LV Black Panther leader hints at 'massive ' project

The resurgent Las Vegas Black Panther Party on Tuesday will outline for the national public a dramatic proposal that, if it is accepted, may change the lives of black people in America, according to the group's chairman.

"We are going to launch a massive campaign that will be one of the most historical, most monumental drives in the history of the country," said Ron Current, who declined to expand on the concept until a press conference, which will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the West Las Vegas Library.

Current organized the local Black Panther organization in 1993, without the blessing of the original Black Panthers in Oakland, Calif. When he left it a few months later, the once active organization fell into a dormant state.

The party was rejuvenated earlier this week when another organization, called the Clark County Civil and Political Rights League, also started by Current, became part of Current's old organization following a meeting at the West Las Vegas Library.

The meeting was a public forum during which black economics, organizations and leaderships were discussed.

When he talked to Black Panther administrators in Oakland in 1993 about reviving the Las Vegas Black Panther Party, which first was formed in the early 1970s and then faded out, he says he was told not to do it.

"I defied them," he said. "Basically, they said the organization was underground and wanted to remain there, but I felt that the Panthers were too vital to remain underground.

"We needed an organization here in Las Vegas that had, historically, enough of a violent past to create the necessary respect and controversy."

The potential of violence, according to Current, is what gives the organization some degree of respect and makes people listen to them on a political level.

"We wanted to keep violence as a last resort," he said.

He stressed that the Panthers approve of violence only in self defense.

"It's all defensive, never an offensive act," he said.

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