Youth Poet Laureate Azura Mizan Tyabji (center) wears a shirt reading ‘Artist. Activist.’ during a discussion on LGBT identities within the movement for civil rights. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Seattle’s Black Panther Party, and local activists celebrated the occasion by coordinating many events with a visit from Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale. Franklin High School students on Saturday unveiled a mural depicting the 50-year history of the Black Panther Party in Seattle, a long artwork outside the school that Seale and local co-founder Elmer Dixon viewed that evening during a celebration of the 50 years of history.
After the unveiling at Franklin High School, students participated in the Youth Empowerment Summit on Sunday. There have been other youth empowerment summits, such as Youth Undoing Institutional Racism’s Freedom School, held in Seattle over the years, but this marks the first sponsored and supported by the Black Panther Party.
The theme for the event was “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” with workshops split into historical, contemporary, and future-oriented discussions on civil rights and youth empowerment.
Two young siblings show off their free T-shirts provided by the summit volunteers. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
Poet Ebo Barton performs a spoken word piece about the cultural and economic effects of gentrification. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
Young adults attend a healing workshop hosted by members of the No Youth Jail movement. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
Former Black Panther Party leader Mark Cook shakes the hand of a young woman attending the Youth Empowerment Summit workshops. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A young man attends a workshop during the Youth Empowerment Summit hosted by Seattle’s Black Panther Party. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
Workshop leader Dåkot-ta Alcantara-Camacho performs for a crowd during the lunch breach. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A young girl dances during a freestyle open-mic during the lunch break. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A student from Rainer Beach High School wears a quote from the ‘Black Panther’ movie. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
An 11-year-old boy listens to a discussion about youth incarceration during a workshop held by Seattle’s Credible Messenger program for at-risk youth. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
Artist and activist Rell Be Free hypes the crowd and acts as an old-school MC during a lunchtime open-mic. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A young man shares with a group during a workshop at the Youth Empowerment Summit. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A young man attends a workshop during the Youth Empowerment Summit (YES) hosted by Seattle’s Black Panther Party. (Photo by Chloe Collyer.)
A young woman attends a healing workshop held by members of the No Youth Jail movement. (Photo by Chloe Collyer).
