Above image from the Tolbert and Anola Small Papers via Eana Meng.

While attending the University of Detroit, he “Raised hell or high water” as the founding member of the school’s NAACP chapter and joined the National Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He obtained his medical degree from Wayne State School of Medicine

He later became the medical director for the Sickle Cell Anemia Research Center founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. Dr. Small participated in helping screen and care for adults with Sickle Cell Anemia and was a major contributor in the advancement of Sickle Cell Disease research.

In 1972 Dr. Small was invited to the People’s Republic of China with a delegation of Black Panther party members acting as their medical director. While visiting, he was exposed to the health benefits of acupuncture and chose to pursue the training necessary to become an acupuncturist after he returned. He became the first US physician outside of the Asian American community to practice acupuncture. Among many accomplishments, he ran The George Jackson Free Medical Clinic and The Operation Reach Drug Detox Center. Later, he and his wife, Anola founded the Harriet Tubman Medical Clinic in Oakland, CA. He also treated BPP members in prison such as Angela Davis and George Jackson. He still maintains his medical practice to this day!

Of Part and Parcel: Eana Meng’s in depth website dedicated to the Freedom Fighters and medicine in social justice movements 

Read more in Grace Meng’s photo Essay.