The Original Black Panther Party and Black Panther-Inspired Groups: A Clarification

The purpose of this article is to delineate and distinguish between the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, later becoming The Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 and the variety of groups which have sprung up calling themselves ‘Black Panthers’ or have otherwise invoked the powerful legacy of the organization which the SCBPP Legacy Group is working to preserve amidst community confusion and the disinformation which for decades has emanated largely from the US government and media threatened by the work done by the Black Panther Party. Furthermore, it is to give guidance from Elmer Dixon, a veteran Black Panther and cofounder of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party, to those groups which are looking to organize in their own communities. As Elmer said to me on a call recently, “it is clear (modern groups using Black Panther imagery) are ‘not like us’ yet many of them strive to challenge a racist and unjust system and do good community organizing inspired by the work and principles of the Party.” 

Who were the Black Panthers, then? They were a group of young revolutionaries focusing on the organization and manifestation of the power of Black communities through building a revolutionary movement in cities across the country. Headquartered in Oakland with major branches in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and some 60 chapters and branches across the country, they had far reaching influence on international freedom fighters with chapters as far away as New Zealand, Australia, India, Palestine, the UK, and an International branch in Algeria. Their efforts included introducing accountability and surveillance to the police, a group that often terrorized Black people unjustifiably and illegally, creating an atmosphere in Black-dominated communities akin to colonialist counterinsurgency rule where an increasingly-militarized police was effectively occupying and menacing members of a community that they dehumanized and marginalized systematically. The Black Panthers launched a series of “Community Survival Programs” beginning with The Police Alert Patrol, to ensure innocent Black people were not murdered in the streets by police and introduced community control of police programs designed to hold police accountable and foster better relationships with the communities they served. Armed with shotguns and law books, they engaged in police patrols, introducing a new level of accountability by following the police and observing their interactions with Black people, exercising their right to bear arms. 

However, this behavior was not one attempting to create violence, but to prevent it being deployed with impunity against Black Americans. This practice, along with several other outward paramilitary elements of the Black Panther Party, (stirring J. Edgar Hoover Director of the FBI to declare them as the number 1 threat to the internal security of the US), dominated public memory and discourse about the Panthers. One of the focuses of our upcoming Interpretive Center and crucial facet of the ideology and practice of the Party was their robust community ‘survival programs’ rooted in the Party’s Ten Point Platform and Program. As Huey P. Newton, co-founder and Minister of Defense stated, “In order to capture the hearts and minds of the people we must understand their needs and create survival programs pending Revolution” (Huey P. Newton, To Die for the People: The Writings of Huey P. Newton). The BPP strategy was to build a revolutionary movement grown out of the needs of the people who faced poverty, racism and an oppressive system. It was a brilliant approach to respond to an America who failed to take care of people’s basic needs. Some of these basic needs the party provided included a free breakfast for children’s program, feeding 20,000 children each day (https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change), a Black Panther newspaper, providing vital information to the community, political education classes, and the establishment of free medical clinics, including one in Seattle that is still operational. 

The legacy of the Black Panthers is not just a neat set of imagery or a ‘cool’ anti-authority costume to wear without serious comprehension and respect expressed for the revolutionary and progressive ethos that it represents. The group’s forward thinking efforts and model of direct action provide clear inspiration for those wanting to organize in their communities today, but Elmer cautions that it is imperative for new leaders, imagery, and direct-action practices which are calibrated for the modern moment to emerge. He also asks that those who use the Black Panther imagery and name, at the very least, ask former Black Panthers out of respect, if not simply refraining entirely. The original Black Panther logo was in use by the Lowndes County Freedom Organization before Huey Newton and Bobby Seale chose it, but they did go and ask their permission to use it. This logo and its conception also speak to the ideology that inspired the BPP and is not always understood by those first learning about the Black Panthers from mainstream sources.

It is worth highlighting something that the so called New Black Panther Party and other groups practice cultural nationalism, which was not the philosophy of the original BPP. Cultural nationalism is something akin to the ideology preached by Kwame Ture (formerly known as Stokely Carmichael), a prominent leader of SNCC who split with the Black Panther Party that preferred not to work across racial lines, with an emphasis on collective Black/African heritage and reinforcing it. As expressed by Encyclopedia Britannica, “As an alternative to being assimilated by a predominantly white America, Black nationalists sought to maintain and promote their separate identity as a people of Black ancestry.” However, the Black Panther Party worked actively with a variety of groups, including the Young Lords, AIM, the Brown Berets, and the Patriot Party. The Patriot Party was a group of poor white Americans who collaborated with the Panthers in Chicago due to the efforts of Fred Hampton; he understood that the need for a ‘rainbow coalition’ of various organized groups was necessary for change in America at large (https://jacobin.com/2017/05/black-panthers-young-patriots-fred-hampton.)

While Elmer recognizes the efforts of some of the groups using the BPP name as well intentioned in attempting to serve their communities, learn and apply the principles of the BPP, and educate the masses, he also expressed his concern at the possibility for confusion and non-deliberate misinformation that emerges as a result of those who are not informed about the party seeing new groups using the imagery: “The fundamental mission of the Black Panther Party Legacy Group and the establishment of an Interpretive center is to preserve the legacy of the BPP while inspiring people in general and young people in particular to become freedom fighters and activists to stand up to today’s injustices and oppression. This is the Legacy of the Original Black Panther Party.”