Black Panther Party (BPP)
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was a militant organization founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. It emerged during a transformative period in the Civil Rights movement, advocating for self-defense and black power as alternatives to the previously dominant nonviolent approaches. The BPP sought to address systemic racism and economic inequalities faced by African Americans, emphasizing the need for political, economic, and social equality. Their philosophy was influenced by black nationalism and socialist ideas, summarized in a Ten Point Program that outlined their demands for freedom, employment, housing, education, and justice.
The Black Panthers were known for their distinctive attire and confrontational activities, which included monitoring police behavior and initiating community-based programs like Free Breakfast for School Children. Despite their efforts to uplift the community, the party faced significant opposition from the government and media, which often portrayed them as a violent threat. The FBI's Counterintelligence Program aimed to dismantle the organization, leading to internal strife and contributing to its decline by the mid-1970s. Nevertheless, the BPP's legacy of community empowerment and advocacy for black rights continues to resonate, influencing contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter.
Black Panther Party (BPP)
SIGNIFICANCE: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was considered a militant organization of African Americans that grew rapidly in major U.S. cities between 1966 and the mid-1970’s. The party’s confrontational approach to race and ethnic relations marked a change in focus of the Civil Rights movement from nonviolence to self-defense and black power.
The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, two African American college students, in Oakland, California. The organization grew rapidly in urban areas of the United States and is estimated to have increased to between two thousand and five thousand members in its first three years. The overall objective of the Black Panthers was political, economic, and social equality for the African American community. Their philosophy and strategies differed from the tactics of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience of the earlier Civil Rights movement. From the Black Panther viewpoint, the African American community was exploited and dominated by the United States’ capitalist power structure, which used the police as a controlling force. Emphasis was therefore placed on self-defense, black unity, and achieving equal rights “by any means necessary.”
Party Philosophy
The Black Panthers promoted a “revolutionary nationalist” philosophy that called for African American liberation and black community empowerment through self-reliance and the destruction of capitalism. Their teachings combined the black nationalist philosophies of Malcolm X with Maoist socialist philosophy. The Black Panthers’ philosophy is summarized in its Ten Point Program, called “What We Want, What We Believe”:
1. 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 capitalist 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. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purposes of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.
Party Programs
The Black Panther Party, identified by the distinctive black leather jackets and berets worn by members, was best known for its confrontational activities. These included openly carrying guns (then legal in California if unloaded), directly challenging the local police, and espousing antigovernment rhetoric. One of the Black Panthers’ earliest strategies was monitoring the activities of the police in the African American community. In their role of “policing the police,” Black Panthers would observe police interactions with community residents and inform the community members of their rights.
The Black Panthers were also known for the “survival programs” that they initiated. The first and most popular of these programs was the Free Breakfast for School Children Program, which began in 1970. It provided breakfasts for children in the community with food donated by local merchants. The survival programs in various Black Panther chapters included free clothing programs, legal assistance, and preventive health care services. The Black Panthers also sought to distribute alternative newspapers within the community. The Black Panther newspaper, Black Panther: Black Community News Service, was established in 1967 to facilitate this goal. The Black Panthers joined with other radical organizations of that period, including the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
The Destruction of the Party
The Black Panthers were viewed with great apprehension and disdain by the larger American population. The media emphasized their criminality and portrayed them as a violent, antiwhite organization. From the federal government’s perspective, the Black Panther Party was an internal threat to the country. As head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover spearheaded systematic efforts to infiltrate, attack, and destroy the Black Panthers through the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) administered by the FBI. This strategy, which began in the late 1960’s, fueled internal conflicts between Black Panther Party members and external tensions between the party and other African American organizations. Other tactics employed included police raids on Black Panther headquarters, killing and jailing of members, and the use of infiltrators and informers. These actions hastened the Black Panther Party’s destabilization and demise in the mid-1970’s.
Legacy of the Party
Despite facing significant opposition and misrepresentation, the Black Panther Party's commitment to social justice and community empowerment through initiatives like free breakfast programs and health clinics left a lasting impact. They sought to combat systemic racism and police brutality, and their bold stance on self-defense and armed resistance challenged the prevailing nonviolent approaches of the civil rights movement. The party’s emphasis on Black pride and identity also influenced contemporary movements such as the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Bibliography
"The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change." National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Bloom, Joshua, and Waldo E. Martin. Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party. U of California P, 2013.
Boyd, Herb. Black Panthers for Beginners. Writers and Readers, 1995.
Brown, Elaine. A Taste of Power. Pantheon, 1993.
Cleaver, Eldridge. Soul on Ice. Random House, 1999.
Duncan, Garrett Albert. "Black Panther Party". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Sept. 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Foner, Philip, comp. The Black Panthers Speak: The Manifesto of the Party: The First Complete Documentary Record of the Panthers Program. Da Capo, 2002.
Newton, Huey P. Revolutionary Suicide. Penguin, 2009.
Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Black Classic, 1991.