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My People Are Rising: Memoir of a Black Panther Party Captain
The founder of the Black Panther Party’s Seattle chapter recounts his life on the frontlines of the Black Power Revolution.Growing up in Seattle in the 1960s, Aaron Dixon dedicated himself to the Civil Rights movement at an early age. As a teenager, he joined Martin Luther King on marches to end housing discrimination and volunteered to help integrate schools. After King’s assassination in 1968, Dixon continued his activism by starting the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party at the age of nineteen.In My People Are Rising, Dixon offers a candid account of life in the Black Panther Party. Through his eyes, we see the courage of a generation that stood up to injustice, their political triumphs and tragedies, and the unforgettable legacy of Black Power.“This book is a moving memoir a must read. The dramatic life cycle rise of a youthful sixties political revolutionary, my friend Aaron Dixon.” —Bobby Seale, founding chairman and national organizer of the Black Panther Party, 1966 to 1974
423 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 17, 2012
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February 26, 2020I'm not gonna lay a 2.5/5 on this book but I would if it had more reviews and it were closer to my area of expertise. This isn't my lane but I have to be honest about how it hit me.
The parts I found most interesting were the descriptions of day-to-day life as a Panther, plus the party's history, with which I was only passingly familiar.
Unfortunately these accounts are saddled with a series of amorous recollections which can only be of interest to the author himself, all of it reported in lifeless prose and thudding imagery.
I can't imagine what insight into the Black Panthers we gain by learning that one object of Dixon's desire was "sweet" but another was "very attractive." We gain insight into the author when he treats the women in his life as interchangeable and disposable, but it's not a view the author points out to us. One of the book's blurbs describes this account as "candid" but I do not think we ever see him try to see himself through one of his lover's eyes—or any woman's eyes, really. He is clearly disappointed in Stokely Carmichael for his "abusive behavior toward" the "beautiful, gifted Miriam Makeba," and admits: "The party's official position, set by the Central Committee, was that women were equal to men and that women had the power to do anything a man could do. However, in day-to-day activity, things didn't always turn out that way. It was a constant struggle to change the thinking of the men in the party."
Dixon only hints at his own struggle with this revolutionary, progressive idea. When his girlfriend "became pregnant" (somehow!!), he tells the story about how both his own father and his partner's father had to threaten him before he would marry her—and even then he makes his friend swear to get him out of the wedding. After his friend fails to come through, "Tanya and I were married."
Notice the passive voice with which Dixon treats her pregnancy and their marriage. Women barely exist in the text as human beings with emotions and desires. I am hard-pressed to find a direct quote from a woman that isn't related by blood to Dixon.
Even Chairwoman Elaine Brown hovers at the narrative's periphery. Dixon credits her with creating an effective political machine and strengthening the Black Panthers, particularly with regard to the party's social outreach programs, but the text treats her as dismissively as her male comrades did at the time. Consider: "Elaine was an attractive person. She had a little-girl cuteness about her that men liked, yet when she opened her mouth she was an extremely articulate, decisive and confident women. She had facts and information to back up every point she made." How is this any less condescending than a white racist describing Obama as being "clean" and "well-spoken?" (And yes, I'm talking about Biden.)
I'm not saying all this to cancel Aaron Dixon, but I do mean to challenge the blurb from Laura Chrisman describing the account as candid. Yes, the men of the party did not treat its women like equal participants. Dixon cannot change the past. But how clear-eyed can this account be if its author cannot come to terms with this obvious and searing injustice? By her own account (published in 1992) Elaine Brown left the party because it was too sexist, especially after Huey Newton returned from prison and began ordering the beating of women as punishment for insubordination. Dixon's account is that Huey threatened her directly and she fled, omitting the detail that other women were being threatened and abused as well.
These physical punishments—beatings—were carried out under Brown too. Dixon includes the description of his own whipping, ordered by Brown, and then a little later he celebrates when she flees the country, concluding she was "difficult" to work for. There's a lot going on there! But there's simply no analysis, no reflection.
