THE BLACK PANTHERS

By: Shannon Berger, Ryan Nitz, Christopher Siders,

Courtney Thomas and Cherri Wilson-Thornton

True or False

Angela Davis was a part of the Black Panther Party.

T/F

Angela DavisAngela Davis is an activist, scholar and writer who advocates for the oppressed. She has authored several books, including Women, Culture & Politics. She was not a member of the Black Panther Party, she just associated herself with them.

True or False

The Black Panther Party was racist against white people.

T/F

Mission Statement. The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is a community-based, non-profit research, education, and advocacy center dedicated to fostering progressive social change. By preserving the history of multicultural activism and community self-determination, by educating the public about this history's continued relevance, and by creating a crucible for practicing ongoing progressive change, guided by the writings and teachings of Huey P. Newton, the Foundation seeks to empower all people, but especially urban youth, to be builders of a true global community.

True or False

The number one woman wanted for murder in the United States is Assata

Shakur.

T/F

Assata ShakurMy name is Assata ("she who struggles") Olugbala ( "for the people" ) Shakur ("the thankful one"), and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government's policy towards people of color. I am an ex political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984. I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI's. because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it "greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists.

A. Background and Context• 1966 the Black Panther Party (BPP) was founded • The Original six members of the Black Panthers included Elbert “Big Man”

Howard, Sherman Forte, Reggie Forte, Little Bobby Hutton, and Newton and Seale.

• The Party was established to monitor police activities and protect the residents from police brutality. The BPP combined elements of socialism and Black Nationalism it also promoted the development of strong Black-controlled institutions, calling for Blacks to work together to protect their rights and to improve their economic and social conditions. The Panthers also emphasized class unity, criticizing the Black middle class for acting against the interests of other, less fortunate Blacks.

Huey P. Newtonhttps://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190417

10 Point Platform1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.

2. We want full employment for our people.

3. We want an end to the robbery by the white men of our Black Community.

4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.

5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want

education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present day society

6. We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.

7. We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.

8. We want freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.

9. We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people

from their Black Communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States.

10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.

Core Values

• Freedom• Education• Safety• Rights• Basic human

needs (ie food, shelter, land)

Religious & Ethical Teachings

• No set religion for the BPP• Instead had guidelines to live

and work by

• examples of guidelines:o “No party member can have narcotics

or weed in his posession while doing party work”

o “No party member will commit any crimes against other party members or black people at all, and cannot steal or take from the people, not even a needle or a piece of thread.”

o “No party member will use, point, or fire a weapon of any kind unnecessarily or accidentally at anyone.”

8 Points of Attention1. Speak politely.2. Pay fairly for what you buy.3. Return everything you borrow.4. Pay for anything you damage.5. Do not hit or swear at people.6. Do not damage property or crops of the poor,

oppressed masses.7. Do not take liberties with women.8. If we ever have to take captives do not ill-treat them.

C. Cultural Patterns• Took up the demands of Northern African Americans.

• Sticking Together!

• The Black Panthers instituted a variety of community social programs.

Poverty• The BPP wanted equal opportunity in the workforce for all

African Americans.o They believed that the federal government is responsible and

obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income.

o Also believed that if the white American businessmen will not give full employment, then production should be taken from the business man and placed in the inner city black communities so they can organize and employ all of its people and given a higher standard of living.

A picture of a young child trapped in poverty, but she holds a picture of a boy in the Panther free breakfast program and stands in front of 1968 presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm. "A vote for Chisholm is a vote for survival."

Education• The BPP wanted education for African Americans

o They believed in an education system that gives the people knowledge of one’s self. If a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else.

• BPP members started to teach others about the history, also practicing ongoing progressive change, and by teaching practical lessons of community service.

Civil Wars/International Wars

Black Panthers against…• Vietnam War• LAPD• FBI• Oakland Police

THE BPP - What We Want, What We Believe

Disc 1: Library Newsreel Films

01. Off the Pig02. Mayday

03. Repression

RELEVANT TIMECLIPS1) (00:07 – 03:17)2) (08:49 – 09:22)3) (10:29 – 12:08)

D. Current Concerns, Issues and

Challenges.

How is the Black Panthers Party (BPP) dealing with the

challenges of widespread and rapid change and all the worldviews

that they are faced with the same challenges of advocating for in

acceptance, adaption, incorporation of and resistance or rejection

to these changes?

“One of the problems is that the community does not

have a structured organization or vehicle which serves it's

needs and represents the people's interests.” — HPN

“Violence in Group Identity In and of Itself Does Not

Motivate Violence” (Pope, Flanigan 2013).

