Contemporary African Americans and the civil right movement
Millions and millions of people try to change the world events and outcomes and end up paying the price of their own lives. As the old saying commonly goes people make history and in many instances the history that is made is that of lives used to pay for the freedom of other lives. In many instances where history has tried to give justice to the outcomes of past social and political movements, this has not been fully achieved. There is no justice that can be done to the Black Panther Party without revealing the history behind the African American revolutionary movements and civil rights movements. The force that drives the movements is the same force that would define their success and their future narrations in both literature and their representation in the memories of the contemporary African Americans.
The Black American Movements
The United States may have been the greatest movement scene in the civil rights battles in the 1960s. Slavery witnessed in the early days was majorly with the Africans and there came a time when they felt enough was enough. Discrimination, police brutality, segregation and general oppression had to be a thing of the past. Bravery from the African Americans, led to the initiation of various civil rights movement groups that wanted to fight for the freedom and civil rights of those who could not fight for themselves. Women, children, future generations and overall uniformity of civil rights for the African Americans, were all the driving forces that made the movements more and more aggressive.
The beginning of the movements was characterized by the oppression that the African Americans could not so much contain in their lives. This meant that the racism, the discrimination and the ghetto settlement styles were the main things that they really wanted to rid of the members of the African American community. The founders and members of other African American civil rights movements rejection of the non-violence ideology led to the formation of the Black Power ideology. Nguyen (2008, p.7) reveals that the Black Power functioned as an appeal to Afro-Americans to unite and acknowledge their heritage, forming own organizations and above all to reject the racist institution and values of the existing society.
Penetration into the white dominated governance and civil rights gains was almost impossible meaning that the African Americans had to find a way to gain their way into civil equality. African Americans, in those eras had this believe that they wouldnt ever be able to pierce the present white power structure (Riches, 1997, p.92) hence there decision to form various movements to fights for their civil rights. Newton, the founding leader of the Black Panther Party symbolized with the Black Panther Party - ... a shield for black people against all the imperialism, the decadence, the aggression and the racism (Romano Raiford, 2006, p.227) in the country.
The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (The Black Panther Party)
History shall always be the definitive evaluator of the Black Panther Partys place in the revolution and changes that occurred in the lives of the African Americans, both in the past and in the present times. Nevertheless, in the current distressed times African American people in the United States should also take the initiative to examine the positive as well as the negative facets of the Black Panther Partys (BPPs) history so as to learn and have information on those hard learnt lessons the people who fought the civil rights battles learn as they paid for their courses on bloodshed. Self (2003) cautions that, today, those who would destroy the Panther legacy without taking the party seriously - and, consequently, not taking the Civil Rights movement itself seriously - play on the same racist stereotypes that have been used for decades to discredit black activism and organizing.
Above all, the contemporary African Americans have to learn the main reasons as to why the Black Panther Party rapidly rose to prominence in the times of its existence. Another crucial justice that all historians ought to do for the Black Panther Party is to provide adequate information on how the movement managed to move high numbers of African Americans as well as other nationalities to its support. Contemporary African Americans have to also develop and appreciation for the Black Panther Partys efforts by seeking the reasons that led to its short lived existence in the American civil rights scene. The lack of adequate information about the Black Panther Party may also be attributed to lack of recent literature on the Partys survival beyond 1971. Jones (1998, p.9) notes that, most studies on the BPP only extend to 1971, which is well short of the 1982 date marking the official demise of the organization.
Nevertheless, the Black Panther Party (BPP) movements positive contributions to the African Americans are the main remembrances that the contemporary African Americans seem to have in memory. The contemporary historic resources mainly portray the short life of the Black Panther Party (BPP) movement and majority of the narrations are based on the information available about the movement. Some of the positive contributions of the Black Panther Party (BPP) movement outlined below may be the only narrations that the older generations of the contemporary Americans may be able to narrate or give account of. Self (2003) notes that, many white Americans today cringe at images of Panther radical chic, but many African Americans embrace the partys example of dignity, self-possession, discipline, and intellectual rigor.
