36

37
Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
Its organizational influence on other oppressed groups constitutes the fourth
and final component of the legacy of the BPP. In one assessment, Phillip
Foner, the noted historian, concluded that the Panthers
in a short time built one of the significant movements in the entire
history of black Americans, as well as those of men and women of
other races and colors--Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans,
Chinese-Americans and Poor whites-who have been influenced bls
the Panthers to build a similar movement in their own communities. 8
On the domestic front, the Panthers' influence on the Young Lords, origi
nally a Chicago-based Puerto Rican gang that transformed itselfinto a revo
lutionary political organization under the leadership of Cha Cha Jiminez in
1969, is easily apparent. Parallels between the Young Lords and the BPP are
remarkably striking. Both organizations advocated self-defense oftheirre
spective communities. The,platform ofthe ords included the fol
lowing plank: "WE BELIEVE ARMED SELF FENSE AND ARMED
STRUGGLE ARE THE ON&MEANS TO ERATION"49 Other simi
larities included sulh as the breakfast programs
and health clinics sponsored by the Y QUng Lords and the Panthers.
Another Latino organization influe ed ' the BPP was the southern Cali
fornia-based "Brown Berets [which] be ethe largest non-student radical
youth organization in the Mexican Am n community"50 Although not
fully in accord with the Party's Marxist ienta' n, the BrownBerets, none
theless, shared the Panthers' conuni ent to a d self-defense. Chicano
scholar and activist Carlos Munoz no es that "the wn Berets became a
paramilitary organization and, becau e ofit, developed a . mage as the Chi
cano counterpart ofthe Black Pant r Party."51 At the 30th niversary re
union of the founding of the BPP, arlos Montes, the former, inister of
Information ofthe Brown Berets, roclaimed that "the struggle arid activity
ofthe Black Panther Party inspir d Chicano and all Third World commu
nities in America in our fight fof justice, equality and political empower
ment."52 f
Panther influence also extended to organizations within the White com
munity. The Patriot Party, for example, adopted the Panthers' revolutionary
objective. Originally a splinter group from the Young Patriot Organization
in uptown Chicago, the Patriot Party's members were poor and working
class Whites. In 1970, the organization claimed five national branches in
Cleveland, Ohio; Eugene, Oregon; Chicago, Illinois; New Haven, Con
necticut; and a headquarters in New York City. Similar to the Panthers, the
Patriot Party operated a free breakfast program and other community serv
ice projects. Leadership structure in the Patriot Party also closely resembled
that of the BPP. For example, Tom Doston held the rank offield marshal,
a critical position in the Panthers' organizational hierarchy also. In addition,
White radicals from Ann Arbor, Michigan went so far as to name their group
the White Panther Party.53
,+
( , ..... .> , 1(,'( "
"'!-_.---
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered
The impact ofthe BPP transcended th rders ofthe United States. Pan
ther activi served as a revolution exemplar for various oppressed in
digenous gro in several foreign untries. Left-wing political formations
in England (Blac anther Mov: ment), Israel (Black Panther Party of Is
rael), Bermuda (Blac eret dre), Australia (Black Panther Party), and
India (DaHt Panthers) dre m the organization founded by Huey P. New
ton and Bobby Seale in th Un States.
54
Members of the Black Beret
Cadre formed in n 1969 adopu.e Panthers' signature black be
ret and sponsored liberation schools and political education classes. Simi
larly, the Black Panthel1Party ofIsrael created by Jews ofMoroccan descent
in 1971 implemented 'community services for the children in the slums of
West
the "Pa;ther
Although the BPP produced an illustrious legacy, its historical signifi
cance is often minimized, thereby diminishing the role of the Party in Af
rican American radicalism. Given the rich multifaceted legacy ofthe BPP,
how does one account for the under appreciation ofthe organization? This
section introduces the notion ofPanther mythology as an explanation for the
depreciation ofthe BPP. It is then demonstrated that the portrayals emanat
ing from this "mythology" are falsehoods, misconceptions, and distortions
of Party dynamics. Panther mythology entails a set ofmisperceptions that
combine to mute the legacy ofthe BPP. Depictions ofthe Party within the
Panther mythology characterize the BPP as an anti-White, ultra leftist, lum
pen-based, and media-created organization. When seen in this way, it be
comes readily understandable why the contributions of the BPP are often
diminished. However, the following analysis demonstrates that the mythol
ogy's depictions ofthe Party are inaccurate.
Myth I: The BPPwas an anti-White organization. As an African Ameri
can, armed political organization, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense
instantly inspired allegations of Black supremacy. Within a year of the
Party's creation, the media labeled the BPP a Black zealot group. The day
after an armed delegation of Panthers interrupted the proceedings of the
California General Assembly to protest the proposed Mulford legislation,
the Sacramento Bee reported that the Party could "accurately be described
as anti-white."56 Images'ofthe Panthers as Black hate mongers persisted
long after the founding ofthe organization in 1966. For example, an editorial
page story on the murder ofHuey P. Newton in 1989, published in The New
York Times, maintained "with black berets atop wide afros, leather jackets,
shotguns and rifles, [the Panthers] looked like white America's worst night
mare come to life."57 Similarly, Norman Hill, an author and journalist, de
scribed the Panthers as "the worst enemy the Black man has in America on
a par with his implacable, ignorant, bigoted foes in the Southern United
States and South Africa."58
38 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
Perhaps the most groundless portrayal of the BPP is its depiction as an
anti-White racist organization. The depiction belied the Panthers' commit
ment to the principle ofrevolutionary solidarity and stands in stark contrast
with the Party's prism of revolutionary Black nationalism. From the per
spective of revolutionary Black nationalism, both race and class account for
the oppression of African Americans. Newton notes that as
a revolutionary nationalist group we see a major contradiction between
capitalism in this country and our interest. We realize that this country
became very rich upon slavery and that slavery is capitalism in the
extreme. We have two evils to fight, capitalism and racism. We must
destroy both racism and capitalism.
59
From the Party's inception, the other cofounder ofthe BPP, Bobby Seale
declared,
[T]he Black Panther Party is not a Black racist organization, not a racist
organization at all. We understand where racism comes from. Our
Minister ofDefense has taught us to understand that we have to oppose
all kinds ofracism.
60
Consequently, during the Black Power Era, the BPP remained above the
fray ofblanket anti-White denunciations. Todd Gitlin, a prominent member
ofthe Students for a Democratic Society recalls "at a time when most other
black militants donned dashikis and glowered at whites, they [Panthers]
welcomed white allies."61 Under the Party's ideological doctrine, all White
people w e l ~ not defined as enemies ofAfrican Americans. Rather, the
ing class ofthe country, high ranking government officials, and the police
were deemed the oppressors by Panther theoreticians. Newton remarked
that "we don'thate white people; we hate the oppressor. And ifthe oppressor
happens to be white then we hate him.''62
Eldridge Cleaver attempted to operationalize the philosophical principle
ofrevolutionary solidarity ina 1968 organizational directive entitled "Black
Panthers and Black Racism." He appealed to his fellow comrades to
be strong enough notto yield, notto be Uncle Toms, notto bootlick, not
to sell out-but we must also be able to realize that there are white
people, brown people, red people, yellow people in this world who are
totally dedicated to the destruction ofthis system ofoppression, and we
welcome that. We will always be open to working with that. It is
necessary for us to put forth the necessity for that. We realize that
cultural nationalists in the black community are not our major enemies,
they're not our major problem. White racism, ethnocentrism, the
arrogance of people in power-these are the major enemies, and we
will never confuse the twO.
