Civil Rights Movement: The Black Panthers

One of the last waves of the Civil Rights movement was the Black Panther Party. However, the backlash against it came when the Party radicalized its views. The Black Panther Party has become stigmatized as being the ‘evil" counterpart of the civil rights movement . The Party became notorious for their misogynistic, sexist and violent acts. However, The Black Panther's sought for Black Nationalism, Black Power, and Racial freedom. Huey P. Newton, one of the leaders of the party, employed Marxist theology to shape the Panther's views. The Panthers ten point manifesto became their guideline for racial freedom. Unlike Martin Luther King's, Civil Rights, The Panthers utilized self-defense as a strategy to attain equality. Self-defense, afros, berets,

The Panther’s depicted discontent with the police system by carrying law books as wells as guns to disputes between officers and Black community members. Huey P. Newton was known for carrying around a law book and reading the police the rights that are given to every U.S Citizen. One of the goals of The Panthers was to educate Blacks on their rights. For example, the panthers strongly advocated for the right to bear arms. The Panthers saw violent revolution as an important tool needed to bridge the gap between American society and Black culture. “The Black Panthers sought to prime the masses for revolution by revealing to them the injustice of US capitalism.” However, self-defense wasn’t the only mechanism The Panther’s employed. Community service evoked a sense of Black pride; Blacks didn’t have to rely on whites for the basic necessities. Unlike Civil Rights, The panthers did not focus on joining American society. Rather, they focused on creating an independent Black

The Panthers were often seen as disruptive, violent, and a nuisance to mainstream society. However the Black Power Movement was created to teach Blacks to have pride in their culture. Leaders of the movement such as Newton and Cleaver wanted to teach Blacks that violent resistance was necessary for the survival of the Black population. In order to gain equality and freedom Blacks had to revolt against the oppressor. However, Self-defense was not the only strategy employed by The Panthers. Evoking a sense of pride through community service was another important goal. The Panther’s built followers as well as created a sense of security in the Black community through the service programs. Nonetheless, many accounts fail to recognize the panthers for their services. To many individuals in the black community The Panthers were a God sent. The panther’s gave new hope, where civil rights seemed to