36 Facts About Black Panther Party

Black Panther Party, originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California.

The Black Panther Party advocated for class struggle, claiming to represent the proletarian vanguard.

Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police.

Black Panther Party membership peaked in 1970 and gradually declined over the next decade, due to vilification by the mainstream press and in-fighting largely fomented by COINTELPRO.

Black Panther Party membership "consisted of recent migrants whose families traveled north and west to escape the southern racial regime, only to be confronted with new forms of segregation and repression".

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Black Panther Party had an epiphany that would distinguish the Black Panther Party from the multitude of Black Power organizations.

When confronted by a police officer, Black Panther Party members cited laws proving they had done nothing wrong and threatened to take to court any officer that violated their constitutional rights.

Black Panther Party's focus on militancy was often construed as open hostility, feeding a reputation of violence even though early efforts by the Panthers focused primarily on promoting social issues and the exercise of their legal right to carry arms.

The Black Panther Party held rallies in North Richmond that educated the community on armed self-defense and the Denzil Dowell incident.

The Black Panther Party's ideals resonated with several community members, who then brought their own guns to the next rallies.

Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police.

The Black Panther Party collaborated with the Peace and Freedom Party, which sought to promote a strong antiwar and antiracist politics in opposition to the establishment democratic party.

The Black Panther Party provided needed legitimacy to the Peace and Freedom Party's racial politics and in return received invaluable support for the "Free Huey" campaign.

Black Panther Party became the first member of the party to be killed by police.

Every Black Panther Party member had to study Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book" to advance his or her knowledge of peoples' struggle and the revolutionary process.

Black Panther Party actually ended up informally adopting the daughter of two Black Panther members, Mary Luana Williams.

Black Panther Party members engaged in criminal activities such as extortion, stealing, violent discipline of BPP members, and robberies.

Black Panther Party was 21 years old and unarmed at the time of his death.

Black Panther Party supporters responded that Sams was himself the informant and an agent provocateur employed by the FBI.

Black Panther Party encouraged them to join the Black Liberation Struggle by arguing that the United States government was only using them for its own purposes.

In February 1971, Eldridge Cleaver deepened the schism in the party when he publicly criticized the Black Panther Party for adopting a "reformist" rather than "revolutionary" agenda and called for Hilliard's removal.

Black Panther Party developed a five-year plan to take over the city of Oakland politically and focused nearly all of its resources on winning political power in the Oakland city government.

Under Brown's leadership, the Black Panther Party became involved in organizing for more radical electoral campaigns, including Brown's 1975 unsuccessful run for Oakland City Council.

From its beginnings, the Black Panther Party championed black masculinity and traditional gender roles.

Henceforth, the Black Panther Party newspaper portrayed women as intelligent political revolutionaries, exemplified by members such as Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis and Erika Huggins.

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The Black Panther Party responded by establishing on-site child development centers in multiple US chapters.

Some Black Panther Party leaders thought the fight for gender equality was a threat to men and a distraction from the struggle for racial equality.

Black Panther Party grew up around police brutality, so it was nothing new.

Black Panther Party's goal in joining was "smashing racism" because she viewed herself as Black before she was a woman.

Black Panther Party was involved in many community projects as part of their organization.

Black Panther Party was appointed by Huey Newton, the previous chair, while Newton and other leaders dealt with legal issues.

Black Panther Party appointed many female officials, and faced backlash for her policies for equality within the organization.

Black Panther Party explains that she joined in October 1969 with despite doubts from her mother, who had participated in a march with Martin Luther King Jr.

In 12th grade, she decided to work full-time with the Black Panther Party, dropping out of chaotic Denby High School in Detroit.

Huey Newton expressed his support for the Women's Liberation Movement and the Gay Liberation Movement in a 1970 letter published in the newspaper The Black Panther titled "A Letter from Huey to the Revolutionary Brothers and Sisters About the Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements".

The Black Panther Party is featured in exhibits and curriculum of the National Civil Rights Museum.