The Black Panther Party Formed

Black Nationalism started in the late 1700s, starting with the American Colonization Society, or the ACS (McNeil and Mintz.”Black Nationalism and Black Power”). The ACS wanted free blacks to move to Liberia, on the western coastline of Africa. African Americans didn’t start believing in this idea until a wealthy African American man named Paul Cuffee started to support the cause (Davis and Brown. “The Antipathy of Black Nationalism.”). Another one of the early black nationalist leaders was Martin Delany, an abolitionist from the 1800s, who wanted blacks from the north to move back to Africa where they can settle back down and along with the natives and help build nation states. The African leaders needed help building countries in the devastating chaos the Europeans brought (Brooks.”Black Nationalism.”).

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;

The rules of the Black Panther Party are used as my primary source because they were written and published by the scholar founder Huey P. Newton. I used the rules because to understand the movement you need to understand the rules, and morals of the group. My secondary source used was actually a documentation of a conversation of the leaders of the movement in Israel. They are connected because even though they are miles apart and an ocean in in between them, their beliefs are the one in the same. It is amazing how a common goal here in the United States can be the same common goals for another country. It shows that the movement was bigger than what many originally thought.

The Black Panther Party was the most influential revolutionary group during the Civil Rights movement era. The BPP became a very strong political power. It influenced many government decisions and attracted the mass media. Yet, due to a number of reasons the BPP eventually collapsed. The Black Panther Party came to its demise due to government operations against it, various mistakes by the Party itself, and by short comings by its own leaders.

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.

Who would know that a ragtag group of a bunch of blacks would turn out to be the most influential black rights movement? A group so controversial that there are many perspectives of how the general public views them. The Black Panther Party strikes up an immense amount of controversy despite their inactivity of almost 35 years. From the law enforcement’s perspective, The Black Panther Party were viewed as radical criminals who randomly murdered innocent police officers. Though from the standpoint of many blacks of the time, they were viewed as heroes and martyrs, those who died and cared for their community. As James McBride vibrantly describes in his memoir, The Color of Water, his relationship toward The Black Panther Party was

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 Panther Party, originally named “Black Panther Party for Self-Defense”, is an African American revolutionary party (BBP Britannica). This party was founded in Oakland, California in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. Their original

The Black Panther Party was a militant group that believed in protecting minorities by using their 2nd amendment right. The fear of the party began when a group of activists stormed the California State Legislature armed. The reason for the sit in on the building was in retaliation for a gun control bill. The bill was thought to be a way that the government could take rights away from minorities. The party had multiple gun related shootouts with local cops and the FBI, which lead to the leader, Huey Newton, to be arrested. The arrest was for killing an officer. This started the decline of the cohesiveness of the party as new leaders were appointed.

Next, the Black Panther Party provided a variety of social services and programs designed to meet the needs of the black community. Often times overlooked, these services have been virtually absent in the mainstream media’s coverage of the Panthers. Often times “the government’s myopic perception of the party as a glorified street gang, clouded substantial analysis of their social programs by outside observers” (Kirby). The Panthers were known to offer a “wide range of health and social services as part of its survival programs, including free breakfast programs for school children and food aid for families; schools, adult education, and childcare; medical care, medical research, and ambulance services; cooperative housing; employment assistance; free shoes and clothing; free plumbing, home maintenance, and pest control; and protective escort for the elderly” (Pope and Flanigan).For the Black Panthers, the periods of 1968 to 1971 ushered in a positive period where Panther-initiated social programs and services, not only blossomed, but thrived all over the country (Kirby).

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

October 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party in oakland. Their plan was to practice self-defense against the government, to establish socialism, and community based programs, the article stated. It states that “the party was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation.” In other words, they wanted to come together and be equal no matter what your race and gender is.

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.