The Black Panther Party

Soon, it will be the 60th year anniversary of the establishment of the Black Panther Party. The
upright Brothers and the Sisters in the Black Panther Party for Self Defense were heroic human
beings who wanted black people to be liberated from evil. The BPP has been slandered,
misunderstood, and talked about for decades. This organization came among a long line of many
liberation movements too. The Black Panther Party was one of the most influential revolutionary
movements in world history. During the Maafa, slave revolts existed that tried to end the Maafa
and slavery once and for all. There were the Deacons of Defense (which was created by black
people in the Deep South during the 1960s) used guns to defend civil rights protesters and to
protect their own communities in the Deep South, especially in Louisiana and Mississippi. Robert F.
Williams of Monroe, North Carolina believed in self-defense and he advocated the use of weapons
in defending black people too. He was a strong black person and he wrote his ideals in the classic
book entitled, Negroes with Guns. Also, there was the group called RAM (or Revolutionary Action
Movement) that advanced black liberation too. We are black and we are blessed with beautiful
melanin too.
We can never forget about Malcolm X. As Ossie Davis has accurately said, Malcolm X was a
representation of living black manhood. Brother Malcolm X stood up against racism, colonialism,
imperialism, capitalism, and any injustice. He supported rifle clubs to protect the black community
and he believed in self-defense. Malcolm X wanted nonviolence to anyone who is nonviolent with
us, but he rejected nonviolence if someone was violent towards him. As Brother Malcolm X has
said: "It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using
violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence." This
strong history and legacy of self-defense politics is part and parcel of a large section of the black

freedom movement. Likewise, nonviolent resistance and demonstration are also legitimate actions
that are part of the black freedom movement too. I dont view both as incompatible. I believe in
both nonviolence and self-defense. There is a time to be nonviolent and there is a time to use selfdefense if necessary. After World War Two, there was the post war economic boom. Even with that
boom, there were still working class and poor people (especially of black African descent in
America) suffering problems. The Great Migration caused many African Americans to move into the
cities and towns of the North, the Midwest, and the West Coast. Numerous black people worked in
factories and other jobs as a product of the Great Migration. Those lands readily use de facto
discriminatory policies, massive police brutality existed, and economic exploitation. These evils
were common.

We will always remember our matryrs. In the end, we will overcome.

Today, in our community, we witness poverty, housing repossessions, unemployment, police
brutality, mass incarceration, theft of pensions, struggling schools, and other evils (caused by many
things from the Great Recession to the austerity policies enacted by both major capitalist parties).
Therefore, we have to know about the Black Panther Party, so we can learn lesson and develop
future strategies in causing justice for all. In racist, capitalist America, we face many evils. During
the 1950s and the 1960s, before the BPP, evil people assassinated many human beings. Rev.
George Lee was murdered in May 7, 1955 in Belzoni, Mississippi for just trying to register people to
vote. He was one of the first black people to register to vote in Humphreys County. Lamar Smith
organized black people in a local election and he was killed in Brookhaven, Mississippi in August 13,
1955. Emmett Louis Till was killed in August 28, 1955 in Money, Mississippi. Emmett Till's evil death
increased the power of the civil rights movement. Herbert Lee worked with civil rights leader Bob
Moses to register black voters. He was murdered in September 25, 1961 in Liberty, Mississippi.
William Lewis Moore protested segregation and he was killed in Atalla, Alabama in April 23, 1963.
Medgar Evers directed NAACP operations in Mississippi. He led a campaign for integration in
Jackson. Medgar Evers courageously spoke out in favor of racial justice in public and he was shot
and killed by a sniper at his home in June 12, 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. On September 15, 1963,
white terrorists exploded a bombed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. This bomb killed 4
innocent school age girls. Their names are Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson,

and Cynthia Wesley. These girls just wanted to worship God in their own way inside of a religious
church. The church was a center of civil rights meetings and marches. President John F. Kennedy
would be assassinated too later in November 22, 1963.
There are so many other civil rights martyrs that fought for justice. We honor their memories. These
events showed the youth that allying with the establishment wasnt going far enough to cause
immediate liberation. Young people questioned bourgeois reformism since that reformism will not
only take society so far and it will primarily benefit the rich and the middle class not the poor or
working class. The over reliance on the capitalist Democratic Party has been exposed by SNCC as
how SNCC members were disrespected by the 1964 Democratic National Convention (when
Democratic delegates wanted Fannie Lou Hamer and others to accept token representation for
Mississippi. SNCC members rightfully refused such a vile gesture). We know that the Republican
Party is filled with racists, sexists, xenophobes, war mongers, and those who abhor progressive
views. The revolutionary views of Malcolm X inspired the Black Panther Party as admitted by both
of their founders. The events of police terror, imperial wars, ghetto rebellions (in urban cities like in
NYC, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Rochester, Los Angeles, etc.), the age of Black Power (which was
called for by Kwame Ture and Willie Ricks in 1966. Later, Ricks would change his name to Mukasa
Dada. Kwame Ture used a Black Panther logo in his political party of Lowndes, County, Alabama
before the BPP of Oakland), and economic deprivation set the stage for the founding of the Black
Panther Party for Self-Defense in 1966.

The Beginning
3 men invented the Black Panther Party. Their names are Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, and David
Hillard. They were intellectuals and they werent afraid of standing up against oppression. They
studied in college (Seale met Newton in 1962 at Merritt College. They joined Donald Wardens AfroAmerican Association). In that organization, they read, debated, and organized in a Black Nationalist
tradition as they were inspired by Malcolm X and other revolutionaries. The Black Panther Party
was created in October 15, 1966. It was a group that was a revolutionary Black Nationalist and
socialist organization. No one can understand about the Black Panthers without understanding
about socialism (or the economic philosophy that the people or the government should
democratically control the means of production in an economy). Oakland back then was filled with
an epidemic of police brutality. The Black Panthers wanted to establish a unique form of politics to
address poverty, racism, and other evils in the black community. Many early Black Panther
members in Oakland had families who came from the South (which was filled with Jim Crow
apartheid or segregation). In essence, the Black Panthers wanted to work in the community in a
grassroots level, so that can be used as a platform to liberate all freedom loving peoples of the
world. This group was anti-imperialist and the Black Panther Party was a progressive organization.
The Black Panther Party adopted the Black Panther logo from the LCFO or the Lowndes County
Freedom Organization from Alabama. By October 29, 1966, Kwame Ture (a leader of SNCC) came to
Berkeley to advocate for Black Power. Newton and Seale decided on a uniform of blue shirts, black
pants, black leather jackets, and black berets. Then 16 year old Bobby Hutton was their first recruit.
The Original Six members of the Black Panther Party in 1966 were Elbert Big Man Howard, Huey
P. Newton (Defense Minister), Sherwin Forte, Bobby Seale (Chairman), Reggie Forte, and Bobby
Hutton (Treasurer).