63
Adherence to the principle of revolutionary solidarity by the BPP pro
vided the impetus for alliances between the Panthers and various other
White leftist organizations. lntraracial political cooperation, according to
Kathleen Cleaver, "expanded the political base of the movement, and
39
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered
helped contradict the media's false portrayal of the Black Panthers as a
group that hated whites."64 Newton elaborates on the political imperative of
Black-White alliances:
The only way that we're going to be free is to wipe out once and for all
the oppressive structure of America. We realize we can't do this
without a popular struggle, without many alliances and coalitions, and
this is the reason that we're moving in the direction that we are to get
as many alliances as possible of people that are equally dissatisfied
with the system.
55
In short, the depiction ofthe Panthers as a Black racist organization con
tradicts the BPP' s dedication to the empowerment ofall people as reflected
in the following popular Party slogan:
We say All Power to the People-Black Power to Black people and
Brown Power to Brown People, Red Power to Red People and Yellow
Power to Yellow People. We say White Power to White People.
66
Myth 2: The BPPwas an "infantile leftist" organization. Similar to the
anti-White portrayal ofthe Panthers, which minimizes the historical signifi
cance of the Party, the labeling of the Panthers as an "infantile-leftist" or
ganization has also served to discount the role of the BPP in the African
American freedom struggle. The Party's paramilitary orientation is the
source ofthe ultraleftist depiction ofthe organization. Newton saw the gun
as a major organizing tool for the BPP. The early recruiting success ofthis
tactic was evident when the specter of armed uniformed Panthers at a rally
in Richmond, California brought an influx of new members.
67
Proponents ofthe ultraleftist interpretation saw the BPP as an adventurist
organization that fostered revolutionary martyrdom by challenging people
to "pick up the gun."68 Henry Winston, the former national chairman ofthe
Communist Party, U.S.A., for instance, argued that "the Party disdained the
working class and glorified the super-revolutionary tactics ofconfrontation
by an anarchistic 6lite."69 Saul Alinsky, the Chicago activist and author of
Rulesfor Radicals, was equally critical ofthe armed self-defense stance of
the Panthers when he mockingly remarked that "a guy has to be a political
idiot to say all power comes out of the barrel of a gun when the other side
has the guns."70
In stark contrast to the proclivities of ultraleftist political organizations,
the BPP assumed a defensive military posture. Indeed, the two cofounders
adopted the name Black Panther Party for Self-Defense to emphasize the
defensive nature ofthe organization. During the genesis ofthe Party, Seale
explained to potential Panther recruits:
We have to defend ourselves against them [ the police] because they are
breaking down our doors, shooting Black brothers on the streets, and
brutalizing sisters on the head. They are wearing guns mostly to
intimidate the people from forming organizations to really get our
basic political desires and needs answered. The power structure uses
40
41
Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
the fascist police against people moving for freedom and liberation. It
keeps our people divided, but the program will be what we unite the
people around and to teach our people self-defense.?1
Opposition to spontaneous violence was an important principle of the
Party's policyofarmed resistance. Seale recalled, "[I]n 1966, numerous acts
of police brutality had sparked a lot of spontaneous riots-something that
Huey and I were against[-]these spontaneous riots."72 Newton stressed
that the Black Panther Party did not "think that the traditional riots, orinsur
rections that have taken place are the answer."73 Panther leadership argued
that indiscriminate political violence placed the people at a decided disad
vantage and left them vulnerable to the military might of the state. Conse
quently, the Party opposed rioting. Instead, BPP strategists advocated
systematic guerrilla military action as described in a 1968 position paper
"The Correct Handling of a Revolution," written by Newton:
When the Vanguard group destroys the machinery ofthe oppressor by
dealing with him in small groups ofthree and four, and then escapes the
might ofthe oppressor, the masses will be overjoyed and will adhere to
this correct strategy. 74
During the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, when
many ofthe cities across the nation were plagued with racial unrest, Oakland
remained peaceful. Observers, such as Jerome Skolnick, then director ofthe
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, attributed the absence
ofviolence in Oakland to the work ofthe Panthers. Bobby Seale held a press
conference atthe Oakland police station to discourage the Black community
from rioting. Similarly, the organizations's condemnation of the terrorist
acts committed by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) further attest to
the BPP's opposition to wanton acts of political violence.'5
However, the failure to adopt an offensive military strategy did create ten
sions within the BPP. Unanimity among Party members on the role ofvio
lence never existed. From its inception, there were members of the BPP
who, according to Bobby Seale, "related only to the gun."76 Moreover, the
Party's newspaper, The Black Panther, regularly printed articles on weap
onry and guerrilla w a r f ~ r e tactics. David Hilliard's candid autobiography
revealed early signs ofthe tactical conflictthat materialized in the so-called
"Battle of28th Street" that led to the death ofBobby Hutton, a teenage Pan
ther and early recruit ofthe Party. Hilliard recounted how Eldridge Cleaver
aggressively persuaded a group of Panthers to ambush Oakland police of
ficers in retaliation for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Tactical
differences over the role of political violence later erupted into intraparty
strife in 1971. The Newton faction favored accelerating the Party's survival
programs, while the Cleaver-led group advocated offensive military action.
This organizational conflict would result in the deaths ofRobert Webb and
Samuel Napier.17
The Black Panther Party ReconSidered
Notwithstanding the Party's advocacy of armed resistance, subsequent
gun battles, and organizational conflict associated with this tactic, the sin
gular focus on the paramilitary orientation of the BPP obscures the multi
tactical strategy ofthe Black Panthers. Unlike infantile-leftist groups, such
as the SLA, the Panthers did not rely solely on the tactic ofpolitical violence.
Instead, the BPP implemented a multifaceted strategy consistent with
Lenin's revolutionary prescription that "Marxism does not tie the move
ment to any particular method. It recognizes the possibility that struggle
may assume the most varied forms."78 From the outset, members ofthe BPP
engaged in nonmilitary organizing activities. These activities included pe
titioning for community control ofthe police, lobbying for the installation
oftraffic lights, teaching Black history classes, promoting tenant and wel
fare rights, and investigating incidents ofpolice brutality. In 1969, the Party
instituted its "serve the people" programs that were supplemented by a voter
registration campaign in Cleveland and efforts to combat the narcotic trade
in New York. In other words, the Panthers utilized a full panoply oftactics
to achieve organizational objectives. Not only does the infantile-leftist in
terpretation discount the full extent ofthe Party's activism, it also reinforces
a view that the BPP was essentially an artifact ofthe media.
