The Baltimore BPP had its headquarters at 924 East Eager Street in Baltimore. Its previous headquarters had been located at the 1200 block of North Eden Street. Baltimore panther Elijah Zeke Boyd was 24. He had served in the US Armed Forces for six years doing a 18 month tour in Vietnam. He received an honorable discharge from the Army in 1969. He held the rank of Lieutenant in the Baltimore BPP chapter. Boyd noted that the needs of the lower caste residents in Baltimore determined the chapter’s programs. As a result, in 1969 the Baltimore chapter opened a BPP grocery store on the corner of Biddle and North Eden because poor people had a need for affordable nutritious food for their families. The BPP store sold a full line of food at discounted prices that lower caste community residents could afford as compared to other grocery stores in the area. The goal of the BPP store had been actualizing the part of the Panthers 10 point program calling for ending business owners charging higher prices for lower quality food in poor neighborhoods and thereby exploiting their customers. Baltimore BPP members found that the best way to address the issue had been to open their own store and sell the same food items at an outstanding savings for its customers. The Panthers invested all store profits into additional programs in Baltimore.
