Those who shall not be named (6) The Black Panther Party

    We're taught that the Black Panthers were a violent anti-American Black power group. These ideas couldn't be further than the truth. The Black Panthers did not condone violence rather they promoted self-defense. They saw Black people being treated unjustly and decided if no one would protect Black people they would protect themselves. One of the most controversial methods they used was to approach police detaining Black people and read the Black person their rights while openly carrying firearms to make sure the Black person knew they were safe and that there were witnesses to the injustice Black people had to face at the hands of police. Their goals of Black self-preservation were used against them. The idea that Black people should be able to feel safe in their skin was used to tell White America that the Black Panther Party was a danger to White America. But who was using these lies to talk to White America?

    The FBI fervently hated the Black panthers. Partially because they wanted Back liberation and were willing to take it as I had been taken from them, but another major cause of the hatred towards the Panthers were their goals of a socialist society and the abolition of capitalism, which we're never taught was their true goal. The Panthers understood that Capitalism was the root of all societal problems including racism. Slavery was an economic vehicle, with race used as a justifier to enrich the already wealthy. It is believed that the Black Panthers were racist against White people, but they weren't at all. They believed in working with any groups that supported their goals regardless of race and even worked with socialist groups that toted the confederate flag because they believed in socialism.

    They weren't just talk though, much of the Black panther's work had legacies that they're not credited with. The panthers launched free breakfast programs which is why we have breakfast programs in school today. They originally instituted the program and served 20,000 meals a week. They were ahead of their time giving power to women in the movement, or rather due to their hard work women took power and were elected to leadership positions in the movement. After a Black teen in Winston Salem North Carolina died because the ambulance refused to take him to the hospital, the panther party created a free ambulance service as well as free medical services offering vaccinations, checkups, and cancer screenings in storefronts and trailers. The Panthers even taught self-defense classes to seniors after seniors in the community said they feared muggings. Their programs were direct action in the face of community problems, they were doing the government's job because they realized the government wasn't going to help the Black community. The creation of the party in-of-itself was a reaction to the killing of, Matthew Johnson, an unarmed 16-year-old Black teen at the hands of police. They were doing an amazing job helping the Black community and what was the government's response?

    J Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time, claimed the Panthers were a terrorist organization and they feared the coming of a Black messiah that would liberate the people from the chokehold of capitalism. They created a long campaign called COINTELPRO with the goal of crippling the back panther party. They harrassed taped phones harassed the family members of the party member and created propaganda against the party misdirecting and misinforming the public about the panther party. Their brainwashing was so strong the NRA itself, THE organization for gun rights, began supporting gun control to prevent the Black Panthers from keeping their legal firearms. There is an infamous story about the Panthers having a shootout with the police but in fact, this was at the hands of police and was only in self-defense. The party's headquarters were raided by 300 SWATs armed and ready to kill. Only after they were fired upon did they begin defending themselves against a tyrannical government. Three people on each side were injured but no one was killed. This attack on the party was televised as a violent attack on the police and was used by the FBI to perpetuate the narrative that they were a violent and hateful group. While the FBI was attempting to paint the party as dangerous to society the FBI was also killing American citizens in cold blood, most notably the execution-style murder of Fred Hampton at the hands of Chicago police coordinated by the FBI of course. When the news came out it was painted as a violent act of retaliation against a search warrant but that original case soon fell apart outside of the public eye under independent investigations. From those investigations, we now know the dark truth that Fred Hampton's death was an assassination by the FBI.

    The problem of misinformation about the Black Panthers is a problem that we need to actively work to fix and correct. It is our job to go back and amend the lies told bout the panther party. Realize that the Black Panther Party was a people's movement, they were a people movement first with the guiding principle of " an undying love for the people". The panters had a 10 point plan to help the Black community and when the most oppressed community is lifted, all of society is lifted along with it.

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How will you reeducate others about the Black Panthers in your curriculum or daily life? (write it out)

What are the first steps in your plan? (take action)

Further Reading:

*Podcast - The Real Black Panthers - https://www.npr.org/2021/04/12/986561396/the-real-black-panthers

Article - The Killing of Fred Hampton - https://www.history.com/news/black-panther-fred-hampton-killing

Teachable Content: 

What You Don't Know About The Black Panthers (10 min) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e7gm5JZc9M