The Black Panther Party
7
The Black Panther
Volume 1
BLACK COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
April 2022
INTRODUCTION
Here's a quick summary of who and what the Black Panther Party is. The subtopics are the Index of what the presentation covers.
As we get older we start to learn more about political parties. When we turn 18 we are given the opportunity to vote and decide what political party we decide to be a part of. If there was a party named The Black panther party what do you think this party was about? Would it be about Marvel's Black Panther starring Chadwick Boseman?
While there is no such political party now named Black Panther Party there was a Black Panther Party in the 1960's. The Black Panther party was not a political party either like the Democratic Party or Republican Party, in fact it was a self defense group. It started as a revolutionary organization with it's purpose to patrol and protect black neighborhoods and over all end police brutality. Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton were students in California who started the group in 1966 and adopted Malcolm X's slogan "Freedom by any means necessary." This party grew in the U.S. to the point that the FBI viewed this party as a threat and wanted to dismantle it because they used violence supported U.S. enemies. This party recruited African Americans who were exempt from the draft, who were out of jail, who encountered police brutality and it exceeded over 2,000 members across the United States. Not only did the Black Panther Party promote themselves for self defense but they created several "survival programs" for the community that gave them essentials. These services ranged from food drives to free hospital transportation to black patience when ambulances took too long of refused service. They weren't a party that supported violence but an organization who joined the fight again American imperialism and overall an end to pervasive racism in ways the Civil Rights Movement didn't.
INDEX
INDEX
1: Introduction
2: Index
3: Huey P. Newton-Photo
4: Black Panther Office-Photo
5: Survival Program-Photo
6: Black Power Poster- Artifact
7: Attack Poster-Artifact
8: Marching In Video-Participant Account
9: Black Panther News Letter- Participant Account
10: Summary
PHOTOS
This is Huey P. Newton seated in a wicker chair in 1967.
In this section on photos we include pictures that contain meaning to the Party, we have Huey P. Newton, the offices, and the survival programs implemented.
1. What do you notice about the artifacts in the background of the picture?
2. What does Huey Newton want to demonstrate with his pose?
3. How was Huey Newton possibly feeling as he posed for this picture to be taken?
Picture 2
Here this women sits outside the Black Panther Party offices. Pictured to the left is Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton.
1. What might happen in the offices and why may people go to these offices?
2. Based on the information we know about the Black Panther Party being seen as a threat who might have kidnapped Bobby Seale?
3. What is the lady doing with the object she is holding? what might be her purpose sitting outside the office?
Pictured are two boys who are having free breakfast sponsored by the Black Panther Party.
1. What kind of hat might the boy on the left be wearing and what is it similar to?
2. What does it mean for these kids to be part of this breakfast sponsored by the Black Panther Party?
3. What might have the party been influenced to create the survival programs such as this one?
Picture 3
ARTIFACTS
Very memorable pieces that were brought and created by the Black Panther Party. These were hung in the streets, passed out to people, all to promote the organization.
1. Why does the poster include two other languages and what are the languages?
2. Where could you have possible seen this poster being placed to promote the organization?
3. What is your interpretation of the phrase "Revolutionary Violence"?
Artifact 2
This is a flayer passed on through the neighborhoods to defend other African Americans and put a stop to police brutality.
1. How does this flayer play a role in relations to Malcolm X's slogan?
2. What message did the Black Panther Party send spreading this flayer?
3. How does the image of the panther fit into the message the organization was trying the send?
PARTICIPANTS ACCOUNTS
Photographed here is Kathleen Cleaver, a women part of the Black Panther movement. She was an activist for the Party, it wasn't just men.
Summary is also included.
This is a press conference given by Bobby Seale and Kathleen Cleaver about the murder of Bobby Hutton in 1968.
Start video at 50 seconds.
1. Who might Kathleen Cleaver be talking about when she mentions someone wanting to kill her?
2. What do you notice about her body language? Why may that be?
3. Compare the interview with Bobby Seale and Kathleen Cleaver.
Here is the Black Panther Newspaper for the community that the party created.
1. Why would the Black Panther Party have created this newspaper?
2. Based on the print, would the party have had the resources to create a newspaper like The New York Times?
3. Why is a P.O. Box number included in the newsletter?
SUMMARY
TEKS for United States History Social Studies for High School
(9) History. The student understands the impact of the American civil rights movement. The student is expected to:
(C) describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women's civil rights;
(E) compare and contrast the approach taken by the Black Panthers with the nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King Jr.;
This topic of the Black Panther Party allows students to see beneath the surface and see things that aren't mentioned in textbooks. It allows students to see that women were also very involved and the real reasons this organization came to be. Having this journey box will help students learn a little bit more of the untold story that can help spark an interest in the topic itself.