Seattle Black Panthers Fight for Justice & Freedom is a documentary based on the experiences of the founders, brothers Aaron and Elmer Dixon, and their comrades of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party. We wanted to create a historical documentation of the work of these courageous and heroic young women and men who put their lives on the line to become revolutionaries committed to making the world a better place for ALL oppressed people, not just oppressed black people. We went into the project wanting their story to be told in their own words. Now three years into the making of this documentary, two major themes have emerged. In an effort to combat the misinformation about the Black Panther Party, our film tells the story from the mouths of the Black Panthers themselves. This is their story in their own words. They were not terrorists or extremists but young people that devoted their lives to fighting oppression. The second theme is that these were young women and men—many just teenagers—and they committed their lives to fighting oppression. Many said they didn't expect to live past the age of 25, yet they still made the sacrifices they did to combat injustice. We want the truth to be told before many, now in their 70s and older pass away. Unfortunately, four of the Panther comrades we were scheduled to interview died before we got them on film, so there is a sense of urgency to capture this important part of our history.

That is undoubtedly a huge motivation to make this film now. As the director and producer, I was motivated to make this film primarily because of two personal experiences. One occurred in 2018 when I learned more about the Seattle Black Panthers and their work in the community at their 50th-anniversary celebration in Seattle. Following the week-long activities, I was wearing a Seattle Black Panthers tee shirt at work, and a white co-worker commented, “Wasn’t that a racist terrorist group?” I knew then that I had to do something to set the record straight. The second came about a year later when I invited Elmer Dixon to speak to about 50 Seattle High School students that were members of their school's Black Student Union (BSU). He shared some of his experiences as the Seattle Chapter co-founder with the group during a virtual meeting in May 2020. It was an incredible learning experience, and we all walked away hearing stories that seemed to have never been told, at least not in any of our Seattle schools, libraries, or in the media. Immediately following the meeting, I called Elmer and said, “Yo man, we need to do a documentary.” Without hesitation, he said, “I’m in.” A week later, we were on a Zoom call with his older brother and co-founder Aaron who said, “I’m in too.” And as the saying goes the rest is history . . . or will be!

—— Rick DuPree, July 2023