There are other times when the narrative doesn't square, when Dixon seems eager to put a little bow on a paragraph or chapter with a glib conclusion so incongruous with what has come before that it gives the reader (me) whiplash. Describing the party's growing influence in Oakland, he writes: "We had seized control without a single shot fired. (Actually, there were some shots fired.)" Huh? Is Dixon referring to shoot-outs described earlier in the text? Or winking toward episodes he cannot go into further detail about, for legal reasons? What's the rhetorical strategy here, anyway? A later sentence (twenty pages later) renders that one even weirder: "We had *come so close to achieving* something unprecedented in American history: the *nonviolent* capture of an American city by progressive revolutionary forces [Emphasis mine]." So: did you or didn't you? And did you do it violently or nonviolently?
Describing the fallout from the assassination of Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins, he writes: "The Southern California chapter never recovered from this loss." Then, four sentences later: "Geronimo and Elaine continued to uphold the Southern California chapter as one of the most important in the party." So was it kaput or insurgent? An intervening sentence helps to clarify the meaning here — "There would never be another Bunchy or another John" — but the imprecise word choice makes me feel like I'm only guessing at, but can never be quite sure of, the author's message.
At other times, the author just tells us what he means, ruining the resonance of his imagery. "I picked up my Colt Combat Commander," he says late in the book, as he's relinquishing his gun and leaving the party, "the weapon that had been my constant companion the past four years. It was like giving up a part of me, something familiar and close. Reluctantly, I handed the gun to Randy."
The point I'm trying to make isn't just that the prose is a slog but that the word "candid" does not quite describe it. Dixon is not lying to us. There's a lot of meticulously recollected history here and some brilliant, searing details ("A startled Larry raised his hands and the pigs opened up, shooting and killing him instantly. The pigs used one-inch deer slugs, solid pieces of lead used mainly for hunting large wild animals."); and a sympathetic first-person account of these events and of the party's history is valuable in and of itself.
But the account is unstudied by its own author in ways that lead to this uncanny glibness in its final paragraphs: "Maybe this strange journey had hidden meaning and purpose for me. Maybe it served to remind me that we must always remember... Maybe that is part of what happened to Huey. He stopped remembering... In the end it is the memories that make life worth living, particularly the good memories. My memories of Huey P. Newton are of a young, rebellious, brave, captivating, eloquent genius... My memories of the Black Panther Party are of men and women rising in union to carry that flame..."
Setting aside the stupidity of a memoir instructing its reader that memory is important, we have here a series of obvious and intentional forgettings. Dixon chooses to forget that Newton became a violent addict whose paranoia destroyed the party. He chooses to forget that women rose in union with men who did not see the women as equals. And he rhetorically draws our attention to these lacunae immediately after lecturing us on the importance of memory! What is going on here?
In his old age, Dixon has fallen prey to the fascistic impulse to "remember the good old days," and from this position he cannot instruct us on what a younger generation should borrow from the Black Panthers and what it should abandon to history. As someone who once sought to lead and educate the youth of a revolution, it's a real tragedy that this flawed account is all we have from him as an author.
The parts I found most interesting were the descriptions of day-to-day life as a Panther, plus the party's history, with which I was only passingly familiar.
Unfortunately these accounts are saddled with a series of amorous recollections which can only be of interest to the author himself, all of it reported in lifeless prose and thudding imagery.
I can't imagine what insight into the Black Panthers we gain by learning that one object of Dixon's desire was "sweet" but another was "very attractive." We gain insight into the author when he treats the women in his life as interchangeable and disposable, but it's not a view the author points out to us. One of the book's blurbs describes this account as "candid" but I do not think we ever see him try to see himself through one of his lover's eyes—or any woman's eyes, really. He is clearly disappointed in Stokely Carmichael for his "abusive behavior toward" the "beautiful, gifted Miriam Makeba," and admits: "The party's official position, set by the Central Committee, was that women were equal to men and that women had the power to do anything a man could do. However, in day-to-day activity, things didn't always turn out that way. It was a constant struggle to change the thinking of the men in the party."
Dixon only hints at his own struggle with this revolutionary, progressive idea. When his girlfriend "became pregnant" (somehow!!), he tells the story about how both his own father and his partner's father had to threaten him before he would marry her—and even then he makes his friend swear to get him out of the wedding. After his friend fails to come through, "Tanya and I were married."