By October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale wrote the first draft of the Black Panther Party
for Self Defense 10 Point Program. This outlined their plans and political positions on issues. It
wanted full employment, exemption from military service, an end to police brutality, and freedom.
In essence, the Black Panther Party was a combination of revolutionary Black Nationalism, Third
World Marxism (as they studied literature from Karl Marx, Mao, and other Marxist scholars), and
community service politics. In January 1967, The Black Panther Party opened its first official
headquarters in an Oakland storefront and published the first issue of The Black Panther: Black
Community News Service. Their office was at 5624 Grove Street, Oakland, California. The Panthers
would patrol the streets of Oakland. When they encounter the police dealing with a person, the
Black Panthers would advise the person of their rights and observe the police doing their actions.
On February 21, 1967, the Black Panthers escorted Sister Betty Shabazz from the San Francisco
airport to Ramparts for an interview with Eldridge Cleaver. Cleaver was famous for his book "Soul
on Ice" that outlined his experiences. In that book, he admitted to raping white and raping black
women. So, it is obvious I don't view Cleaver as a super hero. I don't admire Eldridge Cleaver.
In April 1, 1967, in Richmond, California, Denzil Dowell was shot and killed by sheriffs deputies at
Third and Chestly, an unincorporated area of North Richmond. Denzil was an unarmed 22 year old
construction worker. Dowells family believed that he was murdered unjustly by the police and they
had questions about the polices official story of the incident too. Denzils family requested the help
from the BPP. The Black Panthers responded to a request from the family of Dowell for protection
from police harassment. The Party's ideals resonated with several community members, who then
brought their own guns to the next rallies. The first issue of the Black Panther Party Black
Community News Service is published. This four page mimeograph newspaper headlines Why Was
Denzil Dowell Killed? Numbers of the Black Panthers grew slightly starting in February 1967. The
Panthers employed a California law that permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it
was publicly displayed and pointed at no one.

In January of 1969, the first Panther's Free Breakfast for School Children The program was
initiated at St. Augustine's Church in Oakland. By the end of the year, the Panthers set up
kitchens in cities across the nation, feeding over 10,000 children every day before they went
to school.
*The Black Panther Party has an explicit philosophy. They didnt just express themselves in using
newspapers. They developed an analysis of society. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale believed that
the black communities of America were as an occupied people by the U.S. government. They
compared this occupying of the black communities by the police as similar to how the Vietnamese
people are brutalized, colonized, and oppressed by Western forces. Therefore, Newton and Seale
wanted the Black Panthers to act as a vanguard organization to develop strategies to promote the
interests of the community. They wanted to show programs to serve the community. They wrote
that in their books and literature. Also, new recruits of the Black Panther Party has to follow the 10
Point Program and read books from Fanon, Malcolm X, Mao, and other human beings who
expressed revolutionary views. The rebellions especially of 1967 in Newark and Detroit inspired the
Panthers to advocate for armed self-defense against police terror. They advocated that action
before 1967, but the rebellions crystallized their views. They viewed the rebellions as not successful
long term, but they did realize that they were expressions of frustrations with poverty, police
brutality, and bad social conditions of the ghetto. They viewed the rebellions as protopolitical
actions. Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton before the protest in the California capitol in 1967
encountered the police and cited the law, so the police couldnt arrest them unjustly or without
cause. The Black Panthers studied the law and studied the actions of revolutionary movements of
the Third World in order for them to develop their anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist views. The Black
Panther Party members regularly studied the writings of Marx and Engels and Lenin, Amilcar Cabral
and Paulo Freire, Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara, Mao, Malcolm X, etc.

The California Legislature

The Black Panthers grew in 1967. Governor Ronald Reagan wanted to pass the Mulford Act (which
would be made into law) which would make the public carrying of loaded firearms illegal. This
proposal came about in response to the actions of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (who
publicly shown rifles and other guns in public locations). Ronald Reagan was a notorious reactionary
person. The Black Panthers protested this action in a historic event. On May 2, 1967, the California
State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure was scheduled to convene to discuss what was
known as the Mulford Act. Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton created a plan to send a group of
26 armed Black Panthers which would be led by Seale from Oakland to Sacramento to protest the
bill. The group entered the assembly and they carried their weapons. This event was publicized
worldwide. The Black Panthers came into the California legislature to oppose the Mulford Act since
they said that it was racist and it leaves black people defenseless against the onslaught of police
terror. The police arrested Seale and five others. The group pleaded guilty of misdemeanor charges
of disrupting a legislative session. The Panthers acted courageously to stand up for their
convictions. Additionally, the Black Panthers acted as part of an international resistance movement
against imperialism, capitalism (the Panthers in their literature always criticized capitalism), and

colonialism. Their actions were similar to the Algerian, Vietnamese, Cuban, and other movements
for social change against Western imperialism. This was a global movement.

The picture to the left shows SNCC leader Kwame Ture & Black Panther Party cofounder Bobby Seale in August 1968. The image to the right shows Black Panther Party
member Kathleen Neal Cleaver holding a shotgun.
Further Growth
In June 1967, rebellions exist in many major cities like Newark, Cleveland, and Detroit. These cities
of the North and the Midwest have suffered poverty, educational issues, police brutality, and racial
injustice for a long time. In August of 1967, the FBI or the Federal Bureau of Investigation directed
its COINTELPRO evil program. This program wanted to neutralize (or destroy) Black Nationalist
groups, progressive organizations, and any group that were against the status quo. The FBI readily
used illegal tactics (from illegal spying, sending in informants, and outright terrorism) to try to fight
the Black Panthers and other organizations that were in favor of social change. There is the incident
between Huey P. Newton and police officer John Frey. This happened in October 28, 1967. Newton
and his friend were pulled over by the Oakland Police Department officer John Frey. Frey called for
backup after knowing who Newton was. When officer Herbert Heanes came to the scenes, shots
were fired. All three were wounded. There have been different accounts of the incident. Frey was
shot four times and died within the hour, while Heanes was left in serious condition with three
bullet wounds. Black Panther David Hilliard took Newton to Oaklands Kaiser Hospital, where he
was admitted with a bullet wound to the abdomen. Newton was soon handcuffed to his bed and
arrested for being accused of Frey's killing. Charges against Newton would be dropped by 1970.

By December of 1967, the Black Panther increased its circulation tenfold. In January of 1968,
Alprentice Bunchy Carter, deputy minister of defense for Southern California, organizes The
Southern California branch of the BPP. The BPP office is at Central Ave. and 43rd Street. Then on
January 16, 1968, something else happened. At 3:30am, San Francisco police officers break down
the apartment door of Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver. The officers ransacked the apartment without
a search warrant. Emory Douglas is also present. On February 8, 1968, in Orangeburg, South
Carolina, on the campus of South Carolina State College, local police backed by the National Guard
fired on a crowd of unarmed black students; 33 black activists are shot, and three people died.

