The Black Panther Party

The Civil Rights Movement began in 1955 under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr with a goal of integration of Black people into American society through nonviolence. The leaders of the Black Panther Party took a more Marxist perspective where the liberation of oppressed peoples is achieved through gaining control of their own communities. Their principles were far more in line with that of the black revolutionary Malcom X. Black people across the country, especially young students, were not satisfied with the progress of the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement, which was pioneered by the black middle class of the country. Although progress was clearly made in public integration, the average black person kept having serious needs stand unaddressed, including access to education, employment, and decent housing. Upset at the lack of progress and continued discrimination, this younger generation decided they did not want integration. They wanted to change society fundamentally, even if violence was necessary to do it. 

The group's main motto was “We are advocates of the abolition of war which can only be abolished through war and in order to get rid of the gun, it is necessary to pick up the gun.” The Black Panthers were unafraid to take the steps they saw necessary which evidently garnered them their share of enemies. The Party began focusing not only on preventing the epidemic of police brutality but also on community service providing food, clothing, and transportation to chronically underserved neighborhoods. By 1972 co-founder Huey Newton's perspective had evolved and he said that the “gun itself is not revolutionary.” The Black Panther Party angered and inspired, and continues to influence the fight for equality.