Notice the passive voice with which Dixon treats her pregnancy and their marriage. Women barely exist in the text as human beings with emotions and desires. I am hard-pressed to find a direct quote from a woman that isn't related by blood to Dixon.
Even Chairwoman Elaine Brown hovers at the narrative's periphery. Dixon credits her with creating an effective political machine and strengthening the Black Panthers, particularly with regard to the party's social outreach programs, but the text treats her as dismissively as her male comrades did at the time. Consider: "Elaine was an attractive person. She had a little-girl cuteness about her that men liked, yet when she opened her mouth she was an extremely articulate, decisive and confident women. She had facts and information to back up every point she made." How is this any less condescending than a white racist describing Obama as being "clean" and "well-spoken?" (And yes, I'm talking about Biden.)
I'm not saying all this to cancel Aaron Dixon, but I do mean to challenge the blurb from Laura Chrisman describing the account as candid. Yes, the men of the party did not treat its women like equal participants. Dixon cannot change the past. But how clear-eyed can this account be if its author cannot come to terms with this obvious and searing injustice? By her own account (published in 1992) Elaine Brown left the party because it was too sexist, especially after Huey Newton returned from prison and began ordering the beating of women as punishment for insubordination. Dixon's account is that Huey threatened her directly and she fled, omitting the detail that other women were being threatened and abused as well.
These physical punishments—beatings—were carried out under Brown too. Dixon includes the description of his own whipping, ordered by Brown, and then a little later he celebrates when she flees the country, concluding she was "difficult" to work for. There's a lot going on there! But there's simply no analysis, no reflection.
There are other times when the narrative doesn't square, when Dixon seems eager to put a little bow on a paragraph or chapter with a glib conclusion so incongruous with what has come before that it gives the reader (me) whiplash. Describing the party's growing influence in Oakland, he writes: "We had seized control without a single shot fired. (Actually, there were some shots fired.)" Huh? Is Dixon referring to shoot-outs described earlier in the text? Or winking toward episodes he cannot go into further detail about, for legal reasons? What's the rhetorical strategy here, anyway? A later sentence (twenty pages later) renders that one even weirder: "We had *come so close to achieving* something unprecedented in American history: the *nonviolent* capture of an American city by progressive revolutionary forces [Emphasis mine]." So: did you or didn't you? And did you do it violently or nonviolently?
Describing the fallout from the assassination of Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins, he writes: "The Southern California chapter never recovered from this loss." Then, four sentences later: "Geronimo and Elaine continued to uphold the Southern California chapter as one of the most important in the party." So was it kaput or insurgent? An intervening sentence helps to clarify the meaning here — "There would never be another Bunchy or another John" — but the imprecise word choice makes me feel like I'm only guessing at, but can never be quite sure of, the author's message.
At other times, the author just tells us what he means, ruining the resonance of his imagery. "I picked up my Colt Combat Commander," he says late in the book, as he's relinquishing his gun and leaving the party, "the weapon that had been my constant companion the past four years. It was like giving up a part of me, something familiar and close. Reluctantly, I handed the gun to Randy."
The point I'm trying to make isn't just that the prose is a slog but that the word "candid" does not quite describe it. Dixon is not lying to us. There's a lot of meticulously recollected history here and some brilliant, searing details ("A startled Larry raised his hands and the pigs opened up, shooting and killing him instantly. The pigs used one-inch deer slugs, solid pieces of lead used mainly for hunting large wild animals."); and a sympathetic first-person account of these events and of the party's history is valuable in and of itself.
But the account is unstudied by its own author in ways that lead to this uncanny glibness in its final paragraphs: "Maybe this strange journey had hidden meaning and purpose for me. Maybe it served to remind me that we must always remember... Maybe that is part of what happened to Huey. He stopped remembering... In the end it is the memories that make life worth living, particularly the good memories. My memories of Huey P. Newton are of a young, rebellious, brave, captivating, eloquent genius... My memories of the Black Panther Party are of men and women rising in union to carry that flame..."