There was the famous Free Huey rally at the Oakland Auditorium in February 17, 1968. That date
was on Newtons birthday. It had more than 5,000 supporters there including Kwame Ture, H. Rap
Brown, James Forman, Ron Dellums, and Peace and Freedom Party representatives. By this time,
the groups of SNCC and the BPP united on many ventures from opposing police brutality and
advancing the ideal of Black Power. The Free Huey campaign was about the freeing of Huey P.
Newton from prison. The American left was involved in the campaign too. He was released years
later when his conviction was reversed on appeal. As Newton awaited trial, the Black Panther
party's "Free Huey" campaign developed alliances with numerous individuals, students and anti-war
activists. These organizations were anti-imperialist and linked the oppression of antiwar protesters
to the oppression of black people and the Vietnamese. The campaign gained support among black
power organizations, New Left groups, and other activist groups like the Progressive Labor Party,
Bob Avakian of the Community for New Politics, and the Red Guard. Many people of the white Left
supported the PP because they were anti-daft, anti-Vietnam War, and anti-imperialism. The Black
Panther Party also worked with the Peace and Freedom Party. This party was strongly antiwar and
antiracist and they were in opposition to the establishment Democratic Party. The Black Panther
Party provided needed legitimacy to the Peace and Freedom Party's racial politics and in return
received invaluable support for the "Free Huey" campaign.
On February 25, at 2:00 am., Berkeley police officers broke down the door and ransack the home of
Bobby and Artie Seale. The Seales were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Charges are
later dropped for lack of evidence. Arthur (Glen) Morris or the brother of Bunchy Carter was shot

and killed by agents of the U.S. government. He was the first member of the BPP who was
murdered. This happened in March of 1968. Anthony Coltrale was killed in Watts by a local police
officer. Also in March, the Kansas City BPP office was raised by the police and five Panthers were
arrested. The Black Panther Party has international influence as one source accurately states:
"...Repression had the effect of publicizing the Black Panther Party in a way that drew supporters of
a growing anti-establishment movement that made the connection between the US government's
war in Vietnam and its war on Black America. This brought political and financial support to the
Party's survival programs. The Panthers organizational response to repression was action. They
rallied the anti-war movement at home and built relationships with the anti-imperialist struggle
abroad. At their height, the Black Panther Party had chapters in dozens of countries including
Algeria, Japan, and numerous European nations..." (Danny Haiphong's "In defense of the Panthers")

The FBI Document

On March 4, 1968, there was a FBI memo from J. Edgar Hoover (who was the head of the FBI back
then. He was also a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Freemason. Hoover was an evil male). It outlined
goals to his staff to prevent he coalition of militant black nationalist groups. In that directive,
Hoover stated his goals:
"Prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist
movement. Malcolm X might have been such a 'messiah'... Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael,
and [Nation of Islam leader] Elijah Muhammed [sic] all aspire to this position ... King could be a very
real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed 'obedience' to 'white, liberal
doctrines' (nonviolence)."
This program also existed in the same time in a broader effort by the government to prepare for
military responses for urban rebellions. The FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the Department of Defense
worked together in illegal spying against the progressive movement (internationally and
domestically). The CIA created its illegal domestic espionage program called Operation CHOAS to

illegally monitor the anti-war movement (especially those in colleges and universities). The FBI
monitored the disrupted efforts of the Poor Peoples Campaign (which was created by Dr. King and
SCLC to occupy Washington, D.C. in order for the government to address poverty in the America
and establish economic justice for all people). FBI COINELPRO program targeted anti-Vietnam War
activists, civil rights organizations, black nationalist organizations, feminist groups, anti-colonial
movement (like the Puerto Rican independence groups), and other New Left organizations.
COINTELPRO officially started in August of 1956.
It is a known fact that the United States government was monitoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
King was monitored by Army intelligence as early as 1947 (when he and other Morehouse College
students were leaving a meeting of Mrs. Dorothy Lilleys Intercollegiate Council). Army Intelligence
knew that Dr. King promoted a Poor Peoples Campaign after his announcement on December 4,
1967. This came after the rebellions in Detroit and Newark. Also, this comes when the anti-war
movement has grown with thousands of people in October 21, 1967 protesting in Washington, DC.
Including the Pentagon. The Pentagon in December 12, 1967 opposed the Poor Peoples Campaign
and believed in the myth that the march on Washington would be a devastating civil disturbance
whose sole purpose is to shut down the United States government. Army Intelligence, Green
Berets, the FBI, and the NSA monitored Dr. King nationwide.
One of the most important events in the civil rights movement happened in February 7, 1968. Army
undercover agents followed Dr. King, and Kwame Ture (whose name was Stokely Carmichael back
then). They met up with H. Rap Brown in the Pitts Motor Hotel in northwest Washington, D.C. All
three men would talk about the civil rights movement. The following conversation has been
recorded by Army Security Agency trackers. Karl Evanzz (a great black author) has written about this
event too. In the discussion, H. Rap Brown and Kwame Ture wants to not to turn the other cheek
while Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wants to use nonviolence to enact meaningful social change in the
world. The conversation goes like this:
Brown: We stop the f_______ers here. Right here.
Carmichael: No more Uncle Tom, d______t. This let-them-sh___-on-you s____. . . aint
working. You know it and so does everybody.
Dr. King: Is killing and burning (unintelligible) in your own peoples streets your answer?
Carmichael: Its time. We cant wait anymore, and the people (unintelligible) us are tired
of waiting.
Dr. King: Nobody is as tired (of waiting) as me.
Carmichael: Then lets shut the hon_____ down. They bring the Army, we fight the
f____ers with ours. We got guns. Marching for peace s___, you seen it. Whats it got
us?
An hour after that exchange, Army agents listened to King tell 600 people at Vermont Avenue Baptist
Church: We seek to say to the nation in our campaign that if you dont straighten up, then youre
writing your own obituary. On Feb. 15 at Fort Holabird, Md., Blakefield met with three of Yarboroughs
top aides Herbert Taylor, special assistant to the Armys top spy; Dayton Cassidy of the
Counterintelligence Analysis Branch; and Frederick H. Gaston Jr., Army Intelligence Systems Analysis

Group. A still classified memo of the meeting said Blakefield wanted a systematic analysis of Kings
plans, manpower and weapons we might see in the streets of Washington in April. Maj. Gen. William
P. Yarborough, the Armys top spy, was one of the military leaders of America monitoring Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Dr. King had also been under surveillance by military intelligence agencies during the
period leading up to his assassination under the code name Operation Lantern Spike. US 111th

Military Intelligence Group were at Dr. Kings location during the assassination.
In April of 1968, the New York BPP Chapter is organized. On April 3, the Oakland police department
raided Neils church where Party members are holding a meeting.

The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther Movement wanted the same goal (which is justice,
freedom, and equality for all) despite their disagreements on nonviolence. I view them as part of
the same struggle for black liberation. Also, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used civil disobedience, went
to jail, and violated the law in numerous times. He wasn't an ascetic. He also advocated a work
stoppage and he was much more radical than some view him as well. My philosophy is to use
nonviolence, protests, community organization, economic strategies, political strategies, and if
necessary self-defense to enact real social change. Also, we have to reiterate that Dr. King was very
depressed and melancholy during the year after his famous 1967 Riverside speech. He was
slandered, many rejected his nonviolent views, and he felt almost alone in his opposition to the
criminal, unjust, and evil Vietnam War. Yet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a courageous Brother and
he pressed on. Dr. King worked in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis caused Dr. King to push ahead
and after his I Have Been to the Mountaintop speech, he felt rejuvenated to continue with the
Memphis Sanitation workers movement. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. That was a tragic day. After Dr. Kings assassination, many
people felt angry and disillusioned with mainstream society. The death of Dr. King changed the BPP
forever. Many people completely rejected nonviolence after the evil assassination. The Black
Panther Party radically increased after April 1968.

