Bobby Seale: The Eighth Man

I doubt it. Nothing ever stays exactly the same. I don't see history repeating itself. Now, it may be good protest fodder and consciousness-raising to be there. But the real protest needs to be where the Republican convention is going to be held. But if they're talking about re-creating the large coalition-support framework, I think they're going to get some of that. Still, if they say they're going to make it like 1968, how are they going to do that? Because, really, one of the negative characteristics of 1968 is that police beat the heads of the protesters. So I hope they don't mean they want to re-create that.

Well, you've got anarchist groups. They may be in the coalition. They may want to do some dumb shit. If groups go out there and provoke something, then they're wrong, I say. But what you've really got to watch out for is if the cities and police are instituting policies that go against constitutional rights of free speech and assembly as a way to silence protesters. That's where it's going to come from these days.

Speaking of these days, what are you up to?

I'm trying to raise money for youth job projects here in Oakland. I wrote a barbecue cookbook for that purpose in Philadelphia. As a young man, I was very lucky to grow up getting trained in mathematics and engineering. But I also happen to know how to cook barbecue. If I could get a cooking show off the ground, a television series, my objective is to sell a few million books. Then I could get a few million dollars into this non-profit entity that could promote ten million youth jobs as it relates to the environment. That's how we cut down on crime better than some war-on-drugs bullshit.