In this two-part interview, Gayle “Asali” Dickson talks to Kakoli Mitra about the emphasis the Black Panther Party (BPP) placed on educating oneself through extensive reading. Members of the BPP were given a list of books on history, politics, economics, and other subjects that they were expected to read. She speaks about how the teachings of Malcolm X influenced her more than those of Dr. Martin Luther King. Asali speaks about how she views civil rights differently from human rights: the former are man-made (changeable) rules/laws, while the latter are immutable rights that humans have. She talks about Jim Crow and its context within the American Civil War (1861-1865) and reconstruction. Asali describes the BPP as her family; they ate together, they read the newspaper together, they served the community together. There were two — and later, three — other female members in the Seattle chapter of the BPP, whom Asali considered to be her sisters. She talks about how, despite the 1960s and 1970s being the time of the feminist movement, patriarchy still pervaded society and the BPP, with mostly the men making the decisions. But Asali never felt suppressed. She explains how the numerous social programs of the BPP were customized to the particular challenges faced by the community each BPP chapter served. In Asali’s words, the BPP was reconstructing soceity, serving as a model for a community-based system that included health care, food security, education, and social cohesion.