How Did The Black Panther Party Contribute To The Civil Rights Movement

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The Civil Rights movement was aimed towards gaining equal rights for African Americans and battling for social justice. African Americans struggled to achieve Civil Rights equal to those of whites. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist and preacher of the civil rights. His belief of nonviolence set the tone of the movement throughout the world and led others to join the fight for social justice. As a result to the movement, several organizations were derived including the Black Panther Party (BPP). They took a more militant approach to the Civil Rights Movement instead of following Dr. King’s more peaceful protests. The BPP reasoned that there needed to be a more militant response to the Civil Rights. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale …show more content…

It is the framework or building blocks of the Black Panthers. Members of the Panther Party believe in equal opportunities for education as well as jobs. Additionally, they believe in being able to determine their own destiny and pursuing their own dreams without anyone or anything holding them back. As seen in the Panther’s manifesto it calls for “power to determine the destiny of our black community.” The original Black Panther Party’s intentions before they took a militant stance was to not commit crimes because it would lead loss of credibility and demise. However, as time passed the BPP they felt that violence was required. They set forth to show what was happening to urban blacks and presented to people around the nation to garner …show more content…

The Mulford Bill, had it been passed, would have banned the showing of loaded guns in public places. The demonstration of power from the BPP encouraged others to join the party. Huey’s popularity grew through his false arrest for the murder of John Frey, an Oakland police officer. Frey and Newton had a dispute after Huey was given a written citation. Huey stayed in jail for two years, which was enough time for the Black Panther Party to grow by means of the “Free Huey!” campaign. During Huey’s years in jail, he became a revolutionary theorist from a cell and had supporters engaged whenever he spoke, they always listened. The Black Panther Party membership increased rapidly due to the Free Huey campaign and the assassination of Martin Luther King

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