
Some of them had tough stories to tell, from the death of a brother to the killing of men in Vietnam. At times, Janet Jones would stop filming, just to give her subjects some room.
Then she would turn the camera on again. Because to get the complete picture of the Black Panther Party, she wanted to know these men and women down deep: who they were before, during and after they joined the political movement that shaped their lives.
"You see the whole journey," said Jones, 47.
Over the past year, Jones has taken more than a dozen oral histories for the Seattle Black Panther Party History and Memory Project, a Web site and teaching tool she envisioned as a student at the University of Washington. On Saturday, the project (
http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BPP.htm) had its official launch at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in Seattle, with party members answering questions from the public.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003009057_blackpanthers21m.html