KU News Release

Black Panther Party leader turned urban developer to speak April 24 at KU

LAWRENCE — An author and urban developer who was a leader in the Black Panther Party of the 1960s and ’70s will speak about his new book and the turbulence of those years at the University of Kansas.

Flores A. Forbes, author of “Will You Die With Me?: My Life and the Black Panther Party,” will speak at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, at the Big 12 Room in the Kansas Union. The Hall Center for the Humanities and the KU Department of Theatre and Film are sponsoring his talk.

A book signing in the Big 12 Room will follow the talk. The book is also available at Oread Books on the second floor of the Kansas Union.

Forbes’ book chronicles his childhood in San Diego, his rise to the inner circle of the Black Panther Party and finally, his prison sentence and release. Forbes describes in honest detail the feelings of powerlessness and fear he felt as a black teenager growing up in southern California. Following an altercation with the local police, young Forbes experienced a political awakening. He turned to the Black Panther Party and identified with its struggle and goals. Atria Books published his book in July 2006.

Flores earned a master’s in urban planning at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

Recently profiled in Crain’s New York Business, Forbes is the chief strategic officer for the Abyssinian Development Corporation in New York City. ADC is a nonprofit community development corporation in Harlem.

At ADC, Flores coordinates the strategic operational business plan of the organization. He is also responsible for conducting urban planning initiatives regarding ADC’s community and economic development projects and programs, oversight for civic engagement, policy analysis and research, which supports the mission of ADC.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.