Hassan Davis

Black Panther Party

Look into the Future

Hassan Davis

In the mid-twentieth century, many individuals and organizations pushed for more civil liberties in the African American community. Names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and James Farmer, and organizations like SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality), and NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) are among the more credited names during the heroic era of civil rights. Behind the curtain of such notable activism stands a swarm of lesser-known activist groups. Among those are the Black Panther Party (BPP). Founded by then-college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966, the BPP was an African American revolutionary organization started in Oakland, California. After the non-violent civil rights movement neared its end, minorities in America still faced severe social and economic inequalities. Although African Americans may have had more secured rights from the federal government, attacks on minority groups were still a problem at the local level. Newton and Seale believed that, through political leverage, the oppressed communities could be accepted fully into “white America.” Together, these two young reformers composed the “Ten Point Program” (TPP), which was a document created to tackle all issues of persecution that confronted America’s minority communities. The TPP established principles that would help the community shield itself not only from racism and prejudice but also police brutality, which had been plaguing the streets of minority neighborhoods. With this plan, Seale and Newton produced one of the most compelling arguments for minority advancement in American history and created a starting point for tackling issues we still face today.

At the head of the BPP were two significant figures, Huey P. Newton and Robert (Bobby) George Seale. Newton was born on February 17, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana. During this time, the country was participating in World War II, and Newton's parents, Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton, soon moved to Oakland, California, in search of new economic opportunities the war created. They did not find those opportunities, however, and Newton and his family became very poor, causing them to move constantly around the San Francisco Bay area. Young Newton was quite a handful in his teenage years, getting in constant trouble with law enforcement. Nonetheless, Newton graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1959 while being unable to read. After high school, he attended Merritt College, where he ultimately taught himself how to read.1

Learning to read sparked Newton’s curiosity, and he began to ask questions. In his autobiography Revolutionary Suicide, Newton writes, "Most of all, I questioned what was happening in my own family and in the community around me."2 That questioning led him, early in his college career, to become active at his university. He joined the “Afro-American Association” (AAA), an on-campus organization that stressed black separatism and how to advance as a black individual. Newton wanted to increase the number of African American professors at Merritt, and, with the help of the AAA, he achieved that. The AAA even helped play a role in the university adopting its first African-American studies course. It was through this organization that Newton was introduced to his eventual associate, Bobby Seale.3

Robert George Seale was born on October 22, 1936, in Liberty, Texas. Just like Newton, Seale’s family migrated to

1 Tim Findley. Huey Newton: Twenty-Five Floors From the Street. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/huey-newton-twenty-five-floors-from-thestreet-176820/ 2 Huey Newton, J. Herman Black. Revolutionary Suicide. London: Wildwood House, 1974. 3 Bobby Seale. A Lone Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale. New York: Times Books, 1978.

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Oakland, California, during World War II. In his early childhood, Seale experienced poverty and abuse at the hands of his father. After dropping out of Berkeley High School, Seale looked to escape the poverty and abuse of his home in Oakland and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1955. After serving four years, Seale received a bad conduct discharge after an altercation with his superior officer. Immediately after, Seale pursued a career as an engineering draftsman, leading to his enrollment at Merritt College, where he met Newton at a rally protesting the Kennedy Administration's blockade of Cuba in 1962.

Both Newton and Seale had very defiant but ambitious spirits, which led to a very cohesive relationship. The two friends continuously met up for coffee and casually talked about books, literary geniuses, and black revolution.4 Both Newton and Seale found inspiration in Malcolm X and believed he was right that the African-American community should learn to protect themselves and demand freedom from larger oppressors. This talk soon radicalized Seale and Newton, and they ended up leaving the AAA because they believed the organization did not address the economic and political oppression faced in the African-American community. By 1966, they had established the BPP, with Seale as the chairman and Newton as the Minister of Defense.

