had already graduated from Yale. Apparently, he was just hanging around campus, when I knew him. I was surprised to find that out (i.e., that he had already graduated), because he looked fairly young for his age, at the time. I tried to contact "The Party of the Right" about him, several years ago, but got no response.

Back then, I had mentioned to my Panther comrades, and over the following years, to some of my brothers and friends, about that night, because it was so humorous, but intriguing, to me. It would be many years before I ever saw George again. My memory of him became clearer, after he became president, and I began to see his face more.

At one point, for about two weeks, I kept waking up in dripping sweat, thinking about that Fall night on Yale campus - some three decades earlier - at that party in 1970. George's face was plastered into my mind. Then, like people who recall being sexually molested, decades after the incident occurred, for the first time, I understood what had happened to them. I now, tangibly, understand how a person can not be thinking about something, then remember it thirty or, in some cases, forty years later.

Finally, George Bush's hanging out with me that night and occasionally bumping into me had nothing to do with either how he or I turned out or what we did. Therefore, Palin's inane suggestion that Senator Obama is not to be trusted, because of someone he knows is worse than inane actually. McCain, I hope, would not say something so dumb. Additionally, if you recall, during her debate with Joe Biden, Palin twice made the stupid claim that John McCain knows how to "win wars". McCain would have never said something so outrageous, At least, I hope not. After all, Senator McCain's fighter plane got shot down over Vietnam and he stayed captured while the US lost the war - partially due to the "unsuccessful" McCain-types who were in the US military, along with lousy decisions by generals who were all led by an incompetent Republican commander-in-chief (sound familiar?). Moreover, what a pathetic pick for his vice presidency. Many people in Alaska did not vote for Sarah Palin to be their governor, and many of those who did are now being quite vocal about their regret over the bad choice that they made.

G. Djata Bumpus