Myth 3: The BPPwas a media-created organization. Media fascination
with the Party's rhetorical flair and Panther-police shoot-outs form the basis
ofthe revolutionary phantom depiction ofthe BPP. According to this por
trayal, the Party was merely a creation ofthe media with greatly exaggerated
organizational capabilities and community support. BPP visibility and
prominence are attributed to a sensationalist-driven media captivated by the
volutionary theatrics of the Panthers. Esquire magazine reports that
"more than any other previous black image, the Panther has been created by
television. The medium is a Panther lover."79 Charles O'Brien, then deputy
attorney general of California, explains: "[T]he media, particularly televi
liked confrontation. They liked the angry rhetoric of the Panthers.
liked people waving around rifles. This made great news copy. "80 And
I Sheehy, the noted journalist, asserts that "the Panther movement was
:created by and for the media."81
This characterization ofthe BPP as primarily a media-generated organi
not only underestimates community support, it also depreciates the
4:tedication ofthe organizational membership. The strong ties that the BPP
chapters developed in their respective local communities are overlooked.
instance, African Americans throughout the country purchased the
pm"""'l,:ler ofthe organization and provided critical assistance to the Party's
survival programs. Community churches hosted the free breakfast
1'\rr.l!rams for which residents and local businesses often volunteered sup
and donated monies for the program.
J...,ommunity citizens also displayed support by attending Panther pro
. An estimated ten thousand people attended the 1968 birthday rally
42 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
for the then-jailed Huey P. Newton. Crowds oftwo thousand or more people
expressed their empathy and respect at the funerals offallen members ofthe
BPP. On other occasions, African American citizens alerted Party members
to the surveillance activities oflaw enforcement officials. Renee Neblett of
the Massachusetts chapter, for example, recounted an occasion when a
phone employee wamed her ofFBl inquiries. Black community residents in
New Orleans sheltered and provided medical assistance to a Panther organ
izerwho was wounded during a police raid ofthe local Panther headquarters
and the subject ofa police manhunt. Paul Coates, a Panther leader in Balti
more, recalled community residents
putting themselves in front ofour building which was under the threat
of being raided at any moment by the police. Here was a group of
people, mostly who didn't know you personally, you know, [yet] have
decided to place themselves outside [the Panther's office]. We're
under siege for about two weeks as I remember it. Every day the line
was refreshed for the time ofthe siege. The police backed down. They
let it be known that they weren't going to raid the Panther
headquarters.
82
Panther allies could be found in unlikely quarters ofthe African American
community. Notwithstanding the Party's often scathing criticism ofmain
stream civil rights organizations, both the NAACP and Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) lent support to the BPP. The NAACP con
tributed $50,000 to ensure the continuation of a commission created to in
vestigate incidents between the Panthers and police. SCLC President Rev.
Ralph Abernathy pledged to provide moral and material support to the New
York Panther 21 at a January 24, 1970 press conference. Moreover, a Louis
Harris survey conducted in 1970 found that twenty-five percent of African
Americans agreed that the Black Panther Party represented their views.
These examples offer compelling evidence ofthe extent and the degree to
which the African American cornmunity supported the Black Panther
Party.83 To simply attribute the existence ofthe BPP to media coverage dis
counts the personal sacrifice, commi tment, and activ ism exhi bi ted by mem
bers of the Party. Party members who did not earn a salary endured a
demanding, often fifteen-hour, daily regimen. Selling the Party's newspa
per, staffing the organization'S facilities, implementing survival programs,
and mobilizing the community comprised the typical day ofthe rank-and
file Panther. As an organization targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO pro
gram, membership could mean the forfeiture ofone's freedom and in some
cases the loss of one's life. The most glaring example ofthe latter was the
December 4, 1969 raid in Chicago during which Fred Hampton and Mark
Clark were shot to death by local police officers. Constant police surveil
lance and government harassment ensured the frequent arrest ofParty mem
bers. Charles R. Garry, the chief legal counsel for the BPP reports that the
organization paid over $200,000 in unrefundable bail-bond premiums for
the release ofarrested members during a critical two-year period (December
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered 43
1967 to December 1969) in the Party's national growth.
84
Furthermore, the
BPP was riddled with police informers and agent provocateurs who sought
to disrupt organizational activities. Police agents, for example, were instru
mental in the New York 21 case in which Panthers were arrested and later
exonerated after a lengthy trial on charges ofconspiracy to bomb New York
City department stores, police stations, and subways.85
Myth 4: The BPP was a "lumpen-based" organization. The lumpen de
piction ofthe BPP, advanced by governmental officials, scholars, and pro
gressive activists, constitutes the final element of the Panther
mythology. Proponents ofthe lumpen interpretation contend that the Party
was primarily an organizationofthe Black criminal class, ex-prisoners, hus
tlers, and thugs. Jerry Leonard, former assistant attorney general under
President Nixon, characterized the Black Panthers as "nothing but hood
lums," while Todd Gitlin, former student activist, refers to the Party as a
"revolutionary gang."86 Gitlin writes, "[T]hey called themselves a party, but
the Panthers were closer to an outlaw political gang-precisely the unit
which had exercised such a powerful hold onthe dissident imagination since
the beats and Brando and the Cuban Barbados."87 Radical scholars Michael
Omi and Howard Winant suggest that "the Black Panther Party sought to
mobilize the lumpen proletariat," while other political groups organized
students and union workers.
88
And Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) de
clares that the Panthers "knowingly built a party on the lumpen proletariat
when Marx andEngels said that they vacillate too much, have too much con
tact with the police, and can become spies. Stupid."89 Thus, the consensus
is that the lumpen proletariat sector of the African American community
constituted the core of the BPP.
Observers further suggest that Party leaders committed an egregious tac
tical error by organizing the most volatile, untrustworthy, and undisc ip lined
sector ofthe African American community. Amid Baraka, poet and long
time political activist maintains that
[u]nder the sinister influence of the Bakuninist-anarchist ideology
spread by Elder Eldridge Cleaver, which masqueraded as Marxism, the
Panthers pushed the incorrect line that the revolutionary class base that
would lead socialist revolution was the lumpen, Le., the pimps,
hustlers, dope pushers, and prostitutes; thus romanticizing an
inconsistent, sometimes dangerous, class already destroyed by
capitalism.9i)
More specifically, Marx and Engels describe the composition ofthe lum
pen proletariat class as "thieves and criminals of all kinds, living on the
crumbs ofsociety, people without [a] definite trade, vagabonds, people with
out a hearth or home."91 Under the logic ofMarxist analysis, individuals of
the lumpen proletariat class "stand onthe margins oftheclass system because
they are not wholly integrated into the division oflabor."92 Furthermore, the
44 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
undisciplined character and weak loyalties of this sector renders it incom
patible with the rigors of revolutionary activity.
Contrary to Marxist doctrine, Newton and other Panther theoreticians
viewed the lumpen proletariat as a potential leading revolutionary force.
Panther strategists sought to harness the fearlessness exhibited by the so
called street brothers. Newton reasoned that ''the brothers on the block"
could play an invaluable role in the liberation struggle because oftheir cou
rageousness. Party leaders were heavily influenced by the writings ofFrantz
Fanon on the critical role ofthe lumpen proletariat. Indeed, the lumpen was
championed by Party comrades. Members of the Black Panther Party as
sumed a lump en identity, despite possessing socioeconomic status contrary
to that ofthe lumpen. 93
Consequently, the lumpen portrayal of the organization appears under
standable in light of the premium the Party placed on the lumpen class.
