Black Panther Party
Citation: https://www.history.com/topics/black-panthers
Black Panther Party,
History.com
The Black Panthers also known
as the Black Panther Party was a political organization founded in 1966 by Huey
Newton and Bobby Seale. The organization was created to challenge the police
brutality against the African-American community. The FBI worked diligently to
dismantle the Black Panthers and they were successful. Huey Newton and Bobby
Seale met in 1961 while students at Merritt College in Oakland, California.
They formed the Negro History Fact Group, that taught black history in the
school. The founders created the party after Malcom X was assassinated and an
unarmed black teenager was shot by the police. They created the ten-point
program which called for to immediately end police brutality, unemployment for
African-Americans, for African-Americans to have land, housing, and justice. Their
goal was to get more African-Americans elected in office. The Black Panther
Party was a social organization they helped out many black communities and
offered free breakfast, but some members were violent. In 1967, founder Huey
Newton allegedly killed Oakland Police officer John Frey. Newton was convicted
of manslaughter and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Eldrige Cleaver
who was the editor of the Black Panther newspaper and 17-year-old Bobby Hutton were
involved in a shootout in 1968. The organization was an FBI target and J. Edgar
Hoover stated that the organization was a threat to American Society. The FBI dismantled
the free breakfast program and exploited the rivalries between Black
Nationalist groups. The Black Panther Party officially disbanded in 1982.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of
the Revolution
Director: Stanley Nelson Jr.
The Black Panther Party has a
very complex history. The whites were treating the blacks horribly. Black
people were getting attacked by dogs and police spraying them with fire hoses.
Other black people could not turn the other cheek, they wanted black power! In
1966, the police brutality was intensifying in the heart of the Civil Rights
Movement. Police officers in major urban cities treats black differently to
whites. The officers would jump on black men and beat them severely. Some
officers would even put a gun to the black men’s head and threaten to shoot
him. Oakland was a huge urban city with massive problems, and Huey Newton recognized
those issues. Huey and Bobby Seale started the Black Panther Party. They were
both college-educated and they understood their rights. It was Huey’s idea for
the black panthers to carry guns for their protection, and because of the 2nd
amendment. Ronald Regan was the governor of California and the panthers hated
him, because he was racist. Therefore, the black panthers decided to raid the
state’s capitol. The Panthers invaded the Sacramento office with guns attached
to them. After that incident, more black people wanted to join the Black
Panthers. The Black Panther Party National Headquarters office was located in
West Oakland. The Panthers wanted to end police brutality immediately, they
wanted to have freedom endlessly, and strong education for eternity, so the
organization came up with the 10-point program. The 10-point program was like
the Organization’s bible, because it formulated the foundational work that the
panthers must represent. The program was against white supremacy and capitalism.
The organization grew, but members came from off the streets. There was no
screening and rigidness to the organization. Until Eldrige Cleaver came into
the picture, he wrote “Soul on Ice!” The book was a New York Times best seller.
Cleaver was an eloquent speaker and an impeccable writer to join the party. Huey
sponsored him to join the party, because it would Cleaver would be a positive
outlook for the organization. After Cleaver joined the group, Huey was arrested
for allegedly murdering John Cry. Huey faced execution and the panthers started
to protest, because many others were jailed at the time, so Cleaver was the
only spokesperson. White and Blacks were protesting for Huey’s freedom, Huey’s
arrest became a movement. The Black Panthers grew stronger, because they hated
oppression and blacks being murdered. The organization became like a family.
