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Black Panther Party———79

than 5,000 in 40 chapters. Propaganda that showed
BLACK PANTHER PARTY police as pigs was splashed throughout the BPP news-
paper, The Black Panther. By September 1968,
J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, believed the BPP
A group of revolutionary black nationalists work-
posed “the greatest threat to internal security in the
ing within the black power movement, the Black
country.” Indeed, the BPP was a principal focus of
Panther Party (BPP) was at the vanguard of armed
Cointelpro, the government counterintelligence
struggle that constituted the “new left terrorism” of
agency that targeted New Left groups in the 1960s. By
the late 1960s.
the end of 1969, more than 30 BPP members had been
Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black
sentenced to death, 40 had been sentenced to life
Panther Party for Self-Defense in October 1966.
imprisonment, another 55 had been charged with
The group, based in Oakland, California, put forth a
crimes that carried more than 30 years’ imprisonment,
10-point program that demanded for black and
and more than 150 members had become underground
oppressed communities full employment, adequate
fugitives.
housing, free health care, an end to police brutality
In the early 1970s, the BPP split, partly because
and capitalist exploitation, freedom for all prisoners,
of FBI infiltration. The “reformist” group, headed
reparations, and an immediate end to all wars of
by Newton, envisioned a transformation from black
aggression. Of all the black nationalist and anti-
revolutionaries to a legitimate social protest organi-
imperialist movements that began in the turbulent
zation. Newton, however, had not forsaken armed
1960s, the BPP was perhaps the most renowned,
struggle and violence. In 1972, he created an inter-
easily recognized by its quasi-military black berets,
nal military group called the Squad, which was
leather jackets, and guns.
used to discipline BPP members internally and to
By the mid-1960s, the predominantly white
commit crimes in Oakland, including extortion and
Oakland police department had exhibited an ever-
murder. The other revolutionary faction, based in
increasing brutality against the predominantly black
the New York BPP chapter headed by Eldridge
population of Oakland. Armed with guns and rifles
Cleaver, continued to call for armed struggle. The
(legal in California at the time), members of the early
still-militant factions of the New York BPP split off
BPP visibly monitored the police. BPP members,
to form the Black Liberation Army, which contin-
having followed the police scanner, would arrive at a
ued the BPP’s underground legacy well into the
crime scene to read the alleged offender his or her
1980s.
rights. Obeying the law, Panthers did not interfere
with police and stood at least 10 feet from them, but See also JOANNE CHESIMARD; MAY 19 COMMUNIST
their armed presence and confrontational manner ORGANIZATION; SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY
rattled lawmakers. In 1967, the “Panther Bill,” a piece
of antifirearm legislation named because it would Further Reading
prevent the BPP from displaying firearms, was intro-
Cleaver, Eldridge. Soul on Ice. New York: Delta, 1999.
duced in the California legislature. Undeterred, BPP
Cleaver, Kathleen, and George Katsiaficas, eds. Liberation,
members traveled to Sacramento that May, carrying Imagination and the Black Panther Party: A New Look
their guns in protest. at the Panthers and Their Legacy. New York: Routledge,
While the BPP organized social programs and legal 2001.
intimidation aboveground, it simultaneously created Jones, Charles E., and Judson L. Jeffries. “Don’t Believe
an underground unit that engaged in armed struggle, the Hype: Debunking the Panther Mythology.” In The
most notably against police. The underground BPP Black Panther Party Reconsidered. Edited by Charles
was decentralized, with small cells working in indi- E. Jones. Baltimore: Black Classic, 1986.
vidual communities. Members held weapons-training Pearson, Hugh. The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton
and the Price of Black Power in America. New York:
classes and close-order drills in public space while
Addison-Wesley, 1994.
carrying guns.
After the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., in
April 1968, the BPP quickly grew from a California-
based organization to a nationwide group of more Black September. See AL FATAH.