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While the Black Panther Party is most often associated with the likes of Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, one name – Richard Aoki, is known to few people outside Oakland, California. Richard Aoki, a founding member of the Black Panther Party was an American of Japanese descent and a personal friend of Huey Newton. After having spent the early years of his life in Japanese internment camps, Richard Aoki grew up on the streets of Oakland and eventually joined the military at age 17. He returned only to find his true education in the radical social movements of the 60s. While African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans were busy fighting for their rights and forming militant organizations, few Asian Americans were organized. Richard Aoki became an important part of the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, helping provide weapons to the group, among other things. Eventually he became a leader in the Asian American Political Alliance, one of the first groups that organized around the political struggles of Asian Americans. He was instrumental in fighting for the creation of Ethnic studies departments at the University of California, and inspired and mentored countless young people in his later years. Last year Richard Aoki passed away, and a new documentary called simply Aoki, examines his legacy. Aoki has its Los Angeles premiere at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 4th at 7 pm at the Downtown Independent Theater (251 S. Main street).

GUESTS: Filmmakers Ben Wang & Mike Cheng

Click here for tickets to the May 4th screening at the Downtown Independent: https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8087985

Find out more at www.aokifilm.com.