Henson and his Young Black Panther Party had filled the backpacks with seeds, packs of playing cards featuring notable moments in Black history and a graphic novel describing the history of the original Black Panthers.

“The one thing I remember the most is the two little boys that came up to me saying, 'Can I get one?' Henson said. "They went through it, and they were very excited because of what was in it. That put joy in my heart.”

Now 23, Henson said that the hope and faith that the community places in the Party is one of the things he is the proudest of.

Henson founded the Party in June 2020, modeling it after the original Black Panther Party. In a previous interview with The State News in March 2020, Henson said that he wanted to show others that people can make progress without establishing an official organization.

Since the founding of the party, he and his team have worked to provide community outreach and support. This goal materializes in a variety of ways.

During the summer, Henson holds free martial arts classes along Lansing's River Trail for those looking to learn self-defense.

“I have no problem teaching it for anybody, kids or adults, because it's best for all of us to learn self-defense in one way or another,” he said.

Additionally, the Young Black Panther Party held a food giveaway this summer, using fresh produce donated from a local woman.

Members have also traveled to Grand Rapids to provide protection during protests. Grand Rapids is an area of particular interest to the Party — some of its members live there — but also Henson has a personal connection to policing issues in the city.

When traveling to Grand Rapids last fall, Henson was arrested on what he believes was a false warrant that should not have been out for his arrest. Henson wants to eventually purchase body cams for Party members to avoid similar situations in the future.

“If one area of police officers are comfortable with that, just imagine how many are comfortable with that,” Henson said. “The body cam will catch it better than a cell phone.”

The Young Black Panther Party is also working to find a way to provide protection to young children walking home from school. Henson said that the Party is working out a way to build trust between parents and Party members, possibly through background checks, with the end goal of providing Party members to walk children home. 

“We want the community to feel safe," Henson said. "We can also bring trust and teamwork within our community at the same time."

Henson has ambitious plans for the future of the Young Black Panther party. 

“We're still working on getting an office, where the community can come to reach out to us if they ever have any problems and if they ever need somebody to talk (to),” Henson said.

In this office, Henson said, will be a chalkboard wall where the community is invited to write down problems that they would like to see Henson and his team address.

“All of this can be a community effort as one, that once we get all the problems broken down, and all the things that need to be fixed within the community, we can start crossing them off one by one,” Henson said.