The
Black Panther Party (originally the
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American
revolutionary leftist organization active in the United States from 1966 until 1982. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international notoriety through its involvement in the
Black Power movement and
U.S. politics of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's "provocative
rhetoric,
militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity."
[1]Founded in
Oakland, California by
Huey Newton and
Bobby Seale on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling primarily for the protection of
African American neighborhoods from
police brutality.
[2] The organization's leaders espoused socialist and communist (largely
Maoist) doctrines; however, the Party's early
black nationalist reputation attracted a diverse membership.
[3] The Black Panther Party's objectives and philosophy expanded and evolved rapidly during the party's existence, making ideological consensus within the party difficult to achieve, and causing some prominent members to openly disagree with the views of the leaders.
The organization's official newspaper,
The Black Panther, was first circulated in 1967. Also that year, the Black Panther Party marched on the
California State Capitol in
Sacramento in protest of a selective ban on weapons. By 1968, the party had expanded into many cities throughout the United States, among them,
Baltimore,
Boston,
Chicago,
Cleveland,
Dallas,
Denver,
Detroit,
Kansas City,
Los Angeles,
Newark,
New Orleans,
New York City,
Omaha,
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh,
San Diego,
San Francisco,
Seattle and
Washington, D.C.. Peak membership was near 10,000 by 1969, and their newspaper, under the editorial leadership of
Eldridge Cleaver, had a circulation of 250,000.
[4] The group created a Ten-Point Program, a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from
conscription for African-American men, among other demands.
[5] With the Ten-Point program, “What We Want, What We Believe”, the Black Panther Party expressed its economic and political grievances.
[6]Gaining national prominence, the Black Panther Party became an icon of the
counterculture of the 1960s.
[7] Ultimately, the Panthers condemned black nationalism as "black racism" and became more focused on socialism without racial exclusivity.
[8] They instituted a variety of community social programs designed to alleviate poverty, improve health among inner city black communities, and soften the Party's public image.
[9] The Black Panther Party's most widely known programs were its armed citizens' patrols to evaluate behavior of police officers and its
Free Breakfast for Children program. However, the group's political goals were often overshadowed by their confrontational,
militant, and violent tactics against police.
[10]Federal Bureau of Investigation Director
J. Edgar Hoover called the party “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country,”
[11] and he supervised an extensive program (
COINTELPRO) of
surveillance,
infiltration,
perjury,
police harassment, assassination, and many other tactics designed to undermine Panther leadership, incriminate party members and drain the organization of resources and manpower. Through these tactics, Hoover hoped to diminish the Party's threat to the general power structure of the U.S., or even maintain its influence as a strong undercurrent.
[12] Angela Davis,
Ward Churchill, and others have alleged that federal, state and local law enforcement officials went to great lengths to discredit and destroy the organization, including assassination.
[13][14][15] Black Panther Party membership reached a peak of 10,000 by early 1969, then suffered a series of contractions due to legal troubles, incarcerations, internal splits, expulsions and defections. Popular support for the Party declined further after reports appeared detailing the group's involvement in activities such as drug dealing and
extortionschemes directed against Oakland merchants
[16] By 1972 most Panther activity centered around the national headquarters and a school in Oakland, where the party continued to influence local politics. Party contractions continued throughout the 1970s; by 1980 the Black Panther Party comprised just 27 members.
[17]
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