Unlike the Martin Luther Kings movement, little is known about the Party experience of rank-and-file members. Panthers memoirs are primarily based on the lives and experiences of national Party leaders while the role and contributions of local Panther leaders are virtually unknown to the larger public (Jones, 1998, p.10). The division of the BPP in order to disintegrate it was a great success because the Partys end was achieved. In the past then, images of African Americans just wanting representation in power ranks and not really fighting for the freedom and civil rights of the community may have dented the image of the Party. This and other reasons may have consequently led to the minimal representation of the Party in modern literature.
In the recent past though, the misrepresentation of the BPP is fading and paving way to the positive and real stories of the happenings of the Black Panther Party era. The past misrepresentations of BPP in literature and other media seems to be changing with time as now research and analysis of the impact of the BPP is underway and many literatures now tell the BPP story and past. Hilliard (2008, p.xii) cautions that, contrary to misleading stories and scandalous misrepresentations, the Black Panther Party (BPP) is not, and never has been, a group of angry young Black militants full of hatred and fury toward the White Establishment. Its a fact that recent writings are rather focus on what the Black Panther Party achieved in their days. The formation of the New Black Panther Party also seems to be creating a positive stir to the past and bringing the story of the Party to the limelight.
In distinction to Martin Luther King Jr.s pursuit for nonviolent struggle for civil right for the African American, the Black Panthers decided to take on an aggressive approach and they armed themselves in their bid for self-defence and struggle for their rights. The Black Pather Partys formation and implementation of the Ten-Point Program, among other program and guiding policies, they managed to help fight for better housing, better healthcare, enhanced and better academic resources and education availability, protection from rampant police brutality, as well as equal opportunity in the employment scene. These are some of the many achievements and benefits that the contemporary African American enjoys and gains from the effort of the BPP.
The Martin Luther Movement for Civil Rights
The civil rights movement put up by the African Americans from the late mid 1950s up-to the late 1960s was a great battle. This movement was mainly aimed at achieving the rights that the whites had. The rights that the African Americans in the movement were fighting for are those to have equal employment opportunities, have equal rights to housing as well as education, have an unbiased right to take part in the voting process, access public services equally like the whites and attain the freedom to be completely free from any form of discrimination that was rampant in those days. In comparison to the social as well as political movements in the recent past, none of them can be have a match to the movement that defined the civil rights movement led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Just as Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights movement leaders predicted, the movement brought great benefits and freedom for the vulnerable and minorities in society the African Americans, for women, for people with disabilities e.t.c.
Great amendments made to the laws of the American land, were also boosted by the civil rights movement that was led by Martin Luther King junior. The radical movement of civil rights termed as the Black Panther Party was initially formed in the 1960s in California. The movement leaders and members - Black Panthers felt that the rather non-violent movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., was a failure and that the conservative way the civil rights movement would not resolve the issues of segregation and discrimination against the colored people or make any significant changes. The Black Panther Party movement adopted a rather aggressive approach to fighting for what they wanted to attain for the African Americans equality in civil rights and service, equal rights to housing, education and employment.
Starting in the late 60s and continuing to the early 1970s, the Black Panther party leaders and members fought aggressively against police brutality and discrimination against African Americans and other minority groups. One of the Black Panther Party founders, Huey p. Newtons great role in the alteration of the civil rights focus to challenges and problems that faced the urban African Americans in that era. By tapping into the frustrations and anger of the African Americans about the injustices they faced due to discrimination and segregation, the BPP leaders managed to steer the peoples energies mainly to aggressive and violent means of fighting for their rights. Though the BPP tried hard to achieve their goals for civil rights, historians, in recent years have increasingly put their focus in the early 1960s with their core narratives portraying more the works and movement of Martin Luther King Jr., while the achievements of the Black Panther Party have seemingly been ignored or less represented.
