The Black Panther Movement

October 15, 1966

The Oakland Chapter of the Black Panther Party

Within the Black community, Black people fell victim to disenfranchisement. In response, The Lowndes County Freedom Organization, also known as The Black Panther Party of Lowndes County Alabama, was established to bring Black people together to secure their basic rights. One of the biggest rights they fought for was the right to vote within the South. This led to the creation of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense also known as, for short, The Black Panther Party. The Chapter in Oakland, California was developed on October 15, 1966, by two men who were students at Merritt College together, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

The Panthers of the Oakland Chapter were meant to legally patrol the police and put them under surveillance. They did this by arming themselves with weapons and keeping their distance between themselves and the police. This resulted in fewer police brutality cases. In response, the FBI viewed the Party as their enemy and wanted them to shut down. As stated by Huey P. Newton, a black panther is an animal who will not attack. If attacked, the black panther backs up until he has no more room to back. Then, the black panther will strike out at his assailant and wipe him out. This is why both parties in California and Alabama decided to take on a Black Panther as their symbol.

Together, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created the Manifesto of the Black Panther Party, called the 10-point Program

1. We want the freedom. We want the power to determine the destiny of our black community.
2. We want full employment for our people.
3. We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our black community.
4. We want decent housing, fit for the shelter of human beings.
5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society.
6. We want all black men to be exempt from military service.
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and the murder of black people.
8. We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county, and city prisons and jails.
9. We want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from the black communities.
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace.

These 10 points were created to develop the goals and path of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Each member of the Party was expected to live by these points and practice them every day.

September 7, 1968

Party Rules

1. No party member can have narcotics or weed in his possession while doing party work
2. Any party member found shooting narcotics will be expelled from this party.
3. No party member can be drunk while doing daily party work.
4. No party member will violate rules relating to office work, general meetings of the Black Panther Party, and meetings of the Black Panther Party, Anywhere.
5. No party member will point or fire a weapon unnecessarily or accidentally at anyone other than the enemy
6. No party member can join any other army or force other than the Black Liberation Army.
7. No party member can have a weapon in his possession while drunk or loaded off narcotics or weed.
8. No party member will commit any crimes against other members of Black people at all, and cannot steal or steal from the people; not even a needle and a piece of thread.
9. When arrested Black Panther Party members will give only their name and address and will sign nothing, Legal first aid must be understood by all Party members.

These rules were published in the newspaper on September 7, 1968, and were used to help guide Party members. These rules were to be followed by every member of the Black Panther Party and each member must know these rules. This includes the Central Committee, Central and Local Staff, along with the Partys national, state, and local captions. Members of the party are expected to report any member who violates these rules. Any violation of any of these rules will result in disciplinary action decided by the national, state, and local committees and staff

1969

Norma Mtume Joins the Party

Norma Mtume was born in 1949 in San Diego, CA. But she had moved when she was about four years old to South Central Los Angeles. She attended college at California State University in Los Angeles and became involved with the BSU, Black Student Union, which is also where she met her husband, Albert Armour. Norma then joined the Black Panther Party in 1969 when her husbands office was raided by the police, he was beaten, sent to the hospital, and sent to jail. She started working in the breakfast program, then started typing for Officer of the Day, and then she ran the health clinic here as coordinator / Director in L.A. She left the party in 1977 because she was expelled by Huey. He had her leave because when he returned from Cuba after fleeing there for three years to escape being tried for assault and multiple murders, he learned that there was a witness to one of his crimes. He sent out members to murder her but they were not successful, As a result of this, this led to Mtume had her home raided by the police sent to jail, and was kicked out of the party by Newton. She believes that instead of using the Partys resources to help her fight her case, he kicked her out so that he could use them to fight his.

1971

Survival Program: Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation

The Black Panther Party created multiple clinics for the Black community who were not able to have access to or afford to go to one to check on their health or get treatment. They did this because the United States Government would not due to racism. It was not a priority to the Government and as a result of this, they raised less than $100,000 in funding. The Sickle-Cell Anemia Research Foundation is one of the programs developed by the Black Panther Party. Sickle cell is a rare blood disease found mostly in African Americans in which red blood cells form into a sickle shape and its cells die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells that can block blood flow causing pain, infection, or death. Within the United States, it is the most common genetic disease. The program was formed in 1971 and its purpose was to educate people about the disease and gather doctors to test citizens, study it, and find treatments and cures. The talk of Sickle-Cell Anemia grew when John Lennon and Yoko Ono invited Black Panther member, Bobby Seale, to talk on his talk show, The Mike Douglas Show, which was popular at the time.