The Death of Bobby Hutton

On the night of April 6, 1968, the Black Panthers had a shootout with the Oakland Police. In this
shoot out, Bobby Hutton (a Black Panther member was murdered by the police). The scene was at
1218 28th Street in Oakland. Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Hutton were in the basement of a house.
A fire soon started and they surrounded to the police according to Cleaver and the deposition of
Officer Eugene Jennings (one of the 2 black police officers who witnessed Huttons murder).
Jennings said that both Cleaver and Hutton were brutalized after they surrounded. Hutton stumbled
after being pushed from behind. Later, on officer stepped forward and shot Hutton in the head.
Other officers shot at Hutton too. In context, Oakland back then was in the midst of racist policing
practices. The establishment then and now has promoted the mass incarceration state and police
occupation. Huttons murder was so unjust that people from across backgrounds condemned the
murder of Brother Bobby Hutton. Funeral services for Bobby Hutton held at Ephesians Church of
God in Christ on Alcatraz Avenue in Berkeley. Moe than 2,500 attend the funeral.

The Continuation of the BPP

3 Black Panthers were arrested in Seattle, Washington in April 7, 1968. In April 9, Panther
volunteers register citizens to vote in more numbers. Oakland remains calm despite the rebellions
in major cities across the country. The efforts of the BPP inspired black people and people of every
background too. In June, San Francisco Party captain Dexter Woods arrested for curfew violation
and given 5 days in jail. By June 25, Eldridge Cleaver takes Panther case to the United Nations. In
July 1968, the West Oakland Panther office was opened by Tommy Jones, Glen Stafford, and other
dedicated Panther volunteers. The Seattle BPP office is raided by the local police in July too. Captain
Aaron Dixon of the Seattle BPP and Panther Curtis Harris are arrested for grand larceny. Both are
eventually found not guilty. Captain Dexter Woods of the San Francisco BPP was arrested for
interference with the police in July 1968. From July 15-16, more than 6,000 protestors come out in
support of Huey Newton on the steps of the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland. He national
and international press is present as well as the National Guard. The newly formed Brown Berets
make their appearance on the courthouse steps in support of Huey.
In August of 1968, the West Oakland Panther office was raided and ransacked by the police. In
Newark, the Panther office was firebombed. In Detroit, Panthers and police have a shoot-out;
however, here are no injuries. Fiver Seattle Panthers are harassed in their car by the local police.
Black Panthers are killed in a shoot out between the police and Panthers in LA in August 5. On
August 16, Chairman Bobby Seale and Captain David Hilliard spoke to a crowd of 5,000 across the
street from the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic National Convention was when
the Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey to be the Presidential candidate. Humphrey was right
on many domestic issues like civil rights and environmental protection, but he was a Cold Warrior in
support of the Vietnam War (until the very end of his campaign. On September 30, 1968, Humphrey
delivered a televised speech in Salt Lake City to a nation-wide audience, and announced that if he
was elected, he would put an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, and called for a ceasefire. He
could have won the election if he came out in favor of peace talks sooner).

On August 17, Communications Secretary Kathleen Cleaver, in Hawaii at the Peace and Freedom
Party convention, is refused the right to enter Japan. Three Black Panthers Robert Lawrence, Steve
Bartholomew, and Tommy Lewis were murdered by the Los Angeles police at a service station. In
September 1968, the San Francisco Examiner printed an article saying that Panther George
Murray's employment was a teacher at San Francisco State. Chancellor Dumke orders Murray's
termination. The Black Student Union immediately goes on strike in support of Murray.

Huey is convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the September 8. On that date, J. Edgar Hoover
called the Black Panther Party, the greatest threat to the internal security of the country. The FBI
continued its surveillance, harassment, and other terrorist actions against the Black Panther Party
for Self Defense. The Black Panthers had offices nationwide and numerous programs. They were the
real deal. In September, Oakland police officer committed a drive by shooting of the BPP office on
Grove Street. Eldridge Cleavers parole was revoked and he was sent back to prison.
In October of 1968, Denver police shoot up Panther office during racial disturbance. Panther Lauren
Watson is charged with conspiracy to commit arson. The NYPD in the same month harasses
Panthers over use of a bullhorn at Panthers headquarters. Seattle Panther Sidney Miller was
murdered in November 7, 1968.
Panther Reginald Forte and Officer Wolke were wounded after an altercation in Berkeley. On
November 25, 1968, a FBI memo details plans to cause dissension between Los Angeles Panthers
and United Slaves (US) under the leadership of Ron Karenga (who was a cultural nationalist not a
progressive black nationalist). On December 1, Forty-three Denver police raid Panther office, cause
$9,000 in damage, and steal $150 in cash. A Newark Panther office was bombed by the local police
in December 7, 1968. The police attack the Indianapolis Panther office in December 18. So, this was
a war between progressive BPP and the terrorist FBI. On December 21, the Denver police raided
Panther office looking for weapons. They find nothing. So, out of frustration, the police officers in
Denver, burnt food and clothing that were to be given to community poor for the holidays. You see
why I have my views about crooked cops. There was a demonstration held by the Indiana
Committee to Defend the BPP in front of the local police station. Clergy members, Citizen's Defense
League, Purdue Peace League, and other community organizations were in attendance. On
December 27, Des Moines Panther office is raided by 100 police officers and FBI agents. Mrs.
Joanne Cheatom, president of the Des Moines Welfare Rights Organization, is arrested along with
several Panthers. During the next day, San Francisco Panther office was raided by the police.
Sacramento Panthers exchange gunfire in a shootout with the police. 13 officers were wounded and
37 persons were jailed. On December 30, Los Angeles Panther Frank Diggs was shot in the head and
killed by police agents.

1969 would be a very historical year for the Black Panther Party. In January of 1969, the Panthers
Free Breakfast Children Program or the FBCP is under way at St. Augustines Church in Oakland. The
breakfast program was created for many reasons. It was created to feed children in response to the
lax funding given to the War on Povertys programs involving feeding poor children. The free
Breakfast program to Black Panthers was a socialist display of a community service to humanity.

The Black Panthers wanted to help the community in order to build it. It was also a means for the
Panthers to educate black children in their political philosophies. The Free Breakfast Children
Program was very successful for years. Los Angeles captain Bunchy Carter and Deputy Minister
John Huggins are murdered in Campbell Hall on the UCLA campus (in January 17,1969), by US
members. Later, people found that the murderers had ties to the FBI as informants. The Third
World strikes come about in UC Berkeley in February 13. On March 14 in Los Angeles, following a
student strike meeting at Victory Baptist Church, an altercation ensues in the parking lot between
US members and Panthers. Panther Ronald Freeman is wounded in the chest and groin. Local police
watch the fight from their vehicle parked across the street and do not intervene.

