The\u00a0Black Panther Party\u00a0(originally the\u00a0Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an\u00a0African-American\u00a0revolutionaryorganization established to promote\u00a0Black Power, and by extension\u00a0self-defense\u00a0for\u00a0blacks. It was active in the\u00a0United States\u00a0from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international fame through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in\u00a0US politics\u00a0of the 1960s and 70s. The Black Power movement is considered to be one of the most significant social, political and cultural movements in\u00a0US history. “The movement [had] provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity.”<\/p>\n
Founded in\u00a0Oakland, California, by\u00a0Bobby Seale\u00a0and\u00a0Huey P. Newton\u00a0on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling for the protection of\u00a0African American neighborhoods\u00a0from\u00a0police brutality, in the interest of African-American justice. Its objectives and philosophy changed radically during the party’s existence. While the organization’s leaders passionately espoused socialist and\u00a0communist\u00a0doctrines, the Party’s\u00a0black nationalist\u00a0reputation attracted an ideologically diverse membership. Ideological consensus within the party was difficult to achieve. Some members openly disagreed with the views of the leaders.
\nIn 1967 the organization marched on the\u00a0California State Capitol\u00a0in\u00a0Sacramento\u00a0in protest of a selective ban on weapons. The official newspaper\u00a0The Black Panther\u00a0was also first circulated that year. By 1968, the party had expanded into many cities throughout the United States, including\u00a0Chicago,\u00a0Los Angeles,\u00a0Detroit,\u00a0San Diego,\u00a0Denver,\u00a0Newark,\u00a0New York City,Boston,\u00a0Philadelphia,\u00a0Pittsburgh,\u00a0Cleveland,\u00a0Seattle,\u00a0Washington, D.C., and\u00a0Baltimore. That same year, membership reached 5,000 and their newspaper, under the editorial leadership of\u00a0Eldridge Cleaver\u00a0had grown to a circulation of 250,000.
\nThe group created a Ten-Point Program, a document that called for “Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace”, as well as exemption from\u00a0conscription\u00a0for African-American men, among other demands. With the Ten-Point program, \u201cWhat we Want, What We Believe\u201d, the Black Panther Party captured in uncompromising language the collective economic and political grievances articulated by black radicals and many black liberals since the 1930s.
\nWhile grounded in black nationalism, the party changed as it grew to national prominence and became an icon of the\u00a0counterculture of the 1960s. The Black Panthers ultimately condemned black nationalism as “black racism”. They became more focused on\u00a0socialism\u00a0without racial exclusivity. They instituted a variety of community social programs designed to alleviate\u00a0poverty\u00a0and improve health among communities deemed most needful of aid. It also recognized that different minority communities (those it deemed oppressed by the\u00a0US government) needed to organize around their own set of issues and encouraged alliances with such organizations.<\/p>\n
The group’s political goals were often overshadowed by their confrontational,\u00a0militant, and sometimes violent tactics, and by their suspicions of law enforcement agents. \u201c\u00a0Federal Bureau of Investigation\u00a0Director\u00a0J. Edgar Hoover\u00a0called the party \u201cthe greatest threat to the internal security of the country,\u201d and he supervised an extensive program of counter-organizing that included\u00a0surveillance,\u00a0eavesdropping,\u00a0infiltration,\u00a0police harassment,\u00a0perjury, and a list of other tactics designed to incriminate party members and drain the organization of resources and manpower.<\/p>\n
While party membership started to decline during Huey Newton’s 1968\u00a0manslaughter\u00a0trial, the Black Panther Party collapsed altogether in the early 1970s. Writers such as former\u00a0Communist Party USA\u00a0member\u00a0Angela Davis\u00a0and writer and political activist\u00a0Ward Churchill\u00a0have alleged that law enforcement officials went to great lengths to discredit and destroy the organization, including\u00a0assassination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0Black Panther Party\u00a0(originally the\u00a0Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an\u00a0African-American\u00a0revolutionaryorganization established to promote\u00a0Black Power, and by extension\u00a0self-defense\u00a0for\u00a0blacks. It was active in the\u00a0United States\u00a0from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international fame through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in\u00a0US politics\u00a0of the 1960s and 70s. The BlackContinue reading<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-218","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrglackin.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}