The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2018 And At Once My Chains Were Loosed: How the Black Panther Party Freed Me from My Colonized Mind Linda Garrett University of San Francisco, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Garrett, Linda, "And At Once My Chains Were Loosed: How the Black Panther Party Freed Me from My Colonized Mind" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 450. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/450 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of San Francisco And At Once My Chains Were Loosed: How the Black Panther Party Freed Me from My Colonized Mind A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International and Multicultural Education Department In Partial Fulfillment For the Requirements for Degree of the Doctor of Education by Linda Garrett, MA San Francisco May 2018 THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO DISSERTATION ABSTRACT AND AT ONCE MY CHAINS WERE LOOSED: HOW THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY FREED ME FROM MY COLONIZED MIND The Black Panther Party was an iconic civil rights organization that started in Oakland, California, in 1966. Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Party was a political organization that sought to serve the community and educate marginalized groups about their power and potential. This study examined the seminal texts about the creation of the Party that were written by the Party’s founders: War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America (Newton, 1980), Revolutionary Suicide (Newton, 1973/2009) and Seize the Time (Seale, 1970). Document analysis of these texts identified the main themes of preparation, connection, love the people, validation, serve the people, validate again, and evolve. Unifying these themes is a “recipe for revolution” that outlines the steps taken to create the Party which could provide a potential roadmap to be followed by other organizations today. Critical Race Theory provided the theoretical framework for this qualitative study, with a focus on counter-storytelling. The importance of storytelling was central to this work. Stories allow you to present important information to people without the classroom instructional feel. In this instance, the story was used to impart information about the Black Panther Party to pique interest in the topic and stimulate the desire for a deeper study and examination of the academic texts. A narrative was created that was inspired by My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to My Nephew, written by James Baldwin in 1963. The narrative is used to tell the creation story of the Black Panther Party to a new generation in a creative way. ii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Linda Garrett _______________________________ 12/6/17 Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Dr. Susan Katz 12/6/17 Chairperson Date Dr. Emma Fuentes 12/6/17 Dr. Darrick Smith 12/6/17 iii DEDICATION For Dad and Jay, I love you! iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. (Acts 16:25-26, New King James Version) When I embarked on this doctoral journey, I interviewed a graduate of the program and was intrigued by the opportunity to combine my faith with my academic work. I just wanted the opportunity to include information about how my faith informs my practice; I never thought that my work would end up being centered around a passage of scripture. But it was, and indeed I feel like my chains are loosed. This dissertation has been a process, for real. In the end, I have a better understanding of who I am, I am not sure that was the intended outcome but it is surely more valuable than anything else I could have attained. I could not have gotten here without the love and support of family and friends. First, my parents, who were my senior citizen chauffeurs the first two years of the program. They never complained about picking me up from school on those late Friday nights or dropping me off on those early Saturday mornings. I think they were, however, happy when I discovered Uber. To the rest of my family who never doubted my ability to complete this task, even when at times I had my own doubts. Thank you for your love and support. To my dissertation committee, Dr. Susan Katz, Dr. Emma Fuentes and Dr. Darrick Smith, thank you for all your help and support. This has been a journey that had many twists and v turns and uphill climbs. I wanted to tell a story that was against the norm. In the end, I think the story represents the information I was trying to impart well. To the Black Girl Magic crew that I met here at the program. You all are so dope. You make the magic look easy. We supported each other from the beginning and now I know a lot of Doctors. We will change the world. Remember like Esther 4:14 instructs, “we were saved for such a time as this”. One of the things this work did for me was give me an appreciation for storytelling. So I would be remiss if I failed to include a story here. In the early 1990s, a new pastor was elected at a small church. The matriarch of a prominent family at the Church was ill and unable to attend services regularly. She passed away shortly after his arrival. The new pastor was charged with giving the eulogy for this beloved member of the Church who he had very little knowledge of. The title of his message was, “I didn’t know you but I love you.” He talked about how while he did not know the woman personally, he knew about her based on the work she had done in the Church and on interactions with her family. This love was based on the work the woman had done in her life and the good things she had left behind. I don’t know Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver or Fred Hampton, or any of the other Black Panther Party members, but I love you. I love the work you put in to serve the community. I am appreciative of the sacrifices that you made and acknowledge the repression you suffered all in an effort to make the world better and not just for people of color but for everyone. I didn’t know you, but I love you. vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Sacramento Bee Newspaper Cover – May 2, 1967 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DISSERTATION ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER I .................................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 6 Background and Need for Study ................................................................................................. 7 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 10 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................... 11 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 15 Significance............................................................................................................................... 15 Definition of Terms................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER II ................................................................................................................................. 18 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 18 The Black Panther Party ....................................................................................................... 18 Storytelling ............................................................................................................................ 28 Scholarly