Editing Bobby Seale (section)

== Activism and leadership==
===Black Panthers===
{{main|Black Panthers}}
Bobby Seale and [[Huey P. Newton]] were strongly inspired by the teachings of activist [[Malcolm X]], who had been [[Assassination of Malcolm X|assassinated in 1965]]. The two joined together in October 1966 to create the [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther Party for Self-Defense]], which adopted the late activist's slogan "freedom by any means necessary" as their own. Prior to starting the Black Panther Party, Seale and Newton created a group known as the Soul Students Advisory Council. The group was organized to operate through "ultra-democracy", defined as individualism manifesting itself as an aversion to discipline. "The goal was to develop a college campus group that would help develop leadership; to go back to the black community and serve the black community in a revolutionary fashion".{{sfn|Seale|1991|pages=59–62}}

After the inception of Soul Students Advisory Council, Seale and Newton founded the group they are most identified with, the Black Panther Party. They wanted to organize the black community to express their desires and needs in order to resist the racism and classism perpetuated by the system. Seale described the Panthers as "an organization that represents black people and many white radicals relate to this and understand that the Black Panther Party is a righteous revolutionary front against this racist decadent, capitalistic system."<ref name="The Black Panther Leaders Speak">"On Violent Revolution", ''The Black Panther Leaders Speak',' pp. 21–22.</ref>

According to Seale, in 1967 he and Newton obtained copies of [[Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong|''Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong'']] from the Chinese Book Store in San Francisco to sell at [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name=":232223">{{Cite book |last=Mullen |first=Bill V. |title=Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-05722-7 |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Alexander C. |location=Cambridge |pages= |chapter=By the Book: Quotations from Chairman Mao and the Making of Afro-Asian Radicalism, 1966-1975}}</ref>{{Rp|page=245}} With the proceeds, they purchased weapons to arm Black Panther Party members for self-defense against police brutality.<ref name=":232223" />{{Rp|page=245}}

==== Writing ====
Seale and Newton together wrote the doctrines "What We Want Now!", which Seale said were intended to be "the practical, specific things we need and that should exist", and "What We Believe", which outlines the philosophical principles of the Black Panther Party in order to educate the people and disseminate information about the specifics of the party's platform.{{sfn|Seale|1991|page=11}} These writings were part of the party's [[Ten-Point Program (Black Panther Party)|Ten-Point Program]]. Also known as "The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program", this was a set of guidelines to the Black Panther Party's ideals and ways of operation. Seale and Newton named Newton as Minister of Defense and Seale as the Chairman of the party.{{sfn|Seale|1991|page=62}} During his time with the Panthers, Seale was kept under surveillance by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) as part of its illegal [[COINTELPRO]] program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archival newsfilm footage of a Bobby Seale press conference on police intimidation, from 1966 |url=http://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190422 |publisher=diva.sfsu.edu}}</ref>

In 1968, Seale wrote [[Seize the Time (book)|''Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton'']] (1970).<ref>{{cite book|last=Seale|first=Bobby|url=http://libcom.org/files/STT.pdf|title=Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party}}</ref>

=== The Trial of the Chicago 8 ===
Bobby Seale was one of the original "[[Chicago Seven|Chicago Eight]]" defendants charged with [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] and inciting a riot in the wake of the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]]. While in prison, Seale said, "To be a Revolutionary is to be an Enemy of the state. To be arrested for this struggle is to be a Political Prisoner."<ref>"On Violent Revolution", ''The Black Panther Leaders Speak'', p. 23.</ref> The evidence against Seale was slim, as he did not participate in activist planning for the convention's [[1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity|protests]] and had gone to Chicago as a last-minute replacement for activist [[Eldridge Cleaver]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/political-activists-on-trial/bobby-seale-bound-and-gagged/|title=Bobby Seale, Bound and Gagged &#124; Political Activists on Trial |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="twodayonly" /> He was in Chicago for only two days of the convention.<ref name="twodayonly">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1969/dec/04/a-special-supplement-the-trial-of-bobby-seale/ |title=A Special Supplement: The Trial of Bobby Seale |magazine=[[The New York Review of Books]] |date=December 4, 1969 |access-date=March 25, 2013|last1=Epstein |first1=Jason }}</ref>

