The Black Panthers Flashcards
Who did the BPP look up to?
The party looked up to Malcolm X as a role model - they admired his ability to communicate with the black working class. They also believed in his self-defence tactics and that Blacks should govern themselves.
What was the Black Panther Party?
The BPP was founded on 15th October 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party was one of the most radical during the 60’s. They were all black and prepared to use a lot of violence
What were the First five aims in the Black Panthers Ten-point Programme?
1) power to determine the destiny of our black communities education that teaches us true history
2) free Healthcare
3) immediate end to police brutality
4) immediate end to all wars of aggression
5) full employment for our people
What were the last 5 aims The Black Panther party set on the Ten-point programme?
- end the robbery by the capitalists of the black community
- we want decent housing
- we want decent education for our people that exposes the true nature of the American Society
- freedom for all blacks and oppressed people (Jail, military prison) and a fair trial for them all.
What was the BPP’s ideology?
They were black nationalists - believed in blacks governing themselves. They looked to other figures like Mao Zedong, who had successfully expelled white oppressors from China.
What was ‘Patrol the Pigs’?
It began in Oakland, California - it was designed to keep police under surveillance and protect AA’s from the abuse of Police power. Anytime police arrested a black - they would watch over and observe. They would carry Law books around in their car
What was significant about ‘Patrol the pigs’
The campaign gained lots of support amongst the black population and as a result it spread to Richmond and Berkeley. It scared police as well as the government - they tried to ban the black panthers. By 67’ they were a national organisation across 15 states.
What were the ‘Survival Programmes’?
When Newton was arrested in 1967, new leaders took over and changed the direction of the party - they aimed to improve the life of AA’s in northern ghettos. They did this by:
- Free Breakfast for School children programme
- Free health clinics
- free ‘liberation schools’
Were The ‘survival programmes’ successful?
They were - promoted by celebrities such as Jimi Hendrix. The healthcare offered tests for sickle cell disease, and the liberation schools were teaching adults about the struggles there race faced
Were the Black Panthers popular?
They were very popular with the young black working class - by 68’ they had branches all over the country. Although they only officially had 5000 members - there newspaper had a circulation of 250,000 - and a 70% approval rating by black G.I’s in Vietnam.
Why did the Black Panthers begin to decline?
The FBI, scared of an uprising of all the CRM groups - they mounted a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign, using tactics like phone tapping and forging letters about death threats from members. This led to the party losing a lot of support. Also, there was tension between leaders - Huey Newton wanted to emphasise survival programmes while Eldridge Cleaver (parties presidential candidate) wanted to keep up the militancy.
