As Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for the rights of African Americans in the 60s, Sac State government professor Stan Oden was doing what he could to help the Civil Rights movement and leading a movement of his own.

Inspired by so many people, Oden dedicated himself to fight for equality of all people and for the rights of people of color.

A larger than life collage with the faces of many famous African American figures, and perhaps some not as well known, is proudly displayed on his desk. With the sun shining in, Oden said he likes to be surrounded by people who mean something to him and who have inspired him.

At a young age Oden said he showed a huge interest for politics and the social issues going on in the country.

“I was always involved in politics as a kid,” Oden said. “I used to watch political conventions when my friends were out playing kickball.”

Although Oden was born and raised in San Diego, he said that unlike the south racism was much more subtle. Oden said that black people would never be hired in certain positions, but it was masked because San Diego was a Navy town.

Oden said that he used to talk politics with his mother and brothers and was involved in student government in junior and high school. But his passion for social issues and politics did not stop there. When Oden transferred from San Diego Community College to UC Davis in 1967, he made sure that he remained active in the movement for civil rights.

During the summer of 1968 until the fall, Oden became a member of the Black Panther Party. The party formed in 1966 and had a reputation of using force and carrying weapons.

Oden’s tasks in the party included providing security, helping at rallies and selling papers.

“I thought it was a very out of the box organization that was trying to shake up the power structure to show that black people were not afraid to fight for their freedom,” Oden said. “The use of arms was a way to show that this organization would go to the ultimate level to secure freedom. And it wasn’t really something to attack police or attack anybody, but to defend themselves when they were going to be attacked by the police.”

Apart from rallying for civil rights, the party would provide security and help to African American neighborhoods.

“The Black Panther Party was doing nothing more than trying to deliver services that the government and private industries weren’t willing or did not care to do and this was going on all over the country,” Oden said.

After Oden left the party he dedicated himself to issues happening on college campuses. As the first president of the Black Student Union, Oden said he helped organize rallies for UC universities to increase their acceptance rates for people of color and a push for ethnic studies.

“I think people were ready,” Oden said. “It was a time period when students were dealing with the Vietnam War, when the counter culture movement was going on in terms of students experimenting with drugs, there was more of an openness in terms of people wanting to meet people who they had never met before.”

Oden was one out of 40 African American students out of 10,000 that year at UC Davis he said, but the following quarter the presence of African Americans in the university increased to 100.

History professor Joseph Palermo believes he is a great addition to the faculty.

“There are few people I’ve ever met who are more knowledgeable about the African American Civil Rights movement because Stan was at the center of just about every struggle for social justice that took place in San Diego, Davis, Berkeley, Oakland, and he has continued that spirit of community involvement here in Sacramento,” Palermo said.

Sociology professor Manuel Barajas said he is always uplifted whenever he sees Oden because of his genuineness and an example of producing knowledge and using it to help those most in need.

“Professor Oden’s direct experience with the Civil Rights Movement as a Black Panther member offers knowledge that is not accessible through just reading books alone or listening to arm-chair scholars’ interpretation of other people’s lived experiences,” Barajas said. “The memory, the insight, and the emotion that help understand and prioritize equity and diversity are better understood by those who experience first-hand the abuses of unfair institutionalized policies, cultures, and practices, which devalue one’s humanity because of one’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class.”

Now encouraging diversity among faculty at Sac State, Oden said that hiring faculty of color has been lousy and criticizes administration as well as other faculty who have the opportunity to include diverse faculty into their ranks.

Oden believes that a more diverse faculty will share similar experiences with students and therefore students could be understood better and be inspired.

Voicing his opinions has always been important to him, Oden said because to create change it is something that must be done.

“I spoke my mind so a lot of people sometimes didn’t agree with me, but I was able to get a certain viewpoint out there that wasn’t out there before,” Oden said.

Wendy Aguilar can be reached at [email protected]