Bryan Shih

Rather than focus on the rhetoric of the Black Panthers leadership or their persecution by the FBI, this book focuses on the real work of the party, which has not received the attention it deserves, lost in the violence. The day-to-day activities were selling the BPP newspaper, leading political education classes, working to help oppressed black communities across the nation by providing free services, such as free breakfast for children, free medical clinics, free rides to visit people in prison, free ambulance service, free legal services. In addition, the book speaks extensively to the inclusive nature of their activities as they sought to build links to anyone opposed to the discrimination faced by minorities in the 1960's.

Structured as an oral history, there are 45 brief stories (of 2-4 pages and a recent photo) by former "rank and file" BPP members, recalling why they joined the Panthers, what they did as members, and what they learned. The common themes were the BPP helped them gain control over their lives and make their communities better. Most are still doing the latter.… (meer)

"The Panther ideological platform, not constricted to narrowly defined black nationalism, was broad enough to inspire and welcome non-black people, while simultaneously affirming both racial and ethnic pride in a way that did not demand xenophobic pandering", page 78, essay written by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar.

Man, if you had told me a few years ago that the Black Panther Party (previously the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a terrorist organization, I maybe wouldn't have looked further, but I'll be damned if this book wasn't illuminating.

The FBI treated the Panthers like a terorist organization, but the only reason I can think of for this is that the FBI is a bunch or racist assholes, who additionally took incredible ideas (like free breakfast for kids, for example) from the BPP and not only discredited the source but refused to give proper citations. Fuck that noise.

Those who object and say that the BPP is a terrorist organization because it put guns in the hands of their members forget that the NRA does the same thing for white people today, and clearly didn't know that training was required before you got a gun as part of your membership.

In case it wasn't clear, I highly recommend this book be required reading for anyone high school and above. Mild profanity is used but it isn't forced, and the topic is incredibly relevant, still, today.… (meer)