A Museum, a Movement and a Mocha

By Travis Dobler, Squire Park Community Council

It started over coffee — as many great Seattle stories do. Specifically, a mocha with whipped cream and caramel. (Who knew Black Panthers had a sweet tooth?)

We met at Avole Coffee, the bright, soulful Ethiopian café at 23rd and Union that’s fast becoming the community’s unofficial living room. Over the hiss of the espresso machine and the murmur of neighbors catching up, I sat down with Na’eem Shareef, a legacy Black homeowner in Squire Park and original member of Seattle’s chapter of the Black Panther Party (the first outside California).

And he’s not done making history.

Today, Shareef is helping lead efforts to open a new museum and interpretive center dedicated to the Black Panther Party right here in Seattle. From free breakfast programs to community health screenings and liberation schools, the Panthers launched over 65 initiatives in their time. This museum will tell that fuller story.

“The goal is not just to display artifacts,” Shareef explained. “We’ll have the pictures, the leather jacket, info about the food programs but it’s also meant to be a research site. A place where people can learn about other revolutionary organizations, past and present.”

Still in early development and eyeing a Pioneer Square location, the museum isn’t meant to sit quietly in the past. A select group of Seattle Black Panther Party Legacy Committee members visited Black-led institution from Chicago to Montgomery, studying how to create something more immersive like walking tours, performance art, youth spaces, and archival exhibits.

“People need to know the struggle,” Shareef said. “We want to show what was going on and how it connects to now.”

More than a tribute, this is a call to action, rooted in place and in people.

For Shareef, the project is deeply personal. The fight for Black dignity is local. He’s lived through the transformation of the Central District and seen what happens when memory isn’t protected. Squire Park, once a backbone of Seattle’s Black community, now stands on shifting ground.

We discussed rising rent and food prices as he pointed out how nearly every corner around Avole has changed – listing old gas stations, banks, a restaurant where his mother once worked. He spoke the names of community members who built businesses, supported Panther programs, and helped hold the neighborhood together.

“Back then, it was face to face,” he said. “If someone said they’d be somewhere, you expected it. Now we’ve got social media—which is good—but you lose that personal connection.”

When I asked what today’s residents, newcomers and longtime locals alike can do to support the museum and honor the community’s legacy, Shareef didn’t hesitate.

“If you have a meeting for an hour, spend 10 minutes on the problem and 50 on the solution. Otherwise, we’re wasting time. Work with the people you can work with—and be solution-oriented.”

As we discussed revolutionary optimism and the variety of forms action can take, he shared a welcoming perspective.

“Everyone has a part to play, no matter how small. Even just raising your children right — that’s huge. That might be number one. Then, form coalitions with people who want to get something done.”

The public often remembers the Panthers for their militancy but Shareef reminded me that their work was about much more than force.

“Some people want to become Panthers, but they don’t understand the discipline, they see the romanticism of it. There’s a toll on your mind, body, and soul—always worrying about your safety. I’m not telling anyone to pick up a gun. In fact, I don’t want that. Our youth are already facing too much violence.”

Instead, the Panthers studied law, history, and theory as they built alliances.

“We learned to organize and form coalitions. Fred Hampton showed us that. He built the Rainbow Coalition—different races coming together. That’s the real work.”

It felt fitting to have this conversation at Avole. The café is among a strip that is a symbol of cultural continuity. A place where coffee, conversation, and community still meet — just like the museum hopes to be.

The Black Panther Museum won’t erase the past. It’ll illuminate it. And in doing so, it just might show us a better way forward, one where we remember who built this place first.

Want to Get Involved?

• Support the Seattle Black Panther Party Legacy Committee and local Black-owned businesses
• Attend an upcoming community meeting
• Or just grab a coffee, sit down with a neighbor, and ask: What do you remember?