Description

Rush is a San Diego State University alumnus. He joined the San Diego Black Panthers in 1968, knowing a member, John Savage. He liked what they were doing in "helping the community," and sold the weekly newspaper of the Panthers. "We were trying to teach the blacks in the community, 'This is our community. We should be able to police our own community." They tried to keep drugs away. "A kid can't learn on an empty stomach," he says, so the Panthers used church spaces to feed children. They also started sickle-cell disease testing. "We can take care of ourselves" was the philosophy. He mentions the Brown Berets. Those who didn't want to support the Party were influenced by what the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and other officials said about them, including that they were communists. His friend Savage was killed while selling newspapers. While the police wanted to scare people to control them, the Panthers wanted to keep the police from hurting community members. Rush was taken to jail after police patted him down and found a lighter he had picked off the floor while working as a locker-room attendant. Another time he was jailed "for failure to identify" because although he had a letter in his pocket with his name and address he did not have any official identification. Rush said Fred Hampton was a good organizer and speaker and cared about the community, but was killed by police firing through his front door. About the Panthers, he says, "I just wish we could have done more." Rush joined the American Legion in 1987 partly because it works "in the community." "We let the community use the property," he states, and a church brings food for them. They support Boys State, in which high-school youngsters go to Sacramento and Washington to learn about government. He finishes with a positive message for San Diego State University students. These interviews were inspired by the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Black Panther Party in 2016.