Setting aside the stupidity of a memoir instructing its reader that memory is important, we have here a series of obvious and intentional forgettings. Dixon chooses to forget that Newton became a violent addict whose paranoia destroyed the party. He chooses to forget that women rose in union with men who did not see the women as equals. And he rhetorically draws our attention to these lacunae immediately after lecturing us on the importance of memory! What is going on here?
In his old age, Dixon has fallen prey to the fascistic impulse to "remember the good old days," and from this position he cannot instruct us on what a younger generation should borrow from the Black Panthers and what it should abandon to history. As someone who once sought to lead and educate the youth of a revolution, it's a real tragedy that this flawed account is all we have from him as an author.
February 15, 2024
I’m very excited to read this. I stole it off a friend’s reading list and I’m very glad I did. I wish I had read The Autobiography of Malcolm X first but it’s not necessary. Truly my biggest problem in this book is comparing cops to pigs because pigs are wonderful and nice creatures who never hurt anyone and they don’t deserve that comparison. I know he didn’t invent the comparison but every time I see it it makes me so sad. If you like this I highly recommend Days of Rage by Bryan Burrough. 4.7 stars
June 10, 2021
'My People are Rising' is an up-close-and-personal memoir from Aaron Dixon, the founder and captain of the Seattle branch of the Black Panther Party (the first branch to be set up outside California).
Having just read Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, the basic story of the party is still quite fresh in my mind. Much of it is reiterated in this book, but it's valuable to get the perspective of someone who participated so directly.
Perhaps the key contribution of 'My People are Rising' is the detailed account of the party's trajectory in the 1970s. Most other accounts deal with the high points: the armed mission to the California Capitol in 1967, the Free Huey campaign, the early experiments with 'community survival' or 'serve the people' initiatives such as the free breakfast programs. Some other studies discuss the (extensive, intricate and violent) campaign by the FBI to disrupt and destroy the BPP. What Dixon provides, which I haven't seen elsewhere, is an insider account of the second wave of the party in Oakland in the mid-1970s under the leadership of Elaine Brown (whose book A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story I look forward to reading soon), the turn away from armed community defence and towards more institutional black power politics, and the descent into petty criminality and collapse after the return of Huey Newton in 1977.
A worthwhile and moving addition to the Panther canon. I listened to the audiobook, which is nicely narrated.
Having just read Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, the basic story of the party is still quite fresh in my mind. Much of it is reiterated in this book, but it's valuable to get the perspective of someone who participated so directly.
Perhaps the key contribution of 'My People are Rising' is the detailed account of the party's trajectory in the 1970s. Most other accounts deal with the high points: the armed mission to the California Capitol in 1967, the Free Huey campaign, the early experiments with 'community survival' or 'serve the people' initiatives such as the free breakfast programs. Some other studies discuss the (extensive, intricate and violent) campaign by the FBI to disrupt and destroy the BPP. What Dixon provides, which I haven't seen elsewhere, is an insider account of the second wave of the party in Oakland in the mid-1970s under the leadership of Elaine Brown (whose book A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story I look forward to reading soon), the turn away from armed community defence and towards more institutional black power politics, and the descent into petty criminality and collapse after the return of Huey Newton in 1977.
A worthwhile and moving addition to the Panther canon. I listened to the audiobook, which is nicely narrated.
September 7, 2025
Let me start off by saying I am a collector of books. When I first saw this book, the cover sold me. A cool-looking brother leaning out of the front passenger seat of a police cruiser. He’s wearing the traditional black leather jacket and beret they wore in all the movies and documentaries I’ve seen growing up. “Great cover!” I thought, then told the cashier, “I’ll take it.”
Schools did a horrible job teaching us about this part of American history, so I spent my entire life thinking that the movie “Panther” by Mario Van Peebles was their complete story. Earlier this year, I read Assata Shakur’s autobiography and loved it (5 stars). I learned plenty from her. But this book gives you much more. You will learn more from this book than you will in any textbook, movie, or documentary I’ve seen.
