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The Black Panther Party

“Us living as we do upside-down
And the new word to have is revolution
People don't even want to hear the preacher spill or spiel
Because God's whole card has been thoroughly piqued
And America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey
……………..America was a bastard
And a rapist known as freedom, free-DOOM
Democracy, liberty, and justice were revolutionary code names……….
WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA?
WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA?
WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA?
WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA?” - Gil Scott Heron
Freedom or free-doom is the pejorative option that confronts many group and individuals in this society such as The Black Panther Party. For centuries, exploitation and socio- economic decay of certain ethnic group has continually been indigenous tool of European colonialism with present day society reflecting this same ideology. The economic substructure often illustrate important core concepts within society, the mean of production is ultimate detriment of all of aspect and all its populous dynamics. The capitalistic nature of American society in juxtaposition to the exploitative mean of production is unsatisfactory for many and truly beneficial for some. Many individuals being exploited believed this to be self-evident, with labor and taxation being the oppressors mean of production. To truly understand to political organization of a party one understand its economic intention.
The way in which history has unfolded has been purely economic; the mitigation of the black population in has been systemic. The canonicity of slavery and Jim Crow laws detailed the contagion of discrimination intrinsic to American capitalism. Many freedom groups during the period of slavery and the civil rights movement exalted their manifestos of liberation in an attempt quell their indignation towards the system of oppression that they were very much used to. The civil rights movement featured many prominent and charismatic leaders who usher in new era of civil disobedience through non- violent demonstration.
Many leaders of civil rights were killed or imprisoned with much of progress derail and many of its constituents adrift and misaligned with the environment that birthed them. Many of those individuals who confronted their oppressors non-violently were confronted with the very same tactics they tried to so desperately to avoid. Michael E. Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University expounds on the prominent leader Martin Luther King and his death: "You cannot hear the name Martin Luther King, Jr. and not think of death," Dyson writes. "You might hear the words 'I have a dream,' but they will doubtlessly only serve to underscore an image of a simple motel balcony, a large man made small, a pool of blood. For as famous as he may have been in life, it is and was death that ultimately defined him"(Dyson). The Movement no different, it undoubtedly lost momentum with the assassination of two of its most prominent leaders in Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Both leaders share a common goal for their constituents. The two in comparison were polarizing figure juxtaposed to the manifestos in with they fought for. Despite the death of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and the passage of civil rights through the 14th amendment, many black faced reprisal and subjection. In 1966 a new movement arose separating itself from once non-violent civil disobedience; The Black Panther Party for self-defense was assembled, founded by Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale. The Party main objective was to combat police brutality in minority communities. No revolutionary group threatens the ruling class of the elite like the Black Panthers during the mid-60’s and early 70’s. They threaten the pernicious dynamics of capitalism with militant, socialism while demanding for wealth redistribution.
“The system cannot produce freedom for the Afro American. It is impossible for this system, this economic system, this political system, this social system, this system period.” — Malcolm X (Enisuoh). The Ten point program delineated the demands and beliefs of the revolutionary party: Full employment, exclusion from military service and redistribution of wealth throughout the black community in compensation for slavery and mass murdering of blacks. The Ten point program is structured similarly to the US Constitution: It expands on the first section, making demands of what will be deemed sufficient payment for the injustices committed against the Black Community. “We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community”. The second portion of the doctrine details the beliefs and hopes of the Political party: “We believe that Black People will not be free until we are able to determine our own destiny.” Owning one destiny would entail a level of socioeconomic mobility that to which people of color and economically impoverished people was deprived due to very nature of capitalism. “We want an end to the robbery by the white men of our Black Community. We believe that this racist government has robbed us, and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. Socialist threatened the very fabric of which this society was built upon ((Baggins).
The economic dynamics of socialism stress the collective ownership of production and distribution. Instead of production being characterized by profit and potential earning items and services determined by their utility, this clearly contradicts (threaten) the foundation of our current socio economic enterprise. During the early stages of the Panther relevance, American was dealing with the ominous miasma of the Vietnam War and the growing radicalization and protest of the populous. The Black Panther catalyzed fear within the ruling class with their alliance with oppressed groups and "progressive" organizations. White youth were in rebellion against the Vietnam War and at the time. “Forty-five percent of blacks fighting in Vietnam said they would be prepared to take up arms to secure justice at home”.
The Black Panther organization routinely endeavored in community projects such as free breakfast for inner city children. Some chapters of Black Party offered drug rehabilitation programs for people within the community ("Black Panther Party"). In spite of various social programs, the Panthers were the target provocation and dismantlement by the United States Government. J Edgar Hoover lamented the grave threat posed by the revolutionary group, "the Black Panther Party, without question, represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country". The FBI began to use undercover agents to penetrate different chapters of the organization while being a provocateur of violence and dissention. Many member were gunned down many were jailed. Ultimately, The Panthers were unsuccessful in their “Ten Point Program” list of demands. However, blacks today enjoy “some” of the splendors societal mobility. Some people say integration cause more harm for blacks than segregation; that a different argument for an entirely different day. The Black Panther Party was by far the most polarizing revolutionary group in America. The juxtaposition of cultural romanticism and the grave national security threat illustrated the US government created an interesting dynamics for many observers. Socialism, the dangerous idea of sharing!

In this paper I used the MLA citation style. DECLARATION: I am familiar with the Georgia State policy on academic honesty and I have followed it. I have discussed aspects of this paper with [Michael Archie].
Works Cited

Baggins, Brian. "Tag Archives: Black Panthers." The Marxist Leninist. N.p., Dec.-Jan. 2002. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
"Black Panther Party". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Dyson, Michael E. "Dyson Explores How MLK's Death Changed America."NPR. N.p., 03 Apr. 2008. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68134/Black-Panther-Party>.
Enisuoh, Andrea. "The Black Panther Party." Socialist Alternative. N.p., 5 Apr. 2007. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
"Kanye West (Ft. Gil Scott-Heron) – Who Will Survive in America." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.

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