Nonetheless, this depiction distorts the nature ofthe Panther membership.
Several considerations cast doubt on the assertion that the primary social
base ofBPP was, in fact, the lumpen proletariat class ofthe African Ameri
can community.
First, the initial conception ofthe "brothers on the block" notion was more
inclusive than the traditional Marxist definition of the lumpen proletariat
class. This is an important analytic distinction since the Party's version in
cluded the working poor as well as the criminal class identified by orthodox
Marxists. Initially, the Panthers envisioned a lumpen more akin to a sub
. proletariat class devoid ofthe parasitical lifestyle associated with the tradi
tionallumpen sector. Seale explains.
[W]e articulated and understood the lumpen proletariat as a potentially
valuable force in developing a political revolutionary organization.
Not the lumpen proletariat that the strict doctrinaire Marxists talk
about. We were saying that our lumpen proletariat, even though they
get into illegitimate activity, okay, it was also the Black mother who
had to scrub Miss Anne's kitchen floors, right?94
However, the writings and leadership ofEldridge Cleaver promoted a nar
row conception ofthe brother-on-the-block notion. While Cleaver does ac
knowledge a broadernotion ofthe Black lllmpen proletariat, he nonetheless
emphasizes the criminal element of this class:
those who live by their wits, existing offthat which they rip off, who
stick guns in the faces ofbusinessmen and say 'stick' em up,' or 'give
it up'! Those who don't even want ajob, who hate to work and can't
relate to punching some pig's time clock, who would rather punch a pig
in the mouth and rob him than punch that same pig's time clock and
work for him, those whom Huey P. Newton calls "the. illegitimate
capitalists."95
Cleaver's view of the lumpen mirrored that of his personal life. Prior to
joining the BPP in 1967, Eldridge Cleaver spent much of his adult life in
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered 45
prison on an assortment of criminal charges. Under Cleaver's leadership
(1967-71), the Party successfully recruited from the hustler/criminal ele
ment of the African American community, and Panther politics certainly
resonated with the lumpen class as individuals with backgrounds similar to
Cleaver's eagerly joined the Party. In fact, several early prominent West
Coast Panthers, George Gaines, William Brent, and Alprentice "Bunchy"
Carter, were former prison associates of Cleaver.
Nevertheless, the Party always drew members from a broad cross-section
ofthe African American community. While the southern California chapter
ofthe BPP may have been characterized by a distinctive lumpen character,
affiliates like Boston possessed a strong student component.
96
From the
Party's inception, African Americans from varied backgrounds joined the
BPP. George Murray, the Party's first Minister ofEducation, was a college
instructor. Earl Anthony, one ofthe first captains ofthe BPP and later FBI
informant, was a law student and graduate of the University of Southern
California, while Sidney F. Walton and John Williams were principals of
elementary schools in Sausalito, California and Detroit, Michigan, respec
tively.97 Furthermore, a host ofParty members were high school or college
students when they joined the BPP. ErickaHuggins, JoN ina Abron, Walter
Turner, Deborah Bremond, Yvonne Jenkins, and Charles Pinderhughes are
all examples ofthe multitude ofParty comrades who entered the organiza
tion as students. Indeed, the heterogeneous nature of the Party's member
ship became a recurring source oftension in the BPP. Renee Neblett spoke
of such tensions in her interactions with members ofthe Detroit branch of
the BPP, and Geronimo ji Jaga alludes to these differences in his discussion
of Masai Hewitt, a former Minister of Education ofthe BPP:
To make a long story short, he ends up being one of the best
educators-he has a very deep resonant voice--and the more he
teaches, the more llike him, because I'm leaming. Because I've never
had time to go deep into Dos Kapital, or any ofthe other esoteric books.
He's making sense of the economy, of fascism, of slavery,
.. socialism-all this economic analysis.
But he was still a nut He was just so much like a kid! He was unable
to relate to the "lumpen proletariat." He could relate to an Angela
Davis, who was a giant in that same field, but to us regular folks he'd
get very technical and very snotty-nosed. He would criticize the
lumpen in a haughty, condescending way. He would get down on them
and say, "Well, Marx wouldn't have liked that. That was the scum of
society." And that would cause problems. 98
This apparent diversity of the Panther membership underscores the im
portance of empirical verification of the lumpen assessment. A cursory
glance ofthe social background ofthe members on the Party's first Central
Committee, the primary decision-making organ of the BPP, indicates that
ofthe eleven members, only one, Eldridge Cleaver, the Party's Minister of
Information, possessed the traditional traits ofthe lumpen sector.
46 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
Original Central Committee of the Black Panther Party (April 1968)
Name Position
Huey P. Newton Minister of Defense
Bobby G. Seale Chairman
Eldridge Cleaver Minister of Information
David Hilliard Chief of Staff
George Mason Murray Minister of Education
Stokely Carmichael Prime Minister
H.RapBrown Minister of Justice
James Forman Minister of Foreign Affairs
Emory Douglas Minister of Culture
Melvin Newton Minister of Finance
Kathleen Cleaver Communications Secretary
Source: G. Louis Heath, ed., Offthe Pigs: The History and Literature 0/
the Black Panther Parly.
Table 2
Furthennore, neither one of the organization's cofounders, Newton nor
Seale, fit the socioeconomic profile of the so-called lumpen proletariat.
Newton, a college student, worked as a counselor with the city's antipoverty
program, and Seale, a skilled worker of nine trades, also attended college
and supervised an Oakland poverty center. Kathleen Cleaver, daughter ofa
United States ambassador and the only female member ofthe original Cen
tral Committee, dropped out of college to work full time in the movement.
George Murray, the Party's first Minister of Education, taught English at
San Francisco State University.
Interviews offonner Panthers, along with additional data, suggest the so
cioeconomic profile of the rank-and-file Panthers contradicts the lumpen
perception of the organization. A typical Panther was a young adolescent
in search ofadulthood who was likely a high school or college student. 99
However, the diversity ofthe Party membership is often overlooked. For in
stance, one study suggests that the similarity ofbackgrounds helped to unify
the Party and that the shared community of the Panthers was their "block
boy" experience.
loo
Although the two cofounders of the BPP, Newton and Seale, did in fact
champion the Black lumpen, they always attempted to develop an all-inclu
sive African American freedom organization. Bobby Seale explains,
Huey understood that Oakland was a typical black community, so we
took the ten-point platform and program-a thousand copies of
it-and wentto the black community with them. He didn'tjust pass out
The Black Panther Party ReconSidered 47
the platform in people's hands. He stopped, talked, and discussed the
points on the ten-point platform with all the black brothers and sisters
on the block, and with mothers who had been scrubbing Miss Ann's
kitchen. We talked to brothers and sisters in colleges, in high schools,
who were on parole, on probation, who'd been in jails, who'd just
gotten out ofjail, and brothers and sisters who looked like they were on
their way to jail.
