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The Black Panthers And The Civil Rights Movement

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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.

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

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