Black Panthers
Black Panthers men that move with a motive, they were found in 1966 and ended around 1982. This organization main goal was to protect black people from police brutality. Government and Politics saw them as a gang and a disruption to our country. The Black Panther organization spread rapidly through the hands of Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, two black men that had plenty of confrontation with law enforcement during peaceful marches and protest. They simply got fed up; they believed they weren't being heard from there voices so they decided to take a more violent assertive form of communication violence. This wasn't supposed to be the objective of the Black Panther organization but soon turned into violence with the way society portrayed these men.
Huey one of the co-founders of this party was convicted of assault of a Caucasian police officer, during the uprising of this powerful movement if he would have been convicted there may not of even of been a black panther movement but do to misleading evidence the judge decided to continue with the trial, this is also when the black panthers became big after his famous words said to a journalist after he was released, “ "You're supposed to be people enforcing the law, and here you are, ready to violate my constitutional rights.... You can't have my gun. The only way you're gonna get it from me is to try and take it."-Huey (Tobar). What most thought him giving away his evidence with a statement like this he was just letting everyone know his motive and how surely he stood behind it.
To be in the black panthers you had to be a force, you could not be scared of conflict. These men were activist you had to be hunger for a change. Most people thought that black panthers were Muslims due to Bobby Seale well affiliation with Malcolm X. When Malcolm died it was Bobby Seale that said Malcolm philosophy was a heavy influence on the black panthers when it came to “gaining freedom by any means necessary” . (Maxrist) Malcolm was even found at some Black Panther events along side Close friend Bobby and Huey.
The Black Panthers were well disciplined and had many rules; they were sworn to never tell the actions or future events of party if ever arrested or kidnapped. They had three main rules which were to obey all orders in your actions, Do not take a single needle or piece of thread from the poor and oppressed masses, Turn in everything captured from the attacking enemy(Marxist). The black panthers were among the big heroin epidemic being that there revolutionary time with the Vietnam War going on, USA was far from stable there were problems everywhere. Huey and Bobby had a very low tolerance for drugs though, if you were found high or caught with anything drug related while at work you were dismissed from the party immediately. They had a very low tolerance for that and any violent act towards women (Tobar). Sadly mistaken Huey one of the Co-founders was doing heroin and cocaine the whole time but hid it nobody knew until he was killed outside of a crack house by a man named Tyrone Robinson. This is where the downfall of the black panthers began.
The death of Huey was very dramatic in his pants pockets police found lists of police names planned to be murdered. It became very evident that this group of men wanted more then peace. This list gave the FBI very high suspensions on the true motive the black panthers had. The last straw was when the FBI found out they were planning to bomb government buildings in Dc. Bobby claims to not be aware of all that Huey had planned and stepped down from being a leader when all became exposed. There is said to be at least five thousand active members that were involved in the Black Panther organization.
This organization has made its mark on history, they made there statement the best way they knew how through violence. I don't personally believe it was the best way but they did get the attention of so many people, but it obviously worked Bobby Seale is still alive dealing with the courts trying to trademark the name "Black Panthers" and all that goes with it, his reasoning his he feels that years to come his children children should know all that he accomplished and how he and is good friend Huey left a mark on this nation left his mark on this nation.
Newton, Huey P. "The Ten-Point Program." Black Panther's Ten-Point Program. MIM/Brian Baggins, 19 Nov. 1980. Web. 29 Jan. 2014
Maxrist, EJ P. "Black Panther Party." Black Panther Party. MIa;History USA, 10 May 2004. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
"Rules of the Black Panther Party." Rules of the Black Panther Party. Ed. Frank T. Tobar. New Word Order, 12 June 2000. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
This is certainly a great topic, especially when you're writing about Civil Rights in America. But beware overgeneralizations in your writing. For example, you say "politics" saw the Black Panthers as a gang and a disruption. But who/what is "politics"? And wasn't the Black Panthers themselves "political"? I know this is a complex issue, and it can take quite a bit of time to really be able to emphasize the wide variety of positions that those in America took. But just remember: many people sympathized significantly with the Black Panther Party--but you're right in that the government to a large extent feared the power of African Americans during the Civil Rights Era (as much as many fear the power of President Obama in part because he is a black man...).
ReplyDeleteOn an academic note: when referring to people in text, after you name them in full the first time, just use their last name after that. Otherwise, it gives the impression of intimacy (that you know them personally).