10I
Newton and Seale sought to build an organization that omitted the social
class bias of the mainstream civil rights groups and many of the Black
nationalist fonnations of the sixties. In short, a reconsideration of the
lumpen portrayal is in order.
Conclusion
chapter has soughtto enhance the understanding ofthe historical sig
nificance ofthe Black Panther Party. It offers an explanation--Panther my
thology-for the depreciation ofthe Panthers. The analysis undertaken here
should not be mistaken for idolatry ofthe BPP. Undoubtedly, the Party was
guilty at times ofdogmatism, unresolved conflicts (armed struggle vs. com
munity programs; mass vs. cadre organization), and authoritarianism.
Rather, this chapter is a reaffinnation ofthe legacy ofthe BPP that debunks
the many misconceptions of the organization. Moreover, the study starts a
process of documenting the history, accomplishments, and errors of the
BPP. This is a crucial endeavor because "'the sixties' remain the site of in
tense ideological contestation more than twenty years after the decade's
cIose."I02
Scholarly research on the BPP is needed to counteract the demonization
ofthe Panthers in partiCUlar and the Black power movement in general. Fur
thennore, the recent emergence of Panther-style organizations in
kee, Wisconsin (Black Panther Militia); Dallas, Texas (New Black Panther
. Party); and Los Angeles, California (New African American Vanguard
Movement) further stresses the crucial need for systematic scholarship on
the BPP experience.
I03
Former Panthers have complained that these con
temporary Panther-like organizations are only captivated by the paramili
tary stance ofthe organization, which makes them susceptible to replicating
the errors oftheir predecessors. Lastly, scholarly analysis ofthe Panther ex
perience would preclude one from either romanticizing or demonizing the
BPP. Rather, a systematic examination should lead one to draw a more criti
cal, yet balanced, appraisal ofthis noteworthy African American freedom
organization.
NOTES
Acknowledgments: A version of this chapter was presented at the annual
meeting of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, March 12-15,
1992, in Oakland, California. The authors wish to thank Paula Dressel, Kimberly
James, Joe McConnick, Robert C. Smith, and Akinyele Umoja for their helpful
and insightful comments that strengthened this study. Charles E. Jones wishes to
express appreciation to his graduate assistants Eric Bridges, Ellis Henderson, and
Fred McKinney for their research assistance over the years. Most importantly, we
express our gratitude to the members of the Black Panther Party for granting
interviews and sharing their insights.
1. Robert L. Allen, Black Awakening in Capitalist America: An Analytic History
(New York: Anchor Books, 1970),23-28.
2. National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, Report of the National
AdJ!isory Commission on Civil Disorders (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1968), 19--21.
3. Robert L. Allen, BlackAwakening in Capitalist America: An Analytic History
(New York: Anchor Books, 1970),23.
4. See Robert C. Smith, "Black Power and the Transfonnation from Protest to
Politics," Political Science Quarterly 96 (1981): 431-44; Clayborne Carson, In
Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960's (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1981), 215-28; and William L. Van Deburg, New Day in
Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975
(Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1992).
5. See the following sources for additional information on the various
applications ofBlack power: James T. Wooten, "Integrated City Rising on an Old
Plantation," New York Times, 25 July 1972,24. Soul City, North Carolina, initially
conceived by Floyd McKissick in 1969, was located in a northern rural
economically depressed area of the state between Warren and Vance counties.
McKissick envisioned an integrated town of 55,000 people that would stimulate
economic development in that region of the state. In 1972, the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guaranteed $14 million
dollars in bonds issued by the city. However, BUD tenninated funding in 1979
and liquidated all city assets in 1980. See A. O. Sullberger, "H.U.D. to Foreclose
on Soul City, Troubled 'New Town' in Carolina," New York Times, 29 June 1979,
A-12, and "Soul City and U.S. Agree on Plan to Liquidate Town," New York
Times, 5 June 1980, A-16. The most comprehensive analysis of the League of
Black Revolutionary Workers is James A. Geschwender, Class. Race, and
Worker Insurgency: The League of Revolutionary Black Workers (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1977). Also see MaulanaKarenga, Kawaida Theory:
An Introductory Outline (Inglewood, Calif.: Kawaida Publications, 1982);
Maulana Karenga, "Society, Culture and the Problem of Self-Consciousness: A
KawaidaAnalysis," in Philosophy Born ofStruggle, ed. Leonard Harris (Dubuque,
Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1982). For additional infonnation on the Republic of New
Africa, see Milton Henry (Amiri Abubakari Obadele), "The Republic of New
Africa: 'We Are the Government for the Non-Self-Governing Blacks Held Captive
in the United States'" in Black Nationalism in America, eds. John H. Bracey,
August Meier, and Elliot Rudwick (New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1970),
518-22. Amiri Abubakari Obadele, "Free The Land: The True Story of the Trials
of the RNA-II" in Mississippi and the Continuing Struggle to Establish an
The Black Panther Party ReconSidered 49
Independent Black Nation in the States of the Deep South (Washington, D.C.:
House ofSonghay, 1984); a critique ofthis strategy is found in Matthew Holden,
The Politics ofthe Black "Nation" (New York: Chandler, 1973),68-70. John T.
McCartney provides.an in-depth discussion of the pluralist application of Black
power in his Black Power Ideologies: An Essay in African-American Political
Thought (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), ch. 9.
6, Alphonso Pinkney, Red, Black and Green: Black Nationalism in the United
States (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1970), 98.
7. Sahu Barron, "A New Order in Babylon: The Revolutionary Legacy of the
Black Panther Party," Liberation!: Journal ofRevolutionary Marxism (December
1989): 3.
8. Robert Weisbrot, Freedom Bound: A History of America's Civil Rights
Movement (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991).
9. William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine
1931-1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).
10. Dempsey 1. Travis, An Autobiography of Black Politics (Chicago: Urban
Research Press, 1987),456. For additional information on the death ofMark Clark
and Fred Hampton, see Wilkins and Clark, Search and Destroy and "The Black
Panthers, 1968-1969 'How Serious and Deadly the Game'" in Voices ofFreedom:
An Oral History ofthe Civil Rights Movementfrom 1950's through the 1980's,
eds. Henry Hampton and Steve Fauer (New York: Bantam Books, 1980),511-38.
11. Huey P. Newton, Revolutionary Suicide (New York: Writers and Readers
Publishing, 1995), 113.
12. Huey P. Newton, To Diefor the People (New York: Writers and Readers
Publishing, 1995),5.
