I'm Paris Jackson in the Cascade PBS newsroom.

As we commemorate Black History Month, one founder of the Black Panther Party Seattle chapter is keeping its legacy and impact alive for future generations.

In 1966, the Black Panthers were founded in Oakland, California, amidst the Jim Crow South, rampant discrimination and police brutality across the country.

Two years later, teenage brothers Elmer Dixon and his older brother Aaron co-founded the Seattle chapter with other young activists.

-We grew up in an era of assassinations because they were one right after the another.

Seeing the Bloody Sunday battle on the Pettus Bridge.

Same year, seeing the the murder of the four young girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church, Medgar Evers being assassinated, two years later, Malcolm X being assassinated, the rebellions in Watts, the rebellions in Detroit.

It was a very tumultuous time.

-The Panthers goal was to build a revolutionary black political party, to give voice to the conditions in the black community and take direct action to address them, according to BlackPast.org.

-And so people need to understand, you know, their history.

And I, you know, my favorite audience, by the way, are the K-5th graders because they know the difference between truth and lies.

-Nearly six decades later, Dixon wants young people to learn the history of the Panthers, but also create their own identity and fight for something.

This spring, the Seattle Black Panther Interpretive Center will open at the Metropole building in downtown Seattle.

I'm Paris Jackson, thank you for watching The Newsfeed, your destination for nonprofit Northwest news.

Go to CascadePBS.org for more.