[News] Mumia - 40 years after: The Black Panther Party

Thu May 11 11:55:46 EDT 2006

40 YEARS AFTER: THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
_________________________________________________________________________

By Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Col. Writ. 4/30/06]
Source: Afrikan Frontline Network, nattyreb at comcast.net
- Sunday, 7 May 2006 -

Amazingly, it has been 40 years since the Black Panther Party was founded.

Some sticklers to detail will point to the fact that it was in 
October, not May, of 1966, that the Black Panther Party was founded 
by two young men in Oakland, California, named Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

That's true; but that's not the end of the story.

The late African nationalist, Kwame Ture (formerly known as Stokely 
Carmichael), when a leader of SNCC (or Student Non-Violent 
Coordinating Committee), published a month before Huey and Bobby 
joined together, an article detailing SNCC's efforts to organize both 
in the South and the Northeast. In a September, 1966 article 
published in the "New York Review of Books", Ture wrote:

"SNCC today is working in both North and South on programs of voter 
registration and independent political organizing. In some places, 
such as Alabama, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, 
independent organizing under the black panther symbol is in progress. 
The creation of a national "black panther party" must come about; it 
will take time to build, and it is much too early to predict its 
success. We have no infallible master plan and we make no claim to 
exclusive knowledge of how to end racism; different groups will work 
in their own different ways. SNCC cannot spell out the full logistics 
of self-determination, but it can address itself to the problem by 
helping black communities define their needs, realize their strength, 
and go into action along a variety of lines which they must choose 
for themselves. Without knowing all the answers, it can address 
itself to the basic problem of poverty, to the fact that in Lowndes 
County 86 white families own 90 per cent of the land. What are black 
people in that county going to do for jobs; where are they going to 
get money? There must be reallocation of land, of money. [From: 
Carmichael, Stokely. Stokely Speaks: Black Power Back to 
Pan-Africanism (New York: Vintage, 1965/1971). p. 22.]

It was in fact, SNCC's efforts in Lowndes County, Alabama, that 
inspired Huey to use the name 'Black Panther Party.'

But, it's been 40  years. It's safe to say that much of the history 
of Huey's Party remains hidden history. This isn't rhetoric -- it's fact.

One year ago, I received a wealth of letters from college students 
who read my book, "WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther 
Party" (South End, 2004). Here, scores of letters, from a wide 
variety of students from various racial and ethnic groups, almost all 
of whom expressed shock and surprise, not just at the unknown history 
of the Party, but of the history of Black history overall. One 
writer, Shanara P. noted, "... most of the facts you wrote in your 
book were never taught in the schools I went to."

Wayne S. wrote: "'The Beginnings of the Black Panther Party and the 
History it Sprang From' and 'The Deep Roots of the Struggle for Black 
Liberation' should become amendments to the history books which 
choose to leave out the violent uprisings against slavery. If I had 
not read these chapters, I could have been a graduate-level student 
about to get a masters degree but would have absolutely no idea of 
one of the catalysts of the Civil War, such as the Christiana 
rebellion. This is just one example of the pseudo factual history 
books which are being implanted around our schools."

Another student, Jon M., wrote: "I feel cheated because this is the 
first time I have heard such stories."

As a writer and historian, I was, of course, delighted by such 
letters. But as a former member of the Party, it was eye-opening at 
how invisible the Party has become with the passage of time.

But why should we be surprised? What did we expect?

The Party played a major role, in its time, to organize our People 
into resistance to the State. For many millions of youth, Black 
History means reading about (or hearing boring lectures about) 
Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., and perhaps Malcolm X. 
It rarely goes deeper than that.

Before this generation goes on to its ancestors, we should, we must, 
do our level best to pass on our lessons, so that they live in our 
people's minds and lives.

There is, already, a new formation that has arisen, which calls 
itself New Afrikan Black Panther Party, which has prison chapters in 
several states. Unlike other formations which have used the BPP name, 
these youngsters actually read and study the works of Huey P. Newton, 
George Jackson, and other leading Party members. The struggle continues!

Mr. Jamal's new work, WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther 
Party, is now available from South End Press, Cambridge, MA. 
(http://www.southendpress.org).

Check out Mumia's NEW book: "Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of 
the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People": 
http://www.africanworld.com.

These are VERY SERIOUS TIMES for political activists in this country 
and around the world. Get full details and keep updated by reading 
ACTION ALERTS!! at http://www.mumia.org and http://www.movenet.org.

To download Mp3's of Mumia's commentaries visit 
http://www.prisonradio.org or http://www.fsrn.org

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

CHECK http://www.mumia.org FOR IMPORTANT ACTION ALERTS!

PLEASE CONTACT: International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ; P.O. 
Box 19709; Philadelphia, PA 19143; Tel: 215-476-8812; Fax: 
215-476-6180: E-mail: icffmaj at aol.com AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
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