University of Kentucky Event: An Evening with Bobby Seale (3/31/08)

(Courtesy of Michael Marchman)

An Evening with Bobby Seale

Event Info
An Evening with Bobby Seale

Time and Place
Date: Monday, March 31, 2008
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Student Center Grand Ballroom
City/Town: Lexington, KY

Free and open to the public.

Description
On Monday, March 31st, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center will present "An Evening With Bobby Seale", featuring a presentation by the legendary Bobby Seale, perhaps best known for his role as co-founder of the Black Panther Party. The event, which is free and open to the public, is set for 7:00 pm in the Student Center Grand Ballroom on the UK campus.

Bobby Seale enjoys an almost mythic status as one of the iconic figures of the 1960's. During the turbulent 1960's he became chairman of the Black Panther Party and was the subject of FBI surveillance as part of its COINTELPRO program. He was also one of the original "Chicago Eight" defendants charged with conspiracy and inciting a riot, in the wake of the historic 1968 Democratic National Convention. It was during this period that he gained international recognition as a defendant in what became known as "The Great Chicago Eight Conspiracy Trial of 1969", where he was chained, shackled, gagged and tied to a chair for three days during the trial. While in jail, he wrote the book Seize The Time. Eventually, all political charges against Seale and the seven co-defendants were dismissed or thrown out of court. In 1974, Seale resigned the Black Panther Party and released his autobiography, A Lonely Rage.

Today, Bobby Seale acts as a Community Liaison with the Department of African American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. He is completing the screenplay for the film Seize The Time, the next real life 1960's feature film following Spike Lee's Malcolm X.

The King Cultural Center is presenting "An Evening With Bobby Seale" as part of its on-going effort to advance inter-cultural understanding and raise student and community awareness around issues of cultural and political significance. In remarking on the importance of the Bobby Seale lecture, Veleashia Smith, the director of the center said, "It is important for students today to understand the historic relevance of figures like Bobby Seale. In light of such events as Jena Six and the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, our youth, now more than ever, need to understand the impact of advocacy and importance of standing up against oppression and discrimination."