The History of the Black Panther Party 1966-1972 : a Curriculum Tool for Afrikan American Studies

University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1990 The history of the Black Panther Party 1966-1972 : a curriculum tool for Afrikan American studies. Kit Kim Holder University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Holder, Kit Kim, "The history of the Black Panther Party 1966-1972 : a curriculum tool for Afrikan American studies." (1990). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 4663. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/4663 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HISTORY OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 1966-1972 A CURRICULUM TOOL FOR AFRIKAN AMERICAN STUDIES A Dissertation Presented By KIT KIM HOLDER Submitted to the Graduate School of the■ University of Massachusetts in partial fulfills of the requirements for the degree of doctor of education May 1990 School of Education Copyright by Kit Kim Holder, 1990 All Rights Reserved THE HISTORY OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 1966 - 1972 A CURRICULUM TOOL FOR AFRIKAN AMERICAN STUDIES Dissertation Presented by KIT KIM HOLDER Approved as to Style and Content by ABSTRACT THE HISTORY OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 1966-1971 A CURRICULUM TOOL FOR AFRIKAN AMERICAN STUDIES MAY 1990 KIT KIM HOLDER, B.A. HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE M.S. BANK STREET SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Ed.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor Meyer Weinberg The Black Panther Party existed for a very short period of time, but within this period it became a central force in the Afrikan American human rights/civil rights movements. Over the past twenty years the history of the Black Panther Party has been conspicuously missing from material on the 1960's. Particularly, there is an absence of material concerning the rank-and-file grassroots activities . In documenting the grassroots efforts of the Black Panther Party, this study emphasizes the community organizing of the Party in a manner which encourages the student/reader to analyze the effectiveness and relevance of grassroots organizing as a means of developing social change and achieving Afrikan American self-determination. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS P.age ABSTRACT. iv Chapter PART ONE: BACKGROUND 1 1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 2 Statement of Problem . 5 Statement of Purpose . 9 Method: Afrikan American Studies Perspective . 11 2. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE . 16 Central Committee, National/Central Staff, Various Ministers . 16 Major Public Figures. 17 State Regional Chapters . 19 Local Branches. 20 Rank and File Membership. 21 PART TWO: ACTION. 27 3. ARMED SELF-DEFENSE . 28 Armed Self Defense and Political Violence, 1966-1968 . 28 42 1968-1970 . 63 Analysis . 75 4. SURVIVAL PROGRAMS . 81 Conduct of Members . 85 Free Breakfast Program . 91 Support and Funding . 99 Liberation Schools . 104 The Food Program . 108 Clothing Programs . 110 Medical/Health Program . 116 5. WORKING COALITIONS . 122 Alliances with Latin American Organizations . 124 Asian Americans.. • *. 125 Working Class European Americans . 126 The National Front Against Fascism . v Laoe National Committee to Combat Fascism . 128 Revolutionary Peoples Constitutional Convention.129 6. STUDENTS AND THE PARTY.138 7. PRISONERS AND PRISONS.149 Prison Visitor Buses . 162 8. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES . 163 Black Panther Party's International Bureau . 163 The Black Panther Party and Vietnam . 166 B.P.P. 'Troops' to fight in Vietnam.167 9. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BLACK PANTHER.171 Tymond Webb.172 Sharon Shukar . 173 A Day in the Lives of Two Black Panther Members.175 10 . CHRONOLOGY OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY . 208 1966 . 208 1967 . 210 196 8 . 216 1969 . 231 1970 . 238 243 1971 . PART THREE: DEMISE . 249 250 11. CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP . The Alienation of the New York and Southern 250 California Chapters . GOVERNMENTAL CAMPAIGN TO DESTROY THE PARTY . 278 12 . 278 1966-1967 Local Encounters . 2 83 Physical attacks on Panthers . 285 The F.. 288 Politically Motivated Attacks 2 91 Attacks on Community Programs 294 The Chicago Chapter and the FBI Southern California December 8, Raid and the 306 Chapter . 308 Dailv Harassment.. 309 Changing Tactic, Being Driven Underground vi P.aas 13. CONCLUSION . 319 Human Rights and Third World Liberation . 322 Grassroots Youth Organizing . 326 Lack of National Leadership Development . 334 14. EPILOGUE . 342 15. CURRICULUM.. 353 Section I . 353 Introduction . 353 Discussion of Urban Rebellions of 1960's . 353 History of Human Rights Activities in Early 1960's . 354 Discussion . 354 Historical Growth of B.P.P. 355 Early Years 1966-1968 Bay Area . 355 National Organization . 3 57 Discussion Based on Readings. 358 Section II. Theory and Practice of the B.P.P 361 Armed Self Defense . 361 Discussion Based on Readings. 361 Survival Programs . 