During the trial, Judge [[Julius Hoffman]] ordered Seale bound and gagged in the courtroom because of his outspoken objections to his personal lack of legal representation, Seale's attorney being hospitalized at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://famous-trials.com/chicago8/1346-sealeb|title=Bobby Seale|website=UMKC Famous Trials}}</ref> He was repeatedly bound and gagged for several days of the trial.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Raymond R. |last1=Coffey |first2=James |last2=Kloss |title=Mistrial for Panther chief, Seale gets 4 yrs. in jail |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/21439091/trial-of-the-chicago-7-netflix-mistrial-for-panther-chief-seale-gets-4-yrs-in-jail |access-date=November 11, 2020 |issue=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=November 5, 1969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927161737/http://chicago.suntimes.com/21439091/trial-of-the-chicago-7-netflix-mistrial-for-panther-chief-seale-gets-4-yrs-in-jail |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |quote=Seale was gagged and bound to a chair for two and a half days last week after he tussled with the courtroom marshals. |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Shames|first=Stephen|title=Power to the People: The World of Black Panthers|date=2016-10-18|publisher=Abrams|isbn=978-1-4197-2240-0|location=New York|page=193}}</ref>

Though he was never convicted in the case, on November 5, 1969, Judge Hoffman sentenced Seale to four years in prison for 16 counts of [[contempt of court|contempt]], each count for three months of imprisonment, because of his outbursts during the trial. He eventually ordered Seale severed from the case. Proceedings against the remaining defendants resulted in their being renamed the "[[Chicago Seven]]".{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

=== New Haven Black Panther trials ===
[[File:Demonstratie voor vrijlating van Zwarte Panter leider Bobby Seale in Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 923-3470.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Demonstration for Black Panther Bobby Seale in Amsterdam March 14, 1970]]
While serving his four-year sentence, Seale was tried in 1970 as part of the [[New Haven Black Panther trials]]. Several officers of the Panther organization had killed fellow Panther, [[Alex Rackley]], who had confessed under torture to being a police informant.<ref name="twocases">{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.09.x.html |title=Two Controversial Cases in New Haven History: The Amistad Affair (1839) and The Black Panther Trials (1970) |publisher=Yale University |access-date=March 25, 2013}}</ref> The leader of the murder plan, [[George W. Sams Jr.]], turned state's evidence and testified that Seale, who had visited New Haven hours before the murder, had ordered him to kill Rackley. The trials were accompanied by a large demonstration in New Haven on [[May Day]], 1970. This coincided with the beginning of the American college [[student strike of 1970]]. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in Seale's trial, and the charges were eventually dropped. The government suspended his contempt convictions, and Seale was released from prison in 1972.<ref name="Spartacus" />

While Seale was in prison, his wife, Artie, became pregnant. Fellow Panther Fred Bennett was said to be the father. Bennett's mutilated remains were found in a suspected Panther hideout in April 1971.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/133186785/ |title=Remote Panther Hideout was Slaying Scene |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=April 21, 1971 |page=A4 |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 25, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Seale was implicated in the murder, with police suspecting he had ordered it in retaliation for the affair, but no charges were pressed.<ref>Jama Lazerow, Yohuru R. Williams. ''In Search of the Black Panther Party: New Perspectives on a Revolutionary Movement''. Duke University Press. 2006, p. 170.</ref>

