A friend and I left school and also moved to the Bay Area, San Fransisco, for similar reasons (1970), but by that time Cointelpro had devastated the SF chapter of the Panthers (we had founded the Black Students Union at the college we attended) .
The reason we chose SF was not only because I had an older brother there who would put us up but because during our BSU days David Hilliard, Chief of Staff of the party, and “Big Man” (Elbert Howard), one of the eight founding members, were in town for a campus rally and we asked them if they had time to please address/advise us. They graciously came to our apartment and talked to us. The big message we got from them was to "get off campus and get into the community". As a result we started what we called The Black Peoples' Community Organization as we lived in the community, even started a fledgling newspaper. We also kept the BSU going. We protested a game with Brigham Young University by walking onto the court and stopping the game as BYU at the time didn't allow black men to join their priesthood.
We were inspired by our contact with David Hillard and Big Man and eventually because of the impatience of youth, left school and went to the Bay Area to get involved in the movement. Once in SF my friend and I went to the SF office to stay in the movement but the members we talked to were so paranoid, and rightfully so, they probably thought we were undercover Feds or some kind of cops and nothing came out of our approach.
We weren't undercover, just radicalized students wanting to do what we could. I eventually moved across the bay to Oakland to scatch out a living driving a cab at night while I finished up the six credits I needed for my degree. By that time the Oakland office, then on Telegraph, was still open but not occupied by the Panthers because of Hoover's Cointelpro devastation.
I admire your continued dedication to the cause.
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