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| X'Zashea Lawson-Mayes Class of 2018 |
Instead of making
assumptions about facets of African American history, research it. As a black
person, I sometimes find myself clueless about things my people did seventy
years ago that significantly impacted the rights I have today. After gaining
knowledge on the true history of the underrated Black Panther Party, I decided
to share my knowledge with you.
When the Black Panther Party is
mentioned, the term radical is always an adjective used to describe them—considering
that is exactly what they were. Society has twisted the definition of radical
to have a negative connotation that means to brash, forceful, crazy, and
boundless. The Black Panther Party did display some of those characteristics,
but at its core, it embodied the true definition of radical which Google
dictionary says is “relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of
something; far-reaching or thorough.” While many saw the party as brash
forceful black people trying to disrupt the “peaceful” flow of things, in
reality the PBS special, Black Panthers:
Vanguard of the Revolution, showed viewers they merely wanted to change the
fundamental nature of black inferiority to empowering African Americans to
fully be themselves, help one another, and build up.
Traditional history books do not
mention the Black Panther Party. More commonly, the incorrect image of the
party is carried on by those who fell victim to the false accusations made by
the government that the Black Panther Party was a terrorist group. When the
image the FBI wanted engrained in the minds of Americans is removed, it is
apparent that the Black Panther Party was dedicated to improving the lives of
African Americans. In the movie, America had the opportunity to witness how the
group broke gender barriers and allowed women to be on the same level as men,
how men and women got together and routinely made meals for hungry children in
their neighborhoods, and how African Americans truly supported one another.
Unfortunately, those who truly needed to watch the movie to see a different
perspective of the Panthers did not tune in.
The filmmakers do not shy away from
exposing how the FBI was more of a terrorist organization than the Panthers
ever were. The Black Panther Party was labeled as a terrorist organization for
defending themselves against police brutality and arming themselves against
hatred groups—they retaliated to violence and did not incite it. The FBI on the
other hand planted evidence to justify killing members of the Party—to justify
killing innocent Americans. Panthers also teamed up with white and
Latino/Hispanic groups since they all were working toward a similar purpose and
had the support of leaders from countries like North Korea and Vietnam.
People’s irrational fears of the Black Panther Party were triggered more
through illegal and unethical means orchestrated by the FBI and police and less
on their true actions.
With the Black Panther Party,
African Americans across the country had something to believe in and strive
for. They had a support system which encouraged them to fully be themselves and
to fight to live in a country that accepted that. The letters written from
young people to Huey P. Newton inquiring about how to join the party when they
matured reinvented the notion of black pride.
The decline of the Black Panther
Party was not sugarcoated or downplayed in the movie. Huey P. Newton was shown
painted as what he was and the accounts retold by Black Panthers were
uncensored in regards to him. Would the Party have survived if he had not been
released from prison or would the Party have become too violent to progress? I
find it interesting that Fred Hampton, regarded highly among most all the
Panthers as a great leader and speaker, was killed by the police (orchestrated
by the FBI) but Huey was not. As a conspiracy theorist, I believe the FBI knew
how valuable Hampton was to the movement and how Newton was more of an idolized
figure that could be manipulated.
The Black Lives Matter Movement
mirrors the Black Panther Party’s principles in that it strives to
systematically improve the lives of African Americans through community
programs and political awareness. The use of social media to advance the
agenda, the surge of the natural hair movement, and the obsession of melanin
are all similarities held by the two. Furthermore, both movements want whites
to understand that their mission is not to destroy the white race, but to
improve the black race; however, both were met with the same opposition and
label as a terrorist group. The main difference is there is no true unity or
hierarchy within the Black Lives Matter Movement, which is essential in
connecting “members” across the country.
I grew up in a predominantly white
town in Western Kentucky where blackness is suppressed in education, style, and
living. After coming to college, I came into my own as an African American
female and I began to wake up and learn the history of my people that has been
selectively taught to me. It is by no mistake that the truth of the Black
Panther Party is not included in the minute section of Civil Rights curriculum.
America has relentlessly fought to restrict African Americans from embracing
and utilizing the power they have, but as more and more African Americans
embrace and fight for rights, like those in the Ten Point Program, the
fundamental nature of being American will change. We will be vanguards. We will
be radical.