Educational Media Reviews Online

What happened to the socially conscious Boomer generation? They all grew up and acquired children and mortgages, usually in that order and became more or less productive members of society. What is true of the average Boomer is no less true, it seems, of the more radical members of that generation. This documentary film recounts the story of Pete O’Neal, a member of the Black Panther party who has lived with his wife Charlotte as an exile in Tanzania for the last thirty years.

Pete was the founder of the Kansas City Chapter of the Black Panthers. In 1970 he was convicted of transporting a gun across state lines from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas. Warned that he might not get out of prison alive, Pete and Charlotte fled to Algiers. Two years later they moved to Tanzania, where they both still live today.

Pete was a militant and outspoken activist in his youth and while time has mellowed him, it has not changed his essential personality. During the film, which chronicles his daily life in Tanzania, he ruefully reminisces on the excesses of 1960s radicals and his own past as a street hustler. Nonetheless, he remains essentially unapologetic about his Panther past. It is apparent, however, that his social consciousness has been put to good use in Tanzania. In 1991, Pete and Charlotte founded the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC). The organization sponsors an international exchange program for underprivileged American and Tanzanian teenagers. The O'Neals also coordinate study-abroad programs for several U.S. universities, bringing American college students to The UAACC to work alongside young Tanzanians while teaching them English, computer skills and HIV/AIDS awareness.

During the filming of A Panther in Africa, Pete is reunited with his 83 year old mother, Florene, on what is possibly her last visit to Tanzania and a former Panther comrade, Geronimo Pratt. These reunions while joyful, emphasize the fact that Pete is an exile. While he leads a useful and productive life in Tanzania, he insists often during the film that he is an African American, although a visit from two inner city black teenagers from Kansas City makes him uncomfortably aware of the fact that he is increasingly unaware of current American realities. But, unlike Charlotte, Pete does not feel completely at home in Tanzania either. He misses southern barbeque and Kansas City jazz. He has children in the United States he has not seen in thirty years. If his mother dies, he will not be able to go to the funeral. Pete and Charlotte seem to have a busy, productive and fulfilling life in a beautiful setting among people who love them. But Pete remains an American in spirit and as such, misses home. He continues to fight his conviction. Will he ever be able to return to the United States? And, if he is, will he want to? That is the dilemma not resolved by the end of the film.

This documentary is recommended for high school, college and general adult audiences.

Awards

• Winner, Cine Golden Eagle Award, 2004
• Audience Award, Best Documentary, St. Louis International Film Festival, 2004