the revolutionary mutual aid of the Black Panther Party
(Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. )
Words by Chanel Trezise
The Black Panther Party, formed in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, was a Marxist revolutionary group that, provided, assistance and direct mutual aid to the urban black communities of Oakland. Originally coined the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, the party strived to raise the political consciousness of poor communities by meeting their needs, informing them of their realities, and subsequently helping them find the keys to their shackles. Seale and Newton knew that they needed to address the state violence perpetuated on their communities and consequently, they began ‘policing the police’. The Panthers followed police in urban black neighbours around Oakland carrying both arms and the power of the law as they informed citizens of their rights. However, despite later being coined as terrorists and “...the greatest threat to the internal security of the nation” by FBI’s Chief Edgar Hoover in 1969, the BPP championed the civil rights movement and provided one of the best examples of direct mutual aid I think the western world has ever seen. In 1966, 35% of POC families were poor compared to only 15% of white families. Unsurprisingly, 60% of POC women were also in poverty. When the US government not only failed to provide poor black and white communities basic necessities, jobs and education, they also (and stil do)
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