White Panthers
The White Panther Party was established in 1968 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a radical group that sought to align with the Black Panther Party's revolutionary goals while rejecting mainstream white culture. Their manifesto embraced a lifestyle centered around rock music, drug use, and sexual liberation, embodying a countercultural ethos. John Sinclair, a prominent figure in the party, also managed the influential rock band MC5, which served as the group's primary voice, promoting their ideology through music and performance. The White Panthers engaged in political theater and were known for their provocative rhetoric, which both inspired and alienated audiences during the height of the counterculture movement.
Despite their efforts, including Sinclair's imprisonment for marijuana possession and other members' radical actions, the party struggled to achieve lasting impact. In 1971, after several members were incarcerated, the group rebranded as the Rainbow People's Party and gradually faded from public view. The legacy of the White Panthers is documented in Sinclair's writings, which explore their contributions and challenges within the broader social and political landscape of the time.
White Panthers
A political group inspired in equal measures by the radical Left, the drug culture, and rock and roll. The White Panthers manifested a commitment to the total revolution of American society.
Origins and History
The White Panther Party formed in 1968 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The name expressed solidarity with the Black Panther Party’s call for separate revolutionary movements formed by blacks and whites. The White Panthers’ manifesto, however, rejected “white honkie culture” in favor of a “program of rock and roll, dope, and f king in the streets.” They proclaimed, “We are LSD-driven total maniacs in the universe.”
The Panthers’ main public voice was the MC5, a rock group managed by John Sinclair, the party’s minister of information. The band spread its revolutionary message at concerts in local high schools, performed in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and released an album, Kick Out the Jams, on Elektra Records in 1969. In 1969, Sinclair was sent to prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. White Panther Pun Plamondon was later convicted of bombing the Ann Arbor office of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Impact
The White Panthers resembled the Yippies in that they made their greatest contribution by creating political theater. Their extreme, whimsical, sometimes profane rhetoric was often quoted by opponents of the counterculture. Like the Weathermen, the White Panthers had a real, but ineffectual, commitment to total revolution.
Subsequent Events
In 1971, following the imprisonment of several members, the White Panthers changed their name to the Rainbow People’s Party and thereafter fell into obscurity.
Additional Information
The White Panthers’ progress is traced in John Sinclair’s 1972 collection, Guitar Army: Street Writings/Prison Writings.