Founder of Portland Black Panthers speaks at PSU

Kent Ford, founder of the former Portland chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), spoke Wednesday about the history of the BPP in Portland and rallied support for his son Patrice Lumumba Ford, a suspected terrorist born and raised in Portland.

Kent’s speech was part of the Black Studies Department’s Black Bag Speaker Series.

On Nov. 24, 2003, Lumumba was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on the charge of seditious conspiracy, Kent said. Lumumba has been accused of being a member of a supposed terrorist group called the Portland Seven, who allegedly conspired to aid the Taliban in the conflict against the U.S.

During his education at Portland State University, according to Kent, Lumumba studied for three semesters in China to pursue his major in Chinese and International Studies. In China, Lumumba converted to Islam.

Kent said that his son was wrongfully accused simply because he is a black Muslim and said that Lumumba was used as a scapegoat for the U.S. government.

“My son is a victim of the Patriot Act,” Kent Said.

After graduating, Lumumba returned to China and attempted to travel to Afghanistan. He was denied entrance and returned to the U.S. According to Kent, Lumumba wanted to help fellow Muslims in Afghanistan and that was his only reason for traveling there.

“I’ve yet to see what they did wrong,” said Kent.

Kent spoke emotionally about his belief that Lumumba is innocent and his determination to help him be freed.

“I just want to get my son out of jail before some permanent damage is done to him,” Kent said.

Kent said he attended school in Oakland with several of the leaders of the BPP, where he learned about the party and its practices, before moving to Portland in 1961. He worked for many years in an office building in Oakland, but said he felt that there was something else he should be doing.

“I could have stayed there listening to those computers hum and buzz all day,” Kent said. “I looked out there one day and thought, ‘there must be something else.'”

After he moved to Northeast Portland, a series of conflicts that arose between police and black citizens motivated him to organize with other people and try to change things. They began by simply speaking to citizens on street corners, and then made contacts with organizers in the peace movement.

The police did not make things easy for them, Kent said. He said he thinks that the police did not want the black community organizing or trying to make their lives better.

The police and FBI went to great lengths to disrupt the BPP’s efforts, according to Kent, and keep them from making any positive change. Many of the members were arrested many times, but still continued to organize immediately after they were released, Kent said.

Despite the difficulties they faced, the BPP accomplished many positive things for their community here in Portland, according to Kent.

Kent said that the first headquarters for the Portland BPP was a closed down, second-hand clothing store owned by a friend’s mother. The BPP took over the shop and began Portland’s first free clothing program for underprivileged families, Kent said.

The BPP also started a People’s Free Health Clinic, the second of its kind in the nation according to Kent, on Northeast Vancouver Way.

“Nobody paid us, nobody gave us money to do this,” Kent said.

The BPP was so successful in its efforts, Kent said, that it encouraged change in local government.

The BPP started a free breakfast program at a local church, which Kent said motivated the state government to start a similar program in local schools.

“That’s what it’s all about, showing the system what they can do to help the people,” said Kent.