Origins
Founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, two young political activists in California, the Black Panther Party is a social Marxist movement that focuses mostly on self-defence. Unlike many organizations at that time, the Black Panther Party took on much more of a military stance. It was founded right after the assassination of Malcolm X and the murder of Matthew Johnson, an unarmed Black teen who was shot by the police in San Francisco. After organizing multiple aid programs, the organization started gaining popularity, and by 1968, it had nearly 2,000 members.
Marxist definition: To define Marxism in simple terms, it's a political and economic theory where society has no classes. Every person within the society works for a common good, and class struggle is theoretically gone.
Programs
Although the Black Panther Party's goal was initially to patrol black neighbourhoods with armed citizens to protect them from police brutality, the organization has gone a long way since then.
Here are a few examples of the different ways they helped aid the Black community:
Organized so-called “survival programs”, which consisted of a free breakfast program for more than 20,000 kids and provided food for low-income families and the elderly. The Panthers also sponsored health clinics, schools and local transportation in several cities.
Campaigned for prison reforms, held voter registration drives and opened numerous health clinics for cities that couldn't afford it.
The controversies
The organization has found itself in a lot of violent encounters because they are against any police brutality towards the Black community. In 1967, one of the founders, Huey Newton, allegedly killed John Fred, a white police officer in Oakland. He was convicted to 15 years in jail but was freed 3 years later after the appeal process was incorrectly executed. Huey, later on, suffered from drug/alcohol overdoses and got shot in 1989 on the street. The Black Panther Party ended their activity in 1982.
The New Party
We felt like it was important to mention that a new Black Panther Party was formed in 1989. However, this new organization had nothing to do with the original one and is even called a “hate” group by the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center. So when discussing this subject, please refer to which party you are talking about so as not to spread false information.
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