Today I’m reminded of the Black Panthers who marched (armed) to the California State Capitol in 1967 to protest proposed gun control legislation known as the Mulford Act. 1/6

Their argument, presented by Bobby Seale in a statement, was that the bill left Black Americans powerless to defend themselves against, “racist police agencies throughout the country [who] are intensifying the terror, brutality, murder and repression of black people.” 2/6

The assembly, along with then governor Ronald Reagan, were so shook that they passed a law prohibiting the open carry of loaded firearms with the support of the NRA. They could not fathom a world where Black people could DEFEND themselves from state-sanctioned violence. 3/6

The Panthers were labeled a terror group, threat to democracy and were subsequently hunted. Meanwhile, Black people continue[d] to die at the hands of police. 4/6

And some 50 years later a majority white group storms the NATIONAL Capitol in demand of what? And for whom? (Trick question we know) 5/6

Hope we remember this when examining what’s happening today. When a group of Black folk arm themselves because they’re tired of being killed by the state, it’s labeled terrorism. What do we then call of group people who arm themselves to overturn the results of an election? 6/6

As a kicker, here’s the Sac Bee write up of that day https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article148667224.html