A fun fact for my local comrades, Sacramento had a thriving Black Panther chapter that was centralized in Oak Park and was subject to the constant harassment and terror of the Sac PD. (1/?)

To provide some context, the black community in 60's Sacramento was constantly under threat from police violence, particularly for being in places like William Land park. In fact, the development of Highway 99 in 1962 essentially segregated Sacramento (2/?)

As is the case in many BPP chapters, this necessitated a self-reliant community in which the BPP provided for via things like the Free Breakfast for School Children Program which served over 150 children a day. Other programs included tutoring and legal aid (3/?)

That being said, this was the late 60's which meant that the FBI's COINTELPRO program was being unleashed upon the BPP and Sacramento was the subject of intense police violence. One particular case was on Father's Day 1969 (4/?)

On this day, the BPP HQ in Oak Park was full of children who were seeking refuge from some ongoing chaos instigated by the Sac PD. Officers claimed that someone inside the building shot at them so they responded by firing TEAR GAS into a BUILDING FULL OF CHILDREN (5/?)

The Sacramento BPP chapter has a lot more history that I will probably write on more, but I think there are many lessons we should take from this. (6/?)

As most of us know, Oak Park has been subject to intense gentrification in the past several years. By forcing black people out of these neighborhoods, the gentrifiers are upholding the same forces that terrorized the BPP (7/?)

As local activists, it is our DUTY to understand the history of racialized capitalist violence in our city and continue to fight against it with this history on our minds. The BPP may have been dismantled, but the fight still lives on. (8/8)

my main source for this thread comes from a report from the BPP legacy and alumni linked below if anyone would like to do their own research on the Sac BPP http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/chapter_history/pdf/sacramento/sacramento_chapter_of_the_black_panther.pdf