They called him Bunchy, like a bunch of greens | San Francisco Bay View “When they killed Bunchy, they killed the Party – we just didn’t know it at the time.” – Roland Freeman, member of the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party by Bunchy Carter in 1968. Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter was the least known of the iconic Black Panther Party leaders in the turbulent late 1960s but was arguably the most legendary as the leader of the L.A. chapter of the Black Panther Party who was murdered in 1969 at the age of 26, only a year after founding the chapter.

The SoCal BPP was the first chapter founded outside of the Bay Area, where the Party’s history started in Oakland, California. The Los Angeles Chapter was the most decimated chapter in the entire Black Panther Party with the murders of Party members by LAPD and agent provocateurs estimated at 10 or more for a single chapter of the Party.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become charter members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution. (Website).