Black Panthers Research Paper

The Black Panther Party had a great deal of negative outlooks portrayed on them by not everyone, but more than half of the society. Without a doubt, the Black Panther Party addressed multiple situations with violent acts that implemented negativity towards them. The late Martin Luther King believed that he could obtain equality without having to use violence as a lament, instead the Black Panther’s believed that King’s non-violence movement had failed, and that violence was necessary to get through to the people who saw black communities and minority groups as insignificant. Although, the Black Panther Party only granted membership to African Americans, they weren’t anti-white, the Black Panther Party considered themselves

     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;

One of the greatest reasons for the violent actions of the party, should be credited to the co-founder named Huey Newton. Huey Newton was a rebellious individual who was suspected of committing many crimes. As minister of defense within the party, Huey was seen as a leader to the members of the organization. In an interview with Newton, he made clear what he wanted the party to stand for, and what they needed to do to achieve this. In an excerpt from the interview transcript, he says that “there are two kinds of nationalism, revolutionary and reactionary nationalism. Revolutionary nationalism is first dependent upon a People’s revolution with the end goal being the people in power… If you are a reactionary nationalist you are not a socialist and your end goal is the oppression of the people.” (Newton 1). From this transcript, it can be inferred what kind of nationalism Huey wants the party to follow. He wants the people to gain power through the use of violence And extremism. As the interview continues, Huey states the views of the Black Panther Party by saying “The Black Panther Party, which is a revolutionary group of black people, realizes that we have an identity. We have to realize our black heritage in order to give us strength to move on and progress” (Newton 1). By saying this, Huey is announcing to the world that the Black Panthers are going to cause a dramatic change, and implies that they will do whatever is necessary as long as they have the strength.

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.

In general, they felt that African-Americans had been treated as second-class citizens since the end of the Civil War solely because they were Black. The Panthers developed a platform called the “Ten Point Program” that described the changes they demanded to see in American society. They wanted a country in which Black children are provided the same educational opportunities as White children, and thought that Blacks could only progress by being taught the true history of Black oppression in the U.S. They demanded that Black Americans have jobs that paid the same wages as Whites and weren’t limited to labor intensive positions. The party also felt that the police force instigated more conflict and violence than protection, and believed they needed to provide security for Blacks by themselves. Although they were known for using gun power when necessary, the Panthers envisioned a peaceful society under a just government where all races could live together. Simply put, the Black Panthers felt the United States government was not allowing Black Americans to the live in the land of equal opportunity, but rather denying them the freedoms and liberties constitutionally entitled to them. The Black Panthers wanted African-Americans to be able to determine their destiny.

Community outreach Members even demanded to be compensated for what the government had economically robbed them of. The Black Panthers were against what the military, judicial, and police institutions stood for. The Black Panthers did not support participating in military service if the government was not protecting black peoples’ rights. The Vietnam War, which coincided with the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of black power, forced a draft of black soldiers to defend and die for a country that did not grant them equal rights. The Black Panthers started identifying with the enemy as victims of white racial aggression and wanted to destroy the system from within. Because the Vietnam War was the first war in which the U.S. armed forces were desegregated, many fights broke out amongst black and white

Although the group was willing to resort to and known for is violence, it was not the only means they tried to reach their goals of helping African Americans. They were serious and focused when it came to their projects; they even had a ban on alcohol and drugs when doing things for the party (“Black Panthers” American). The BPP had self-help programs for members to better themselves and a program called the Free Children’s Breakfast Program that did exactly what the name

The main goal of the Black Panther Party was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from police brutality using mainly violence to get their way. The Black Panther Party started as a small political organization

Due to the socialist economic beliefs that they held so dear to them, the ideas that state that everyone should have free access to free housing, education, and healthcare, they built multiple hospitals for their communities and began that tradition of the “free lunch program.” The Black Panther Party was an organization that truly served to build up the communities of African Americans and protect them from racist cops and others with racist beliefs. Unfortunately, they are often only remembered for their violent streak, which was created by government officials in order to convince Americans to fear the Black Panther Party and shut it down by limiting its membership abilities. Unlike other Civil Rights movement groups that only emphasized equality due to race, the Black Panther Party also emphasized equality due to class. In fact, they would teach their members Marxist and socialist traditions and thinking (Ware, par.

The Black Panther Party was a prominent political organization that operated from 1966 to 1982, born out of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s and advocated for equal rights and economic opportunities for African-American communities. While the party did originate in California, influential chapters spread out across the United States beyond California, including major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Chicago. With the party so widespread and with a great amount of people involved, it allowed for problems to arise within the communities they reached and within the party itself. These issues, both internal and external, lead to the eventual fall of the Black Panthers. The collapse

I wanted to write a reflection on the film The Black Panthers: The Vanguard of the Revolution documentary for a few different reasons, however, I think it is a good close to black history month. I first want to recognize how impactful The Black Panther party had on other black individuals. For example, The Black Panther party was tremendously impactful on black people in the community as well as worldwide. I think this is important to mention because during the civil rights struggle and still today people from the oppressed communities look up to organizations like this one. For me, it is quite remarkable how the party was founded by two gentlemen who were actively trying to put an organization together to fight harassment again police. This was so many years

What comes to mind when you think of the Black Panther Party? Do you even know who the Black Panthers really were? They helped transform the lives of many African Americans in the U.S and helped empower the community. The Black Panther has a huge background of history, goals, and beliefs. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale from Oakland, California founded the Panthers in 1966. Initially, they were an African American self defense force and were highly influenced by Malcolm X’s beliefs. The Panthers had many goals such as;freedom, protecting blacks from police brutality, and helping African Americans obtain a jobs. Despite the negative stereotypes of the Black Panthers as people who ran around with guns, fighting police, they were a major group during the Civil Rights Movement because they practiced self defense, established revolutionary socialism, and stimulated Malcolm X's influence. In the following I will discuss the successful changes the Black Panther Party, had on the African American community during the civil rights movement.

When researching my paper, it was difficult to find historical events in an unbiased way. Both of my historians and four out of six of my books were written by prior Black Panther members. When reading my books all of the them were written by former members constantly uplifted the ideas that the Panthers had. They would talk about all the good that the Panthers did, occasionally talking about the negatives but always having a reason for doing so. David Hilliard was the author for most of my books and was a proud member, who looked up to Newton and Seale. His history with Newton and their close relationship with each other helped give a better insight on who the founder of the Panthers was. It also was helpful that he was a part of the group, giving me helpful information from a first person point of view.