13. Newton, To Diefor the People, 13.
14. See the various autobiographies of fonner Panthers for the importance of
armed self-defense: Bobby Seale, Seize the Time: The Story ofthe Black Panther
Party (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1991), 72-29, 134-55; Newton,
Revolutionary Suicide, 101-27, 145-51; Newton, To Die for the People, 7-9,
11-19 and 82-91; William Lee Brent, Long Time Gone: A Black Panther's
True-Life Story of His Hijacking and Twenty-Five Years in Cuba (New York:
Times Books, 1996),93-98; Elaine Brown, A Taste ofPower: A Black Woman's
Story (New York: Pantheon Books, 1992), 118-21; David Hilliard and Lewis
Cole, This Side ofGlory: The Autobiography ofDavid Hilliard and the Story of
the Black Panther Party (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, 1993),
179--80; Earl Anthony, Picking Up the Gun: A Report on the Black Panthers (New
York: Dial Press, 1970), 5-9; Earl Anthony, Spitting in the Wind: The True Story
Behind the Violent Legacy ofthe Black Panther Party (Malibu, Calif.: Roundtable
Publishing Co., 1990),22-32. For infonnation on the Seattle branch, see House
Committee on Internal Security, Black Panther Party: Part 2, Investigation of
Seattle Chapter, 91st Cong., 2d sess. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1970). See the
following sources for a detailed discussion of Panther-police gun battles: Roy
Wilkins and Ramsey Clark, Search and Destroy: A Report by the Commission of
Inquiry into the Black Panthers and the Police (New York: Metropolitan Applied
Research Center, 1973); Christopher Chandler, "The Black Panther Killings," New
Republic 161 (10 January 1970),41-49; Black Panther Party, Fallen Comrades
ofthe Black Panther Party [pamphlet] (n.d.).
15. Manning Marable, The Second Reconstruction in Black America, J945-1990
(Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 1991),110.
60 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
16. Philip S. Foner, introduction to The Black Panthers Speak: The Manifesto 0/
the Party: The First Complete Documentary Record o/the Panther's Program,
ed. Philip S. Foner(New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1970), xxiv.
17. Examples ofhistorical antecedents to the Black Panther Party's advocacy of
anned self-defense include David Walker's Appeal (Baltimore: Black Classic
Press, 1993); Martin R. Delany, The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny
o/the Colored People o/the United States (1852; reprint, Baltimore: Black Classic
Press, 1993); and Maria W. Stewart, America's First Black Woman Political
Writer (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987). Also, see the classic study
on the leadership of Marcus Garvey by Tony Martin, Race First: The Ideological
and Organizational Struggles 0/ Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro
Improvement Association (Dover, Mass.: The Majority Press, 1976), 187, 194; the
discussion of the African Blood Brotherhood in Mark Naison, Communists in
Harlem (New York: Grove Press, 1983),5-8, 17-18, and W. Burghardt Turner
and Joyce Moore Turner, eds., Richard B. Moore: Caribbean Militant in
Harlem(Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1992),34-41. For examples
of post-World War II proponents of Black armed resistance, see Robert Carl
Cohen, Black Crusader: A Biography 0/Robert Franklin Williams (Secaucus,
N.J.: Lyle Stuart, 1972); Robert F. Williams, Negroes with Guns (Chicago: Third
World Press, 1973); and Charles R. Sims, "Anned Defense," in Black Protest:
History, Documents and Analyses, 1619 to the Present, ed. Joanne Grant
(Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, 1968), 357--{,)6; Maxwell C. Stanford,
"Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM): A Case Study of an Urban
Revolutionary Movement in Western Capitalist Society" (master's thesis, Clark
Atlanta University, 1986); and Clayborne Carson, In Struggle: SNCC and the
BlackAwakening o/the 1960s (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981),
which examines the origins and demise of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee.
18. The Black Panther, "On Violence," in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Philip
S. Foner (New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1970), 19-20.
19. Initially a monthly publication, The Black Panther became a weekly
newspaper from January 1968 until 1978. Afterwards, the production of the
newspaper was erratic, and it became a biweekly until it ceased publication. See
JoNina Abron, "'Raising the Consciousness of the People': The Black Panther
Intercommunal News Service, 1967-1980," in Voices from the Underground:
Volume 1, Insider Histories 0/ the Vietnam Era Underground Press, ed. Ken
Wachsberger (Ann Arbor, Mich .. Mica Press, 1993).
20. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy (New York: Vintage Books, 1988),23.
21. Memorandum from the San Francisco field office to FBI Headquarters
5/15170, U. S. Senate, Final Report 0/the Select Committee to Study Government
Operations with Respect to Intelligence Operations, 94th Cong., 2d sess., 1976,
S. Rept. 94,755.
22. Jim Fletcher, Tanaquil Jones, and Sylvere Lotringer, eds., Still Black, Still
Strong: Survivors 0/ the u.s. War Against Black Revolutionaries (New York:
Semiotext(e), 1993),226; and G. Louis Heath, ed., Offthe Pigs!: The History and
Literature o/the Black Panther Party (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976),
84.
23. Hilliard and Cole, This Side o/Glory, 211-12.
24. Leslie B. McLemore, "Black Political Socialization and Political Change:
The Black Panther Platfonn as a Model ofRadical Political Socialization," Negro
Educational Review 26 (1975): 155.
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered 61
25. For further infonnation on the origins, nature, and ,activities of the coalition
between BPP and Peace and Freedom Party, see Earl Anthony, Picking up the
Gun, chap. 5; Gene Marine, The Black Panthers 106-22; Richard Major, A
Panther is a Black Cat (New YOlk: Morrow, 1971),92-95; Bobby Seale, Seize
the Time, 207-11; Ed Keating, Free Huey: The True Story o/the Trial o/Huey P.
Newton (New York: Ramparts Press, 1971). For a discussion of the working
relationship between the Patriot Party and the BPP, see "The Patriot Party Speaks
to the Movement" in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip S. Foner, 239-42; G.
Louis Heath, ed., Off/he Pigs!, 96; Lawrence Lader, Power o/the Left: American
Radical Movements Since 1946 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979), 197,269. See
also Hugh Pearson, The Shadow 0/a Panther, 327; Todd Gitlin, Sixties, 372; and
Lawrence Lader, Power o/the Left, 330, for further discussion of the political ties
between the BPP and the White Panther Party.
26. Julian Bond, Nonnan Dorsen, and Charles Rembar, The Trial o/BobbySeale
(New York: Priam Books, 1970); Hilliard and Cole, This Side o/Glory, 259--{,)5;
"Interview with Bob Avakian, The Black Panthers, The Early Years and What's
Up Today," Revolutionary Worker, 14 May 1996, 6-7. White leftist participation
in the two major BPP conferences is examined in G. Louis Heath, ed., Offthe
Pigs!, 186-87. Also see Donald Freed, Agony in New Haven: The Trial o/Bobby
Seale, Ericka Huggins and The Black Panther Party (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1973); Peter Zirnroth, Perversion 0/ Justice: The Prosecution and
Acquittal 0/ the Panther 21 (New York: Viking Press, 1974); Marlise James,
"Charles Garry, Chief Defense Counsel of the Black Panther Party," in The
People's Lawyer, ed. Marlise James (New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston,
1973),
27. See Kit Kim Holder, "The History of the Black Panther Party, 1966-1972:
A Curriculum Tool for Afrikan American Studies" (Ph.D. diss., University of
Massachusetts, 1990), 122-23; Philip S. Foner, "Alliances and Coalitions," in The
Black Panthers Speak, ed. Philip S. Foner, 219. The most insightful discussion of
the SNCC-BPP alliance is found in Clayborne Carson's In Struggle, 278-86; and
James Fonnan, The Making o/Black Revolutionaries (Seattle, Wash.: Open Hand
Publishing, Inc., 1990),522-43. For further discussion of the Party's relationship
with the League ofBlack Revolutionary Workers see James Geschwender, Class,
Race and Worker Insurgency; 140-42; and Michael Newton, Bitter Grain: Huey
Newton and the Black Panther Party (Los Angeles, Calif.: Holloway House
Publishing Company, 1991), 108.
