The Black Panther was the official newspaper of the Black Panther Party from 1967 until the party's dissolution in 1980. Featured in this collection are almost 30 photocopied articles from The Black Panther, drawn from Frankye Adams-Johnson's Black Panther Party collection at the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. Communications Secretary Kathleen Cleaver ponders the idea of Black people's rights and how White people react to them. She wonders if revolutionary Whites are just pretending to be revolutionary as a way to divide Black people.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. Communications Secretary Kathleen Cleaver argues that unity amongst Black people is necessary to fight oppression and that the use of violence in the service of freedom, justice, and peace is the only way to put an end to the violence of racism against “the Black colony of Afro-America.”
A newspaper article from The Black Panther (unknown date) explaining the Black Panther Party's Ten Point Program. The article is credited to the Ministry of Information, Belinda, Oakland, California. The author gives a detailed explanation of each of the points of the Ten Point Program that lies at the core of Black Panther ideology.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther by Moak Teba of the Chicago Black Panther Party. The article describes acts of violence against the people in Chicago and argues for taking that same violence to the oppressors. The story centers on the Panthers’ support of the Black P. Stone Nation, one of Chicago’s most notorious street gangs.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther detailing the importance of women in the Black Panther Party and calling on other women to find their strength to fight for liberation. The article was written by Joan Byrd and Afeni Shakur, two of the New York 21 who were arrested in 1969 for allegedly planning the bombing of buildings in New York City.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther by Deputy Communications Secretary Judi Douglass recounting instances from around the country where workers successfully organized and participated in strikes, showing that the power does lie in the hands of the people.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther by June Culberson about the historical and worldly context of women in revolutionary movements. She writes that examples by women from China, Cuba, and Vietnam shows that women can and should be on equal footing with men in the revolutionary actions of the Black Panther Party.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. Lois Newton, a member of the Black Panther Party, was beaten and arrested by New York police causing the loss of her unborn baby on November 28, 1970. This is her report on her meeting in jail with Angela Davis who was arrested in October 1970 on charges of kidnapping and murder; she was later acquitted.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton lays out the philosophy of the Black Panther party through a Marxist lens. He highlights the unique ways the Black Panther Party serves the specific needs of colonized Black people in the United States and that the party is constantly adapting.
A newspaper article by Lieutenant of Health of the Corona Branch, NY chapter of the Black Panther Party, Diahnne Jenkins, from The Black Panther about the Black Panther programs such as free breakfast, free health care, and free clothing drives. She writes that these programs are all a part of organizing and educating the masses.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther by Jackie Harper, Branch Secretary of the Corona Branch of the Black Panther Party. She tells the story of Robert “Big Bob” Heard who was framed for assault by the police and declares that the women of the Party will stand in solidarity with their brothers in the Party against the racist police forces.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther describing an incident in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where two pregnant women suffered injuries after a run-in with a grocery store security guard who was notorious for harassing Black customers. The women were subsequently arrested by the police and calls were made for firing the security guard.
A newspaper article written by Communications Secretary Kathleen Cleaver in The Black Panther. The article, in response to the Kerner Commission report ordered by President Lyndon B. Johnson to look into the causes of the 1967 uprisings in several U.S. cities, argues that the government hadn’t done enough to combat systemic racism.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. It outlines the 14 steps for Black people concerning Constitutional rights if confronted or arrested by the police. The article suggests that readers cut the article out of the paper and carry it with them in case of confrontations with the police.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther that examines the relationship between the police and the Black Panther Party through the lens of capitalism. The author, Candy (no last name listed), writes that capitalism in the oppressor and those who fight against capitalism are fighting against the government and the police force that protects it.
The artwork and advertisement in the newspaper The Black Panther for a series of articles titled “On the Ideology of the Black Panther Party” by Eldridge Cleaver. At the time, Cleaver was serving as Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther by Kathleen Cleaver about her relationship with her then-husband Eldridge Cleaver and the legal issues he faced after an April 6, 1968, shootout with the police in Oakland, California. It is noted at the end of the article that it was reprinted from Ramparts Magazine.
A newspaper article by Emma Simms of New Haven, Connecticut, in The Black Panther about the free breakfast program in New Haven. She writes on behalf of “the welfare moms of New Haven,” saying that welfare money doesn’t provide enough money for adequate food for children and the Black Panthers are filling that void in the community.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. This is the publication of a letter from Ericka Huggins to her late husband John Huggins (February 11, 1945-January 17, 1969) before he was killed in a gun battle in Los Angeles by rival Black Nationalist group the US organization. She writes that she believes they were destined to die for liberation.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. It is a transcript of Kathleen Cleaver's speech at May Day (International Workers Day) on May 1, 1969 in San Francisco, California. Cleaver’s speech, like many of the speeches given that day, centered on the calls to Free Huey Newton from his arrest on murder charges on October 28, 1967.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther about the free breakfast program in New Haven, Connecticut. The first free breakfast program in New Haven began on October 8, 1969, and is named after John Huggins, a Black Panther originally from New Haven who was murdered on January 17, 1969, in Los Angeles, California.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. Connie Matthews interviews Black Panther Party Member and assistant professor Angela Davis following her dismissal from the University of California in September 1969 after she had been fired by the Philosophy Department on the basis of her membership in the Communist Party.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther telling the story of Patrice Lumumba, who became the first prime minister of the Republic of the Congo in June of 1960, shortly after Congo gained independence from Belgium. He was assassinated in January of 1961 and is an icon in the anti-colonial movement that was embraced by the Black Panther Party.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther that describes the calls from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Party leaders for gangs in the city to stop the violence and “get together to form a ‘People’s Army,’” This call was made during a three day conference in Philadelphia that brought together gang members and Party leaders to discuss ending violence.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther arguing that the greed inherent in capitalism leads to racism which leads to a fascist state defined by police brutality on Black people. The author writes that capitalism is “a parasitic growth that devours whole countries,” and therefore police brutality is a form of genocidal extermination.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther. This is a transcript of the address Roberta Alexander gave at the Black Panthers’ United Front Against Fascism (UFAF) conference in August of 1969 in Oakland, California. Alexander, a Black Panther Party member, talks about the role of women in the party and in the larger struggle against oppression.
A newspaper article from The Black Panther written by party member and wife of Black Panther founder Bobby Seale. The article explains the psychological warfare committed on Black people as a way to divide and conquer the movement. The author states that the Black Panther party will act as a liberation army for the oppressed people.