PRESS
Vandalized Black Panther Mural at Franklin High School Gets a Glow-Up
This month, a small group of volunteers reinstalled a mural honoring the 50th anniversary of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party. The mural was originally created by the Franklin High School Art of Resistance & Resilience club and was officially hung on the fence outside Franklin High School in November 2018.
The mural was removed for repair and refurbishing in October 2025 after several panels were vandalized. Lauren Holloway, founder and co-advisor for Art of Resistance & Resilience, organized current and former Franklin students, community members, and staff from nonprofits to help repair the mural. They also added another mural on the wall below the fence.
The Roundup: Black Panthers Had It Right — Feed All Kids
What's up, South End?
I hope y'all had a good week. I want to start today's newsletter with a little bit of Seattle history.
In 1969, the Black Panther Party launched the Free Breakfast for School Children Program. It first launched in Oakland, but as I'm sure y'all know, the Black Panthers also had a presence here in Seattle. In fact, the first chapter of the Black Panther Party outside of California set up shop in the Central District.
A little-known fact about the free breakfast program in Seattle is that it also served white and Asian children. A well-known fact, and perhaps why the legacy of this program is so revered, is that the Black Panthers stepping up to feed kids in urban neighborhoods is what pressured the U.S. government to start feeding schoolchildren nationwide.
Preserving a Revolutionary Legacy: Naudia Miller on the Pop-Up
Cultural worker Naudia Miller recently joined The Pop-Up! to share exciting developments regarding the Seattle Black Panther Party Interpretive Center and to weigh in on the cultural and technological shifts impacting the Black community today.
Known to many as "Nas," Miller brought a pointed yet hopeful perspective to the table, discussing everything from preserving historical landmarks to the complex role of artificial intelligence.
Reflecting on the World Cup’s Complex Colonial Politics
Hi everyone,
Unless you live under a rock, you are aware that the men’s World Cup is currently happening in Seattle (and across the United States, Mexico and Canada). I have complicated feelings about global events like the World Cup, the Olympics, etc.
On the one hand, I am profoundly moved by the stories of the teams and individuals competing. For example, Vozinha, the goalie from Cape Verde, is a 40-year-old electrician and bus driver by day, and world-class athlete by night — what an incredible human! But on the other hand, I am deeply aware of how these events not only expose inequities but create and compound them. Furthermore, I’ve experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance reading the language FIFA uses to promote the men’s World Cup, preaching unity and asking to remain "apolitical" despite the very premise of the event being rooted in politics — the concept of borders and countries is nothing but imperialist politics in action, after all.
Honoring A Legacy: ARTE NOIR And Def Chef Revive Black Panther-Inspired Community Breakfast Program
A free community breakfast program inspired by one of the Seattle Black Panther Party’s most impactful initiatives is returning to Seattle’s Central District this summer.
ARTE NOIR and Jimaine Miller, affectionately known as “Def Chef,” have partnered to launch a Free Community Breakfast Program at the historic Prince Hall Masonic Lodge, located at 306 24th Ave. S. The program operates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. through Aug. 28.
The initiative comes as ARTE NOIR presents its Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers. exhibition, which explores the history and impact of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. Organizers say the breakfast program is intended to move beyond historical reflection and bring one of the party’s most enduring community programs back into practice.
This Juneteenth Is All About Black History and Black Panthers
Serron Green’s “Peek-a-boo #7” and “Peek-a-boo #11” is on view at Arte Noir’s exhibition Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers. (Courtesy the artist/Arte Noir)
This Friday is Juneteenth, a day Black Americans celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday coincides this year with a wealth of exhibitions and community projects in the area that honor the legacy of the Seattle Black Panther Party, which fought for the liberation of Black people during the late 1960s.
The Black Panthers, Malcolm X, and Charlie Parker: How a 38.5-foot-long Central District retaining wall and mural became a Seattle landmark
The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Landmarks Preservation Board has voted unanimously to approve the designation of The People’s Wall as an official Seattle landmark.
Located at 1919 E Spruce in the Central District, the street-level concrete retaining wall and its 1970 mural have long stood as a community monument.
The People’s Wall sits on the eastern border of a site that once housed a two-story duplex serving as the second headquarters of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party from 1969 to 1971.
The nomination was pursued by a community group organized as the Black Heritage Society of Washington State.
New Activation Explores History, Legacy of Seattle Black Panther Party Ahead Of 2026 World Cup
Ahead of the June 12 opening of the Seattle Black Panther Party Interpretive Center, the Seattle Black Panther Party Legacy Group is inviting the public into “Prelude,” a community-centered activation designed to explore the history, legacy and enduring influence of Seattle’s Black Panther chapter.
Located on the first floor of the Metropole Building in Pioneer Square, Prelude offers visitors an opportunity to engage with the history and legacy of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party before the interpretive center’s inaugural exhibition.
“Curators are given a lot of power about the point of view, about what information gets shared, what information is withheld, and what is important and what isn’t,” said Gia Hamilton, advising consultant for the Seattle Black Panther Party Interpretive Center. “And so I have had the pleasure of really helping them to think through the Prelude because it is really an opportunity to clarify the party, what it was and what it was not for the public before the wonderful World Cup comes to Seattle.”
CENTRAL DISTRICT LEGACY: BLACK. POWER. BLACK PANTHERS.
On view at ARTE NOIR Gallery through August 2, 2026, Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers. invites viewers into a paradigm-shifting visual topography of Black power, authority, and self-determination. Featuring works by nine visual artists and reflections from current and former Central District residents, the exhibition remembers and honors the impact of the Black Panther Party while asking what it means to continue that legacy.
When examined as a whole, the exhibition’s visual narrative suggests that the legacy of the Black Panther Party is not simply power as belief, force, or external control, but power as the authority to define the self first—and from that definition, to take decisive action to reorient reality.
New Exhibition Explores Seattle Black Panther Legacy Through Art And History
ARTE NOIR’s Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers., now on view through Aug. 2, explores the history, cultural influence, and enduring legacy of Seattle’s Black Panther Party through visual art, community memory, and the lived experiences that shaped the Central District.
Rooted in history and cultural power, the exhibition celebrates the impact of the Black Panther Party in Seattle while recognizing the Central District as a vital center of Black life, culture, and resilience.
From the Black Panther Party to Labor Rights, Local Organizers Prioritized Building Coalitions
Seattle is no stranger to multicultural and international coalition building. The Central District's Black Panther Party (BPP), the local labor movement, and many others, including the 'Gang of Four' activist leaders Bob Santos (founder of InterimCDA), Larry Gossett (former King County Councilmember), Bernie Whitebear (founder of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation), and Roberto Maestas (founder of El Centro de la Raza) all addressed the needs of local communities. They built coalitions because, as Michael Woo, former executive director of the Legacy of Equality Leadership & Organizing (formerly known as the Northwest Labor and Employment and Law Office), put it, "No one ethnic community of color was sizable enough to be impactful."
Black Panther Park in Skyway Becomes First Black Panther Park in the World
On a sunny Sunday earlier this month, at the corner of 75th Avenue and Renton Avenue South, the community gathered for the opening of Skyway’s Black Panther Park. Inspired by the Black Panther’s Free Breakfast for School Children program that compelled the federal government to provide breakfast in schools, Black Panther Park is a community garden—planted, preserved, and protected by the surrounding residents of Skyway.
“When the name got settled on, we knew it was the first,” says Jake Harris, owner of Stone Soup Gardens, a design and installation company and one of the partner organizations responsible for making the vision of Black Panther Park come to life. “We knew in Oakland, there’s a park named after one of the fallen Panthers, and in other cities. In Chicago, there was a park that was dedicated to fallen Panthers, but none are called ‘Black Panther Park.’”
Skyway Celebrates Black Panther Park as Community Pushes for More Investment
Nine years is a long time to carry a vision.
So when Nyema Clark, founder of Nurturing Roots, an urban farm formerly located on Beacon Hill, stood before a crowd on Sunday afternoon in Skyway, at times having to pause tearfully, the emotion needed no explanation.
"Everybody that poured into this, this is y'all's park. This is our space," she said, addressing the people who helped turn an idea into Black Panther Park, which celebrated its official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony over the weekend. The South End's newest park is located at Renton Avenue South and South 75th Avenue.
Murals and Memories: New Black Panther Park Opens in Skyway
Kids chased each other on the lightly snow-covered paths at Black Panther Park, where close to 100 people gathered on Sunday, March 15, for the unveiling of nine murals created by nine local artists. The park in Skyway is dedicated to the legacy of the Black Panther Party, and each artist interpreted the Panthers' impact on the community in their own way.
Seattle Black Panther Party Co-Founder Keeps Legacy Alive
Elmer Dixon wants youth to learn their history, create their own identity, and fight for something.
Civil Rights Leader Elmer Dixon on Activism Then and Now
In honor of Martin Luther King Junior day, KNKX wanted to take a moment to talk with a prominent leader in the Civil Rights Movement here in Seattle.
Elmer Dixon grew up a witness to the Civil Rights Movement, and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Seattle in 1961.
Dixon was one of the founders of Seattle's chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968. Only 17 at the time, he was excited to be part of the movement "and help to shape a new world, a new place, a new country, where people, all people, were respected, regardless of color and position in life."