Black Panther Party Essay

The Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party was founded in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. This party was initially established for black nationalism and to guard African American communities against acts of police brutality. The Black Panther Party was seen as militants and a group of people who sought war with the police. They were also seen as the “single greatest threat to national security” by the F.B.I. The party experienced biased treatment from the media and was not given an upright and rational representation of the party on mainstream platforms, which made them look like villains. Black nationalism can be seen from three perspectives which are political, economic, and

Sabrina Serac says, “The historiography of the movement remains clouded by misperception and bias.” The media publications took advantage of the frightening image of the party. But the Black Panther Party was not all about violence, they served the community in many different ways. Local divisions of the party, mostly led by women, focused attention on survival programs for the community. They would organize free breakfast programs for about 20000 children a day and provide free food to families and the elderly. They subsidized schools, public transportation, health clinics, legal aid offices, clothing giveaways, and sickle cell testing centers in multiple cities. These projects contributed real support to low-income communities and gained support for the party. They also advocated for community reform. Even though this was meant as an answer to police brutality, the party spread to advocate for more social reforms. The party also campaigned for prison reform. It was not only news outlets that gave a negative representation of the party, but also the entertainment industry. An example of the news outlets disseminating false information is, in December 1969, the Los Angeles Police Department invaded the headquarters of the Black Panther Party so as to seize the party’s firearms. Based on Seale’s story, The LAPD appeared with a Special Weapons and Tactics team, multiple officers, about five thousand rounds of ammo, a tank, grenades, gas masks, and a helicopter. At first, the party resisted the attack but after a couple of hours, the party decided to surrender. But according to the news article issued by Los Angeles Times, the police handled the operation with force because of protection against militants, claiming the “Blacks used an arsenal of automatic weapons, shotguns, and grenades.” This was the opposite of the party’s perspective but