Comparison Of The Beats And Black Panther Party

Our state’s history is intricately intertwined with the recurring theme of an emergence of a counter-cultural movement as a response to an overbearing dominant culture in power. The 1960s provided great advocacy for people who were historically “unheard” and “unseen” by California, a place many felt distant from despite it being their home. The time gave rise to the Beats and Black Panther Party, groups who both catalyzed change by utilizing contrasting methods to attack the fundamental framework and institutions of the state. In the fight for the liberation of marginalized voices and the raw, American psyche by the Beats and the struggle to free the oppressed, physical body from its confines through efforts by the Black Panther Party, both

The menacing hurdles the Black Panther Party faced can be seen through violent conflicts planned against them: “FBI operatives forged documents and paid provocateurs to promote violent conflicts between Black Panther leaders - as well as between the Party and other black nationalist organizations - and congratulated themselves when these conflicts yielded the killing of Panthers” (Bloom 6). The fact the FBI, an organized force much bigger than the Black Panthers, got involved shows they felt threatened. They were so dedicated to upholding the present system that gave them power, that they were willing to spark and watch the demise of their fellow human beings. In fact, they put their own money into inciting violence within the organization and were proud of themselves when their efforts led to the killing of Panthers, as if they were rewarding themselves with a prize for a game of killing they created. On a smaller scale, local California police forces seemed to act the same way: “People have seen or read about attacks on us, about people getting arrested, and brothers and sisters getting killed and murdered by the fascist cops and criminal agents working for the avaricious,

Their reasoning for doing so is made evident in the following: “At the center of their politics was the practice of armed self-defense against the police. While revolutionary ideas could be easily ignored, widespread confrontations between young armed black people and the police could not” (Bloom 13). Although nonviolent confrontation, consisting of “revolutionary ideas,” was suitable for the Beats because their obstacles related to the human mind, the Beats recognized that the only solution to their problem was the “practice of armed self-defense.” While pleas to create change could easily be ignored by the government, there would be no way to overlook physical aggressions made by the Black Panther Party. The Black Panthers were mindful of the impression of Black people because of the historical implications of racism in America, and used this fear of the “other” to their advantage. They wanted to strike fear in the people who wanted to see them perish. The Black Panthers focused their attention on organizing around major institutions: “This is why our free clinics, Liberation Schools, and our Breakfast for Children programs are so significant. They are a means to serve, educate, unify, and organize our people, to organize the youth, and let them know that in this time, in our time, we must seize our right to