Aaron Dixon was the captain of the Seattle chapter. In this memoir, he tells you about how life was before joining, why he joined, gives vivid descriptions of his time as a Panther (which is action packed and reads like a movie), what destroyed their organization, and finally his life afterwards. I have other books on the Panthers, but for right now, this book will serve as my reference guide. I’m giving it four and a half stars.
Schools did a horrible job teaching us about this part of American history, so I spent my entire life thinking that the movie “Panther” by Mario Van Peebles was their complete story. Earlier this year, I read Assata Shakur’s autobiography and loved it (5 stars). I learned plenty from her. But this book gives you much more. You will learn more from this book than you will in any textbook, movie, or documentary I’ve seen.
Aaron Dixon was the captain of the Seattle chapter. In this memoir, he tells you about how life was before joining, why he joined, gives vivid descriptions of his time as a Panther (which is action packed and reads like a movie), what destroyed their organization, and finally his life afterwards. I have other books on the Panthers, but for right now, this book will serve as my reference guide. I’m giving it four and a half stars.
April 13, 2016
Dixon was one of the founders of the Seattle Black Panther Party chapter, the first BPP chapter to form outside California. He gives a frank and engaging account of his upbringing in Seattle and his years in the party from the early days of the Seattle chapter to the slow demise of the entire party. As a Seattle resident with a strong interest in local history, I found the chapters on his teenage years in Seattle and the beginning of the local chapter particularly intriguing. It provided real insight into the segregation & racism that existed in this city and a different portrait of historically black neighborhoods like Madrona that are now almost entirely gentrified. I wasn't quite as invested once the narrative shifted to California, although I still learned a lot about the history of the Panthers. I'm excited to read his brother Elmer's book (currently in the works) which will likely provide more information about the Seattle chapter and its triumphs & struggles after Aaron moved to Oakland.
Recommended reading for anyone interested in Seattle history and the history of the civil rights movement.
Recommended reading for anyone interested in Seattle history and the history of the civil rights movement.
December 17, 2012
Fascinating history of Seattle/Oakland civil rights struggle. I learned that Gary Hammon was teaching Aaron how to play saxophone.
March 1, 2022
I think this is my 3rd Panther book I’ve read. The difference with this one is the inclusion of history about the tail end of the party, whereas the other two books I’ve read highlight the 5 years of the BPP. Additionally, this book includes a pretty thorough accounting of the many people that were killed, beaten, or ran underground during their tenure in the Party. This information shows the real impacts of armed struggle against the state (acknowledging the ideological differences in the BPP as to how warfare should be carried) as well as adopting hierarchical, patriarchal, and paramilitary structures.
I enjoyed reading this book because I’m from the Seattle area and there aren't tons of books widely available on the Black radical tradition(s) in Seattle. I was sort of irritated by some outdated/offensive language that is used in the book (maybe it’s intended use is because those were the words used in that era). Also, I noted that some historical information was incorrect such as the year Malcolm X was assassinated and the number of people killed in the Attica rebellion. Errors like this concern me for other mistakes that I may not been keen to notice. I think it’s especially important to get that information correct for readers that are just beginning to learn about the era.
I enjoyed reading this book because I’m from the Seattle area and there aren't tons of books widely available on the Black radical tradition(s) in Seattle. I was sort of irritated by some outdated/offensive language that is used in the book (maybe it’s intended use is because those were the words used in that era). Also, I noted that some historical information was incorrect such as the year Malcolm X was assassinated and the number of people killed in the Attica rebellion. Errors like this concern me for other mistakes that I may not been keen to notice. I think it’s especially important to get that information correct for readers that are just beginning to learn about the era.
July 5, 2020
Powerful Storytelling
This is the second book I’ve read on the Black Panthers and I still find out something new every time. I was drawn to this thought of a Seattle (and Portland) chapter of the Panthers but Dixon goes even further. As the Panthers consolidated power in Oakland, Dixon gives a powerful and vivid retelling of his rise and fall from the Panther party.
I’m blown away by the stories (including a really good one on a meeting with cult leader Jim Jones at his Bay Area compound) A great read!
This is the second book I’ve read on the Black Panthers and I still find out something new every time. I was drawn to this thought of a Seattle (and Portland) chapter of the Panthers but Dixon goes even further. As the Panthers consolidated power in Oakland, Dixon gives a powerful and vivid retelling of his rise and fall from the Panther party.
