Althea Francois joined the Black Panther Party in New Orleans in 1970 as a community worker. She was 19 years old and attended her first political education class at the Piety St. office. At one of the political education meetings, it was announced that there were two undercover police present. People from the community identified them and then ran them out. This incident led to the first raid on the Party office. After the office was raided, Althea called Central Headquarters, and was directed to reopen the office. By the end of the next day, the office was open and functioning.

Althea’s functions included soliciting for funds for the Party, the Liberation School, and visiting political prisoners arrested during the raid.

Althea survived the second raid on the office in the Desire projects. During that time, she worked in the Sickle Cell Research Center. She came to California in 1972 to work on Bobby Seale’s mayoral campaign. She worked at the West Oakland Center where some of her functions included selling papers, collecting donations and she was the health officer for the West Oakland office. Althea also registered many people to vote during Bobby’s campaign. She also was a cook at the Lamppost Restaurant.

Since Althea left the Party, she continues to educate and organize. She is on the board of the Prison Activist Resource Center, a key member of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Coalition to Free the Angola 3, and she is an organizer for Critical Resistance South. She is also a mother, and is helping to raise her grandchildren.