=== 1973 and 1974 activities ===
In 1973, Seale ran for Mayor of [[Oakland, California]] as a [[California Democratic Party|Democrat]].<ref name="Penn State bio">[http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/seale__bobby.html Bobby Seale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201215919/http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/seale__bobby.html |date=February 1, 2014 }} at [[Pennsylvania State University]]'s online library</ref><ref name=mayoraldefeat>{{Cite news |date=1973-05-17 |title=Reading Defeats Seale Easily for Oakland Mayor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/05/17/archives/reading-defeats-seale-easily-for-oakland-mayor.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In an election with an unusually high 65% voter turnout, he came in second in a field of nine candidates<ref name="Spartacus" /><ref name="Caldwell1973">{{cite news |last1=Caldwell |first1=Earl |title=Seale Puts Oakland Race Into Runoff |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/19/archives/seale-puts-oakland-race-into-runoff-one-radical-elected.html |access-date=11 April 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 19, 1973}}</ref> with 20% of the vote to the incumbent Mayor [[John H. Reading|John Reading]]'s 50%.<ref name="Caldwell1973"/> Although Seale came in well behind Reading, the incumbent fell short of a majority, forcing a [[runoff election]] which Reading ultimately won.<ref name="Penn State bio" /><ref name=mayoraldefeat/>

In 1974, Seale and Huey Newton argued over a proposed film about the Panthers that Newton wanted [[Bert Schneider]] to produce. According to several accounts, the argument escalated to a fight in which Newton, backed by his armed bodyguards, allegedly beat Seale with a bullwhip so badly that Seale required extensive medical treatment for his injuries. Afterward, he went into hiding for nearly a year, and ended his affiliation with the Party that year.<ref>Kate Coleman and [[Paul Avery]]. "The Party's Over". [[Village Voice Media|''New Times'']]. July 10, 1978.</ref><ref>Hugh Pearson, ''The Shadow of the Panther'', 1994.</ref> Seale has denied that any such physical altercation took place, dismissing rumors that he and Newton were ever less than friends.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ur.umich.edu/9596/Jan23_96/artcl20.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315222349/https://www.ur.umich.edu/9596/Jan23_96/artcl20.htm |archive-date=2012-03-15 |title=Former Black Panther draws crowd of more than 600 |website=University of Michigan Record |date=January 23, 1996 |access-date=March 25, 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===The Ten Point Platform===
{{Main|Ten-Point Program (Black Panther Party)}}
[[File:Drawing for CBS Evening News of Bobby G. Seale with Arnold Markle, State Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven, in the back ground.jpg|thumb|left|Seale on trial in 1970, State Attorney Arnold Markle in the background]]
Seale worked with Huey Newton to create the Ten Point platform. It included political and social demands they believed necessary for the survival of the Black population in the United States. The two men formulated the Ten Point Platform in the late 1960s, and from these ideologies developed the Black Panther Party. The document encapsulated the economic exploitation of the black body, and addressed the mistreatment of the black race. This document was attractive to those suffering under the oppressive nature of white power. The document is based on the conclusion that a combination of racism and capitalism resulted in fascism in the United States. The Ten Point Platform lays out the need for full employment of Black people, decent shelter, and decent education. They defined decent education as the full history of the United States, including acknowledgement of the genocide and displacement of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. The platform calls for the release of political prisoners.

The points are as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1966/10/15.htm|title=Black Panther's Ten-Point Program|website=www.marxists.org}}</ref>

{{quote|
#We Want Freedom. We Want Power To Determine The Destiny Of Our Black Community.
#We Want Full Employment For Our People.
#We Want An End To The Robbery By The Capitalists Of Our Black Community.
#We Want Decent Housing Fit For The Shelter Of Human Beings.
#We Want Education For Our People That Exposes The True Nature Of This Decadent American Society. We Want Education That Teaches Us Our True History And Our Role In The Present-Day Society.
#We Want All Black Men To Be Exempt From Military Service.
#We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People.
#We Want Freedom For All Black Men Held In Federal, State, County And City Prisons And Jails.
#We Want All Black People When Brought To Trial To Be Tried In Court By A Jury Of Their Peer Group Or People From Their Black Communities, As Defined By The Constitution Of The United States.
#We Want Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice And Peace.
}}