The BPP was initially created to be the line of defense for the African-American community in Oakland. The Civil Rights movement of the early 1960s focused on a non-violent agenda in order to fight against such treachery in the south. But, fueled by the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, Seale’s rage intensified towards white authority. This, some would say, was the ultimate turning point in his radicalization. Among that group was Howell Raines, a New York Times editor in the 1970s. In reviewing Seale’s autobiography A Lonely Rage, he wrote: “[As] Bobby Seale tells it, news of Malcolm X's assassination sent him on a brick‐throwing ‘hate rampag[e]’ through the streets of Oakland, Calif. ‘Whatever I do from now on,’ he cried as he pelted passing cars, ‘it's this racist society's fault.’”5

Along with the assassination, however, were other motives as well. Both Seale and Newton had problems with authority. They believed law enforcement abused their power and that someone had to take a stand. Raines makes this point clear as well: “No one can accuse Mr. Seale of a lack of candor in discussing the key motivations that led him and Mr. Newton to found the first Panther unit. It was hostility to the ‘swine police’; and the initial goal of the Panthers was to achieve parity of firepower with police patrols in the slums.”6 During this time period, many minority neighborhoods around the country had been suffering from police mistreatment. As explained by Leonard Moore, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, “Police brutality can be classified as the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers.”7 Police brutality, in its entirety, has a range of issues starting from assault and battery to torture and even murder. “Some broader definitions of police brutality also encompass harassment, including false arrest, intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.”8 Cases like Marquette Frye in south Los Angeles, an African American man who was severely beaten during his arrest for intoxicated driving in 1965, had led to greater discomfort between the community and law enforcement. For this reason, the party had seen it as its duty to protect its community.

4 Ibid., Seale. 5 Howell Raines, "Angry Panther," New York Times, March 5, 1978. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/05/archives/angry-panther-a-lonely-rage-panther.html

6 Ibid., Raines. 7 Unknown Author, Sacramento Bee 1967. https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article148667224.html 8 Ibid., Sacramento Bee.

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In the chaos following Malcolm X’s assassination and the ongoing police brutality, the two men established the BPP. Their motives were widely shared among the African American population of Oakland, many of whom joined the party. Young and radicalized, the new members were just as tired of brutality as Seale and Newton. Tension between the BPP and the police would soon begin to rise even further. But this did not stop the party from still engaging with their community.

While few members of the party served in the front lines, there were a variety of members serving behind the scenes. Among those members emerged an idea raised by local chapters that were often led by women. The idea of “survival programs” was a way to serve the community directly other than providing a shield from police brutality. With this program, members were able to provide a free breakfast program for 20,000 children every day. They also were responsible for a free food program for families and the older citizens of the community. They also had partaken in sponsoring some schools, provided a people’s free ambulance service, well-being facilities, and sickle-cell testing centers in a few urban communities. These many opportunities gave solid aid to low-income parts of town.9 Along with the movement to help its people came a line of protection against police. With regards to this effort, the party had an official uniform of black leather jackets and a matching black beret, chosen with an eye on the traditional ghetto fashion. Nonetheless, it was the firearm power that gave the community its greatest comfort. The firearm was a rhetoric instrument but was not only used to flout authority. They used the weapons to caution cops and any outsider looking to harm any member of the community. Newton, as the head of defense, emphasized guns and patrolling the streets at all times of the day as the main ways for the party to complete its goal. With this heavy gun presence, the party had the ability to protect the community, which led to the establishment of many side projects. One was Seniors Against a Fearful Environment (SAFE), which provided protection to the elderly who wanted to cash their checks or pensions. With Newton encouraging these soldier-like activities, there came a strong advance in making the Ten Point Program known and raising the cognizance of individuals in the community who responded favorably to what the party was lecturing.

At the time of the initial creation of the party, Seale and Newton established a set of goals that clarified the motive of the group. The Ten Point Program was all of these goals put in a single document. The platform was designed so it was easy to understand, but behind the simple format were complex social and economic theories that supported the advancement of the African American community. Structured like the United States Bill of Rights, it comprised two sections: The first, titled “What We Want Now!”, described what the Black Panther Party wanted from the leaders of American society. This specific section listed the demands of the party. The second section, titled “What We Believe,” outlined the philosophical views of the party and explained why they believed they deserved what they were asking for. Among the points listed in the section “What We Want Now!” was a very specific demand at the top of the organization's priority list: “We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.”10 This, above all, was the issue that stretched across the nation.