The members walked and spoke with swagger. The group created the concept that
urban blacks are beautiful which is why the members had the Afro. Teenagers
were mostly in the Black Panther party because they wanted to embody the strength
and culture that is associated with being a Black Panther. Photographers were
drawn to the Black Panthers and broadcasters exploited the Black Panthers. The
group were a positive organization and they started the “Free Breakfast”
children program gave children free breakfast before they went to school. They
served over 20,000 meals to over 19 different communities. The organization
also opened up free health clinics. The group was shown in a positive light
until J Edgar Hoover attacked the party. Hoover stated “The Black Panther Party
is a threat to American Society”, so Hoover created COINTELPRO which stood for
Counter Intelligence Program. The program was to expose, misdirect and neutralize
the activities of Black Nationalists. The FBI sent out informants from the
party to arrest their members and Hoover sent out letters to every Black
Panther office in America. Hoover’s main goal was to dismantle the party and to
prevent the rise of the “Black Messiah”, to prevent black youth growing, and
gaining respect in the black community. The FBI harassed, and taunted the black
panthers by tapping their phones, and following them also the FBI would taunt
the panthers’ family members. The ultimate goal was to turn the black panther
party members against each other, so the members were equipped to what the FBI was
doing. The panthers bounded with each other and formed “Panther Pads.” These
pads consisted of 10 people living in 3 bedroom apartments. People were so
dedicated to the party. They would leave their family members to stay in the
pads. The party depended on each other for support, because they knew the FBI
was targeting them. Women would creak breakfast for their “Free Breakfast
Program” and they were secretaries for the chapters in their cities. Women
wanted to become more involved in the party, so they switched gender roles. The
women started to have guns and the men started cooking. The Black Panther
newspaper was 25 cents back then and the paper was vital tool for the party,
because it was their way of spreading their message. In the paper, the artist
Emory Douglas drew caricatures of black people and police officers as pigs. The
Black Panthers called the police pigs. Their motto was the pigs needed to be
taken out by any means necessary following Malcolm X approach. On April 4th,
1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated and riot broke out. People were
devastated, because King was a peaceful man that did not condone violence. After
the riot, Little Bobby Hutton gets a shotgun from Edward “Big Man” Howard.
Bobby get gunned down by the police he was 17-years-old. Then the FBI is
looking for Eldrige Cleaver he was considered a fugitive, but he was in
Algeria, so Dave Hilliard became the new spokesperson, because the others
members were either away or locked up in jail. The FBI manipulated the police
to target the Black Panthers. The party was now viewed as a terrorist
organization, so the police shot at the black panthers. The shootout lasted for
30 minutes and on April 2nd, 1969 21 black panthers were charged
with terrorist activities, so the “Panther 21” was created. The “Panther 21”
was created because 21 people were in court with $100,000 bails and facing 800
plus years in prison. The FBI tried to frame the Black Panthers by not allowing
them a fair trial, but Jane Fonda and other celebrities supported the Black
Panthers. She opened up her home for black panthers to stay and do their
fundraising. After a 13-month trial, the jury deliberated for 3 hours and have
found the 21 people not guilty, but after that tumultuous incident more smaller
trials started to pop up all over the country. Other blacks were afraid to join
the party because they did not want to be subjected to court. At the Democratic
Convention in Chicago Bobby Seale speaks and a riot breaks out. September 1969,
Seale was arrested and he was bought to trial. Seale lost his cool in the
courtroom, because the judge did not allow him to defend himself, so the judge
tied him to a chair with duct tape across his mouth. People from different
cultures and backgrounds protested for him, but it did not work, so Fred
Hampton took over. Fred Hampton was a 17-year-old black teenager who gained
fame after protesting for Bobby, because he was a passionate orator. Hampton
was the head of the NAACP youth branch and the chairman of the Illinois Chapter
of Black Panther party. He wanted to unite the poor whites with the blacks.
Many of the hillbillies supported the party. Hoover did not want the blacks and
whites to come together, so he set Hampton up. On December 4th, 1969
Hampton was murdered by the police in his apartment, while his wife was pregnant
with their son. The police laughed about the incident and the FBI never acknowledged
that they set Hampton up to be killed. In Los Angeles, four days later the
Black Panther Party retaliated at the police force after the riot was over more
panthers got locked up, but Huey was released from jail. Huey became very
erratic after he was incarcerated, because he started to abuse drugs. Huey did
not trust Eldridge, because the FBI was sending out informants to break up
their close friendship. Eldridge and Huey were no longer friends, and Huey was
abusive to his friends and women. After Seale lost the election for mayor
against Reading he got into a physical altercation with Huey. The Party blew to
shambles, in the early 80’s.