Founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 in Oakland, California, the
Black Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against
the U.S. government. They fought to establish revolutionary socialism through
mass organizing and community based programs. Considered one of the first
organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and
working class emancipation, the revolutionary establishment of real economic,
social, and political equality across gender and color lines. Prominent members of the Black Panthers included Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Fred Hampton, Fredrika Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, David Hilliard, Angela Davis, Bobby Hutton and Elaine Brown.
Huey P. Newton
Huey P. Newton (1942-1989) founded the Afro-American Society and was a co-founder of the Black Panther Party, serving as its minister of defense during much of the 1960s. Later he turned to community service for the poor. Huey P. Newton was born February 17, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana. The youngest of seven children, Huey was named for former Louisiana governor Huey Pierce Long. While at Oakland City College, Newton had become politically oriented and socially conscious. He joined the Afro-American Association and played a role in getting the first black history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. He read the works of Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, and Che Guevara. A child of the ghetto and a victim of discrimination and the "system," Newton was very much aware of the plight of Oakland's African-American community. Realizing that there were few organizations to speak for or represent lower class African-Americans, Newton along with Bobby Seale organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966, with Seale as chairman and Newton as minister of defense. Like a wary panther that would not attack unless attacked, so too was the organization regarded. In September of 1968 Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. After his release from prison Newton overhauled the Black Panther Party, revised its program, and changed its rhetoric. While he had been imprisoned, party membership had decreased significantly in several cities, and the FBI had started a campaign to disrupt and eventually bring down the Black Panthers. Abandoning its Marxist-Leninist ideology, Newton now concentrated on community survival programs. The Black Panthers sponsored a free breakfast program for children, sickle-cell anemia tests, free food and shoes, and a school, the Samuel Napier Intercommunal Youth Institute. However, as before, the Black Panthers were not without controversy. Funding for several of their programs were raised as the result of the co-operation of drug dealers and prostitution rings. In 1974 several assault charges were filed against him, and he was also accused of murdering a 17-year-old prostitute, Kathleen Smith. In addition to organizing the Black Panther Party and serving as its minister of defense, Newton unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party in 1968. In 1971, between his second and third trials for the murder of John Frey, he visited China for ten days, where he met with Premier Chou En-lai and Chiang Ch'ing, the wife of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. While there he was offered political asylum. Newton studied for a Ph.D. in the history of social consciousness at the University of California in 1978. On August 22, 1989, Newton was gunned down by a drug dealer in Oakland.
Bobby Seale
Born October 22, 1936 in Dallas, Texas, Bobby Seale was an African-American political activist, founder, along with Huey Newton, and national chairman of the Black Panther Party. Seale was one of a generation of young African-American radicals who broke away from the traditionally nonviolent Civil Rights Movement to preach a doctrine of militant black empowerment. Following the dismissal of murder charges against him in 1971, Seale somewhat moderated his more militant views and devoted his time to effecting change from within the system. Seale grew up in Dallas and in California. Following service in the U.S. Air Force, he entered Merritt College, in Oakland, Calif. There his radicalism took root in 1962, when he first heard Malcolm X speak. Seale helped found the Black Panthers in 1966. Noted for their violent views, they also ran medical clinics
and served free breakfasts to school children, among other programs. In 1969 Seale was indicted in Chicago for conspiracy to incite riots during the Democratic national convention the previous year. The court refused to allow him to have his choice of lawyer. When Seale repeatedly rose to insist that he was being denied his constitutional right to counsel, the judge ordered him bound and gagged. He was convicted of 16 counts of contempt and sentenced to four years in prison. In 1970–71 he and a codefendant were tried for the 1969 murder of a Black Panther suspected of being a police informer. The six-month-long trial ended with a hung jury. Following his release from prison, Seale renounced violence as a means to an end and announced his intention to work within the political process. He ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, finishing second. As the Black Panther Party faded from public view, Seale took on a quieter role, working to improve social services in black neighborhoods and to improve the environment. Seale's writings include such diverse works as Seize the Time (1970), a history of the Black Panther movement and Barbeque'n with Bobby (1988), a cookbook.
and served free breakfasts to school children, among other programs. In 1969 Seale was indicted in Chicago for conspiracy to incite riots during the Democratic national convention the previous year. The court refused to allow him to have his choice of lawyer. When Seale repeatedly rose to insist that he was being denied his constitutional right to counsel, the judge ordered him bound and gagged. He was convicted of 16 counts of contempt and sentenced to four years in prison. In 1970–71 he and a codefendant were tried for the 1969 murder of a Black Panther suspected of being a police informer. The six-month-long trial ended with a hung jury. Following his release from prison, Seale renounced violence as a means to an end and announced his intention to work within the political process. He ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, finishing second. As the Black Panther Party faded from public view, Seale took on a quieter role, working to improve social services in black neighborhoods and to improve the environment. Seale's writings include such diverse works as Seize the Time (1970), a history of the Black Panther movement and Barbeque'n with Bobby (1988), a cookbook.
Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael was born in the Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 29th June, 1941. Carmichael moved to the United States in 1952 and attended high school in New York City. He entered Howard University in 1960 and soon afterwards joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1961 Carmichael became a member of the Freedom Riders. After training in non-violent techniques, black and white volunteers sat next to each other as they travelled through the Deep South. Local police were unwilling to protect these passengers and in several places they were beaten up by white mobs. Carmichael also worked on the Freedom Summer project and in 1966 became chairman of SNCC. On June, he made his famous Black Power speech. Carmichael called for "black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, and to build a sense of community". He also advocated that African Americans should form and lead their own organizations and urged a complete rejection of the values of American society. The following year Carmichael joined with Charles V. Hamilton to write the book, Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America (1967). Some leaders of civil rights groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), rejected Carmichael's ideas and accused him of black racism. Carmichael also adopted the slogan of "Black is Beautiful" and advocated a mood of black pride and a rejection of white values of style and appearance. This included adopting Afro hairstyles and African forms of dress. Carmichael began to criticize Martin Luther King and his ideology of nonviolence. He eventually joined the Black Panther Party where he became "honorary prime minister". Carmichael was adamantly against allowing whites into the black liberation movement, explaining whites cannot relate to the black experience and have an intimidating effect on blacks; a position that stirs opposition within thePanthers.When Carmichael denounced United States involvement in the Vietnam War, his passport was confiscated and held for ten months. When his passport was returned, he moved with his wife, Miriam Makeba, to Guinea, where he wrote the book, Stokely Speaks: Black Power Back to Pan-Africanism (1971). Carmichael, who adopted the name, Kwame Ture, also helped to establish the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and worked as an aide to Guinea's prime minister, Sekou Toure. After the death of Toure in 1984 Carmichael was arrested by the new military regime and charged with trying to overthrow the government. However, he only spent three days in prison before being released. Stokely Carmichael died of cancer on 15th November, 1998.
H. Rap Brown
H. Rap Brown was born in Baton Rouge on 4th October 1943. While attending Southern University (1960 to 1964) he joined the civil rights organization, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He became Alabama project director in 1966 and national director of SNCC after Stokely Carmichael left in May, 1967. By 1968 Brown had completely abandoned his pacifist beliefs and joined the Black Panther Party. He quickly developed a reputation for extremist views reflected in his book, Die Nigger Die! (1969). Associated with the rallying call, "Burn, Baby, Burn", Brown was arrested and charged with inciting people to riot and committing arson. He was also accused of importation of a weapon into Louisiana. Imprisoned several
times between 1967 and 1970, Brown was eventually shot and captured by New York City police during an armed robbery. Sentenced to a term of from five to fifteen years in Attica Prison, Brown was paroled in 1976. Converting to Islam, he changed his name to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin. After his release in 1976 Al-Amin became a grocery store owner in Atlanta. He also became leader of the National Ummah, one of America's largest black Muslim groups. In March, 2000,
two police officers, Aldranon English and Ricky Kinchen went to Al-Amin's store to arrest him for theft. Al-Amin opened fire on the officers with an assault rifle. Both officers were wounded. Evidence was produced in court that while Kitchen lay bleeding Al-Amin produced a 9mm handgun and shot him three times. Two years later Al-Amin was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
times between 1967 and 1970, Brown was eventually shot and captured by New York City police during an armed robbery. Sentenced to a term of from five to fifteen years in Attica Prison, Brown was paroled in 1976. Converting to Islam, he changed his name to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin. After his release in 1976 Al-Amin became a grocery store owner in Atlanta. He also became leader of the National Ummah, one of America's largest black Muslim groups. In March, 2000,
two police officers, Aldranon English and Ricky Kinchen went to Al-Amin's store to arrest him for theft. Al-Amin opened fire on the officers with an assault rifle. Both officers were wounded. Evidence was produced in court that while Kitchen lay bleeding Al-Amin produced a 9mm handgun and shot him three times. Two years later Al-Amin was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Fred Hampton
In 1968, Fred Hampton founded and led the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party; he was 20 years old. He was known to all as a charismatic, committedleader who cared about his community. He was a tireless developer of community service programs such as a free breakfast for children program and free medical services clinic. Hampton had become too important, too influential, too outspoken within Chicago - he became a threat to the establishment. It was on December 4, 1969 while everyone was asleep at party headquarters, that Hampton was murdered in a police raid that also killed Mark Clark; Hampton was 21 years old. "Fred Hampton Day" was declared in Chicago in 1990.
Fredrika Newton
Fredrika Newton joined the Black Panther Party as a youth member in 1969. She first met Huey P. Newton in 1970, marrying him eleven years later in 1981. They lived together until Newton's death in 1989 with Ms. Newton establishing the Huey P. Newton Foundation, a non-profit educational organization, in 1993. Serving as the Foundation's President, she operates the community-based programs, which include literacy, voter outreach and health-related components. Ms. Newton also coordinates the high-profile Black Panther Legacy Tour, an Oakland city tour that has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, and NPR.
Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver was born in 1935 in Wabbaseka, near Little Rock, Arkansas. American black militant whose autobiographical volume Soul on Ice (1968) is a classic statement of black alienation in the United States. Cleaver was an inmate of correctional institutions in California almost constantly from his junior high school days until 1966 for crimes ranging from possession of marijuana to assault with intent to murder. While in prison, he supplemented his incomplete education with wide reading and became a follower of the Black Muslim separatist Malcolm X. He also began writing the essays that would eventually be collected in Soul on Ice, and whose publication in Ramparts magazine helped him win parole in 1966. After being paroled, Cleaver met Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, who had just founded the Black Panther Party in Oakland, Calif. Cleaver soon became the party's minister of information. The publication in 1968 of Soul on Ice, a collection of angry memoirs in which Cleaver traced his political evolution while denouncing American racism, made him a leading black radical spokesman. In April 1968, however, he was involved in a shoot-out in Oakland between Black Panthers and police that left one Panther dead and Cleaver and two police officers wounded. Faced with reimprisonment after the shoot-out, Cleaver jumped bail in November 1968 and fled first to Cuba and then to Algeria. Having broken with the Panthers in 1971 and grown disillusioned with communism, Cleaver returned voluntarily to the United States in 1975. The charges against him were dropped in 1979 when he pled guilty to assault in connection with the 1968 shoot-out and was put on five years' probation. In his later years Cleaver proclaimed himself a born-again Christian and a Republican, engaged in various business ventures, and struggled with an addiction to cocaine. He died on May 1, 1998 in Pomona, California.
Kathleen Cleaver
Kathleen Neal was born in Dallas, Texas, on 13th May, 1945. Her father, Ernest Neal, taught sociology at Wiley College before moving to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He later joined the Foreign Service and the family lived in India, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Philippines. Kathleen returned to the United States to finish her education. While studying at Barnard College she became involved in the civil rights movement. In 1967 she left college to work full-time for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The following year she met Eldridge Cleaver and moved from New York to San Francisco to join the Black Panther Party. The couple married on 27th December, 1967. Kathleen Cleaver became the BPP's National Communications Secretary and helped to organize the campaign to get Huey Newton released from prison. She was also the first woman to be appointed to the Black Panthers Central Committee. Kathleen Cleaver became a student at Yale University in August, 1981. She graduated in 1983 with a degree in history. Kathleen divorced Eldridge Cleaver in 1985 and three years later received a law degree from Yale University and began teaching at Emory University in Atlanta. Her book, Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party: A New Look at the Black Panthers and Their Legacy, was published in 2001. She currently teaches Law at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Angela Davis
Angela Davis was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama. She is best known as a radical African American educator and activist for civil rights and other social issues. She knew about racial prejudice from her experiences with discrimination growing up in Alabama. As a teenager, Davis organized interracial study groups, which were broken up by the police. She also knew several of the young African American girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing of 1963. Angela Davis later moved north and went to Brandeis University in Massachusetts where she studied philosophy with Herbert Marcuse. As a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, in the late 1960s, she joined several groups, including the Black Panthers. Davis was catapulted into national prominence in August 1970 when she was put on the FBI's 10 most wanted list for supposedly planning and providing weapons for the escape of George Jackson and other members of the Soledad Brothers [Soledad prison]; she was acquitted in 1972. Throughout her involvement in the civil rights struggle, she was associated with the SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and the US (United Slaves). She has written many books including Angela Davis: An Autobiography, Women, Race, and Class (1980) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) and currently teaches in the History of Consciousness department at University of California, Santa Cruz.
Bobby Hutton
Bobby Hutton was born in 1950. He was only 16 years old when he joined the Black Panther Party in December, 1966. He was arrested in May 1967 when he led a Black Panther march in Sacramento to protest against a new gun bill. The Mulford Act made it illegal to carry guns in public and was a direct response to the Panthers' police patrols in the community. On 6th April, 1968 eight BPP members, including Hutton, Eldridge Cleaver and David Hilliard, were
travelling in two cars when they were ambushed by the Oakland police. Cleaver and Hutton ran for cover and found themselves in a basement surrounded by police. The building was fired upon for over an hour. When a tear-gas canister
was thrown into the basement the two men decided to surrender. Cleaver was wounded in the leg and so Hutton said he would go first. When he left the building with his hands in the air he was shot twelve times by the police and was killed instantly. Over 2,000 people attended his funeral at the Ephesians Church of God in Berkeley, California on 12th April, 1968.
travelling in two cars when they were ambushed by the Oakland police. Cleaver and Hutton ran for cover and found themselves in a basement surrounded by police. The building was fired upon for over an hour. When a tear-gas canister
was thrown into the basement the two men decided to surrender. Cleaver was wounded in the leg and so Hutton said he would go first. When he left the building with his hands in the air he was shot twelve times by the police and was killed instantly. Over 2,000 people attended his funeral at the Ephesians Church of God in Berkeley, California on 12th April, 1968.
Elaine Brown
In 1974 Brown became the Chairman of the Black Panther Party upon the expulsion of Bobby Seale. She soon became Minister of Defense, replacing Newton who had begun to disintegrate the party from the inside. It was under her leadership that the party's survival programs grew at their most rapid pace and the original ideas of the party hit their strongest mark. In 1992 she wrote A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story, which has been regarded as one of the best books on the Black Panther party & movement.