Joan Tarika Lewis (born February 1, 1950;

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Joan Angela Lewis;

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Matilaba, also known as, Tarika Lewis, Tarika Matilaba), is an American

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

, musician, author,

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

. She was the first woman to join the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

Early life

Lewis was born Joan Angela Lewis on February 1, 1950, in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, to

John Henry Lewis John Henry Lewis (May 1, 1914 – April 18, 1974) was a hall of fame American boxer who held the World Light Heavyweight Boxing Title from 1935 to 1938. ''The Ring'' boxing magazine named Lewis the 16th greatest light heavyweight of all-time. His ...

and Florence (Reid) Lewis. Lewis grew up in Oakland, California during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, when it was a hub for civil unrest due to the high prevalence of police brutality, and the continued segregation of the city due to white flight out of the “Flatlands” and into the Foothills. Lewis studied at Oakland Tech high school, following in the steps of other Black Panther Party leaders such as

Bobby Hutton Robert James Hutton (April 21, 1950 – April 6, 1968), also known as "Lil' Bobby", was the treasurer and first recruit to join the Black Panther Party.Reginald Forte. Before becoming involved in racial politics, her parents wanted her to pursue a Jazz career, as she was an accomplished violinist in high school. During high school she co-founded the Black Student Union and staged

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

s to demand the implementation of a Black Studies course as well as black history club. Lewis drew her inspiration for these demands from student activists at Merritt College who were also demanding black studies courses. Lewis began visiting Merritt College with her cousins when she was 16 to attend forums on black history and culture. Here she came into contact with the founding members of the Black Panther Party,

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...

and

Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...

, and was inspired by their visions of black nationalism and radical cultural and community preservation. Lewis also came to be interested in the black panther party because of their Community Survival Programs they set up in high schools and community centers around Oakland. The community survival projects included programs like Free Breakfast for Children, Free Food Program, and Child Development Center.

Black Panther Party

In the spring of 1967, Lewis became the first woman to join the

, at the age of 16. She dropped out of high school and made the decision to put her jazz career on hold in order to help the movement. She quickly rose in the ranks of the party, completing political education classes mandated by the party, and training in weaponry. When male panthers questioned her abilities as a marksman because of her gender, Lewis challenged them to come to the range and see if they could match her straight shot. Lewis was later appointed as a local Lieutenant, and helped train new recruits and teach drill classes. Lewis continued her involvement in the Black Panther Party as one of the party's first revolutionary graphic artists, through her drawings and other artwork in ''The Black Panther'' (newspaper). Lewis contributed over forty images to the newspaper between 1967 and 1969 under the pen name "Matilaba". Most of the artwork that came out of the newspaper and the party itself is attributed to Emory Douglas, yet Lewis' drawings were prominently featured alongside his. Lewis worked as his assistant during her time spent in the party. Her work was easily identified by its thin pen strokes, and the light shading that outlined her usually militant female caricatures. Lewis' art usually represented common themes of the newspaper, including demonizations of the police as "pigs", as well as depictions of armed panthers, which reinforced Black Americans struggles against police brutality. What made her art stand out was its depictions of armed black women panthers rather than black men, a shift from the very masculine representation of militant self-defense usually pictured in the newspaper. Through both her artwork, as well as her involvement in training camps and police patrols, Lewis created a space for black women to embody the image of radical defenders of the community and culture. Lewis left the Black Panther Party in January 1969.

Art career

After leaving the party Lewis became a graphic artist and Jazz violinist, yet she continued to engage with issues of community development heralded by the Black Panther Party. She toured internationally with saxophonist

John Handy John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe. Biography Handy was born in ...

and went on to teach visual arts as well as Jazz to inner city youth. She also is the founder of the Oakland Black String Ensemble. When working with her visual art skills, Lewis acts as an Art Instructor/Counselor at the Healthy Babies Project, where she helps women use visual art to represent and understand trauma due to substance abuse. Lewis is also the author of ''Panther: A Pictorial History of the Black Panthers and the Story Behind the Film'' and also worked on the 1995 ''

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

'' movie with Mario Van Peebles. In the film she acted as a consultant, and even had a minor acting role. In 2001 she was awarded the Congressional Recognition Award for "Performing Artist and Recognition of Community Work".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Joan Tarika Members of the Black Panther Party Jazz violinists Living people 21st-century violinists 1950 births