- Collection:
- Many Paths, Many Voices: Oral Histories from the University of Washington Special Collections
- Title:
- Dixon (Aaron) interview
- Creator:
- Dixon, Aaron
Johnson, James W. - Date of Original:
- 1970-07-11
- Subject:
- Dixon, Aaron Floyd--Interviews
African American political activists--Washington (State)--Seattle--Biography
Seattle Black Panther Party--History
Black Panther Party--History
African Americans--Social conditions--20th century
Black Student Union (University of Washington)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Seattle, Wash.)
Revolutionary Action Movement
Afro-American Patrolmen's League (Chicago, Ill.) - People:
- Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
Agnew, Spiro T., 1918-1996
Mitchell, John N. (John Newton), 1913-1988
Carmichael, Stokely, 1941-1998
Carter, Bunchy
Castro, Fidel, 1926-2016
Clark, Mark, 1947-1969
Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935-1998
Cosby, Bill, 1937-
Kim, Il-sŏng, 1912-1994
Hampton, Fred, 1948-1969
Harris, Curtis
Hutton, Bobby, 1950-1968
Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, 1870-1924
Lester, Julius, 1939-2018
Marx, Karl, 1818-1883
Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913
Seale, Bobby, 1936-
Newton, Huey P.
Williams, Albert Wayne
Uhlman, Wesley C. (Wesley Carl), 1935- - Location:
- United States, Washington, King County, Seattle, 47.60621, -122.33207
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- video/x-flv
- Description:
- Co-founder of the Black Panther Party of Seattle. Aaron Floyd Dixon was born ca. 1951 and moved to Seattle from Chicago in 1958. He attended Seattle public schools, graduating from Garfield High School. He also attended the University of Washington for two years. In 1968, Dixon and his younger brother Elmer founded the Black Panther Party of Seattle, and he served as its first Captain. He was recruited to work at the national level of the Party in 1970. Dixon discusses the history and philosophy of the National Black Panther Party, founded in 1966 and the Seattle branch of the Party, founded in 1968. He outlines the Party's programs and tactics, and comments on the 1969 purge of members which harmed the Party's image. He refers briefly to several international, national, and local public figures, including Curtis Harris, who unsuccessfully campaigned for local political office in 1968. Tape concludes with a statement of Dixon's views about the Black Panther Party and the future for Blacks in the United States. Subject timestamps: (00:00) History of Black Panther Party, both Seattle and national, (2:05) why Dixon became involved with the Party, (4:05) questions about the tactics and techniques used by the Black Panther Party, (6:08) questions regarding how police ("pigs") have attacked Black Panther Party programs, (7:50) role and purpose of the Black Panther Party, (10:10) Seattle social conditions versus Oakland, CA conditions, (11:20) questions regarding the Black Panther Party "making revolution", (13:50) Black capitalism, (16:20) questions regarding the liberation of black people and black capitalism, (19:15) defending Black people and how Black people are attacked, (22:00) discussion of Black police officers, (23:30) discussion of the need for an underground struggle by the Black Panther Party, (26:05) Black Panther Party ideology and Marxist, Leninist doctrine, (28:40) Dixon family background, (29:55) discussion of Seattle Black population belonging to Black Panther revolution, (32:15) Discussion of Chief Gaines in Oakland, CA, (33:15) discussion of change of Black Panther Party tactics in Seattle, purge of members, (36:45) November 1968 election discussion of Curtis Harris and lack of black community response, (37: 45) Black Panther Party image in Seattle, success of free medical and food programs, (39:00) Dixon message and advice to Black students listening to interview, (41:10) discussion of Black students entering the system as engineers, lawyers etc. and furthering the liberation of Black people through entering the system, (42:45) discussion of what Black students can do to take action in building and creating revolution, (45:00) Dixon enrolled at the University of Washington, (46:45) Dixon personal history and background, Seattle schools attended, (47:25) discussion of schooling and education. This accession is part of the Afro-American Project.
To request a high resolution or uncompressed reproduction, or to obtain permission to use any portion of this item, contact the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections. Email: photos@uw.edu. Please reference the Digital ID Number. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ohc/id/201
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- This copy was produced for preservation and reference use from original material from the UW Libraries Special Collections. Further duplication of any kind for any purpose is not permitted without permission. Intellectual property rights including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. If the material is still under copyright permission to publish may be necessary and should be sought from the owners of such rights. Contact email: photo@uw.edu
- Original Collection:
- University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Oral History Collection
Labor Archives
Afro-American Project
Aaron Dixon Oral History Interview, Accession No. 1422-001
To view the finding aid for this collection see: http://digital.lib.washington.edu/findingaids/view?docId=DixonAaronFloyd1422.xml
query=Aaron%20Dixon
brand=default - Contributing Institution:
- University of Washington. Libraries. Special Collections Division
- Rights: