Black Panthers Essay

Consequently, seventeen-year-old Hutton was gunned down by Oakland police on April 6, 1968. Bobby Hutton was killed at his home in Oakland, California in a ninety minute shootout with the police, Hutton was unarmed. Although the Black Panther Party addressed situations violently, the purpose of the Panthers was to domiciliate revolution for authentic economic, social, and political equality through gender and color equitably. The Black Panther went on to arm themselves for protection against law enforcements. Newton and Seale believed that the Party could become penetrable with the acquirement of firearms. With this militaristic image, the Panthers were beginning to be scrutinized by the government, the Panthers were well aware of this. Occasionally, policemen would find themselves interrupting or disassemble gatherings of the

Due to the buzz of the programs started by the Black Panthers, J. Edgar Hoover who was head of the FBI, stated publicly that the Panthers are the "greatest threat to the internal security of the country".

     Organized in the 1960s at the height of the American Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party emerged as a revolutionist group pioneering a strategy of militancy. The Party’s aims were to eliminate the discrimination challenging African-Americans in America since the time of slavery, and to protect their communities from police brutality. Inspired by contemporary radical leaders such as Malcolm X, the party recognized that in order to restructure American society so that civil equality was obtainable by all people, a much stronger opposition was necessary. Party members felt the passive resistance adopted by their predecessors fighting for equality proved

     The Black Panther had a huge background of history, goals, and beliefs. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, Ca 1966, founded the Panthers. They were originally as an African American self defense force and were highly influenced by Malcolm X’s ideas. They were named after Lowndes County Freedom Organization or LCFO. The Panthers had many goals like; giving back to the ghetto, protecting blacks from police brutality, and to help blacks get freedom and jobs. They also had many beliefs like;

In addition, although the BPP was proficient at the art of propaganda making very good use of its own and the establishment’s media, too many Panthers still fell into the habit of making boisterous claims in the public media that they could not back up.

The party eventually built up a huge enemy, including the former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover who launched a program to discredit black nationalists groups. The program was dubbed COINTELPRO, or The Counterintelligence Program. Many of the FBI members involved in the program followed and stalked members of The Black Panther Party and their families. Though the program’s main priority were The Black Panthers, they did target other parties. Despite many government figures against The Black Panther Party, they recruited many members of the community through displaying their tasteful fashion senses. They equipped afros, leather jackets, and berets. This had a special appeal to many black Americans at this era. Many younger black kids wanted to join because of their stylish and unique fashion. “One of the things that Panthers did was prove that urban black is beautiful (Workneh and Finley).” Their strong belief was that black is beautiful, and it’s a god-given. “As I sat on the bus peering out the window at Mommy, the only white face in a sea of black face, a black man walked up with his son. He had a mustache and a goatee and wore black leather pants, a black leather jacket, a ton of jewelry, and a black beret (McBride [Page 35]).” This quote distinguishes the type of clothing Black Panthers wore and how they seemed more slick than the average black at the time. “I saw the Black Panther

Imagine it is the 1960’s: conflict in Vietnam had sparked widespread protest at American college campuses, people all over the country were reading the The Feminine Mystique and fighting for increased equality among the sexes, and the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak. African Americans throughout America were uniting for the common cause of equality, however differing ideology and beliefs regarding how equality could be achieved divided them. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X rose as prominent leaders in the fight against racial inequality, the latter typically credited with the development of more violent methodology which excluded white involvement and conceived the movement of “Black Power.” The Black Panthers, members of a political party formed by college students Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, are typically associated with the idea of black power and the legacy of Malcolm X despite the fact that he had died a year prior to the party’s founding. While the idea of black power is easily and mis-conceivably associated with the idea of black supremacy and violence, The Black Panther Party primarily sought a spot for African Americans next to that of whites, not above. The Black Panther Party, despite its violent appearance and legacy, made a positive influence on American history through its platform based on equality, human rights, and patriotism.

The black panther party formed by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale was a revolutionary power unlike any other group in the 60s. They formed a militant to protect the black community after witnessing countless racial attacks and prejudice. The group was famous for there anything go’s thinking including violence against police brutality which was common even after the civil act laws took effect. They also installed programs

The Black Panthers were formed in California in 1966 and they played a short but important part in the civil rights movement by gathering African Americans and uniting them together so they can fight for what they believe in. The Black Panthers believed that the non-violent campaign of Martin Luther King Had failed and any proposed changes to their lifestyle via the ‘traditional’ civil rights movement, would take too long to be implemented or simply not introduced. The two founders of the Black Panther Party were Huey Percy Newton and Bobby Seale. They preached for a “revolutionary war” but their party was believed to be African-American and they were willing to speak out for all those who were oppressed from whatever minority group. However, the Black Panthers were generally targeted by the FBI and they used dirty tactics such as forging letters to provoke conflict between the BPP’s leaders; organising the murders of BPP leaders initiating a “Black Propaganda” campaign to convince the public that the BPP was a threat to national security. “Carmichael is adamantly against allowing whites into the black liberation movement, explaining whites cannot relate to black experience and have an intimidating effect on blacks." Carmichael is a Black Panther. He did not want whites in the Party because he felt they

In the mid-1960s, Newton attended Merritt College, where he met Bobby Seale. The two radical thinkers were ready to spread their message with a show of force. They began by making national news through protesting a gun bill on April 25th, 1967 by entering the California Legislature fully armed. Newton emerged as a leading figure in the black militant movement and The Panthers were instantly notorious. By the end of 1968 seventeen Panther chapters had opened across the country and thousands of members joined (Wasserman, Steve). Later that year Newton was arrested for allegedly killing an Oakland police officer, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. Growing support from across the nation of Black Panthers sparked a “Free Huey” movement which helped Newton’s cause. The case was eventually dismissed after two retrials ended with a hung jury. Newton was greeted by thousands who came to show support outside of the prison.

The success of the Panther political activities and community programs and their huge growth and influence and membership soon brought them under fire from the American

April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was killed which was a tragedy. The US and Black Panthers organizations had different philopsy which made them clash among one another. The Counter Intel program intercepted between the two organizations by conducting projects such giving the media false reports

Meanwhile, government officers see black panther party as a threat and they start surveillance the activities of the black panther

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. The Black panther party want change, they would no longer stand by an watch black people being whipped with billy clubs, and have a nonviolent stance. The Oakland branch of the Black Panther Party would follow up on radio calls on hand held radio sets concerning police actives in the area. They would ensure Black people were not going suffer any long from police brutality, and would show up at police stops with rifles and shoots guns. It would intimidate the police from causing any harm from those black people they had detained, while in the presence of The Black Panthers.The F.B.I.'s "COINTELPRO" directed by J.Edger Hoover "purpose was to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or otherwise neutralize"cite(1) the Black Panthers.

This website provides an electronic copy of the reasons given for the Black Panthers use of self defense. The parties original purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. It was published online by the Encyclopedia Britannica. This source was originally intended for the African Americans citizens of Oakland California, as well as the rest of the country, to take up their constitutional