28. See Shirley Chisholm, The Good Fight (New York: Bantam Books, 1974),
101-2; "Black Panther Party for Shirley Chisholm," New York Times, 28 April
1972, A4.; "Democrats Seek to Retain the Young," New York Times, 20 May 1972,
A3.
29. Bobby Seale, Seize the Time, 393.
30. Ibid, 394.
31. Newton, To Die/or the People, 153.
32. Angela D. Brown, "Servants ofthe People: A History ofWomen in the Black
Panther Party" (senior thesis, Harvard University, 1992); and Seale, Seize the
Time, 393-404.
33. Eldridge Cleaver, Post-Prison Writings andSpeeches (New York: Vintage
Books, 1969), 142-43.
34. For instance, Gail Sheehy in her book Panthermania purports that Elaine
Brown was a major proponent ofthis slogan. See Gail Sheehy, Panthermania: The
Clash 0/ Black Against Black in One American City (New York: Harper Row
Publishers, 1971), 19. However, what is often overlooked in the various critiques
52 53 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
of the "pussy power" slogan is the Party's revolutionary outlook which deemed
that a person, male or female, used everything at their disposal to conquer the
oppressor. Panthers pointed to the revolutionary role played by Vietnamese
women who assumed the role of prostitutes to wage struggle against American
soldiers. Similarly, Cora Presley's excellent study ofthe role ofwomen in Kenya's
Mau Mau movement notes that Mau Mau female leaders recruited female
prostitutes who provided invaluable assistance to the struggle against colonialism
in Kenya. See Cora Presley, Kihuyu Women, The Mau Mua Rebellion and Social
Change in Kenya (Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1992). For a critique of the
"pussy power" slogan see Jan Zahler Lebow, "From 'Pussy Power' to Political
Power: The History of Women in the Black Panther Party," unpublished paper,
Afro-American Studies seminar paper, UCLA, Fall 1986.
35. For example, Regina Jennings left the Black Panther Party because ofsexual
harassment. Also see Brown, Servants ofthe People for additional cases. Assata
Shakur, among others, complained about macho behavior among male members.
See Assata Shakur, (formerly Joanne Chesimard), An Autobiography (Westport,
Conn.: Lawrence Hill & Company, 1987),223-24.
36. Safiya Bukhari-Alston, "The Question of Sexism Within the Black Panther
Party," Black Panther Community News Service, FalVWinter 1993,3.
37. Eldridge Cleaver, "Message to Sister Ericka Huggins of the Black Panther
Party," in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip Foner, 99.
38. Ibid.
39. Safiya Bukhari-Alston, "The Question of Sexism Within the Black Panther
Party," 3.
40. Hugh Pearson, The Shadow ofthe Panther, 176.
41. Patricia Hili-Collins, Black Feminist Thought (Boston: Urwin Human,
1990),8.
42. Newton, To Diefor the People; 153.
43. Ibid.
44. Alycee J. Lane, "Newton's Law," BLK (March 1991): 11.
45. Ibid.
46. Sarah Craig, "Panther Leader Slain: Early Gay-Rights Supporter Gunned
Down," Windy City Times (Chicago), 8 August 1989,6.
47. Heath, ed., Offthe Pigs!, 182.
48. Foner, ed., The Black Panthers Speak, xxxix.
49. Ibid., 237.
50. Carlos Munoz, Jr., Yo.tth Identity Power: Chicano Movement (New York:
Verso, 1989),85.
51. Munoz, Youth Identity Power, 86.
52. Carlos Montes, "Letter of Solidarity: Brown Berets and the Black Panther
Party," 9 October 1996; Author's personal collection. This letter was read at "It's
About Time" the 30th anniversary celebration ofthe founding ofthe Black Panther
Party, October 11-13, 1996, Oakland, California.
53. Pearson, The Shadow ofthe Panther, 327; and Foner, ed., The Black Panthers
Speak, 239-43.
54. Citations on the Black Panther Movement in England include Philip S. Foner,
ed., The Black Panthers Speak, xxxvii; "Black Panther Men Accused of Plo!,"
London Times, 27 November 1968,6; "National Conference on the Rights of
Black People," May 22-23, 1971, flyer; the Black Panther Movement, April 23,
The Black Panther Party Reconsidered
1971, The Archives ofLabor History and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University,
Detroit, Michigan; For the Black Panther Party of Israel, see Deborah Bernstein,
"Conflict and Protest in Israeli Society: The Case ofthe Black Panthers ofIsrael,"
Youth and Society 14 (1984): 129-51; Arie Bober, ed., The Other Israel: The
Radical Case Against Zionism (New York: Anchor Books, 1972),24-31. For
information on the Black Beret Cadre in Bermuda, see Holder, "The History of
the Black Panther Party 1966-1972," 170,' and "Revolutionary People's
Communication Network: International News (Bermuda)," Right On! 1,6 (1971):
13; "The Black Beret: Voice of the Black Community," Right On! 1, 10 (1971):
18. For the Black Panther Party in Australia, see "Black Panthers Form Party,"
New York Times, 19 January 1972, 6; John Collins, "Oodgeroo of the Tribe
Nonnuccal," Race and Class 35 (1994): 80. On the Dalit Panthers in India, see
Runoko Rashidi, "Dalits: The Black Untouchables ofIndia," in African Presence
in Early Asia, ed. Ivan Van Sertima and Runoko Rashidi (New Brunswick, N.J.:
Transaction Books, 1988),246; and V. T. Rajshekar, "The Black Untouchables of
India: Reclaiming Our Cultural Heritage," in African Presence in Early Asia, 237.
55. See Deborah Bernstein, "Conflict and Protest in Israeli Society," 134.
56. Gene Marine, The Black Panthers (New York: New American Library,
1969),67.
57. "The Black Panthers-Two Paths," New York Times, 24 August 1989, A24.
58. Norman Hill, ed., The Black Panther Menace: America's Neo-Nazis (New
York: Popular Library, 1971), 10.
59. Huey Newton, "Huey Newton Talks to the Movement About the Black
Panther Party, Cultural Nationalism, SNCC, Liberals and White Revolutionaries,"
in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip Foner, 51.
60. Seale, Seize the Time, 69-70.
61. Gitlin, The Sixties, 349.
62. Newton, "Huey Newton Talks to the Movement," 57.
63. Eldridge Cleaver, "Black Panther Black Racism," Open City: Weekly Review
ofthe L,A. Renaissance, 27 December- 2 January 1968, 1. The Cleaver memo was
originally prepared as an organizational directive and later published in the Open
City. '
64. Kathleen Cleaver, "How TV Wrecked the Black Panthers," Channels
(NovemberlDecember 1982): 99.
