The Black Panther Party

Prior to the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, there had been an undercurrent of tension and frustration in American society. In urban America and cities such as Harlem, Watts, Chicago, and Detroit, racial tensions arose through riots and rebellions. There were several groups which lead these, including SCLC lead by MLK, the NAACP lead by Roy Wilkins, and the Black Muslims lead by Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad. Frustration in the black community and these civil rights groups were rooted in the same issues: high unemployment rates, poor housing quality, police brutality, bad health care, and lower quality education systems.

It was in this context that the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was formed by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 Oakland, California. The party was initially developed to protect residents of black neighborhoods from police brutality. The Black Panther Party differed from other groups in that they advocated a socialist approach to issues in the community, in which all individuals shared responsibility. They also developed survival programs where communities started businesses and social institutions to benefit the community itself and avoided relying on aid from organizations outside the community. These programs included education improvements, tuberculosis testing, legal aid, transportation, ambulance services, and the distribution of free shoes to poor people. They also differed from other activist groups in that they forged relationships with progressive white groups.

 At the core of the party was the Ten- point program, which was a list of demands of the party and goals for the community. The Ten- point program also advocated that that exploitation was the root of oppression in the U.S. and abroad and that the abolition of capitalism was necessary to achieve social justice. Other ideals in the party called for the arming of all African- Americans, exemptions of African- Americans from the draft and all sanctions of white- America, the release of all African- Americans from jail, and reparations to compensate for centuries of exploitation. The influence of Marxist ideology attracted international attention to the party and support for it abroad. However, the organization also clashed often with the FBI and was even considered the greatest threat to national security by the 1969 FBI director.

Sources:

http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_formation.html

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party