I’m blown away by the stories (including a really good one on a meeting with cult leader Jim Jones at his Bay Area compound) A great read!
November 1, 2020
3 1/2 stars as memoir, 4 1/2 stars as useful and interesting political commentary, history, and analysis. Dixon makes the point that as the leadership of the Black Panther Party, particularly Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, lost their consistent connections to their pre-BPP selves and personal roots, the Party as a whole floundered. He also demonstrates that much of this was brought on by the paranoia within the Party that resulted from the U.S. and local government's vicious and unfounded repression of the Black Panthers.
October 16, 2012
Interesting first hand account of the rise of the Black Panther Party. However, Dixon spends a lot of time name dropping different Panther names that have no real relevance to what he is trying to say.
January 22, 2013
I recall Aaron talking to kids at my school, saying"what we were doing felt like family. " his portrait shows the Panther family's ups and downs in a way that humanizes it, while bringing it all down to earth in a sad all too human conclusion.
February 13, 2022
Aaron Dixon is the founder of Seattle BPP chapter. Reading the book I realized the great history of seattle resistance against the Amerikkkan fascism. Most Panthers who survived the government persecution wrote their autobiography and Aaron’s is one of the best I have read.
The book starts with his autobiography and childhood upbringing in Chicago. I learned that Aaron’s father was into Paul Robeson and revolutionary black tradition. After starting the BPP chapter and the subsequent police confrontations, the book does a great job of visualizing the atmosphere of those tense life & death moments. Dixon visits Huey P Newton in prison. He travels to Oakland to meet with chairman Bobby Seal. Comes back to Seattle and organizes the daily operations of BPP chapter including the essential breakfast program for children and the fund raising for sickle cell anemia to supper black neighborhoods. During the FBI COINTELPRO terrorist activities against the Panthers Edgar Hoover stated that these programs including the cultural wing of BPP is the biggest threat to United States of Amerikkka.
Dixon sticks to the Party from its earlier days of conception (Seattle Chapter was the first Panther Chapter in United States outside of Oakland in 1968) until mid 70’s. Seattle Chapter also became one of the most long-lasting chapters in the country. At one point, Dixon moves to Oakland and becomes the personal driver and body guard of Elaine Brown Panther chairman in absence of Bobby Seal (in prison) and Huey (exile in Cuba). After Huey returns from Cuba and takes control of the party in Oakland, Dixon becomes Huey’s driver while he was attending PHD program at the University of California.
It was very refreshing to know that Seattle BPP boycotted Safeway grocery stores because they refused to support the Breakfast Program for Children. The boycott continued until they closed their store in CD neighborhood of Seattle. Interesting to see that they would rather shot down one of their stores than to support the black community.
It is also interesting to learn that after Algerian independence the only American embassy in Algeria was the BPP building. Eldridge Cleaver and many other panthers decided to go to Algeria as a refuge to continue their revolutionary work rather than staying in USA and face prison time.
The book starts with his autobiography and childhood upbringing in Chicago. I learned that Aaron’s father was into Paul Robeson and revolutionary black tradition. After starting the BPP chapter and the subsequent police confrontations, the book does a great job of visualizing the atmosphere of those tense life & death moments. Dixon visits Huey P Newton in prison. He travels to Oakland to meet with chairman Bobby Seal. Comes back to Seattle and organizes the daily operations of BPP chapter including the essential breakfast program for children and the fund raising for sickle cell anemia to supper black neighborhoods. During the FBI COINTELPRO terrorist activities against the Panthers Edgar Hoover stated that these programs including the cultural wing of BPP is the biggest threat to United States of Amerikkka.
Dixon sticks to the Party from its earlier days of conception (Seattle Chapter was the first Panther Chapter in United States outside of Oakland in 1968) until mid 70’s. Seattle Chapter also became one of the most long-lasting chapters in the country. At one point, Dixon moves to Oakland and becomes the personal driver and body guard of Elaine Brown Panther chairman in absence of Bobby Seal (in prison) and Huey (exile in Cuba). After Huey returns from Cuba and takes control of the party in Oakland, Dixon becomes Huey’s driver while he was attending PHD program at the University of California.
