by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
David Hilliard, former chief of staff for the Black Panther Party, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the party's founding during a reception for a photo exhibit in the SUB on Sunday.
The display includes pictures of party members escorting an elderly woman to an appointment and registering people to vote.
Hilliard, who teaches two classes at UNM, said the photographs give a better portrayal of the party's ideology than pictures of party members carrying guns.
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"One of the most misrepresented facets of our organization is that it's been frozen in people's memory as a militant group," he said. "We never saw ourselves as militants."
The exhibit features about 30 photographs taken during the '60s and '70s. The traveling exhibit is part of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, named after the party's cofounder.
The party was founded Oct. 22, 1966.
Harold Bailey, executive director of the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs, said the exhibit gives students a chance to learn about the party.
"I think it gives the students of the day the opportunity to go back in history and see what the party was really all about," he said. "Whether or not they agree with what the party did, it's part of American history."
Bailey said his favorite photograph was of two boys smiling and carrying bags of food that party members gave to them.
"This is community activism," he said, pointing at the photograph. "This is real. They were fighting racism. This just really brings home the good things they were doing."
Burt Colbert, who attended the event, said the pictures brought back memories of how the party helped him when he was growing up in Detroit.
"When I was 11 or 12 years old, I didn't know what my prospects were," he said. "When the party first came to my neighborhood, they were bringing all these great social programs and social awareness with them. They made me see that I could make opportunities."
Student Patrice Howard said she appreciated the opportunity to learn about the party.
"We talk a lot about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King," she said, "but we never hear about the great things the Black Panthers did. A lot of people think they were just militants, but you can see they were much more than that."
The exhibit is on the lower level of the SUB and will run until Nov. 22.
