Remembering Bobby Hutton

Li’l Bobby Hutton Day will be celebrated once again on Sunday, April 12, with a 3 p.m. reception hosted by Billy X Jennings of It’s About Time Archives at the Black Panther Party Museum, 1427 Broadway, Oakland. Meet real Panthers! Take pride in the Black Panther legacy and carry it forward!

by Billy X Jennings, It’s About Time Archives

Li’l Bobby Hutton was the first person to join the Black Panther Party (BPP). He was only 15 years old, so Bobby Seale and Huey Newton made him get his mother’s permission. He learned the BPP 10-point Program and Platform and started reading books from the Panther booklist.

Bobby learned the laws regarding arrests and police procedures. He went on Panther police patrols to protect the community from police abuse. He learned that we are in a class war; our enemies are not all white people, but the system of capitalism. Bobby was well trusted and became the BPP’s first treasurer.

Bobby Hutton led a delegation of Panthers to Sacramento in May of 1967 to protest the Mulford Act – a law designed to end the Panther police patrols by making it illegal to carry guns in public. This event received international press coverage and his image was broadcast worldwide.

Bobby was a key organizer for Black Student Unions on high school campuses. He was a key organizer of the Free Huey rallies in front of the Alameda County Courthouse.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, he and other Panthers took to the streets of Oakland telling people not to riot, not to destroy their own communities. Two days later, Bobby was in a car in West Oakland and there was a confrontation with the police. A shootout occurred and three cars full of Panthers scattered. 

Li’l Bobby and Eldridge Cleaver ducked into an unlocked basement on 28^th and Union. They fought off the attack until they ran out of ammo and the police firebombed the house. Eldridge decided they should surrender. He came out naked so police could not say they were armed. Bobby was shy and kept his pants on. They were beaten as they came out and were told to run to the car. Bobby was gunned down as he ran and murdered.

We honor his legacy as a brave, dedicated manchild who served his community.

Black Panther historian Billy X Jennings administers the archives documenting the history of the Black Panther Party. Some of the treasures can be seen at https://www.babylonfalling.com/billyx.html. He can be reached at itsabouttime3@juno.com.  

The post Remembering Bobby Hutton appeared first on San Francisco Bay View.