HISTORY OF THE PANTHERS | BY: PETER BURGER

May 11, 2020

The Black Panther Party (BPP) was a polarizing social activist group that captivated America during the sixties and seventies. They were seen as terrorists by most, and as saviors by few. The BPP had a brief but fiery existence, often clashing with police forces, leading protests, and holding conferences on what they believed in. Although the BPP was only in operation for about sixteen years, they made the most of their time – with many of their messages and ideas still relevant today. The BPP are remembered positively by the African American community because they were seen as vigilantes who looked out for their community. During their operational years they initiated social programs that helped their community of disenfranchised, mostly African American, people survive life. These initiatives included the free breakfast for schoolchildren program, Intercommunal Youth Institute, health clinics, and more. These programs fed children and helped take care of the sick when it seemed that no one else would, and because of this the BPP had a lot of popularity. The BPP would also use these programs as an opportunity to spread their agenda and message, in effect gaining more supporters and spreading their message across the country. Before understanding the history of the BPP it is important to also understand their origins and purpose for coming together.

To provide context, the BPP was created in 1966 during one of, if not, the most tumultuous decades for American civil rights and social activism. At this time, acts of police brutality and violence against African Americans began to agitate them to a point where they could no longer sit still and remain quiet. Perhaps the last straw that pushed the formation of the BPP was the assassination of Malcolm X, whose ideologies were a major influence to their organization. Malcolm X believed that violence was the answer instead of peaceful protests and revitalized the idea of black nationalism. He was seen as a beacon of hope by people like Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. With the second half of the civil rights movement raging and Malcolm’s assassination, the two reached a breaking point.

Around the same time as the assassination, horrific incidents of police brutality were happening as well, with events such as the Harlem and Watts riots happening in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The Harlem riot took place just two weeks after the Civil Rights Act was passed into law, when an officer shot a fifteen year old African American boy in front of his friends. The Watts riot happened a little more than a year after the Civil Rights Act was passed – while the origin event was less brutal than that of the Harlem riots (traffic stop gone awry), the riot was much more chaotic. Around 4,000 arrests were made during the Watts riot and 34 people died. The Harlem riot had a little more than 400 arrested, and one dead; the 15 year old boy. It was events like these that spurred the formation and initial popularity of the BPP. People who were attracted to the ideology of the BPP most likely had seen or experienced racism/police brutality first hand and knew the feeling of powerlessness that accompanied those tribulations – as a result, they felt that the only way to ascertain true power was to arm themselves and speak out against these injustices.

In the years leading up to the formation of the BPP, the Los Angeles community was plagued with racist police brutality. Many of the African American communities in the area had emigrated from the south in hopes of economic and social prosperity but instead found more violence – and they were upset about it. To quote Brandon Harris of the New York Times, “From 1962 to 1964, the years just before the Watts rebellion, there were sixty-five people killed by the L.A.P.D., including twenty-seven who had been shot in the back.” A little more than a year after the Watts riot and most definitely taking into account the staggering statistics of police brutality in the area and around the country, Bobby Seale and Huey Newtown create the Black Panther Party. Both students at Merritt College, they began to take an interest in black nationalism and became increasingly radical. Drawing influence from Malcolm X, they believed that their voices would be heard clearest over the sounds of gunfire by wanting to monitor police movements in the area with arms in hand. By utilizing California gun laws they were able to successfully achieve their goal, in the hopes that they would act as a deterrent for future police violence in their communities. Although thought of as notoriously violent and angry, the BPP strived to do good in their community in the way they thought best.

When looking past the negative presuppositions of the Black Panther Party, it is important to point out the positive impact that the group had on their surrounding communities. America’s collective memory of the Black Panther Party is one that is clouded with images of guns and violence, when in reality they were considered icons by their supporters. Two years after the inception of the BPP, Seal and Newton created what was considered their most important social program ever: The free breakfast for schoolchildren program in Berkley, CA. By the end of 1969, the BPP served breakfast for more than 10,000 children over 19 cities every day before they went to school.

On top of this successful initiative, the BPP also set up health clinics called ‘People’s Free Medical Centers’ in thirteen states. This was as significant a political statement as it was a social one, in the sense that by initiating these healthcare centers, the BPP directly blamed systemic oppression and unemployment for causing poor health – which had previously been overlooked and ignored. To quote a statement on the matter, the BPP states, “We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival.” This healthcare initiative is said to have been influential in popularizing the Medical Committee for Human Rights, a group of American health care professionals who provided medical assistance to civil rights activists. Although widely seen as a renegade group notorious for violence, the BPP achieved numerous humanitarian feats that deserve to be recognized and celebrated today.