Black History Month Spotlight

The Black Panther Party (originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American revolutionary organization established to promote self-sufficiency and self-advocacy, and by extension self-defense within the African-American community. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international fame and is considered to be one of the most significant social, political, and cultural movements in U.S. history. Founded in Oakland, California, by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in 1966, following the assassination of human rights activist and Black nationalist Malcolm X, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality in the interest of African-American justice. The party also had an official newspaper The Black Panther that first circulated that year. By 1968, the party had expanded into many cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Diego, Denver, Newark, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The group created a Ten-Point Program, a document that called for freedom from oppression, equal opportunity, employment, decent housing, education, justice and peace.

The most significant points that stand out to me are:
1. WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.
and
5. WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.