The Black Panther Party versus the Civil Rights Movement
Though the Black Panther Party (BPP) movement survived just for a short phase of civil rights movement, in that time, the movement established itself as the force to reckon when it came to human, civil and political rights movements. Though this was the case, the history written in the recent past has evidently not played any justice in portraying the impact of this movement. As Holder (1990) states, over the past twenty years the history of the Black Panther Party has been conspicuously missing from material on the 1960s.
In many occasions, many contemporary Americans may ask themselves what the contemporary African Americans would really want in the current times. This may be the questions that would define what the contemporary African Americans may have as their main narration about the civil rights struggle scenes in the past. Jones (1998, p. 4) warns that while the so-called dark side of the party should not be dismissed or excused the biased and unbalanced attention to the issue of biased narratives of the BPP history unfairly reduces the movement to a political criminal organization. In the current times the African Americans may tell anyone how much they would want jobs, they would want to be free of violence and injustice, they would want to end all forms of racism, which may still be manifest in the educational, housing, healthcare as well as justice systems in the United States. Todays contemporary African American longs to have food, land, own a househome, have access to the best healthcare, and access to the best criminal justice systems.
Looking back to the 60s, the Black Panther Party movement leaders has the same desire, not for themselves but for the entire African American community. Though the narratives about Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil rights movement have been the ones on the limelight predominantly in the historians and contemporary African Americans judgments, the last decade has seen the publication of two collections of essays about the Black Panther Party Self (2006, p.15). In recent years, various researchers have written dissertations, journalists have narratives and other writings about the Panthers and the contemporary African American can now go through all this literature and have more awareness about the groups achievements than before. However, its noteworthy that, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Panthers were neither ideologically nor temperamentally equivalent, but the dissident positions that each took in the late sixties linked them to a shared black radical tradition that developed (Self, 2006, p. 16) in the 60s and 70s at the peak of the civil rights era.
Various attempts by historians have not really been able to portray the impact of the Black Panther Party more than the Martin Luther King Jr. narratives have. Throughout the contemporary times, the Black Panther Party has remained as an iconic group in the eyes of the youth. Music artists have in the past and even in the present times tried to portray the impact of the civil rights movements and especially the Panthers. However, not enough of this awareness has really been created. On the other hand though, its noteworthy that the image of the Black Panther Party movements that was portrayed in the 60s, continues to persist in contemporary American culture (Cleaver Katsiaficas, 2001, p. 187).
Its evident that historical representation of the Black Panther Party and that of the Martin Luther Kings movements are highly contrasted in equality. Popularity of the BPP may have been minimal until recently due to minimal representation in the media. Its until recently that most literature on the BPP started to delve deeper into the real representation of the BPP. In the past, a distinct bias toward the leadership of the BPP characterized much of the literature. Panther autobiographies and biographies disproportionately account for much of our knowledge about the party (Jones, 1998, p.10). This may be the reason why the Martin Luther King Jr. narratives may be the dominating tellers of civil rights movements while the BPP narratives are only gaining limelight representation now.
Mass Organization
Working with the numbers was the strategy that led to the mass movements both in the Martin Luther King Juniors civil rights movement as well as the Black Panther Party movement. Though majority of the narrations that the contemporary African Americans have are about the Martin Luther Kings movement, as well as the struggle for civil rights, the contributions of the Black Panther Party has had a great impact on the outcomes of the governance styles in the US now. Both Martin Luther King and the leaders of the Black Panther Party knew that to gain the goals and objectives of their courses, they would have to gain the membership, trust and loyalty of the masses.