It was very refreshing to know that Seattle BPP boycotted Safeway grocery stores because they refused to support the Breakfast Program for Children. The boycott continued until they closed their store in CD neighborhood of Seattle. Interesting to see that they would rather shot down one of their stores than to support the black community.
It is also interesting to learn that after Algerian independence the only American embassy in Algeria was the BPP building. Eldridge Cleaver and many other panthers decided to go to Algeria as a refuge to continue their revolutionary work rather than staying in USA and face prison time.
February 10, 2019
Lenin is reported to have said that there are "Decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen." Aaron Dixon lived several lifetimes before he turned 30, in magnitude and importance. This memoir captures that momentous decade through every phase of the party, except the beginnings in Oakland: launching the Seattle Chapter, the "Free Huey' Movement, armed confrontation with the police, development of serve the people programs, the split with Eldridge Cleaver, the relocation to Oakland and the ups and downs of the electoral process, and finally the return of Huey Newton and the full collapse. During that time captured in this beautiful memoir he is in jail multiple times, his brother is incarcerated, he almost loses his arm, buries several comrades and raises some children, reflecting on the vast social and political changes that grip the country in the 60's and 70's, and the role of the Black Panther Party and the black liberation movement.
There are times when the book could be more self-reflective; particularly I was wondering how Dixon felt with the full embrace of electoral reforms under Elaine Brown, why he choose the Oakland side during the split, or if he ever considered going back to organize in Seattle, rather than stay in Oakland with the dwindling party. There's more than a whiff of machismo, despite some criticism of the handling of gender issues in the party, but overall this is beautiful and inspiring story.
There are times when the book could be more self-reflective; particularly I was wondering how Dixon felt with the full embrace of electoral reforms under Elaine Brown, why he choose the Oakland side during the split, or if he ever considered going back to organize in Seattle, rather than stay in Oakland with the dwindling party. There's more than a whiff of machismo, despite some criticism of the handling of gender issues in the party, but overall this is beautiful and inspiring story.
August 8, 2020
A riveting read. Aaron Dixon chronicles the trajectory of an organization with an admirable mission: give power to the oppressed agains capitalist oppressors and their protectors. I remember admiring the Black Panthers as a teenager, but knowing little about them despite seemingly constant newspaper coverage.
Dixon is very much the insider, co-founding the Seattle chapter at the behest of Huey P. Newton himself. It feels as though he knew all the players, including household names such as Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and Fred Hampton, who died a horrific death at the hands of the police in pursuit of something simple: Equality in America.
This book should be required reading for every American. Bravo!
Dixon is very much the insider, co-founding the Seattle chapter at the behest of Huey P. Newton himself. It feels as though he knew all the players, including household names such as Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and Fred Hampton, who died a horrific death at the hands of the police in pursuit of something simple: Equality in America.
This book should be required reading for every American. Bravo!
January 3, 2022
On top of the incredibly valuable first-hand insight into the Black Panther party, this book is pure gold for any left-thinker who identifies with the city of Seattle. The first 100 pages or so are invaluable history of Seattle's Central District, told with a wonderful voice and with a deep and inspiring love for the place and the people. As a Seattle kid, I was instantly gripped by it, and I often return to re-read passages and find myself remembering them and sharing them with others as I go about my daily business in our city. I've probably told everyone I know about the story of a high school Dixon and his friends carving a flaming "BLACK POWER" into the fairway at old-money-white-supremacist Broadmore Golf Club...
May 19, 2025
It was slow to start, but quickly became a favorite of mine and im now getting the book to keep on my shelves. Of all I've read from this period, it is the one memoir which details the ideological and functional changes behind the black panther party and how it unraveled towards the end from an insider compassionate perspective. It sheds light on some of the lesser known foul practices of the group and highlights the differences between how it started when it first gained momentum on the west coast and how party members one by one left the party and why. It also had a few name drops I wasn't expecting like Bill Cosby and Herschel Walker. Mostly it was about Aaron Dixon's perspective and it was a decent and interesting read from start to finish.
