Seale, Robert George (Bobby)
Born: October 22, 1936, Dallas, Texas
Vocations: Social Activist, Historian, Autobiographer, Cook Book Author
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

Keywords: Barbeque’n with Bobby Seale; Black Panther Party; Chicago Seven; Cuban Blockade; Eldridge Cleaver; A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale; Merritt College; Huey P. Newton; John Reading; George Seale; Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton; Ten Point Plan; United States Air Force

Abstract: Robert George Seale was born on October 22, 1936, to George and Thelma Seale; he was the oldest of three children. Born in Dallas, Texas, his family settled in Oakland, California during World War II. While at Merritt College in Oakland, Seale would meet Huey P. Newton. Newton and Seale would form the Black Panther Party in 1966. The BPP, while in existence for a short period, had long-lasting effects on the American political landscape. Seale has written three books to date: one about the party, an autobiography, and one cookbook. Today, Seale lives in Philadelphia, with his second wife. He is still active in several community organizations and gives speeches about his time with the Black Panthers.

Biography:

Robert George Seale was born on October 22, 1936, to George and Thelma Seale. His father was a master carpenter and his mother was a home maker. The oldest of three children, Seale grew up with his younger brother Jon, his sister Betty, and his cousin Alvin Turner. The early life of Bobby Seale was marked by an abusive father whose job caused times of heavy poverty for the family of five. The family faced four major moves from Dallas, to San Antonio, to Port Arthur, Texas, and finally settling in the Berkeley/Oakland area of California during World War II. Despite these hardships, Seale describes his childhood as typical for black men of the time. Seale attended Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California; it was during his high school years that Seale began to form a political consciousness. He began to question the knowledge he learned in school on issues such as Native American history and the African continent.

Seale enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1955, but was given a bad conduct discharge in 1959 following a run-in with his superior officer. While going to night school at Merritt College in Oakland, California, Seale worked odd jobs, including working as a sheet-metal mechanic (the trade he learned in the Air Force) and a comedian.

In September of 1962, Bobby Seale met Huey P. Newton. A native of Louisiana, Newton had lived in Oakland since the age of three. Newton attended Merritt College, but at the time of their meeting he was attending Oakland City Law School. The two met at a rally protesting the Cuban Blockade. They quickly became friends and political confidants.

In October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The group would later be renamed the Black Panther Party. The Panthers where originally envisioned as an armed patrol protecting the black community from the racist Oakland Police force. As their reputation grew both locally and nationally, the scope of the organization changed. The Black Panthers disagreed both with the non-violent message of the mainstream Civil Rights movement and the Back-to-Africa theory of the more radical Black Nationalists. Newton and Seale developed a Ten Point plan which became the Party’s manifesto. It included the following: the Power to Black Self-determination, Universal Education and Health Care, Better Housing, and community control of industry. A mix of Marxism, Black Nationalism, and the Civil Rights movement, the Black Panther Party offered the next step in the fight for the rights of African Americans. Seale was appointed Chairman of the party and Newton was made Minister of Defense.

Besides its community outreach programs, the Party organized political issues such as gun reform in California and what they called the U.S Global Wars of Aggression. The party quickly spread opening chapters in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Newark, Omaha, Denver, New Haven, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, internal strife and the FBI’s Counter Intelligence program tore the Black Panther Party apart.

In 1968, Seale wrote Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. The book is a first hand account of the history and development of the Black Panther Party. That same year, Seale was arrested while protesting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He, along with seven other defendants, were tried in what was known as the case of the Chicago Seven. During the trial, Seale threw barb after contentious barb at both the judge and the court in general and eventually was put in prison for being in contempt of court. He would be held in prison until 1972 after the trial ended in a hung jury.

After his release, Seale began the job of reorganizing the demoralized and broken party. At the time, the Panthers had spilt into to camps, one supporting Newton and Seale, and one supporting exiled former Party leader Eldridge Cleaver. In an attempt to change the image of the Black Panther Party, Seale ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, forcing a run-off with Republican incumbent Mayor John Reading. Seale would lose to Reading by 70 percent but his strong showing proved how powerful a voice both he and the Party had become.

Eventually Seale would tire of politics. In 1978, he wrote his autobiography: A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale. The book traces Seale’s life in the narrative form that reader had come to expect from him. The publication of the A Lonely Rage marked the end of Seale’s major involvement in politics. Ever tough, he continues to develop community-based organizations and can be seen on the speaker’s circuit.

In 1998, Seale wrote Barbeque’n with Bobby Seale, a cook book that draws from his southern roots. In it, Seale shares traditional marinating recipe and techniques as well as various sauces.

Seale currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has been married twice and has two children.

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This biography was prepared by Mark Bagley.