Gayle “Asali” Dickson

M. Gayle Dickson, also known as Asali, is a dedicated, community-spirited graphic artist, teacher, and ordained minister. During her late teens and early twenties, she worked for the Black Panther Party, where she was the only female graphic artist for The Black Panther, the Party newspaper, between 1972 and 1974.

Dickson was born in Berkeley, California. Her father, James Stowers, owned a dry cleaning business; her mother, Madeline Stowers, was a seamstress. When she was two years old, Dickson moved to Oakland with her mother and siblings after her parents divorced. From an early age, Dickson demonstrated an ability for drawing, a skill that was recognized and nurtured throughout her education.

After attending Oakland Public Schools and graduating from Fremont High School in 1966, Dickson studied painting at Oakland’s Laney Community College. In 1967, she transferred to Merritt College, also in Oakland, which was a hub for black student protest and was where Black Panther Party co-founders, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, met. While there, she joined the Black Student Union, became familiar with African cultural heritage, and participated in protests against police brutality.

Dickson used her artistic talents to the betterment of the communities in which she lived and, for a time, to further the goals of the Black Panther Party. She joined the Party in 1970 after marrying Melvin Dickson and moving to Seattle. She did some sign painting for the Sydney Miller Free Health Clinic while in Seattle and became involved in other community programs. In 1972, both Dickson and her husband moved back to Oakland to work at the Black Panther Party headquarters. She worked in the graphic arts department until 1976; her art focused on women and children, capitalism, and urban poverty. Consulting with artist, author, and Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas, Dickson incorporated political and social commentary into her images.

While in Oakland, Dickson also worked for the Oakland Community School, teaching art classes, designing letterhead, and performing other administrative duties. She left the Black Panther Party in 1976 and worked in various positions over the next ten years. In 1986, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Holy Names University in Oakland, and accepted an office clerk position with the City of Berkeley two years later. Called to the ministry, Dickson enrolled at San Francisco Theological Seminary where she graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1998. She served as pastor of the South Berkeley Community Church from 1998 to 2006, using her art and preaching skills for the betterment of her faith community. She did this while holding a full-time position as Assistant Administrator for the Sister Thea Bowman Manor, Percy Abram, Jr. Senior Apartments.

Dickson retired in 2016. She currently resides in Richmond, California where she continues to paint and teach and is a popular public speaker.

Dr. Keith Somerville

Dr. Keith L. Somerville is the husband of Mrs. Jessica Somerville. He is an Ordained Elder in the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and serves as Senior Pastor of Riverside-Houston United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas.  

Dr. Keith is a widely sought preacher, teacher, coach, and counselor. His United Methodists Leadership roles include Ministry Specialist (Social and Racial Justice), Conference Finance and Administration, member of the Future Discernment Task Force, and District Committee on Finance board member.  

Previously, he served full-time as the Assistant Pastor at St. Johns Downtown UMC (Houston), Senior Pastor at Calvary United Methodist Church (Houston), and the Founding Pastor of One Life Church (Missouri City.)  

He is a graduate of Morehouse College, The Interdenominational Theological Center (Gammon Seminary), and a holds an earned Doctor of Ministry from The Candler School Of Theology at Emory University with a concentration in Biblical Interpretation and Proclamation. Dr. Keith’s final capstone at Emory University focused on Moral Leadership and the plausibility of moral preaching in times of racial crisis. He also holds a certification in Clinical Pastoral Education from St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston Medical Center.)  

Dr. Somerville is a published author of the devotional series “Today I Will” and “God’s Understudy,” and currently serves as the President of the Houston Area Caucus of Black Methodists For Church Renewal, is a member of the Institutional Review Board at the University of Houston Research Department, and a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.   

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Xavier Buck, Ph.D.

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Emory Douglas

The artist and activist Emory Douglas shaped the powerful graphic identity of the Black Panther Party through depictions of Black struggle and liberation. As minister of culture for the party and art director for the Panthers’ official newspaper, Douglas popularized the group’s message through illustrations and cartoons in the paper and in posters and pamphlets. His artworks would later be celebrated in major solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 2007 and the New Museum in New York in 2009, among other venues. Douglas was first introduced to graphic design as a teenager while incarcerated at a youth detention center. He went on to study graphic arts at San Francisco City College, where he was inspired by the work of artists like Charles White and other artists involved in the Black Arts Movement.  This early exposure to the artistic wing of the Black Power movement provided Douglas with a blueprint for combining art with activism.