Hosted by North Oakland lyricist and entrepreneur Mistah F.A.B., the party will also feature comments from Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, a performance by The Curtis Family C-Notes and a speech from thespian and comedian Donald Lacy Jr.
This week is also “Love Life Week” in Oakland. In 2016, after Lacy’s 16-year old daughter Lo’Eshe Lacy was killed in a shooting, Oakland adopted “Love Life” as its official motto; the term is inspired by the meaning of Lacy’s daughter’s name.
Black Panther Adrienne Humphrey conducts sickle cell anemia testing during Bobby Seale’s campaign for mayor of Oakland in 1973. (Stephen Shames)
The city proclamation honoring Bobby Seale notes that his “visionary leadership and fearless activism have not only transformed Oakland but have left a lasting impact on national movements for racial and economic justice.”
The proclamation also praises Seale’s leadership of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, which “rose to national prominence not only for its stance against police brutality but for its pioneering community-based programs, including free breakfast programs for children, health clinics, educational initiatives, and mutual aid efforts that served as blueprints for future social welfare models.”
In recent years, the City of Oakland has taken strides to honor its local luminaries. Tupac Shakur has a commemorative plaque on Grand Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard near Lake Merritt, and rapper Too Short has a street sign mounted on the corner of High Street and Foothill Boulevard. Black Panther Party cofounder Dr. Huey P. Newton has a sculpture and a three-block section of 9th Street in West Oakland named in his honor. And in June of this year a street sign in recognition of Black Panther leader Elaine Brown was unveiled in West Oakland.