Driven by the assassination of Malcolm X and the killing of a black teenager named Mathew Johnson, the early days of the group were marked by going on armed patrols of neighborhoods to “police the police.” Members cited second amendment rights for their open-carry methods when patrolling such neighborhoods. Over the next few years, the party implemented a number of social programs that brought more national attention to it. For example, the Free Breakfast for School Children Program, enacted in 1968, led party members to serve free breakfast to tens of thousands of children. They also established 13 free health clinics for African Americans in various parts of the country. By 1970, the party had thousands of members and chapters all across the nation.
The Black Panthers were members of a group called the Black Panther Party that sought to challenge police brutality against African Americans. Founded in 1966 by Oakland college students Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the organization was originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense to emphasize protection from police brutality. Newton and Seale stipulated a Ten-Point Program for the party that drew on ideology from other black nationalist movements as well as Marxism. The core of the program was to end police brutality, achieve employment for African Americans, and overall “land, housing and justice for all.”
Largely due to the Marxist ideology, the Black Panther Party was despised by the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover thought it was a huge threat to national security and embarked on a program to undermine it. The FBI program, COINTELPRO, was formed in 1967 to neutralize dissident groups, which included black nationalist groups. They targeted the Black Panther social programs such as the aforementioned breakfast program and tried to pit other black nationalist groups against them.
After reaching its peak in the early 1970s, the Black Panther Party declined in activity and membership throughout the decade. Without a doubt, COINTELPRO played a role in its demise. By 1982, the party had ceased operations completely.
Throughout its history, the party had its fair share of violent encounters, which led many Americans to perceive it as a gang. In 1967, Huey Newton was convicted of killing an Oakland police officer and was sentenced to prison time, before the ruling was reversed. In 1968, Bobby Hutton, a 17-year-old member, engaged in a shootout with Oakland police and was killed. Such events have rendered the party a controversial topic. Supporters argue that it was one of the most influential black power movements of the time, while others say that the party’s methods were too violent and criminalistic.
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I enjoyed reading about this post because this movement started very close to us, so if was nice to learn in detail about the Black Panthers. I particularly found how they were founded interesting specifically about the death of Matthew Johnson you mentioned at the start of your post. Originally starting off as a joyride in a stolen car, Matthew Johnson and two other friends were caught by a police officer. They bolted out of the car and officer Alvin Johnson told them to stop or he would shoot. They didn't and he shot four times hit Matthew in the heart, killing Matthew within minutes. This immediately spread across the black community the next which sparked the Hunters Point riots and influenced the Black Panthers.
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Something I found interesting when reading this post was the fact that the Black Panther Party offered numerous public programs for black people. The widely known breakfast program was first created in Berkeley, and at a time served 20,000 children's breakfasts. Another program by the Black Panther Party was the People's Free Medical Centers, which helped served a variety of issues such cancer screenings and immunizations. A lesser known effort was the development of schools by the BBP, most notable the Oakland Community School. Originally named the Intercommunal Youth Institute, this school was later awarded by the California governor for having set the highest standard of elementary education. Aside from the youth, the BBP also created programs that benefited elderly in the community. SAFE, or Seniors Against a Fearful Environment, was a program offering transportation and escort services to Senior citizens.
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Like what Chris said, this is more relevant to us because it is more local. It is a common debate in the kids of methods they used and whether that was okay or not. It is also easy dismiss them as killers without knowledge. My English teacher a few years back described them as, "black people who use violence to get noticed." Its easy to look at them as a group that used violence but they also used peaceful actions as mentioned by Ella. Even the Violence was mostly provoked.
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ReplyDeleteThis was a very informative blog to read. I think it's interesting that the FBI tried to stop these programs by pitting nationalist groups against each other. To me, this is very saddening especially in the 70s which was only 50 years ago. After researching a bit as to why the party ultimately ended, I learned that a main event leading to its end was the killing of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, two Black Panther party members. While the FBI did not lead this raid, the bureau played a significant role in in the events leading up to it. I could not find an article that explained specifically why the group ended, but I can see how events like these might have made other members weary. Unfortunately, we can still see the effects of racial profiling and police brutality today in our modern society.
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This was a super intresting topic choice and I'm so glad someone decided to blog about it! I feel that this group was so important because they acted in a way that brought out the ideals Malcom X and many other civil rights activist of the time had preached during thier carrers, this can be seen when we look at how muhc like these past leaders this group wanted to control their communities once more. They gained an aspect of contorl of their communities back from the white population by provding these services such as free breakfast for school children and by carrying out their behaviour of "policing" the police. I feel that their actions and approch to gaining equality greatly reflected Malcom and his more agressive and upfornt approch to civil rights that many Ameincas supported.
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