The Black Panther Party’s Logo
In October of 1966, in Oakland California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs.
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 — August 22, 1989) was an African-American political and urban activist who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966.
The Panthers were created in order to “police the police”. The Black Panthers practiced militant like self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish socialism through the creation of community based programs. The Black Panther Party fought for economic, social, and political equality despite race and gender.
As part of the Peaceful Streets Project’s 2nd Annual Police Accountability Summit, Co-founder of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale speaks about his experience in the 60’s and how that relates to today!
The Panthers decided to take up their constitutional right to carry arms in order to implement Malcolm X’s philosophy of self-defense, by patrolling the police. This idea was so revolutionary during a time when severe police brutality was so common. The Black Panthers believed that they could end police brutality in the Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending the Black community against racist police oppression and brutality.
The Black Panther Party’s Platform and 10- point program
The Black Panthers set forth a list of their demands for the Civil Rights Movement which was called “The Ten-Point Program”, these ten points called for the government to compensate the African American community with land, food, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace.
The programs the Black Panther Party organized played a major role in the panthers strategy. The panthers appealed to people’s needs by giving food medical care and clothing. They would collect donations of food from businessmen , any chain of stores that refused a small donation would get boycotted. Due to the fact that the Black Panthers believed in fighting back against the police they were always being covered by the media. The media coverage they received encouraged many people to join the movement, it also helped the movement spread to other places across the country.
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