NINA SIMONE (seated) was nicknamed "High Priestess of Soul." She came to be known as
the protest singer of the Civil Rights Movement. She wrote "TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED and
BLACK" borrowing the title of a play by her friend, Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, which
became a popular anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. RIP Sister Nina Simone.
BPP started to create the Free Breakfast Children Program in Vallejo, California. They start with 35
children. Within a week, the number of children grows to 110. In March 19, 1969, Panthers Bobby
Seale and Masai Hewitt tour Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. In
March 24, the FBI continued to instigate inflammatory letters from US members to the Panthers to
cause a divide and conquer strategy. By March 26, a house that was used as a BPP office in Des
Moines was completely demolished by CDT plastic explosives. Later, in testimony before the House
Committee on Un- American Activities, Panthers and the local police department accuse each other
of the bombing. In San Francisco, police officers use tear gas, fire upon using automatic weapons,
and raid Party office. A total of 16 Panthers are arrested (in March 28).

In April 1, the Chicago Free Breakfast Children Programs begins. It starts with 83 children. By the
end of the week, more than 1,100 children are fed.

In April 13, in Des Moines, the Black Panther Party office is totally destroyed by a firebomb. In May
4, Free Huey rallies are held in 20 major cities at the U.S. federal district courts.

In May 13, New Jersey Panthers David Williams and Marion Fields were harassed by officers for
passing out leaflets.

By May of 1969, more developments came about. On May 21, in New Haven, Connecticut, Panther
Alex Rackley is viciously tortured and murdered by undercover agent George Sams who eventually
plead guilty to second-degree murder and whose status as an agent was confirmed at his trial.
Before his arrest many Panther offices were raided under the pretext of looking for him. During the
next day in the same city, the New Haven Panther office was raided by the police. Panthers were
arrested on conspiracy to commit murder. Black Panther John Savage was murdered by US
members in May 23. In Berkeley, the FBI curtails distribution of Black Panther Party newspapers by
ripping them up and disruption U.S. mail service in May 31. United Airlines and TWA accept
contracts to receive and deliver the newspaper, but now deny receiving the newspaper. In June 4th,
the police storm the BPP office in Detroit to search for the suspects in the New Haven murder of
Alex Rackley; $25,000 damage is done to the office and bail is set at $4,000 each. Charges on all
Panthers arrested are dropped. On the same day, the Liberation School or a BPP survival program
starts. Charges are dropped against LA Panther Daniel Lynem in June too. In June 7, the Chicago BPP
office is raided in search of George Sams. Eight Panthers are arrested and charged with harboring a
fugitive. Bail is set at $1,000, but all charges were dropped. Charges are dropped against LA
Panther Wayne Pharr. In Chicago, 16 Panthers, including William O'Neal (an undercover agent), are
indicted for conspiracy, kidnapping, and aggravated battery. Bail is set at $100,000 each (in June
10th). 3 days later, Panthers Joel Brown and Ron Davis are attacked, maced, and arrested by police
for allegedly blocking a public walkway while selling BPP newspapers.. The San Diego and
Sacramento BPP offices were raided in June 13. In June 19, Chicago Black Panther Davis Smith was
arrested for just selling the BPP newspaper. In July 2, the San Francisco Panther Liberation School
opens in San Francisco (another one opens in July 20 with 90 children). In July 26, in San Diego, the
John Savage Memorial FBCP moves ahead despite vandals who broke into the church and destroyed
food.

In Algeria, Eldridge Cleaver is cheered as he addressed the people in front of the new Afro-American
Information Center. Cleaver is joined by Emory Douglas, David Hilliard, Masai Hewitt, Baby Dee, and
the daughter of Richard Wright to attend a 12-day Pan-African Cultural Festival. The Chicago police
in July 31 raided a BPP office in an unprovoked attack that lasted for 45 minutes. The Bobby Hutton
Free Health Clinic was created by BPP members in Kansas City. On August 19, 1968, Bobby Seale is
kidnapped by Berkeley police after leaving the wedding of Masai Hewitt and Shirley Neely. He is
immediately taken to San Francisco and charged with initiating the riots at the 1968 Democratic
National Convention in Chicago and New Haven murder of Alex Rackley. In August 30, the Black
Panthers brought attention to the political prisoner South African Nelson Mandela. On September

2, 1969, San Diego police fire bullets and gas rockets into Panther home for 45 minutes. People in
the community throw bottles and rocks at police. Officers in turn kick down citizens' doors and beat
the people. Bobby Seale was gagged and shackled to a metal folding in court in Chicago on
September 4. Chicago opens a free medical health clinic in the same day. 2 days later, the Berkeley
Tribe newspaper reveals a transcript of a 35-step assault plan by Berkeley police to engage in a fullscale attack on the BPP National Headquarters. The FBI continues to raid the officers of the BPP like
on in Philadelphia in September 24. In Philadelphia, Barbara Cox starts the Panther Free Clothing
Program. Panther Walter Pope was murdered by the LA metro squad in broad daylight as he drops
BPP newspapers off at a store. BPP people in Seattle opened a fee medical clinic by November.

Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party in Illinois was killed by the Chicago police on
December 4, 1969.

Fred Hampton
On January 24, 1969, Fred Hampton would be prevented to appear on a local television talk show
by the FBI and the Chicago police. Fred Hampton was a strong black leader. He organized many
great things for the Black Panther Party in Chicago. This is why on January 30, 1969, J. Edgar Hoover
approved of mailing anonymous letter to provoke the Blackstone Rangers to attack BPP members in
Chicago. In the same day, more than 100 police officers swarm the BPP office in Des Moines, Iowa.
There can be no understanding about Chicago without the understanding about the Black Panther
Party movement. The Black Panther Party Illinois Chapter was established in 1967 by Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizer Bob Brown. During this time period, over 300
black Chicagoans joined the Panthers. Young Black people legitimately opposed police brutality,
racism, capitalism, and economic exploitation. The greatest Black Panther leader in Chicago was of
course Fred Hampton.

Brother Fred Hampton was a courageous black man and he stood up for justice in an unequivocal
way. Even though, Fred Hampton was murdered by a tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois States
Attorneys Office the Chicago Police Department, and the FBI, his memory lives on in all of us. He
was born in Summit, Illinois in August 30, 1940. His parents moved north from Louisiana and they
both worked at the Argo Starch Company. Hampton was gifted in academics and in the athletic
field. He wanted to play center field for the New York Yankees. He graduated from Proviso East High
School with honors in 1966. Fred Hampton had a natural ability to organize and be a leader. After
his graduation, he enrolled in Triton Junior College in nearby River Grover, Illinois. In this location,
he majored in pre-law. He wanted to be very knowledgeable about the legal system, because he
wanted to use it as a defense against the police since many cops were getting away with murder
literally back then (and today).

