THE PANTHERS AT 40 / 'Black Panther Rank and File' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts exhibition celebrates history, impact and related themes of a political group born in Oakland. And don't forget about the party.

THE PANTHERS AT 40 / 'Black Panther Rank and File' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts exhibition celebrates history, impact and related themes of a political group born in Oakland. And don't forget about the party.

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The Black Panther Party had an undeniably cool aesthetic -- great hair, hot leather, hip shades -- and, for many people, their knowledge of the Panthers ends there.

That was the case with René de Guzman, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' visual arts curator, when he got a phone call from Bill Jennings, director of It's About Time, a Black Panther alumni association, about celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Panthers.

"Going into it, I had an impression of them as this attractive rebel group," says de Guzman, "but what I grew to appreciate was how community based they were. The Panthers were very militant about protecting their communities from police -- and they had great community programs, like sickle cell anemia testing. It was the first time people paid attention to that disease, which was impacting the African American population. They were providing free food, bus service, things that, quite frankly, became incorporated as a model for government work."

To organize an art show around the Panthers, de Guzman went to New York and met with Claude Simard, who curated a show called "The Whole World Is Rotten" that covered related issues in a look at the black power movement and slavery. Together, they helped organize the Yerba Buena exhibition.

Together, that is, with the help of Jennings. "While it wouldn't be technically correct to say that he curated the show," says de Guzman, "what he did do was give us access to an archive of Black Panther material the value of which was inestimable. He put us in touch with a community of former Panthers, which was a really important link to the Bay Area."

In addition to showcasing newspapers and photographs from the era, de Guzman has brought in a slew of contemporary artists such as Paa Joe and Lawrence Weiner to interpret relevant themes of organized dissent, rebellion, African history, political change and group identity.

But de Guzman also hasn't lost sight of the celebratory nature of the show. "It's about the Black Panther Party. The emphasis," he says, laughing, "being on 'party.' "