[5] David, due to his lack of a high-school diploma and skills had a hard time finding jobs.

[5] During their early married life, David faced alcohol addiction and a lack of anger management.

[5] During his involvement with the Black Panthers, Hilliard met Brenda Presley and the two began an intimate relationship.

[6] Huey P. Newton, Hilliard's childhood friend, informed him of this organization that Bobby Seale and he were founding.

[5] After the arrest of Huey Newton on October 28, 1967, for an armed scuffle with the Oakland Police resulting in the death of Officer John Frey,[7] David Hilliard acted as the interim leader of the Black Panthers.

This program addressed the systematic oppression of African American students in the public school system.

The Black Panthers believed that public schools failed to teach analytical skills that are necessary to survive in society.

[12][5] Hilliard was convicted on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for his part in a 1968 ambush on Oakland Police officers in retribution for the assassination of Martin Luther King.

[13][14] The April 6, 1968 encounter led to the death of party member Bobby Hutton and the capture of Eldridge Cleaver, who masterminded the botched operation.

J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI called the Black Panthers "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.

[13] In his autobiography Revolutionary Suicide, Huey P. Newton claimed the district attorney of Alameda County was attempting to send Hilliard to prison on "trumped up charges".

[2] After being released from prison Hilliard moved to Los Angeles and secured a job at Tom Hayden's organization called the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED).

After moving to Connecticut, Hilliard worked as an organizer for the New England Health Care Employees Union.

[2] The mission of this organization is "to preserve and promulgate the history, ideals and legacy of the Black Panther Party and its founder Huey P. Newton through development and distribution of educational materials, establishment of educational conferences and forums, maintenance and exhibition of historical archives.