Sections to Read: - Beginning:

a. Origins
i. Founders
1. Huey P. Newton
a. Illiterate high school graduate
b. Taught himself how to read and attended law school
2. Bobby Seale
a. Switched sides from the peaceful MLK approach to a more
militant approach
b. Devoted time to promote change from the inside
c. Was in the air force
d. Malcolm X was a big inspiration
e. Made social change such as free breakfast for children among
other programs
f. Ran for Mayor in 1973, finished second
g. He was tried in 1969 for a murder for suspected police
informant as a black panther. Resulted in a hung jury after 6
months.
ii. Seale and Newton met at Merritt College in Oakland, CA. They came together to
protest the College’s pioneer day which showcased the settlers who came to
west but failed to mention the African American who also came. This led to
Seale and Newton creating the Negro History Facts group which demanded the
school create classes geared towards learning black history

Black Panthers Party: Oct 22, 1966 (Start date)

1. Started after the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965 and the police

shooting of an unarmed teen named Matthew Johnson.
2. Reason for the start: In order to protect Black people from police
brutality and to illustrate the need for black self-reliance.
3. The black panther party, unlike other black freedom parties, did not see
all whites as oppressors. They separated between racist and non-racist
whites and allied with the latter. (check Jim Jones connection)
4. Ten Point Program
a. Outlined the Black Panther’s philosophy and ideology
i. To initiate African American survival projects and to
forge alliances with progressive white radicals and other
organizations of people of color.
b. Economic exploitation is the root of all oppression in the US and
abroad and the oppression of capitalism is precondition of
social injustice.
5. This led J. Edgar Hoover to regard the Black Panthers as the greatest
threat to America and a communist organization
b. Impact:
 i. Marched May 1969 into state legislature fully armed in to advocate their second
amendment right as a protest against the Mulford Act.
1. Mulford Act
a. Repealed the bill of people to carry open firearms in California
ii. Viewed it as a way to prevent a way to combat police brutality In Oakland
iii. Newton is arrested after a police shooting where one officer died. This propels
them national attention and they gain support from various international
countries such as Japan and China
iv. With over 2,000 members at it’s peak, the Black Panther launched 35 survival
programs including tuberculosis testing, legal aid, transportation, ambulance
services and the free breakfast program which spread to every major city who
had a black panther party chapter. FBI still declared them a communist
organization in spite of their communal contributions.
c. Angela Davis
i. She initially gained notoriety in 1970 when then governor of California Ronald
Reagan led the Board of Regents in refusing to renew Davis’s appointment as
lecturer in philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, because of her
politics and her association with communists. At about the same time, Davis
became involved in the case of three African American inmates at Soledad
Prison who had been accused of murdering a guard. She became deeply
involved with one of the inmates, George Jackson, whose younger brother’s
attempt on August 7, 1970, to win Jackson’s release by taking hostages in the
Marin county courthouse went violently awry. Four deaths resulted, and when
at least one of the guns proved to be registered to Davis, she fled charges of
conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder, going underground and entering the FBI’s
Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list before being captured some eight weeks later
after becoming a cause célèbre for the radical Left. Ultimately she was acquitted
of all the charges against her by an all-white jury.

Demise:

1. The party fell after some leaders abused power in local chapters. Hoover
targeted the black panther party specifclly by putting informants inside
the party , by playing on existing rivalries inside the party, which incited
them to be more violent.
2. Nineteen-year-old Alex Rackley, with the New Haven chapter, a suspected
FBI informant, was tortured and murdered by other party members.
3. One of the most controversial COINTELPRO raids resulted in the
assassination of rising party leader and Illinois NAACP branch head Fred
Hampton, only 21 years old. Working on an informant's tip, the FBI and
Chicago police raided his home and shot Hampton to death while in his
bed. No one was ever convicted of wrongdoing, but his family was paid a
significant settlement by the city, state and federal governments
Lasting Impact:

1. The New Black Panther Party was created in 1989 after the old one
disbanded in 1982. They claim no relation to the old party and the FBI
has classified them as a Hate Group.
2. The Black Panther movie poster based it’s design off of the Black
Panther Party poster featuring Huey P. Newton
3. Fun Fact: Samuel L Jackson was initially going to join the black panthers
after holding the board of trustees inside of Morehouse College for
three days till they changed the curriculum. His mom, out of fear for his
life, sent him to Los Angeles. When he came back to Morehouse, he
decided to pursue Acting and the rest is history.