Bert Small with Mark Comfort

Tolbert Small (right) and Mark Comfort in Ensenado, Mexico in Feb. 1969. Comfort was the head of the Oakland Direct Action Committee. He worked in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Black Panther project in Lowndes County, Alabama in 1965. Huey Newton got the name Black Panther from Mark Comfort.

Mark went to Sacramento with the Panthers; in fact, they borrowed seven of their weapons from him when they marched on the state Capitol. Mark encountered Governor Ronald Reagan himself on the lawn in front of the building. At Bobbie Seale's request, Mark Comfort was the last person to surrender his weapon.

Although Seale and Huey Newton asked Comfort to head the East Oakland Branch of the Black Panther party, he turned down their request. An FBI agent in COINTELPRO used this information to create internal friction within the group.