One of the greatest books on the Black Panthers is Black Against Empire.
Reading this book is like reading great poetry. The words in the book are
excellent, it shows historical context, and the book is very exciting to read. I do
recommend this book 100 percent.
Fred Hampton was active in the NAACP or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People. He was the leader of the Youth Council of the organizations West Suburban Branch. When
he was a NAACP youth organizer, he led a youth group of 500 members strong (in a community of
27,000 people). He worked to get more and better recreational facilities established in the
neighborhoods and to improve educational resources for Maywoods impoverished black
community. He made social change via nonviolent activism and community organizing while he was
in the NAACP. Soon, Fred Hampton joined the Black Panther Party in Chicago. He respected the
Panthers 10 point program, its criticizing of capitalism, its advocacy of self-determination, and its
approach in solving problems. He joined the Party and relocated to downtown Chicago. By
November 1968, he joined the Partys ascent Illinois chapter. In less than 2 years, Fred Hampton
made great accomplishments in Chicago. He made a nonaggression pact between Chicagos most
powerful street gangs. Chicago gangs back then were very powerful. Fred Hampton believed that
racial and ethnic conflicts between gangs would keep people still in poverty and wont make real
solutions.
So, he made a class conscious, multiracial alliance between the Black Panther Party, the Young
Patriots Organizations, and the Young Lords (under the leadership of Jose Cha Cha Jimenez). They
met in Lincoln Park the day after the Young Lords occupied a community workshop meeting inside
the Chicago Avenue 18th District Police Station. The coalition was joined by the SDS (or the
Students for a Democratic Society), the Blackstone Rangers, the Brown Berets, and the Red Guard

Party. In May of 1969, Fred Hampton called this truce via a press conference as a rainbow
coalition which was a phrased coined by Hampton. It has been popularized by Rev. Jesse Jackson
who used it to describe his Rainbow/PUSH organization. Fred Hampton was very intelligent and he
taught political education classes every morning at 6 am. He launched a program for community
supervision of the police He was involved in the BPPs local Peoples Clinic and he worked in the
BPPs Free Breakfast Program in Chicago. This angered the FBI.
The FBI monitored Fred Hampton heavily especially since 1967. They or members of the FBI didnt
want a revolutionary black movement helping society. The FBI wiretapped Hamptons mothers
phone in February of 1968. Fred Hampton in May of 1968 was placed on the "Agitator Index", and
he would be designated a "key militant leader for Bureau reporting purposes." In late 1968, the
Racial Matters squad of the FBIs Chicago field office brought in a black person named William
ONeal. ONeal was an informant and a sellout. ONeal agreed to monitor Fred Hampton in
exchange to get his felony charges dropped (which were interstate car theft and impersonating a
federal officer) and a monthly stipend. So, ONeal infiltrated the Black Panthers in Chicago and gave
the FBI information on the whereabouts of Fred Hampton. ONeal was a bodyguard of Fred
Hampton too. The FBI set up distrust and instigated tensions between the Panthers and the
Rangers. ONeal instigated an armed shootout between both groups on April 2, 1969. The FBI also
used fake cartoons in trying to divide the SDS and the Panthers. In repeated directives, Hoover
demanded that the COINTELPRO personnel "destroy what the [BPP] stands for" and "eradicate its
'serve the people' programs." On July 16, 1969, the Chicago police Department had an armed
confrontation with party members. One BPP member was killed and six others were arrested on
serious charges. Mayor Richard Daley opposed the Black Panther Party members since he saw them
as trying to preempt the authority of city hall.
On May 26, 1969, Hampton was prosecuted in a case related to a Hampton being accused of theft
in 1967 of $71 worth of Good Humor Bars in Maywood. He was sentenced to two to five years but
managed to obtain an appeal bond, and was released in August. Fred Hampton and his girlfriend
Deborah Johnson (who is now known as Akua Nejri) was pregnant with their first child in early
October. Their child would be Fred Hampton Jr. The couple rented a four and a half room
apartment on 2337 West Monroe Street to be closer to BPP headquarters. O'Neal reported to his
superiors that much of the Panthers' "provocative" stockpile of arms was being stored there. In
early November, Hampton traveled to California on a speaking engagement to the UCLA Law
Students Association. While there, he met with the remaining BPP national hierarchy, who
appointed him to the Party's Central Committee. Shortly thereafter, he was to assume the position
of Chief of Staff and major spokesman. ONeal told the FBI about Fred Hamptons whereabouts.
Another gun battle between the Panthers and the police happened in November 13. On December
3, ONeal drugged Fred Hamptons drink so he would sleep during the raid. At 1:30 am. In
November 4th, Hampton fell asleep. The raid was organized by the office of Cook County States
Attorney Edward Hanrahan.
Hanrahan had recently been the subject of a large amount of public criticism by Hampton, who had
made speeches about how Hanrahan's talk about a "war on gangs" was really rhetoric used to
enable him to carry out a "war on black youth." At 4:00 am, the heavily armed police came to the
house. They divided into 2 teams in the front and back of the building. At 4:45 am, they stormed
into the apartment. Mark Clark had a shotgun in his lap on security duty. He was shot in the heart
and died instantly. No other Panthers fired a shot except when Clark fired his gun out of a reflex

after he was shot automatic gunfire killed Fred Hampton. Other Panthers were wounded. Fred
Hampton died in a pool of blood. The officers kept on shooting in the building. Satchel, Anderson,
and Brewer were sleeping. Verlina Brewer, Ronald "Doc" Satchel, Blair Anderson, and Brenda Harris
were seriously wounded. They were beaten and dragged into the street and falsely arrested on
aggravated assault and attempted murder of the officer. They were each held on $100,000 bail.
Hampton's fiance, Deborah Johnson, was sleeping next to him when the police raid began. She
was forcibly removed from the room by the police officers while Hampton lay unconscious in bed.
The seven Panthers who survived the raid were indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted
murder, armed violence, and various other weapons charges. These charges were subsequently
dropped.

The political assassinations of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark resulted in total outrage by the black
community and other progressive organizations (even moderate civil rights organization). People
felt that if the cops killed 2 black men unjustly, then they could be next in the actions of police
repression. Many Chicago aldermen, the Afro-American Patrolmens League (which has a long
history in Chicago), the Illinois division of the ACLU, and other groups wanted an independent
investigation. Early on, evidence has proven that the police shoot at the Panthers in an excessive,
evil way. Bobby Rush and Fred Hamptons mother and father supported an independent autopsy
which happened. The autopsy found that he was shot in his head by bullets. Mainstream civil rights
organizations like the NAACP, CORE, the ACLU, the American Jewish Committee, the UAW, and
other groups called for an independent investigation too. This tragedy caused many groups to come
together and stand behind the Panthers. On December 8, 1969, the Chicago Defender (the largest
black newspaper in America back then) condemned the governments repression of the Black
Panthers. The Panthers, the SCLC, etc. held a memorial service of Fred Hampton in Maywood. Ralph
Abernathy (or the head of the SCLC) gave the eulogy of Fred Hampton. Jesse Jackson would speak
out against the murder of Fred Hampton too. Reverend C. T. Vivian and Harlem Congressman Adam
Clayton Powell spoke out against police repression too. John Conyers, Shirley Chisholm, and other
progressive black political leaders toured the home of where Fred Hampton was murdered at. Fred
Hampton was a revolutionary. He was young and organized movements for change in a rapid
fashion. He was against the status quo as he wanted socialism to exist in the world. His passing
further inspires us to fight to justice.