To slow down the spread of the party’s appeal, authorities created many obstacles. One of these obstacles was the proposition of a California bill that banned carrying a firearm in public. The BPP heard of this effort and decided it was the time to make an appearance. Led by Seale, members of the party stormed into the state assembly on May 2, 1967. The BPP taught their members the right to bear arms in the second amendment and studied the state gun laws as well. Obeying

9 Bobby Seale. Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Black Classic Press, 1991. 10 Leornard Moore, "Police brutality in the United States," Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-

States-2064580.

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them all, thirty members of the clan entered the assembly. Since it was in session, the Speaker asked for the arrest and removal of the men. The police engaged the men and escorted them outside, where they tried to seize their weapons. Since no laws were broken, however, the weapons were returned, and the Panthers left.

After the incident, Seale read a statement from the party to the police and the media. As the Sacramento Bee editor recalled, “Outside of the police office…one man who identified himself as Bobby Seale of Oakland read a page-long statement of the Black Panther Party. It declared: ‘The Black Panther Party for self-defense calls upon the American people in general and the black people in particular to take careful note of the racist California Legislature which is considering legislation aimed at keeping the black people disarmed and powerless at the very same time that racist police agencies throughout the country are intensifying the terror, brutality, murder and repression of black people.’”11 With the incident and the address, the party gained the national attention that it had been waiting for. With their newly awarded fame, the party had brought a light to a situation that had been going on around the entire nation.

Dating this way back, almost every type of American has been subject to police brutality. Starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, working-class whites expressed frustration over discriminatory policing in northern cities. At about the same time, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe complained of police brutality against their communities, as did the Mexican, Italian, and Asian communities. In the summer of 1943, for instance, tensions ran high between zoot-suit wearing Mexican-Americans and the large contingent of white United States servicemen stationed around Los Angeles. The racially charged tension in Los Angeles detonated in various full-scale riots. Local police officers often watched from the sidelines as white civilians and servicemen raided and tortured members of the Latino community and then arrested the victims of the beatings. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots started late on the morning of June 28, when New York City police struck the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York City. The assault started an uproar among bar workers and neighborhood figures, as police generally pulled workers and supporters out of the bar. Police beating and harassment went on for six days. These were just some of the many early cases of police brutality that had media attention.12

Police brutality has been a plaguing issue in cities all over the world and even up to recent years. Names like Freddie Gray, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Alton Sterling are the faces and reminders of this ongoing issue in today’s America. According to research from the Washington Post, 999 people were killed as a result of the police in America in 2020. From the early 1940s to now, one of the problems we face is the corruption and unjust acts of police brutality. Together, Seale, Newton, and the BPP introduced the “Ten Point Program”' in the 1960s. And now, almost sixty years later, we are facing a raging number of police-based assaults. The BPP are undervalued but are the true pioneers in facing police brutality by trying to tackle the situation on their own. Setting the standard on how to handle police misconduct, the BPP tackled an issue we still have in our society today.

11 Ibid., 12 In addition to the Black Panther Party, came a long line of various other organizations and groups who struggled with their own battle regarding police brutality. The

Zoot Suit riots and the Stonewall riots are some examples of these.

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Bibliography

“Armed Black Panthers Invade Capitol.” Sacramento Bee, May 2, 1967. https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article148667224.html. Chiles, Nick. “8 Black Panther Party Programs That Were More Empowering Than Federal Government Programs.” Atlanta Black

Star, March 26, 2015. https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/03/26/8-black-panther-party-programs-that-were-more-empowering-than-federalgovernment-programs/. Findley, Tim. “Huey Newton: Twenty-Five Floors From the Street.” Rolling Stone Magazine, August 3, 1972. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/huey-newton-twenty-five-floors-from-the-street-176820/. Moore, Leonard. “Police brutality in the United States.” Encyclopedia Britannica, July 27, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580. Newton, Huey J., and Herman Blake. Revolutionary Suicide, Wildwood House, 1974. Raines, Howell. “Angry Panther.” New York Times, March 5, 1978. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/05/archives/angry-panther-a-lonely-rage-panther.html. Seale, Bobby. A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale, New York: Times Books, 1978. ---. Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton, Black Classic Press, 1991.