Saturu Ned, founder of Sacramento’s Black Panthers

On May 2 of 1967, a few dozen black men and women marched on the Capitol donning leather jackets, sunglasses and berets—and shotguns. Saturu Ned, formerly known in Sacramento as “James Mott,” was there that day. He witnessed these Black Panther Party activists approach the building. “And all of the sudden I see Ronald Reagan break and run,” Ned recalled during a recent interview. He was intrigued. “It made an impression on me. Who are these people?” Ned founded the Panthers’ Sacramento office shortly after the Capitol incident—and that office was promptly raided by the FBI in 1969. Now 67, the Bay Area-based speaker, educator and entrepreneur spoke to SN&R recently on the 50th anniversary of the party.

Tell me your thoughts on Colin Kaepernick.

What Kaepernick did was the beginning, and he’s growing in social consciousness, and in time I think we’re going to see him do some great things.

When you were a student in Sacramento, the FBI tried to get you to disassociate from the Panthers?

[The FBI told my track coach that they] would give me a full ride, anywhere, any school that I go to—which tells me they’re always looking at full development potential of what you could become, and the influence that you could have on people.

Let’s talk about self-defense. What was your mom’s advice about the right to use violence to defend yourself?

[She said,] “If you ever let anyone beat you that way, I’ll beat you myself. You have a right to preserve your life and defend yourself.”

What did Martin Luther King Jr. tell you about self-defense?

“Follow your heart, do what you think is right.”

Your illustrations in the Black Panther Newspaper used to draw the ire of Gov. Reagan.

It was pissing [then-Gov. Ronald] Reagan off. … People started walking around Reagan and going “Oink, oink.” … So, I guess you could say that I had a personal relationship with [him].

You eventually left Sacramento for Oakland, right?

It was 1970, and we were called first to Richmond, and then I went to Oakland, and ended up on 10th Street. … I went over there to run the community center, to create what I’d call “total community saturation.” Basically, we had block leaders, and then we had subsection leaders, who might be responsible for a two-or three-mile area … and they would cover the area based on issues, door-to-door, face-to-face … long before there was technology, long before all the tools we have now.

Tell me about what Congresswoman Barbara Lee allegedly told President Barack Obama about the Panthers.

[She said,] “If it hadn’t been for the Black Panther Party, I wouldn’t have been elected—and you wouldn’t, either.”

You were a singer in the Black Panther band, Lumpen?

We were singing, we all sang. … We had several more, and we toured, even with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. It was amazing because … of the influence it had, like on John Lennon, the list goes on. And what it did was create an era of socially-conscious music.

And you also taught at the Panther schools?

People like Maya Angelou would come and do poetry, and kids would get meals. We started [teaching] at 2 years old, and we’d teach people to read by 3.

It’s the Panthers’ 50th anniversary this year. How does all this recognition make you feel?

It’s very, very difficult for many of us. Because we didn’t do it for that reason. We were supposed to be killed, wiped out by the FBI. We’re not the kind of people to stand up and wave our hands and suck up claps.

What’s your insight on this year’s election?

I hope that most people begin to realize how degraded politics have become, how degraded and unimportant the office of the presidency is. … And I hope America realizes that the power has shifted, in so far as who really runs the country. It’s not the person who gets elected president. It’s Wall Street. It’s the backers of the superfund PACs that elect the president.

How should the Black community respond to officer-involved killings?

If an officer is using excessive force, you have a right to defend yourself. Let’ put it this way: We’re getting murdered in the streets anyway, so what is the danger if someone’s coming at me? What reasonable human being isn’t going to [defend themselves]?

What is Obama’s legacy?

I really think most of us in the community think it’s a legacy of misdirection. It’s been eight years, and our community is [in] worse condition than it’s ever been.