During the trial, the Chicago police department claimed that the Panthers were the first to fire
shots; however, a later investigation found that the Chicago police fired between ninety and ninetynine shots while the Panthers had only shot twice. Fred Hamptons funeral was filled with 5,000
people. Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, and many people were there. It is obvious that the cops
executed 2 black men in cold blood. Yet, the police murderers were never convicted for their
crimes. The families of Hampton and Clark filed a US$47.7 million civil suit against the city, state,
and federal governments. The case went to trial before Federal Judge J. Sam Perry. At first the case
was dismissed. Then, it was retried more than a decade later. The suit was finally settled for $1.85
million. The two families each shared in the settlement. December 4 is known as Fred Hampton Day
in Chicago. A public pool was named in his honor in his hometown of Maywood, Illinois.
The excellent documentaries of The Murder of Fred Hampton (which existed from 1971) and the
Eyes on the Prize series show excellent information on the story of the late Brother Fred Hampton.

RIP Brother Fred Hampton.

Cops and Black Panthers on Court house steps for the Panther 21 trial in NYC
during 1969.

Panther 21 and other Events

First, we have to outline the early history of the Black Panther Party in the great city of New York
City. The Black Panther Party opened its chapter in Harlem, NYC in the weeks after Dr. Kings
assassination in 1968. New York City has always been home to progressive, nationalist, socialist, and
other revolutionary movements. We always remember Marcus Garveys UNIA (or United Negro
Improvement Association) having a base of operations in New York. We know that Malcolm X loved
Harlem and spoke up for justice for black people during the 1950s and in the 1960s. SNCC, CORE,
and other groups had major operations, which existed in New York too. So, it is just a matter of time
before the Black Panther Party to expand into New York City. SNCC helped to set up a chapter of
the Black Panthers in NYC. Joudon Ford was the first captain of the BPP chapter in NYC. Ford, David
Brothers, and others worked to grow the Black Panther Party in New York City as well. Ford aided in
the creation of political education classes and self-defense training. Two early and famous Black
Panthers of New York City are Lumumba Shakur and Sekou Odinga. Lumumbas father was Saludine

Abbah Shakur. Abbah Shakur was an associate of Malcolm X and he joined Garveys UNIA.
Lumumbas friend was Sekou.
Lumumba Shakur founded a Harlem chapter of the BPP while Sekou founded a Bronx chapter of the
BPP. Abbah and his adopted son (Mutulu Shakur) joined RAM or the Revolutionary Action
Movement too. Afeni Shakur (or the late Tupac Shakurs mother) was a strong member of the Black
Panther Party too. Her hometown was in Lumberton, North Carolina. She moved to New York City
at the age of 11 in 1958. She became a Black Panther Party member in 1968. It was also during this
time that another member bestowed the name Afeni, upon her, which means, dear one or lover
of the people. Afeni Shakur married Lumumba Shakur in 1968. Their marriage lasted from 1968 to
1971. Tupac Shakur was born in 1971. Tupacs sister is Sekyiwa Shakur. Afeni Shakur is a poet, an
activist, a philanthropy, and a strong black woman who is involved in helping people to this very
day. Afeni Shakur was a leader of the Harlem Black Panthers. In 2005, actress/singer/writer, and
Afeni's friend, Jasmine Guy, released a biography detailing Afenis tenure with The Black Panthers
entitled, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.
On September 4, 1968, about 150 white men (many were off duty and out of uniform policemen)
attacked Black Panther Party members and white sympathizers on the sixth floor of the Brooklyn
Criminal Court. Many of the attackers had Wallace for President buttons. During that time,
George Wallace was running for President under a reactionary platform under the guise of "law and
order." New York Panther chairman David Brothers was kicked and stomped in the back more than
20 times. Black Panther section leader Tom McCreary had his skull fractured. Another Black Panther
Abayama Katara (who is a Sister) ran from the police violence. NY NAACP leaders, the National
Lawyers Guild, and other progressive organizations condemned the beatings done by the cops.

Another great Black Panther Party leader of New York is Dhourba Bin Wahad. Dhoruba, in Swahili,
means "he who is born in the storm." He respected the views of Malcolm X. He was not only falsely
accused of a crime in the 1970s and the U.S. government paid him millions of dollars in a
settlement. To this very day, Brother Dhourba Bin Wahad is active in the black liberation struggle.
He and so many others were part of the Panther 21 (they were a group of well-known Black Panther
members in New York City). In April of 1969, 21 Black Panthers are arrested on a wide variety of
conspiracy charges. In April 10, 1969, high school students hold a demonstration at Long Island City
High School to demand freedom for the Panther 21 arrested on conspiracy charges. They or the
Panther 21 were accused of planned coordinated bombing and long-range rifle attacks on two
police stations and an education office in New York City. The Panther 21 group was completely

innocent of the charges. On April 2, 1969 twenty-one Black Panther members were indicted. The
number dropped from twenty-one to thirteen, who were arraigned before Judge Charles Marks
with bail set at $100,000. Joseph A. Phillips from the District Attorney's Office led the prosecution,
with Jeffrey Weinsten as his assistant. The Panthers were charged with conspiracy to kill several
police officers and to destroy a number of buildings, including four police stations, five department
stores, and the Bronx Botanical Gardens. The charges were false.
As former political prisoner and longtime freedom fighter Dhoruba bin Wahad has written:
In 1966, the year the BPP was founded in Oakland California the New York City Police
Department commenced its own investigation of the Black Panther Party. Detective Ralph White of
the New York City Police Department was directed to infiltrate the Black Panther Party and submit
daily reports on the Party and its members. The NYPD regularly communicated with police
departments throughout the country, sharing information on the BPP, its members and activities.
The NYPD was also working with the FBI on a daily basis (History 101: The Panther 21, Police
Repression, The BLA & Cointel-Pro)
The Black Panther members (of the Panther 21) were acquitted on May 12, 1971 of all 156 charges.

The Age of Nixon

December 1969 continued to be one of the most explosive years of the BPP when the government
outright not only violated civil liberties, but used actions that targeted the Black Panther Party in
brutal ways. In December 8th, 1969, the Los Angeles police launched a full scale attack on the
Southern California Panthers in a predawn raid. In 2 separate locations, 400 officers arrested Party
members and even children. These cops had no shame in their disgracefulness. During one shoot
out, Roland Freemans body was riddled with bullets, but he survived. During the next day, the Los
Angeles Local Union 535, Social Services Workers' Union, passed a resolution to protest the political

murders of Panthers across the country and to demand the release of all political prisoners. The
Bunchy Carter Free Health Clinic opened in LA in December 27. A shipment of BPP newspapers
arrive in Winston-Salem North Carolina by December 30. From the beginning, the Black Panther
Party dealt with the concepts of masculinity and femininity. There is the image of a black man
(which many Black Panthers have shown) with a gun and the stereotypical image of manhood has
been shown back then. Holding a gun doesnt make a person a man or a woman. There is nothing
wrong with holding a gun in a legitimate fashion, but life should be more than about a gun. The
integrity, character, and the insights to help others are things found in real men and real women.
In 1968, the Black Panther Party newspaper stated in several articles that the role of female
Panthers was to "stand behind black men" and be supportive. That was wrong. There was massive
sexism in the Black Panthers, which was evil and immoral. Many women in the Oakland chapter and
in other chapters experienced gender discrimination, sexual harassment, assault, etc. by many
fellow Black Panther Party members. When Oakland Panthers arrived to bolster the New York City
Panther chapter after twenty one New York leaders were incarcerated, they displayed such
chauvinistic attitudes towards New York Panther women that they had to be fended off at
gunpoint. Regina Davis (an administration of a Black Panther Liberation School) was a great Black
Panther who was beaten so badly by male Panther members that her jaw was broken and she was
sent to the hospital. Some Party leaders wrongly thought the fight for gender equality was a threat
to men and a distraction from the struggle for racial equality.