July 27, 2025
it is so interesting to read the autobiographies of different party members because they all add bits and pieces to the story that form a whole new picture. “my people are rising” added to the details that elaine brown and huey p newton’s autobiographies left out.
dixon is also way more honest about the reasons why the party came to an end as opposed to other members. he mentions the party’s infiltration by the fbi, the split with elridge cleever, but also huey’s drug and power abuse (& psychological experiments in jail?) that came with “physiscal discipline” which drove many members away from the party.
it was saddening to see how a revolutionary party slowly came to its end.
dixon is also way more honest about the reasons why the party came to an end as opposed to other members. he mentions the party’s infiltration by the fbi, the split with elridge cleever, but also huey’s drug and power abuse (& psychological experiments in jail?) that came with “physiscal discipline” which drove many members away from the party.
it was saddening to see how a revolutionary party slowly came to its end.
January 7, 2020
I highly recommend reading this book for a history lesson on a topic that deserves to be more widely discussed. It is especially relevant for those local to Seattle or the Bay Area. I had no clue that certain neighborhoods I have frequented were once central Panther locations. The prose is simple and straightforward, which works fine for the genre but did not offer anything in and of itself. I could have done with more analysis and reflection from Dixon, maybe even suggestions for how the Panther platform can be relevant today, but he overwhelmingly stuck to just recounting his memories.
December 12, 2023
One of my favourite books, I feel that this book is so important and interesting as you get a deeply personal insight into the life of a Black Panther Party Captain and his evolution from a young child with a tumultuous childhood full of racism that radicalises him. During a romanticised time of history with regards to the music and drug culture, its important to see the radical changes that swept across America. I love this book.
July 7, 2020
3.5
So many names and so much traveling.
This book is great but you really have to focus and study while you read otherwise you'll get a bit lost later when people and acronyms are mentioned like 15 chapters later
So many names and so much traveling.
This book is great but you really have to focus and study while you read otherwise you'll get a bit lost later when people and acronyms are mentioned like 15 chapters later
December 23, 2020
I bit long and slow, but always interesting to read about the history of the BPP. So much of what they were doing was helping Black people and communities, and the cops just attacked and attacked. Not so different from today.
May 30, 2022
Very extensive insider view of the BPP from someone who experienced nearly every phase the Party went through and who, as a reviewer notes, does not seem to have set out to settle any scores. A generally positive but critical memoir. Would recommend to anyone that's somewhat new to the Panthers.
November 15, 2023
A nice personal glimpse into the movement and the shift from integrationist advocacy to a radical, if sometimes violent, reimagining of society. I wish the writing was stronger and there had been a little more focus on Seattle and WA more than Oakland and CA. But that’s history for ya!
March 6, 2024
A great story of leftist organizing, awesome history of seattle, and I really liked the primary source documents at the end. This gave me insight on how burnout can affect organizers and eventually the whole org. The way he described women was… interesting.
November 9, 2018
Insight into the world of the B.P.P. This is a great read, engaging, thorough and and open book about one man's life, struggles and power within the party.
February 6, 2019
Took me forever getting through this. First half was great, second half not so much.
February 19, 2021
Reads quick, but not the most self-aware author...
May 12, 2021
So where is the sequel that relates to Today? Hell of a time to bury the hatchet, don't you think? Must have been undone by a pacifistic white woman. Wonder if her name is Delilah?
July 21, 2025
This book is SO GOOD. My dad must read it immediately.
September 15, 2013
What he says at the end, about the Black Panther Party being a beacon to unite people, is somewhat at odds with much of his description of day-to-day events in party life.The Panthers did many good things in communities, & built community wide solidarity. The descriptions of communication within the party worked sometimes, but often didn't happen. I believe, as Assata Shakur said in her book,that in order for an organization to be truly radical in it's politics, radical (happening on a regular basis) communication must take place between all members. Both these books describe a few of the same events from different perspectives, & I found that fascinating. I liked the events, but often the reading was slow going. I wished there had been more political analysis. I didn't feel his descriptions of women were as even-handed as his descriptions of men, altho he did all give credit to people when it was due.
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