Thanks everyone for responding, in particular:

GrovePath - I did watch Cousin Bobby and was very impressed with Robert Castle, even though the documentary itself was rather bad. It gave me some real insight into Summit Ave neighborhood back then.

neverleft - I did find info on the \'64 riots, St. Peter\'s demos, the machine-gunning incident down in Greenville. One of the articles you post from itsabouttimebpp.com was concerning the shooting/arson of the Panther\'s HQ down in Lafeyette on Pacific Ave. Several people from a group called The Organization of God\'s People were arrested fro that.

getz011 - thanks for tip about the feeding station on Communipaw. I couldn\'t ever find any info on where they had their programs.

chakoty - Mayor Whelan\'s linking Julian Robinson and the BPs was a classic dirty trick. Robinson filed a complaint alledging that the photo used in the poster was taken by the police years earlier.

Anyway, it was great seeing the comments and stirring some memories. If you would like to watch the video of my talk, you can access it here: www.briancarroll.org

@getz011 ?I didn?t know about the walk it sounds interesting.

@Chakotay ..I remember seeing the SPC protesters on my way to grammar school. I remember the big green megaphone and the signs. (I probably walked right by you.)Yeah Whalen was a piece of work.

Here?s two pieces about the machine gunning and bombing of the JC Police Station in the 60?s. These were on free web sites. If you want the full stories with the arrests, the trials, etc .. put black panthers jersey city in the NYT search. But as you know have to pay.

Machine Gun Rips N.J Police Station ? The Miami News November 30, 1968

link to piece


Police Station Target of Bomb ? The Tuscaloosa News January 1, 1969

link to piece


Hey frogmoses I hope you close your presentations with this classic?

(his 7 point BARBEQUE BILL OF RIGHTS is a far cry from his Black Panther 10 Point Plan)

Barbeque'n With Bobby Seale

http://www.bobbyqueseale.com/

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I participated in the student strike at St. Peter's in 1968 and also marched in the anti war demonstrations. There was no violence.

Speaking of the Black Panthers, in the 1968 Jersey City mayoral campaign Tom Whelan tried to link Julian Robinson (a moderate black) to the Black Panthers. It was a shameful racist thing to do. Thankfully, karma got Whelan and he was indicted and convicted with the Hudson Eight for corruption.

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There's an annual historic walking tour of Lafayette, for which they've created signs that are placed in front of selected buildings. The sign for the church at 328 Communipaw (at the corner of Pine) mentions it as a former BP feeding station (I think that's the term it uses).

Some more stuff?

I don?t condone this crap.. but for your research? did you hit these 4 pieces about Jersey City? It is in the current ?its about time bpp? web site under chapter history ..New Jersey . (you would think they were talking about the old Secaucus pig farms with the number of times that they use the word pig)

?PIGS ATTEMPT TO DESTROY JERSEY CITY PANTHER OFFICE? 1970

http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Chapte ... ey/New_Jersey_Chapter.pdf

(a little hard to read but I make out an address of 384 Pacific Ave. I think they also had something on Grand St.)

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At least Forrest had the right mind to apologize for ruining it.

Thanks Neverleft... some good stuff.

Who can forget the time that Forrest Gump had a fight in the middle of a Black Panther party?

frogmoses?.This is from a post I had here a while ago..about protests. It didn?t go anywhere (as usual). Maybe you can get something out of it that you didn?t know. That NJ Civil Rights url is interesting. It would be great to get photos of the BPP house in the junction with the sandbags in the windows. When we used to drive by it I remember my Uncle saying duck. All the kids in the back of the station wagon would put our bodies down low. Some of the kids in the car would plea for him to not drive by it. We had one kid in our crew who never ducked. He pointed his plastic combat machine gun back at the BPP windows every time. (he became a cop when older)


*** *** old post *** ***

For you new comers who didn?t know. In August 1964 JC had race riots.

Check out the link below. It has pieces about New Jersey Civil Rights in the 60?s. Click on ?The 1964 Riots? it will bring you to a list of articles. Then click on the two about Jersey City August 4 and August 6. It has the original newspaper articles. Cool to read about old time JC!!

Any old-timers remember the riots? I remember the ?fathers? of our street getting together and forming plans in case the riots moved onto our street. I think the plan was to have cars block both entrances to the street. The men would have their hunting rifles and clubs at the ready! The houses on the block were also told to leave their garden hoses out incase any Molotov cocktails were tossed onto our street. (smart idea since the street entrances would be blocked by cars so the fire trucks couldn?t get in..duh)The women would supply food, drink and first aid. Can?t make this stuff up! (as a little kid we were scared sh*t!) Here they come!!!!!

