In Oakland, a historic hot dog restaurant utilized by members of the Black Panther Party will soon feature a everlasting art installation commemorating the group.

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Kasper’s Hot Dogs, which opened in 1943 within the Temescal neighborhood in North Oakland and is ready to reopen by yr’s end, will honor the legacy and roots of the Black Panther Party within the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood where party co-founder Huey P. Newton grew up.

Temescal is where the Black Panther Party was founded and was lively locally, launching initiatives resembling free breakfast for youngsters and a newspaper. The group also had a 10-point program that emphasized things like freedom, employment and housing for Black people.

Kasper’s, named after founder and Armenian immigrant Kasper Koojoolian, has been closed since 2003. It was said to be certainly one of Newton’s favorite childhood haunts and catered to several other party members, politicians and musicians.

“Everybody used to are available that place,” Harry Yaglijian, Koojoolian’s grandson, told the Chronicle. “When the Panthers were distinguished, (Huey Newton) used to are available.”

After recent owners purchased the historic constructing to renovate and reopen it, the restaurant is ready to reopen this fall, serving Chicago-style hot dogs. 

On everlasting display outside the restaurant will probably be artwork honoring the Black Panther Party created by the Temescal Roots Project and arranged by the Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District, the Made in Color creative agency and the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, in response to The Chronicle 

“This may really be a giant moment in Temescal to really have a dedicated memorial to the party, to essentially root their history there,” said Katie Larson, executive director of the Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District.

These groups will co-host community discussions and workshops around Oakland in the approaching months to provide you with ideas for the installation with residents, artists, historians, local business leaders, and others, in response to the outlet.

Although a bust honoring the Black Panther co-founder was unveiled in West Oakland last yr, in response to Newton’s widow and former party member Fredrika Newton, the town has no plaques, statues, or everlasting art installations commemorating the group’s legacy as an entire.

“It’s not a history that’s widely known,” Fredrika told the outlet, adding that the continuing displacement of long-standing residents in Temescal makes it much more critical that there are local markers to “have fun that history and the young men and ladies who made supreme sacrifices to serve that community.”