Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P Newton

Bobby Seale is perhaps most famous for uncovering in the 1960s that it was legal for Americans to carry loaded assault rifles. This created the iconic look of the group Seale co-founded with Huey P Newton, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, an emergent black nationalist organization inspired by Malcolm X to install a basic quality of life for Black residents in the United States. For such proclamations as "We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people." and "We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings, " Seale was fought at every turn by the NRA, whose stance on Black citizens carrying guns was completely opposite of what it is today. 

This book details the world that seale and Newton were creating, envisioning a movement for justice, freedom, and peace for all people (despite some internalized patriarchal and chauvinistic stigma about women and queers). Compared to much of dry political theory, this book is crammed full of life and full of 60s and 70s slang. Dictated to audio tapes in prison, Seale's politics were his lived experience and you can see his enthusiasm and passion for this ripe new and exciting political movement for Black liberation at a crucial time after civil rights was moving into full swing. By 1982, the party was systematically dismantled by FBI infiltrators that created infighting within the ranks. But for the moment, this book is dripping with a vision for a better America.