The 1964 riots caught JC off guard but as a recall the mayor was not going to let that happen again. In the 1967 Newark riots and the 1968 DC riots I think the mayor of JC gave the ?shoot to kill? order to the JC Police. Needless to say there were no riots in JC in 1967 or 1968. There was a confrontation in 1968 with the Jersey City Black Panther Party. As I recall some of the members were arrested for unloading 36 rounds of ammunition from a machine gun into the Fifth Precinct. I do remember always driving by the BPP headquarters (brick townhouse in the Junction?) they had sandbags in their half opened windows. Supposedly for their machine guns in case they were attacked.

http://sites.bergen.org/ourstory/Reso ... l_rights/CR_News63_64.htm

http://sites.bergen.org/ourstory/Reso ... lips2/64augJERSEYCITY.pdf

http://sites.bergen.org/ourstory/Reso ... ips2/64augLesstension.pdf

Hey one more thing anyone remember the anti war protests at Saint Peter?s College? I remember the students walking on Kennedy (Hudson) Blvd. with signs..that?s all I remember. Can?t remember any violence.


(all the above is from my memory ..so it could be lacking...old-timers ring in if you remember anything differently)


** ***

PS - I don?t give a rat?s as* about the BPP either, I just posted this as JC history that newcomers might find interesting.

Quote:

Wow, what an angry soul you are.

The Panthers, Nation of Islam and others grew out of the racism that existed (and still exists) in this country. You can't condone their violent tactics and their political philosophies were schizophrenic but its easy to understand why they felt put upon by the white power structure in this country and felt someone needed to help protect African-America inner city populations.

The Panthers initial food, medical and education programs in Oakland were laudable. Unfortunately they lost their way.

They all deserve to DIE!!!!

They never mounted to anything and never will.

Does anyone really give a rat's ass about such a racist, hate spreading group of sub-humans? I would't piss on those fellas or the new racist panthers if they were on fire.

You might want to check out this documentary by Jonathan Demme about his cousin Bobby, an Episcopalian minister in Harlem and Jersey City -- it talks a bit about the Black Panther's here in JC.

It is hard to find.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/p ... 26/REVIEWS/206260301/1023

Cousin Bobby

BY ROGER EBERT
June 26, 1992

Written And Directed By Jonathan Demme.

"Cousin Bobby" is the Rev. Robert Castle, a white Episcopalian priest who has served an inner-city church in Harlem for many years.

He is also the childhood friend of his cousin Jonathan Demme, director of "The Silence of the Lambs" and many other films, but the two cousins had been out of touch for many years before the making of this documentary.

Together, Bobby and Jonathan explore the memories they share together, of childhood days, of aunts and uncles, of family legends.

There is an air of a family reunion to some of the scenes in this documentary, as the men revisit childhood homes and haunts. But the real subject of the film is Cousin Bobby's mission to the poor and dispossessed, a commitment that the film hints has cost him a great deal over the years.

Rev. Castle was, we sense, a fairly conventional Episcopalian clergyman at an earlier stage of his life. Then came the 1960s and social upheaval, and, for him, a crucial and influential friendship with Isaiah Rowley, a Black Panther leader in Jersey City, N.J. At a time when the Panthers were feared and hated, Castle found Rowley to be a natural leader, sane and inspirational, and gradually the white priest was drawn into circles that were alarming to many members of his congregation.

The movie is a little vague about some aspects of Castle's life; there is the feeling that the two cousins, like family members everywhere, draw a veil of silence over certain painful details. What we gather, however, is that after losing a lucrative living because of his politics, Castle drifted until he found a mooring in the Harlem church where, today, he presides over services that combine Episcopal tradition, black gospel and social activism in about equal measures.

As Demme and his cameras follow along, Castle visits a burntout tenement building in his neighborhood, and speculates darkly about arson. He leads an impassioned demonstration for safer streets.

He gives fiery speeches and sermons, interacts easily with the members of his parish, and gives every evidence of bringing Christian principles to the everyday life of his ministry. The title of the movie accurately reflects its focus, because this is not an objective documentary but a home movie of sorts, in which the social involvement of Cousin Bobby is set against a backdrop of faded photographs, old family memories and reunions, and the wonderment we all feel when we meet someone we were friends with long ago, and see what has become of them. It is good to know there are people like Cousin Bobby around.

It is sad to realize how few of them there are.

-----------------

...Also he and other Panther's were said to have shot up the old Downtown Police Station on Newark Avenue (at 3rd Street) back in 1968

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid ... &q=%22Isaiah+Rowley%22+nj

Hi,

I presented a talk on the Black Panther Party of Jersey City back in February at Raphs Plaza on Bergen Ave. Most of the information I came across was from the newspapers of the time which is only a small part of the story.

I would like to expand the talk to include oral histories, media, memorabilia, etc.

If anybody has any information that they would like to share, or knows of any former Black Panther Party members that would like to talk, I would love to hear from you.

The talk was recorded but not yet available. When done, I will be posting it to my website for public viewing.

I look forward to any conversation that may develop here.

Thanks in advance.
Brian Carroll