Norma Mtume

## Early Life

Norma was born in 1949 in San Diego, CA. He parents were married until she was roughly the age of four when they decided to get a divorce. She lived in San Diego after she was born but then moved to Los Angeles, CA after the divorce to live with her mother. As a kid Norma attended a school that was primarily African American students. The school name was Jefferson High and she graduated in the class of 1967. In an interview with Library Of Congress she is noted for saying that the community where she lived in LA was poor but as children we didn't know that until we left and went to a different part of CA.

## Life Pre Black Panther Party Member

After Norma finished High School she received a $250 dollar scholarship. She attended Cal State University and wanted to major in Math and Physical Education in order to be a teacher. While she was attending her classes she went to her first protest as a spectator. This protest in particular was a war protest in 1967.Pictured to the right is a war protest photo from 1967. Also while at college she met her husband through the BSU (Black Student Union). This would ultimately be one of the reasons she joined the Black Panther Party. The other reason that she encountered to push her into joining the part was in 1969. In December of 1969 her boyfriend at the time was beaten up at one of the Black Panther Party Offices. After this took place she made the decision to join the party and do her part in order to try and prevent this from happening to others.

## Life As A Black Panther

Norma Mtume joined the Black Panther Party at the age of 19. She worked her way up in the organization from a program participant to the Minister of Finance. Originally she was volunteering at the office on 41st street which at this time was still trying to get on its feet. Her first roles included helping out with the breakfast program and writing speeches. Eventually like other offices the health care clinic started to come along and needed some help to get it on its feet and heading in the right direction-Norma was one of those who helped set it up. As she is quoted in saying in an interview," I always had an interest in the body and health." Following her volunteering she was assigned to the clinic as the coordinator which means that she was in charge of running the clinic. Another hat that she wore as being a member and a coordinator was finding doctors and nurses who would lend their time to help.

Through the roles that she had filled during her first year as a Panther, she was able to find a mentor who taught her more than just the medical diagnosis. Marie Branch was one of the nurses who would wind up teaching Norma along with others about the medical world so they could help but also parts of life they never had the chance to experience. One thing that Norma remembers being taught about was Yogurt. To her it was not common but to Marie it was. One way the volunteers were taught medicine was to practice on other volunteers. One instance that played an important role in Norma's life is when she was diagnosed with cancer from allowing someone to practice an exam on her. When she was diagnosed with cancer her roles had to change in order for her to receive proper treatment. The blessing for her is that it was an early diagnosis.

Eventually after she had done her job in California she was given an offer to become the Minister of Finance. She took this job and worked remotely from Oakland, CA. She was responsible for anything and everything related to finance whether it be donations or spending money in order to take care of Party Members. For her, this job was during the time period of the organization when Bobby Seale and Huey Newton had stepped down. Ultimately this left a strain on her family, but it was something that they knew would potentially happen.

Another aspect of life as a Black Panther is how when she would spend time with her children and family. Seeing as she was a mother and a member her children were raised in the Black Panther school system that they had set up. She would send her kids on the bus on Monday and see them when they got dropped off on Friday. To outside members this could seem like they did not care about their children but in all reality the children came first for the whole entirety of the organization. As for her significant other their relationship was complicated. They both had their roles within the organization which pulled them to different locations and entailed different assignments so they decided to take some time apart.

For Norma, life as a Black Panther Party Member ended when she was sent to jail for having weapons in her house. Being a Party member meant that you would all house items that were used to defend yourself and your brothers and sisters whether or not they were actually yours. Norma did not own the guns that were found in her address but her name was on the bills and statements therefore she took the blame and went to prison which led to her being removed from the organization.

## Life Today After The Blank Panther Party

After she was kicked out of the Black Panther Party for being in prison she decided to make the most of her time in jail in order to benefit her life after her sentence was up. She decided to go back to college and finish her degree. Doing this resorted in her being offered 3 jobs out of the 4 interviews she went on. She later went back to college and received a higher level degree in health administration. After putting her health administration degree to use she decided to go back and get masters degree. By the time she received her last college degree she was 55 years old and held 4 degrees in total.

In 1990 she worked for the government in an alcohol and drug abuse program which after a year and a half she left. As she left she got an offer to run a program that was partnered with King Hospital. Later this position grew as the money continued to grow. What started out as a program running off of half a million dollars grew into a twenty five million dollar company by the time Norma resigned. After resigning from this partnership she joined SHIELDS. After a time at SHIELDS she filed her resignation just in time to accept a position at Drew Medical School where she now teachers from her experience and helps students learn how to connect with their patients no matter what walk of life they come from.

## Links And Resources

Interview With Norma Mtume

SHIELDS Founders Information

Marie Branch Clinic Involvement

Norma Mtume Drew Medical Staff

Drew Medical School Home Page

Norma Mtume LinkedIn