Essay Sample about Black Panther Party

The Black Panther Party was a political organization that originated in 1966 with the desire for black people to have the same economic and social opportunities as white Americans. The Party’s main objective was to fight against police brutality, capitalism, and the draft. By encouraging self defense, providing Black families with food drives, and establishing the Ten Point Program, the Black Panther Party helped combat America’s inequitable social system and improve the quality of life for Black Americans.

On October 5, 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale wanted to “help out the brothers and sisters who were facing aggression from the police”, so they established the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (Pearson 13). The Party’s goals were rooted in Malcolm X’s ideas and the Black Power movement, which both taught self-reliance. To gain popularity and support, they adopted the symbol of the panther, which was symbolic for black power in the ’60s. The Party saw no progression in the Civil Rights Movements and wanted to take action. The two then gathered a bunch of young black in their community to patrol neighborhoods, believing doing so would give a better chance at protecting their communities from the police. They also believed that peaceful protests were ineffective and their party’s ideas must be active to see change. The Party promoted Black controlled and owned institutions, believing they would help improve the community’s social and economic problems. Class unity was also important to the Party, for many middle class black people acted against the interest of those less fortunate, which ruined their reputation. As well as (...), The Black Panther Party set goals that helped them stay on track and improve their community, one of which was the creation of the Ten-Point Program, a list of goals that would eventually help the Black community thrive.

The Ten-Point Program was created in 1967 and illustrated how the government continuously failed the black community, especially through important documents such as the Constitution, which should have been considered as necessities. The Program is composed of a list of wants and beliefs. Many were widely shared ideas like black people deserve to be put on trial with a jury as their peers yet one like an end to capitalism in the black community is nearly impossible due to everything around the U.S. was based in capitalism. Education, housing, an end to the murder of black people, land, food, and clothing were all things listed in the program that one could take a look at and be surprised that some did not have access to this (blackpast.org). The Black Panther Party actively tried to make things better so little boys and girls did not have to experience the same injustice others had. 

In order to build a community with self-determination, the Black Panthers started community services, with their first being the 1966 Free Breakfast for Children Program. The program was focused on black children who went to school hungry (blackpast.org). The lunch programs at school offered reduced lunches but not free ones. The program grew and soon many “local businesses, churches and community-based organizations donated… space for the program and nutritious food like eggs, grits, toast, and milk”(blackpast.org). In 1969, the Panthers helped out more than 20,000 children and by 1971, about 36 cities had a breakfast program. Although it came to an end due to pressure from the FBI including raids, forged letters encouraging people not to donate, and rumors that the food was poisoned, the program helped Congress in 1977 give access to free lunch in all public schools. This program was seen as highly influential and 

Many of the goals were obtainable by fellow Panthers, so they tried their best to help out their community through survival programs. The Panthers ran food programs for families, the elderly, and many other activities like sponsoring schools and health clinics, which helped low-income families (National Museum of African American History and Culture). Advocating for other social reforms than police brutality, overall, improved the lives of all. Although they did all of these activities, there was still a need to address the disproportionate number of Black murders.

In addition to establishing numerous welfare programs, the Ten-Point Program also sought to address the ongoing issue of police brutality. They then began to practice their second amendment, which was the right to bear arms. The party then began to organize Black self-defense groups that defended their community against racist oppression. These movements attracted more members, illustrating how “the Panthers dared to ‘pick up the gun’ demonstrated courage” (Calloway). In a journal article interview with an anonymous member of the Black Panther Party, he stated that “although the police is in the arm of the establishment, if he…is wrong…if he, say, shoots an unarmed man… the black community as a whole should take up arms to defend the life of this unarmed brother” (Swaim 29). This same panther later described that they still harassed them but did not murder unarmed men. Many police officers were unaware of how powerful the gun was and only saw it as a weapon that created fear to others. Yet, when it was put in the hands of a Panther it created the same fear they brung to others. The Party would then send legally armed teams to watch over all police activity and would stand there until it was over. The intent was not to be violent or start chaos, but was to defend themselves if they needed.

To this day, the Black Panther Party has still had a huge impact on one’s activism. One can now monitor police abuse with a cell phone that can record every single thing the cop is doing or saying.  There are no justifications when it comes to evidence and footage of the whole event. One of the problems addressed in the Ten-Point Program was for the freedom of all black men in all prisons and jails due to them not having a fair court trial. Today, there is still a high incarceration rate among Black males across America. However, many still find injustice in trials when there are different people from different backgrounds being accused and there are still many more systemic issues and racial barriers that our nation needs to break. The Black Panther Party has had a tremendous effect on activism in many ways, and to this day still created a united front that seeks for equality for all.