Stephen Shames: Panthers listen to Huey P. Newton give a radio talk during Bobby Seale's trial, New Haven, May 1970

In the midst of the largely nonviolent Civil Rights movement sweeping through America, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the legendary Black Panther Party in 1966 in Oakland, California. The party burst onto the scene with a militant vision for social change and the empowerment of African-Americans. Its methods were highly controversial and polarizing, so much so that in 1968, FBI head J. Edgar Hoover described the organization as the country’s greatest threat to internal security.

During the height of the movement, from 1967 to 1973, photographer Stephen Shames had unprecedented access to the organization and captured not only its public face—street demonstrations, protests, and militant armed posturing—but also behind-the-scenes moments, from private meetings held in its headquarters to Bobby Seale at work on his mayoral campaign in Oakland. Shames’s prolific output has produced the largest archive of Panther images in the world. His remarkable insider status enabled him to create an uncommonly nuanced portrait of this dynamic social movement during one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history.

In The Black Panthers (Aperture, 2006), Shames recalls that “a few years ago, I gave a talk at the University of California, Berkeley, and someone in the audience asked about my role in the Black Panthers—was I a member of the party? I said, ‘No, I was just a photographer.’ Several former Panthers got up and said, ‘Steve, we always considered you a member of the party.’ That is a badge I wear with honor. . . . For me the most important part of the Black Panthers' legacy is a belief that one can affect change even when things seem hopeless.” 

When this image was taken, Bobby Seale was on trial for the murder of fellow Panther Alex Rackley, who was suspected of being a police informant.

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