“It’s our responsibility”: Armed activists organize for the community

Bitter winds swept past the facade of the Church of the Advocate Friday night, casting a long shadow on the small isle of activity in the darkened streets. Trays of bagged fluffernutter sandwiches, bright yellow bell peppers and an array of other food were stacked upon card tables and handed out to passerby, supervised by men and women clad in black leather.

 A few of them – members of the Pennsylvania chapter of The Black Lion Party for International Solidarity – carried firearms, slung over their shoulders or pointed at the ground, but all were abuzz with conversation, speaking with anyone who stopped by and overseeing the children who ran along the sidewalk.

The Black Lions have held food and clothing drives outside the church every Friday evening, just a block away from their headquarters on Gratz Street near Diamond, since last summer.

“The [Black Lions] offers food with no stipulation, no information, no nothing. You just come grab it, same thing with clothing.” said Paul Birdsong, the national chairman of the party and a West Philly native. “You don’t have to be part of some program or be referred to ours to take part in our services. You just show up and do it.”

The Black Lions, who originally referred to themselves as the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, received increased attention in Philadelphia for their participation in anti-ICE demonstrations following the shooting of Renée Good in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Jan. 7. The party has advocated through social media and at events for community action against ICE and oppressive systems locally and globally.

Beyond their weekly food and clothing drive outside the Church of the Advocate, the party collaborates with organizations for charity and political efforts across the city, like the New Era Young Lords and the Second Rainbow Coalition, a successor to the collaborative movement established by Fred Hampton in the 1960s to coordinate efforts between several activist groups.

Party members regularly patrol Philadelphia’s neighborhoods to monitor police activity and keep their community safe, Birdsong said.

“The government is systematically designed for us to fail, not for us to succeed. Therefore they also want us to be dependent upon their system,” said Sam, a party member who declined to provide his full name. “This is important because we’re enabling the community to be self-sustainable.”

Sam joined the party after hearing about it on social media and attended its demonstration held on George Floyd’s birthday, where he introduced himself to Birdsong.

Party leadership said they were inspired by the original Black Panther Party for Self Defense, founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland, California. A Philadelphia chapter was founded in 1969 and was active until the mid ‘70s. A key member of this early movement was Reggie Schell, who participated in the effort to rename Columbia Avenue to Cecil B. Moore and studied journalism at Temple.

The original party faced consistent and coordinated abuse by the police, who raided multiple Black Panther offices, including the one where the Black Lions now reside, in Philadelphia at the same time in August 1970. Less than a month later, Temple hosted the Revolutionary People’s Constitution Convention and speakers including Huey Newton, garnering national attention with thousands in audience.

The Black Lions follow the 10-point program established by the original Black Panthers as the guiding force for their work, Birdsong said. These points, originally drafted in 1966, establish its socialist values and clear demands for the justice, freedom, health and autonomy of all Black people.

“We believe that the formula to achieve in a 10-point program is to unify the people, educate the people, demonstrate alongside the people, to liberate the people.” Birdsong said. “Someone might ask, ‘Why do we feed the community, clothe the community, patrol the community,’ and it’s because it’s our responsibility.”

Community building and neighborly love are central to the Lions’ efforts, shown not just through the food drives and patrols. Neighbors come to chat and check in on those out in the cold, volunteers show up and pitch in regardless of party affiliation, and members stay up late in the night trading stories and joking with one another, forming strong community bonds.

Jordan, a party member who declined to provide his full name and said he joined the party after seeing them stand up against ICE, felt it was important for anyone with the ability to stand up for their rights to the benefit of their community.

“We have to make sure our community has the resources that is needed for it to succeed in such a way where everyone is equal,” Jordan said. “You cannot have a society of people that are in peace if they’re not all equal.”