As founding chairman of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale lead one of the most influential protest groups of the 1960s. Since then, Seale has been an equality activist, author, film producer and public speaker.

Tonight, Seale will be presenting the lecture, “Activism Then and Now,” at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Admission is free.

The event, cosponsored by the Black Student Alliance and the ISU Lectures Program, is a preliminary “kick-off” for February’s Black History Month, said Pat Miller, director of the Lectures Program.

“As a long-time activist, we anticipate that he will share some of his own history and his own acts of activism, and then comment on their importance in what’s happening now and what he thinks needs to be happening now,” Miller said.

Jennifer Ray, Big 12 delegate for the Black Student Alliance, said Seale was asked to speak after his name came up during a meeting.

“We had a meeting for BSA where we asked the general assembly what speakers they would like to see on campus, and he was one of the people named,” said Ray, junior in apparel merchandising, design and production.

On Oct. 22, 1966, Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland, Calif. Originally composed of six members, with Seale’s own house as the headquarters, the Black Panther Party eventually grew to more than 5,000 members in 48 chapters and branches around the United States, according to Seale’s Web site, www.bobbyseale.com.

The group legally armed themselves with guns and patrolled the police in the name of social equality, according to the Web site.

Seale left the Black Panther Party in 1974 and has since written four books: “Seize the Time,” “A Lonely Range,” “Barbeque’n With Bobby Seale” and “Polylectic Reality: The Non-Linear Analytical View Memoirs: Bobby Seale & All the Original Black Panthers,” according to his Web site.

Ray said she is excited to hear what Seale has to say.

“I think it will be a great thing for Iowa State to be able to see because he is a noted political activist,” she said. “It will be a great learning experience for those who don’t know so much about him to learn about him and what he has done.”

Seale’s speech “should be of interest to a variety people,” Miller said.

“What he has to offer that is unique is that he’s such a historical figure from the tumultuous sixties,” she said. “It’s something for students to learn from and also to ask questions.”