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Brittany Smith

November 14th, 2018

Professor Arini

English 101-05

The Black Panthers

The Black Panthers, also known as, the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense was a

political organization designed to police the police. It was originally founded by Bobby Seale

and Huey Newton in October 1966 in Oakland CA. Within this group they would stand up

against police brutality in the African-American community by patrolling their neighborhoods.

They fought for equal rights, peace, land, bread, housing, and education. The party was in the

United States and were active between 1966 until 1982. At their peak time they had roughly

2,000 members across the United States.

In the beginning, Newton was already a black militant activist in 1961 when he met

Seale. They both attended Oakland’s Merritt College and both joined the same organization,

Afro-American Association. After entering this group they soon realized that their views weren’t

the same as the leader of the Afro-American, they sided more on what Malcom X was for. “After

affiliations with the Merritt's Soul Student Advisory Council and with the Williams-inspired

Revolutionary Action Movement, Newton and Seale created the BPP in order to expand their

political activity, which mainly involved "patrolling the pigs"--that is, monitoring police

activities in black communities to ensure that civil rights were respected.” (Paragraph Two,

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Clayborne) Once their group was established they gained a different viewing on what this

organization was all about, “Beginning as a Black Nationalist formation, the party quickly

repudiated that ideology by embracing revolutionary nationalism, which sought to combine anti-

racist and anti-capitalist perspectives.” (Paragraph Three, Clayborne) Their common beliefs were

the only way to protect themselves is to fight back. They were motivated to unite all races to live

equal to one another and united the African-Americans because they were all fighting side by

side. Others things they did was they instituted a variety of community social programs and

community health clinics. Their Ten Point program was their most famous, it demanded the end

of police brutality, employment for African-Americans; and land, housing and justice for all.

The Panthers would often have exposed weapons on them at all times and were dressed

in black leather jackets and black berets. Once word of this group became known, widespread

support from young urban blacks became huge. They would copy the look of the Panthers with

all the leather, to show their support. “Also attracting the attention of local police and the FBI,

the group declined as a result of deadly shootouts and destructive counterintelligence activities

that exacerbated disputes between Panthers and other black militant groups.” (Paragraph one)

Many saw them as a gang but they didn’t see themselves as that, they saw themselves as a

political party trying to get more of their race elected into office.

The Panthers symbol was a panther because the panther stands for courage, determination

and freedom. They chose their name because a panther doesn’t strike first, but if the aggressor

strikes first then he will attack. This was chosen perfectly to match their group since they never

did strike first. There were many raids from the police and FBI. The government struck first and

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the panthers fought back. No matter how many times they were threatened or hurt from an

officer, they never gave up the fight. Leaders, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, led this group

with honor and respect, they were fighting for what was right.

Challenges for the panthers were very common due to some comparing them to gangs.

As well as, the government trying to shut them down and killing some members. Despite the

challenges, this group continued to build. Towards the peak of popularity, Black Panthers were

not only found in Oakland, but throughout the United States. They inspired so many others to

join the fight, but there were rules to follow to stay in the group. There are twenty six rules to

follow, eight points of attention, and three main rules of discipline.

The rules were written out and this was stated, “Every member of the Black Panther Party

throughout this country of racist America must abide by these rules as functional members of

this party. Central Committee members, Central Staffs, and Local Staffs, including all captains

subordinated to either national, state, or local leadership of the Black Panther Party will enforce

these rules. Length of suspension or other disciplinary action necessary for violation of these

rules will depend on national decisions by national, state or state area, and local committees and

staffs where said rule or rules of the Black Panther Party were violated. Every member of the

party must know these verbatim by heart. And apply them daily. Each member must report any

violation of these rules to their leadership or they are counter-revolutionary and are also

subjected to suspension by the Black Panther Party.” (Paragraph One, Panthers) Some of the

main rules are no narcotics or weed in possession while working, no one can join any other army

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besides the Black Liberation Army, and when a panther is arrested they will only give name,

address, and will sign nothing.

After many shoot outs and deaths, the party begins to decline. The struggle to stay afloat

was too much for leader Huey Newton. As the group takes a turn for the worse, the members

turn to Huey for guidance and that’s too much. He no longer wants to lead the party, but he is

forced to by his members. This leads to an addiction of cocaine, heroin, and many other drugs.

Following after the start of his drug dependency he is shot dead during a drug dispute in the

streets of Oakland on August 22nd, 1989. The death of Newton leads his partner, Bobby Seale to

resign from the group. With both of the no longer taking part in the party Elaine Brown, the only

women leader, takes the place of leader.

Despite the party trying their best to win this fight, it finally came to an end. Around the

1980’s attacks on the group became very common and started the crumble of the panthers. They

were constantly terrorized by police now and the leadership was not in good shape. Many

panthers left were hunted down and killed, fled the country, or were imprisoned on trumped

chargers. Although the panthers were defeated, there are still many young people joining the

black movement every day. The Black Panthers made a huge impact on community and in

history. They will forever be remembered for their hard work and fearlessness during this time

period.

Work Cited
Clayborne, Crason. Black Panther Party. web.stanford.edu/~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm.
Panthers, Black. Modern History of the Arab Countries by Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky 1969,
www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/unknown-date/party-rules.htm
Baggins, Brian. Modern History of the Arab Countries by Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky 1969,
www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/.