Cyril Innis Jr., Clip 2: Being a Black Panther in Queens
Collection: StoryCorps Collection at The Archives at Queens Library

Description: Mention of how Cyril is involved with the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. Cyril talks about the Malcolm X cultural Center that was in Corona Queens, he joined the center and began getting in touch with his African roots, and also how to work with the community, this was around 1968. He and his friends in the organization were approached by people from Jamaica Queens who were in touch with the Black Panther Party in Oakland, and asked if they wanted to join and form an East Coast Branch of the BPP. They all became Original Black Panther members. He talks about the charges that were brought against them, accusations of terrorism, and about Tupac Shakur, whose mother Afeni Shakur was a Leader in the NY Black Panther Party.
Black Panther Party; Community organization; African Burial Ground (New York, N.Y.); Shakur, Afeni; Shakur, Tupac, 1971-1996
Audio Clip
Tags
Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.; Produced by John White with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. www.storycorps.org
Add new comment