363 Discussion Based on Readings. 363 Alliances and Coalitions . 365 Discussion Based on Readings . 365 Student Organizing . 367 Discussion Based on Readings. 367 Prison Organizing . 368 Governmental Campaign . 369 Discussion Based on Readings. 369 Party National Leadership . 372 APPENDICES < 373 SPLIT. CD GOVERNMENTAL CAMPAIGN . 392 417 BIBLIOGRAPHY . vii PART ONE: BACKGROUND CHAPTER 1 HISTORICAL CONTEXT The mid 1960s marked the beginning of a period in which various groups militantly challenged the legitimacy and authority of important institutions within United States society. Many angry young Afrikan Americans in cities such as Los Angeles, Newark, and Detroit vented their frustration and rage by attacking the most visible symbols of their oppressive conditions, the European American businessman and the police department. In city after city young Afrikan Americans took to the streets and attacked these symbols of white society domination. Urban rebellions swept across most northern and western urban Afrikan American communities (for details on 1960's urban unrest see: Report of the National Advisory Commission On Civil Disorders. Bantom Books, NY, 1968) . Colleges increased their enrollment of Afro-American and other third world students. They also became centers of demands for community control. On campuses such as San Francisco State, Cornell U., Harvard U., and Jackson State students were demanding educational programs which were both relevant and beneficial to the third world communities. 2 3 During this same period, young prisoners such as Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver and George Jackson began to emerge as voices of those incarcerated in America's prison system. Both prisoners and the outside society began to become aware of the injustices and inhuman conditions which existed out of the view of the public. Prisoners began to demand their human rights. Mexican American, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans also began to aggressively demand social justice and a change in the conditions in their communities. Even young European American students were demanding an end to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, as well challenging many of the basic principles of their society. In New York City, Malcolm X had left the Nation of Islam, and was developing the Organization of African American Unity (O.A.A.U.). He advocated that Afrikan Americans focus their struggle to achieve self determination and human rights rather than civil rights and integration. He also advocated the use of arms as a means of protecting the community against racist attacks. By 1964 Malcolm X had emerged as the leading voice of the militant Black nationalist segments within Afrikan American urban communities. Malcolm X, however, was assassinated in 1965 before his organization could begin to implement programs. 4 The Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.) was another organization functioning during this period. S.N.C.C. was a militant civil rights group which was formed by southern Afro American students and organized in southern states. Although it was widely known for its work around voter registration, some of S.N.C.C.'s greatest accomplishments were grassroots programs they established in the rural areas of southern states (Raines, 1983). By 1964, S.N.C.C. began to shift its political perspective, replacing integration with self determination as the focus of its efforts. With the emergence of Hubert 'Rap' Brown and Stokley Carmichael as major figures within S.N.C.C., the organization became a leading advocate of 'Black Power ' . As political activities within the Afro American struggle shifted from the South to northern and western urban centers, S.N.C.C. found itself unprepared to assume a leadership role. In the midst of this period of massive social and political activism by the various disfranchised sectors of this country emerged a militant and aggressive organization which advocated armed self defense and self determination for Afrikan Americans. This group was the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (B.P.P.) . The B.P.P. was born on the heels of the decline of the civil rights movement and the assassination of human rights leader Malcolm X. 5 Attracting unemployed urban youth whom Malcolm X organized, and using many of the tactics and programs of S.N.C.C., as well as the Nation of Islam, the B.P.P. was born in October of 1966. Its major objective was to channel the growing militant rage of the youth into concrete programs which would benefit the community. The B.P.P. existed from 1966 until 1975. Within this period it generated much support and as much condemnation. It grew from a tiny Oakland, California street group which organized around police brutality into an international organization with comprehensive survival programs which served tens of thousands of meals on a daily basis, nationally, as well as testing hundreds of thousands of people for disease. In addition to the monumental community programs, the B.P.P. was also targeted for destruction by various government agencies.

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