The truth is that there is no racial equality without gender equality and vice versa. Sexism is evil. By
1969, the Black Panther Party newspaper officially stated that men and women are equal and they
instructed male Panthers to treat female Party members as equals. That same year, Deputy
Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois chapter conducted a meeting condemning sexism. After
1969, the Party considered sexism counter-revolutionary. Many Black Panthers promoted a

womanist ideology. Women Black Panther Party members were strong leaders, they stood up
against sexism in the Party, and they fought the good fight for liberation and justice. Womanism is
the view that gender equality can never come unless black women have racial justice. Womanism
emphasized more on issues of race, gender, and class together (not just on gender alone). Famous
woman Black Panther Party women leaders are Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Erika Huggins,
Assata Shakur, Elaine Brown, and others. The Black Panther Party newspaper often showed women
as active participants in the armed self-defense movement, picturing them with children and guns
as protectors of the home, the family and the community. From 1968 to the end of its publication in
1982, the head editors of the Black Panther Party newspaper were all women. Many women
headed many chapters of the Black Panther Party in Des Moines, New Haven, etc. In 1970,
approximately 40% to 70% of Party members were women. This historical fact should remind that
sexism has no place in any location on Earth. During the 1970s, sexism would still be a problem in
the BPP. The heroic black Panthers who fought sexism and fought for justice deserve all of the
respect in the world.

These young girls are in the United Kingdom. The Black Panther Party
expanded internationally in placed like Britain. This picture takes place in
1970 where a group of schoolgirls carry school bags with signage
designating the British Black Panthers.

The Fight for Educational Justice

The fight for justice also involves the educational system. Back during the 1960s and the early
1970s, there was a social movement to improvement the educational system in America, especially
in Universities. Many progressive people were inspired by the black freedom struggle in order for
them to fight for changes in Universities. Many SNCC members were involved in the 1964-1965 Free
Speech Movement of Berkeley University. The Free Speech movement was a movement where
progressives expressed opposition to University of Berkeley authorities trying to end certain overt
displays of political speech, especially political speech in favor of civil rights. Back then, even in
Berkeley, California, there was racial discrimination, economic exploitation, and massive police
brutality in the early 1960s. Therefore, Mario Savio and others of the Free Speech Movement
fought for student representation, free speech, and political expression. During that time, red
baiting from the McCarthyite era wasnt extinguished. The HUAC meetings (whose existence was
antithetical to free speech and the freedom of expression) existed as late as the 1960's. Protesters
had used civil disobedience to try to get change. Many protesters were liberals, independents, and
socialists who desired justice for all. After the Free Speech movement, many universities had
students who were involved in the anti-war movement. They opposed the draft and the Vietnam
War, because it was imperialist, it was wrong, U.S. military involvement was based on the Gulf of
Tonkin deception, and it caused harm to the Vietnamese people and Americans. As the Black Power
movement grew, many black activists including Black Panther Party members wanted Universities
to include curriculum that outlined African history, black studies, and studies about people of color
too.
This fight would exist in Columbia University, universities in the South, and Universities in the West
Coast. Today, Universities had courses of African-American studies, Hispanic studies, womens
studies, etc. Yet, back then, those studies werent readily available to all students in universities.
Therefore, people fought for change legitimately. The Black Panther Party was at the forefront
along with other progressive activists in fighting for educational justice whereby the history and
culture of black people and people of color are fairly represented in school curriculum and everyday
life on campus. The fight for Black Studies was long and courageous. In August of 1968, August

Mason Murray (or the Black Panther minister of education) promoted anti-imperialism and justice
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. People also fought for Black Studies in San Francisco State too.
There was a strike there too. A black student named Barbara Williams agreed to the love of
Blackness and self-determination among Third World peoples (who are the victims of Western
imperialism). Change came, but even today we have a long way to go. Also, student rebellions
continued to happen even into the 1970. After the unjust murder of Kent State University students
(who were protesting the Vietnam War) in Ohio, students protested and rebellions existed
nationwide in 1971. The legacy of the Black Studies movement is that we have a chance to learn
more about African and Third World history. This fight involved intellectual freedom too. Back
then, if someone was a socialist or a communist, some people would ban them from teaching a
class. Angela Davis was and is a communist. She was illegally restricted from teaching students in an
University, because of her political views. She has fought and now teaches worldwide. Therefore,
people of diverse political or social ideologies have the right to teach. Also, we acknowledge the
contributions that African Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, Asian Americans, and other
progressive people of the human race have done.

This is the great Sister

Judy Hart, who was a
Black Panther Party
member.

Bless Black Women.

Conclusion
By 1970, the Black Panthers were attacked by the FBI, police agencies, and informants. The Black
Panther Party was funded by many people. The Oakland BPP had another confrontation with the
police with guns and fragmentation bombs in the Spring of 1970. 2 officers were wounded. Huey P.
Newtons conviction is overturned in May of 1970, but he remained incarcerated in May of 1970. In
July 1970, Newton tells the New York Times that, weve never advocated violence. He is released
from prison by August 1970. In the same year, many Black Panthers traveled overseas to promote
anti-imperialism and solidarity with Third World activists. Some Panthers went into Asia and were
welcomed guests of the governments in North Vietnam, North Korea, and China. The group's first
stop was in North Korea, where the Panthers met with local officials to discuss ways that they could
help each other fight American imperialism. Eldridge Cleaver traveled to Pyongyang twice in 1969
and 1970, and following these trips he made an effort to publicize the writings and works of North
Korean leader Kim Il-sung in the United States.

After North Korea, the group traveled to North Vietnam with the same agenda in mind: finding
ways to put an end to American imperialism. Eldridge Cleaver was invited to speak to Black GIs by
the Northern Vietnamese government. He encouraged them to join the Black Liberation Struggle by
arguing that the United States is only using them for their own purposes. Instead of risking their
lives on the battlefield for a country that continues to oppress them, Cleaver believed the black GIs
should risk their lives in support of their own liberation. After Vietnam, Cleaver met with the
Chinese ambassador to Algeria to express their mutual animosity towards the American
government. Algeria held its first Pan-African Cultural Festival. They invited many important figures
from America. Bobby Seale and Eldridge Cleaver were invited. The cultural festival allowed Black
Panthers to network with representatives of various international anti-imperialist movements. It is
at this festival where Cleaver met with the ambassador of North Korea, who later invited him to
their International Conference of Revolutionary Journalists in Pyongyang. Eldridge also met Yasser
Arafat, and gave a speech supporting the Palestinians and their goal of achieving liberation. 1971
would be another historic year for the Black Panther Party.

By Timothy

This is the end of Part 1. Part 2 will come later months into the future (in
showing the events of the Black Panthers from 1971 to the present).

Long Live the Legacy of the

Black Panther Party