It was standing room only at last night’s program, “We’re Going to Defend Ourselves”: The Portland Chapter of the Black Panther Party and the Local Media Response” with presenters Jules Boykoff, Martha Gies, and special guests Kent Ford and Percy Hampton.

It was wonderful to see so many people come out to learn about this important topic — or see each-other after many years — but we really regretted having to turn some people away for lack of space. Thanks to all who came, and our deepest apologies for those who couldn’t get in.

We’ll share any information about future opportunities to see the presenters if they decide to do something similar again. And two people recorded the event, so if that becomes available we’ll pass on that information. And be sure to look for the upcoming issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly featuring the article on which the talk is based — in review now with publication expected sometime in 2010.

Finally, here are some suggested additional resources that we handed out at the talk:

The Black Panther Party in Portland and Beyond

• Martha Gies and Jules Boykoff, “‘We’re going to defend ourselves’: The Portland Chapter of the Black Panther Party & Local Media Response,” Oregon Historical Quarterly (in review, projected publication 2010).
• Martha Gies, “Radical Treatment,” Reed Magazine Winter 2009.
• Primary source materials & news articles found in the City of Portland Archives, collection “A2004-005, Police Investigative Files, Black Panther Party.”
• Jones, Charles E, ed. The Black Panther Party (reconsidered). Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 2005.
• Lee Lew-Lee, All power to the people! The Black Panther Party and Beyond (documentary). New York: Filmakers Library, 1996. (Note: portions or all of this documentary appear to be available online from various sites, but we haven’t researched the copyright).

African American history in Oregon & the Pacific Northwest

• “African American History in Oregon” Oregon Historical Society.
• Golden West Project
• Nicholas T. Starin, “History of African Americans in Portland & Oregon: A Selected Bibliography” at blackpast.org
• Quintard Taylor, In Search of the Racial Frontier: African American West, 1528-1990. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998).