THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY

A History

Black Panthers

• The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American revolutionary organization established to promote Black Power, and by extension self-defense for blacks.

• It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s.

Ideology

• Marxism• Maoism• International-

ism [Marxist wars of liberation in 3rd World]

• Black nationalism

Founding

• Founded in Oakland, California in 1966.• Founders: Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

Panther Quote

• “If you don't attack us, there won't be any violence; [but] if you bring violence to us, we will defend ourselves.”

Founders: Huey P. Newton• Born February17, 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana.• Began having an interest in politics, while attending Oakland City

College.• Was first influenced by Plato’s book Republic and later was influenced

by other author’s works such as, Franz Fanon, Malcolm X, and others.

Founders: Huey P. Newton• Recognized by his followers as “Defense Minister”.• Arrested for murder in October 1967.• Turned to drugs after Seale left party and later was murdered in a drug

dispute (August 22, 1989).

Founders: Bobby Seale

1. Born October 22, 1936.

2. Recognized by his followers as “the chairman”

3. Charged with conspiracy to insight riots(1969).

4. Attempted to reform institution for world wide

justice.

Rules and Regulations

• The Rules of the Black Panther Party• The Three Main Rules of Discipline • The Eight Points of Attention• The Black Child’s Pledge

The Ten Point Program

1. We want power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities.

2. We want full employment for our people.

3. We want an end to the robbery of our black community.

4. We want decent housing, fit for the shelter of human beings.

The Ten Point Program

5. We want decent education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.

6. We want completely free health care for all black and oppressed people.

7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people, other people of color, all oppressed people inside the United States.

The Ten Point Program

8. We want an immediate end to all wars of aggression.

9. We want freedom for all black and oppressed people now held in U.S. Federal, state, country, city, and military prisons and jails. We want trials by a jury of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws of this country.

10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace, and people’s community control of modern technology.

BPP Goals

• BPP Wanted to:– “guard against police brutality in black neighborhoods and

provide social services” (Bobby Seale)– “capture the imagination of the black community, so that we could

better organize them into a political electoral machine” (Bobby Seale)

Panther Accomplishments

• Grew to be 5,000 strong• Free Breakfast for Children Program• Testing for Sickle Cell Disease• Clothing Distribution• Emergency Response Ambulance Program• Drug and Alcohol Abuse Rehabilitation• Lessons on Self Defense and First Aid• Transportation to see inmates in prisons

BPP and the Police

• Armed Panthers would follow the police and monitor their actions in the black community.

BPP v Police

• Both Panthers and police died as a result of violent confrontations.

• By 1970, 34 Panthers had died as a result of police raids, shoot-outs and internal conflict.

Black Cops in America

• From 1966 to 1972, when the party was most active, several departments hired significantly more African-American police officers.

• During this time period, many African American police officers started to form organizations of their own to become more protective of the African American citizenry and to increase black representation on police forces

Political Activities

By 1972, when the party disbanded, almost every major police department in the US was integrated.

Political Activities

By 1968, the party had expanded into many cities

1. Chicago

2. Los Angeles

3. Detroit

4. San Diego

5. Denver

6. Newark

7. New York City

8. Boston

9. Philadelphia

10. Pittsburgh

11. Washington, D.C.

Free Huey Campaign

• Newton, accused of murdering Oakland police officer John Frey, was tried and sent to prison.

• The BPP mounted an interracial effort to free Huey Newton that included white radicals.

• In May 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial.

• After two subsequent mistrials, the State of California dropped the case.

COINTELPRO

• In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program "COINTELPRO" to "neutralize" what the FBI called "black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups.

• In September of 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.“

Fred Hampton Case

• One of the most notorious COINTELPRO actions was a Chicago Police raid of the home of Panther organizer Fred Hampton on December 4, 1969.

• The raid had been orchestrated by the police in conjunction with the FBI. The FBI informant was William O'Neal [head of Panther security].

• Hampton was shot and killed

Stokely Carmichael and BPP

• Stokely Carmichael, the former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a nationally known proponent of Black Power, is recruited into the party through this struggle, and soon becomes the party's Prime Minister in February, 1968.

US Organization is a Black nationalist group in the United States founded by Ron Karenga in 1965. It was a rival of the Black Panther Party in

California.

• In the summer of 1969, the alliance between the Panthers and SNCC begins ripping apart.

• One of the main points of dispute is the inclusion of whites in the struggle for minority liberation, a dispute which is pushed into an open gun fight at the University of California in Los Angeles against the group US, led by Maulana Karenga, which leaves two Panthers dead.

New Black Panther Party

• In 1989, a group calling itself the "New Black Panther Party" was formed in Dallas, Texas.

• Ten years later, the NBPP became home to many former Nation of Islam members when the chairmanship was taken by Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

• The Anti-Defamation League and The Southern Poverty Law Center consider the New Black Panthers as a hate group.

• Members of the original Black Panther Party have insisted that this New Black Panther Party is illegitimate and have strongly objected that there "is no new Black Panther Party."

References

• “Black Panther Party”. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 16, 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party>.

• “Black Panther Party” CNN. Retrieved February 16, 2007. <http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/13/interviews/seale/>.

• "Black Panthers." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.© 1994, 2000-2006, on Fact Monster.© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Fact Monster.22 Feb. 2007 <http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0807795.html>.

• “Black Panthers.” Online Source: Retrieved February 15, 2007.<http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/>.