65. Huey P. Newton, "To the R. N. A." in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip
Foner,72.
66. Fred Hampton, "You Can Murder a Liberator but You Can't Murder
Liberation," in The Black Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip Foner, 145.
67. Seale, Seize the Time, 139.
68. Spartacist League, "Rise and Fall of the Panthers: End of the Black Power
Era?" Marxist Bulletin 5 (1978): 34-45.
69. Henry Winston, "Crisis ofthe Black Panther Party," in Strategyfor a Black
Agenda, ed. Henry Winston (New York: International Publishers, 1973), 213.
70. Israel Shenker, "For Alinsky, Organizers Clutch Key to the Future," New
York Times, 6 January 1971,39. Also see Saul D. Alinsky, Rulesfor Radicals: A
Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals (New York: Vintage Books, 1971).
71. Seale, Seize the Time, 65.
72. Hampton and Fayer, eds., Voices QfFreedom, 352.
73. Newton, "Huey Newton Talks to the Movement," in The Black Panthers
Speak, ed. Phillip Foner, 62.
54 Charles E. Jones and Judson L. Jeffries
74. Huey P. Newton, "The Correct Handling of a Revolution," in The Black
Panthers Speak, ed. Phillip Foner, 41.
75. See Jerome H. Skolnick, The Politics of Protest: A Task Force Report
Submitted to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention ofViolence
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969), 153; Holder, "The History of the Black
Panther Party, 1966-1971," 219.
76. Seale, Seize the Time, 366.
77. Robert Webb, a Panther from San Francisco who aligned with the
anti-Newton faction, was allegedly shot to death on March: 8, 1971, in New York
City by Newton supporters. In retaliation for the death of Webb, Samuel Napier,
the Party's Circulation Manager of the Black Panther Intercommunal News
Service was tortured and murdered on April!7, 1971, in New York City. See
Kathleen Cleaver, "Sister Act," Transition 60 (1993): 98, and Hilliard and Cole,
This Side ofGlory, 325-26.
78. Geoffrey Fairbarn, Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare (Baltimore, MD:
Penguin Books, 1974),73.
79. "Is It Too Late for the Panthers To Be Pals with You?" Esquire 74 (1970),
16.
80. Hampton and Fayer, eds., Voices ofFreedom, 368.
81. Sheehy, Panthermania, 8.
82. Paul Coates, interview by Charles E. Jones, 21 April 1993, Baltimore, MD.
Also see "Baltimore Police Raid Panther Headquarters," Guardian, 9 May 1970,
5, and Renee Neblett interview by Charles E. Jones, 10 May 1992, Boston, Mass.
83. Paul Delaney, "Blacks in New Orleans Say They Are Sheltering Panther
Leader Wounded in Police Raid," New York Times, 20 September 1970, 60. Renee
Neblett, interviewed by Charles E. Jones, 10 May 1992, Boston, Mass. See also
Martin Arnold, "N.A.A.C.P. Will Give $50,000 to Aid Panther-Police Inquiry,"
New York Times, 14 May 1970, 34; "SCLC To Aid 21 Panthers," Omaha
World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 24 January 1970,4; Louis Harris et al., The
Harris Survey Yearbook of Public Opinion 1970: A Compendium of Current
American Attitudes (New York: Louis Harris and Associates, 1971), 258.
84. Charles R. Garry, "The Persecution ofthe Black Panther Party" in The Black
Panthers Speak, ed. Philip S. Foner, 257.
85. For additional information on the Panther 21, see Kuwasi Balagoon et aI.,
eds., Look For Me in the Whirlwind: The Collective Autobiography of the New
York 21 (New York: Vil"tage Books, 1971); Paul Chevigny, Cops and Rebels: A
Study of Provocation (New York: Random House, 1972); Peter Zimroth,
Perversion ofJustice.
86. Gitlin, Sixties, 34.
87. Ibid.
88. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States
from the 1960s to the 1980s (New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986), 139.
89. Roberto Santiago, "A Dialogue with Kwame Ture" Emerge April 1991, 13.
90. Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), "Black Liberation/Socialist Revolution," in
Daggers and Javelins: Essays ofAmiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) (New York: Quill,
1984),98.
91. Robert C. Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engles Reader (New York: W. W. Norton
and Company, 1978),601.
The Black Panther Party ReconSidered 55
92. Anthony Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis
the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1971),38.
93. The autobiographies of the two cofounders ofthe BPP shed insight on the
revolutionary potential ofthe African American lumpen proletariat. See Huey P.
Newton, Revolutionary SuiCide, 73-77; Bobby Seale, Seize the Time, 64-65.
94. Bobby Seale, interview by Ronald Stephens, 4 May 1989, Philadelphia,
Penn., 14.
95. See Eldridge Cleaver, On the Ideology ofthe Black Panther Party, Part I
[pamphlet] (San Francisco: Black Panther Party, 1970); Eldridge Cleaver, "On
Lumpen Ideology," Black Scholar 3 (1972): 2-10, and Kathleen Cleaver, On the
Vanguard Role of the Black Urban Lumpen Proletariat [pamphlet] (London:
Grass Roots Publications, 1975).
96. See Brown, A Taste ofPower, 137-41; and Charles "Cappy" Pinderhughes
interview by Judson L. Jeffries, 12 August 1993, Boston, Mass.
97. Gene Marine, The Black Panthers, 2; Ed Montgomery, "Dismay Grows in
Sausalito on Black Panther as Principal," San Francisco Sunday Examiner and
Chronicle, 17 August 1969, A4; John Williams, interview by Charles E. Jones, 24
1993, Detroit, Mich.
98. Hilliard and Cole, This Side ofGlory, 213-14; Renee Neblett interview by
Charles E. Jones, Boston, MA, 10 May 1992.
99. Heath, ed., Offthe Pigs!, 133.
100. Carolyn R. Calloway, "Group Cohesiveness in the Black Panther Party,"
Journal ofBlack Studies 8 (September 1977): 58.
101. Seale, Seize the Time, 64.
102. Alice Echols, "We Gotta Get Out ofThis Place: N otes Toward a Remapping
of the Sixties," Socialist Review 92 (1992): 9.
103. For additional information on the Black Panther Militia in Milwaukee see
James B. Nelson, "McGee Plans Panther Militia" Milwaukee Sentinel, 1 March
1990, 1; Norman Parish, "Black Panthers Co-Founder Critical ofMcGee's Plan,"
Milwaukee Journal, 6 March 1990, 1; B2. For information on the Dallas-based
New Black Panther Party, see Grace Bonds Staples, "Drugs, Racism, Urban
Neglect Lead to Black Panther Revival" Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Dallas-Fort
Worth, Texas) 6 September 1991, 1 and 13; Peter Applebome, "Bitter Racial Rift
in Dallas Board Reflects Ills in Many Other Cities" New York Times, 27 June 1976,
AI-A8; "The New African American Vanguard Movement," The Black Panther
International News Service; The Official Newspaper ofthe New African American
Vanguard Movement, vol. 1 (1996); Malaika Brown, "Picking Up the Power," Los
Angeles Sentinel, 6 July 1995, I. .