Former Black Panthers celebrate new exhibit not far from Sacramento ‘No Kings’ rally

A block south of the anti-Trump protest on the state Capitol grounds, a handful of former Black Panther Party members gathered Saturday at the California Museum to celebrate the opening of an exhibit about party members’ lives.

Billy X. Jennings, who was a Black Panther member from 1968 to 1974, said the exhibition — titled “Revolutionary Grain: Celebrating the Spirit of the Black Panthers in Portraits and Stories” — paid overdue attention to the Panthers’ social programs, such as free breakfasts in schools.

Asked about the ”No Kings” rally taking place nearby, Jennings said he supported the demonstrators’ cause.

“They’re against the government,” said Jennings, a longtime Sacramento resident. “They want change, and we want social change. The Black Panther Party was all about transformation of the present system.”

He likened the “No Kings” movement to the Rainbow Coalition organized in Chicago in the 1960s by the Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, pointing to their calls for solidarity across vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.

“It’s people’s basic right to protest,” he said. “It’s in our Constitution.”

Ericka Huggins, a former Black Panther member who lives in Oakland, said she found the new California Museum exhibit “beautiful and inspiring.”

And she said she was struck by the diversity of people joining protests nationwide against the Trump administration. While a military parade in Washington, D.C., marked the Army’s 250th anniversary — falling on President Donald Trump’s birthday as well — thousands of people were protesting in downtown Sacramento, around the capital region and across the country.

“It’s important for everyone to speak their truth, and that’s what we did, and here we are again,” she said.

It is a lively Saturday in downtown Sacramento. In addition to the “No Kings” protest against Trump, the Capitol Mall is set up for Sacramento Pride events today and Sunday. UC Davis is holding two undergraduate commencement ceremonies in Golden 1 Center, at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Talks, musical performances and other programming were scheduled to last from noon to 4 p.m. at the California Museum and the adjacent courtyard and auditorium. The museum billed the afternoon’s events as “By the People, For the People: A Black Panther Party Celebration.”

The exhibition, created by photographer Susanna Lamaina, is open on the second floor of the downtown museum, 1020 O St., until Nov. 2.