Vanetta Molson was a teenager when she joined the Seattle Black Panther party to find purpose and promote the welfare of Black residents in Seattle’s Central Area. She had seen far too many broken promises from the Seattle establishment and wanted to help.
Now, some 50 years later, Molson is an experienced registered nurse who is still helping Seattle’s Black community. Her dedication is reflected through her activities with the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization (MMPNO) to provide scholarships and mentoring of young men and women of African descent and as Co-Vice President for Outreach in another vital advocacy organization, the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA), which is dedicated to playing a forceful role in advocating for the community today and is sponsoring a forum on the Seattle Black Panther Party this Sat., Feb. 22 at the Washington State Labor Council – 321 – 16th Avenue South (on the corner of 16th Ave. and Jackson Street) at 2:00 pm.
Molson will be part of a panel of six former members of Seattle’s Black Panther Party, including the Hon. Larry Gossett, Mark Cook, Garry Owens, Na’eem Shareef and Mike Tagawa. These six panelists are all current members of PSARA and will be presenting the true in-depth story of the strong role the Seattle Black Panther Party members played in assuring a better future for Seattle’s Black population. One of their lasting achievements was their role in helping establish the Sydney Miller free clinic, which is now the Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center.
The forum is free and open to all who are concerned, like this panel and PSARA, about a secure, healthy future for our community.
