Rodney Barnette, Black Panther, 1968Sadie Barnette Turned Her Black Panther Father’s FBI File Into A
Rodney Barnette, Black Panther, 1968Sadie Barnette Turned Her Black Panther Father’s FBI File Into Art“….Last year, as the Black Panther Party marked its 50th anniversary, the Barnettes finally received the files they’d requested years ago, which amounted to 500 pages of the Cointelpro surveillance of Rodney Barnette’s life—chilling proof of what he’d long suspected: that he’d been followed all along. There were pages marked with the signature of longtime FBI head J. Edgar Hoover; there were pages detailing Barnette’s movements, his work with fellow activists Angela Davis, John and Ericka Huggins; there were notes from former FBI agent James W. McCord, Jr., who was later arrested for his own role in the Watergate scandal; there was testimony from neighbors, coworkers, who roundly praised his character; there was family history: the birthdates of his siblings, the place where his mother was born. As jarringly intimate as the files sometimes felt, the gulf between the FBI’s portrayal of Barnette’s life and the reality and fullness of it was staggering.” -- source link
#rodney barnette#sadie barnette#black panthers#fbi#cointelpro#contemporary art#portrait