Continuum of Community Acceptance of Violent Activities by

Terrorists & Political Insurgents<-------------------------------------------------------------------------->

Lack of acceptance Passive acceptance Genuine Active participation and active due to acceptance/widespread by communityresistance. silencing/coercion favorable opinion. members.

Figure 1 - (Springer Science + Business Media, 2013)

• There is a wide literature in political science regarding the ways in which violence often organizes around shared group identity, such as ethnicity or religion” (Figure 1).

· Groups in mainstream society are excluded from political and social participation.

• Not as noticeable, charitable movements by minority groups are often provoked by same segregation.

1966 - 21st Century

• The Black Panther Party was created during a period of stress when “Black

people were moving away from the philosophy and strategy of non-violent

action toward sterner actions (“Black Panther.org.).

• Compared to 1966 when the BPP was formed, today conditions for black

Americans are worse, Blacks die of:o Povertyo Cancero AIDSo Infant mortality rate doubles whites

J. Edgar Hoover (FBI Head) Once Referred to the BPP as “The

Number One Threat to Security in the U.S.A.”

• More so today than when the initial BPP began – intervention and liberty is

still needed.

“We have been slandered, kidnapped, gagged, jailed and

murdered. We know now, more than ever before, that the

will of the people is greater than the technology and

repression of those who are against the interests of the

people. Therefore we know that we can and will continue

to serve and educate the people’ (“Black Panther.org.)

The BPP Promoted Self-Defense Against Hunger,

Addiction & Poverty.

What events or developments or pressures have the BPP’s attention and how are they responding to these events, developments or pressures?

Due to Massive Black Hunger & Police

Brutality - the BPP Provided:

• Free healthcare

• Free medical clinics (lack of decent medical facilities in black communities)

• Breakfast for children

• Clothing and shoe programs

• Education

• Support – standing up and resisting against police brutality

• Free legal aids and bussing-to-prison programs

• Showed “acts of compassion, protection and love through social service provision and commitment to bear arms” (Pope, Flanigan).

Goals of the BPP:

• Revolution is a process.

• Be ready to respond creatively to new conditions and

perceptive.

• Fight oppressive forces creating need for

government assistance.

The New Black Panther Party

(NBPP).• “As guardian of the true history of the Black Panther Party, the

Foundation, which includes former leading members of the Party, criticizes the NBPP’s exploitation of the Party's name and history (Black Panthers.org).

• The NBPP is trying to “steal the names and pretend to walk

in the footsteps of the Party's true heroes, such as Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton, George Jackson and Jonathan Jackson, Bunchy Carter, John Huggins, Fred Hampton, Mark Cark (Black Panthers.org).

• The NBPP known to be extremists.http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/the-new-black-panther-party/

(0:03 - 2:45)

Some Embraced the BPP with a “Sense of Pride” While Others Viewed Them With Fear and Mystification.

• Forty years later when Arnold Schwarzenegger was Governor of California, the BPP is still considered to be a threat.

• Today, racism and poverty is still a huge challenge and problem for African Americans as back in the 1950s and 1960s.

• Exception: today, the BPP does have far greater and affluent black, middle class Americans.

The Demise of the BPP

• These complications created terrorism – Eldridge Cleaver.

• Cleaver, former BPP leader – a flawed radical who believe greatly

in change in political orientation in his worldview.

• Failure to adopt a “rounded-out Marxist approach” (Socialist

Party Magazine. (2006).

• The BPP beliefs are in unity and strength (10 Point Program).

• BPP ensured affirmative rights of women to play full, active role.

Works Cited

Works Cited Page:

“Black Panther.org.” The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. Springer Science+Business. Media New York.

http://www.blackpanther.org/FAQs.html

Lavelle, Ashley. (2012). From “Soul on Ice’ to ‘Soul for Hire’? The political transformation of Black Panther

Eldridge Cleaver.”

Race & Class. Vol. 54(2): 55-74. 10.1177/0306396812454985

National Geographic. (1996-2014). “Inside the New Black Panthers: The New Black Panther Party.” National

Geographic Society. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/the-new-black-panther-party/

Pope, Ricky J., Flanigan, Shawn T. (2013). “Revolution for Breakfast: Intersections of Activism, Service, and

Violence in the

Black Panther Party’s Community Service Programs.” Soc Just Res 26:445-470. DOI

10.1007/s11211-013-0197-8

Works Cited Page:

Socialist Party Magazine. (2006). “Lessons from the Black Panthers. Socialism Today. Issue

104. http://www.socialismtoday.org/104/panthers.html

http://www.blackpanther.org/index.htmlhttp://www.franciscodacosta.com/articles/BPP.html

http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Chapter_History/FBI_War_LA_Chapter.html

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/unknown-date/party-rules.htm