Self-Defense Of The Black Panthers

     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;

The Black Panther Party was formed on October of 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The Panthers had a very important part in the civil rights movement. The Black Panthers favored aggression, violent self defense of minority communities against the U.S government. The Panthers saw that Martin Luther King’s non-violence was not successful. The party fought to engage in a political revolution for socialism by organized and community based programs. The party agenda was to promote political equality across gender and color. They were active in the United States from 1966 until 1982. The Black Panther Party patrol black neighborhoods to keep track of police activities and protect the residents from police brutality.

Black panther party’s core practice was its armed citizens' patrols to monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department and challenge police brutality

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

The black panthers soon became the most influential revolutionary national organization in the U.S. The Panthers initiated many programs for residents in the ghetto. It wasn’t long before they were considered a threat to social order. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began targeting and raiding The Black Panther Party, in the process many were assassinated, imprisoned, or exiled . Due to the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s and extreme gang violence, The Black Panther Party began to lose impact on the population.

The Black Panther Party formed as a result of Black Nationalism which came from a multitude of events that began to form decades before any mention of The Black Panther Party. To even begin to understand a group such as this, one must first attempt to grasp the historical context which lies behind them. Blake (1969) asserts that the initial onset began back in 1619 when the first of the colonial settlers accepted a number of captured Africans which were to be used as servants leading to the period of slavery which serves as a sore spot in this country 's history. One of the primary streams of thought behind this idea of Black Nationalism can be summed up as the hypocrisy felt by African-Americans during the era of slavery as well as after it 's end. These are a race of people characterized by their looks and were not given the same rights within the society, yet at the same time, were expected to meet the standards of “regular” citizens within the country creating that sense of inferiority.

Founded on October 15th 1966 in Oakland, California, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was an organization opposed to police brutality against the black community. The Party’s political origins were in Maoism, Marxism, and the radical militant ideals of Malcolm X and Che Guevara. From the doctrines of Maoism they saw the role of their Party as the frontline of the revolution and worked to establish a unified alliance, while from Marxism they addressed the capitalist economic system, and exemplified the need for all workers to forcefully take over means of production (Baggins, Brian). Mao was important to the Black Panthers because of his different stance on Marxism-Leninism when applied to Chinese peasants. The founders of the Black

COINTELPRO: infiltration, psychological warfare, legal harassment, and illegal force (1989), allof which were specifically designed to eliminate the Black Panthers. Some of the tactics used by the FBI included: planting false media stories, sending letters to fellow party members and other groups so they would turn on each other, placing informants in the party, supplying the party with weapons and drugs, presenting false evidence to perform false arrests and wrongful imprisonments, and committing beatings and assassinations of members. The use of state repression against the Black Panthers worked; it not only tarnished their image even further but most importantly it dismantled the party from the inside and led to the party’s ultimate demise.

The two founders of the Black Panther party, Hugo Newton and Bobby Seale, put in place a Ten Point Program. The Ten Point Program was created to show what they wanted change and what they were fighting for. It had the following demands, “We want freedom”, “We want the power to determine”, “We want full employment for our people”, “ We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our black community”, “We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings”, “we want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society”, “we want all black men to be exempt from military service”, “we want an immediate end to police brutality, and murder of black people”, “we want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails”, “we want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peers or people from their black communities, as defined by the constitution of the United States”, and finally “we want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and

On one hand, the Black Panther Party for Self-defense, founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in October of 1966, encouraged that minorities protect themselves against the corrupt U.S government, and fought to employ socialist beliefs inspired by Mao Zedong through mass organizing and community based programs like medical centers, and free breakfast programs, that were meant to improve the lives of the less privileged (Baggins). On the other hand, the KKK consisted of multiple groups that advocated white supremacy and segregation. In order to combat groups that the government believed to be dangerous, J. Edgar Hoover organized COINTELPRO as a part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI secretly instructed its offices to

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.