Among the mass movement strategies was the fight that the BPP put on against drugs. This may be one f the greatest remembrances today as the nation of America gathers all efforts to fight any form on drug abuse. Aggressive methods used by the Black Panther Party members in their era seemingly effected great changes to the drug underworld. The contemporary African American people should therefore think of the strategies that were previously implemented
Revolutionary Nationalist philosophies
The Black Panther Party was a rather nationalist movement seeking the national liberation of the African Americans from the oppression and discrimination they experienced in the United States. Its focus of the African Americans was evident in the way the movement restricted the membership to accommodate only the African Americans. Looking at the BPP to be a revolutionary movement, the contemporary African American may look at this as one of the revolutionary movement yet not as revolutionary as the Martin Luther King Jr. Movement. In many ways, the Martin Luther King Jr. Movement seems to have got higher representation by historians more than the Black Panther Party movement. The reason for this may be because the BPP did not last too long in the civil rights scene.
The Black Panther Partys members believed that they would achieve the goals that they set for the movement. This may have been the focus of the BPP that in the end it gave the African Americans a sense of struggle for civil rights and never give up till you get them. By giving the African Americans the socialist mentality, the BPP strived to make its members feel the attachment to their roots - their African roots. In addition, one other elemental and most essential thing that fascinated and highly engrossed the Black Panther Party members and its apparent support from the massed was the long-lasting policy to give service to the people. Service to the people was a guiding principle that was strategized in a manner that would make the people appreciative and drawn to the movement. The Black Panther Party members went to the people, lived with them, shared in their day to day burdens and gave a sense of organization and motivation to create and implement self-devised solutions to their day to day challenges and problems. The political objective of black nationalism can range from the admonition that black people must control the politics and economics of their communities, to the creation of a separate black nation in North America or returning to the African homeland states Harris (2001).
Through this form of organization and implementation of solutions and the African Americans needs and desires, the Black Panther Party implemented and run various community based welfare programs that saw the BPP members provide food, healthcare and clothing provisions just to name the basic needs provisions. When it came to fighting housing problems, crimes and drug use, control of the policing and education of the community members, the Black Panther Party also seemed to bring great change. This led to its success in the endeavors it strived so much to attain. Contemporary Americans narrations of the BPP, though limited at least give appreciation to these efforts clearly visible in the way the Americans now appreciate the African American community amongst them. Just like it would be a major mistake not to appreciate the freedom fighters, if we cant take on the complexity of our past, we are ill-prepared to learn from it and even less equipped to make critical judgments in the future warns Self (2003).
Based on these Black Panther Party movements efforts, its effects and impact spread past its membership and eventually affected how the government implemented and provided civil services. Harris (2001) reveals that, from a social standpoint, black nationalism deals with the proposition that an oppressed people must first cherish a friendly union with themselves, and that this particular charity begins at home and then spreads abroad. Besides emphasizing self-reliance, the Black Panther Party contributed to the eventual decision made by the government to establish programs similar to those handled by the BPP. Through the implementation of free lunch at school, improvements in court procedures to make room for poorly managed houses to be taken over, expansion of the medical care as well as day care programs and facilities, the government seemed to have aimed to counter the BPP programs. This, in the contemporary Americans eyes may seem to be a positive ripple effect of the efforts of the Black Panther Partys efforts.
Though the government tried to erase the memory of the efforts of the Black Panther Party by implementing the BPPs similar programs, the efforts of the group and movement cannot be completely erased from the memories of the beneficiaries. Through the government sponsored social service programs, the government of the United States hoped to erase the memory of the impact the BPP programs had on the African Americans. However, in the end, with the many African American led civil rights movements, nothing could really alter the impact and effects of the movements. Therefore, to take the Black Panther Party seriously is to take history seriously and ultimately to take ourselves and the process of unbiased historical research seriously (Self, 2003).
Self Defence philosophies
In the wake of the Black Panther Party movement days, the African Americans were highly discriminated against and police brutality was rampant. The Black Panther Party Movement initially started with the name Black Panther Party of Self Defence. In those days, the main focus was to protect the African Americans from these forms of brutality and segregation. In the end the Black Panther Party members moved to violence and this is the path that led to the movements destabilization and eventual end.
The contemporary African Americans may not openly narrate the history of Black Panther Party movement, but they sure have the fruits of the Black Panther Party movements struggle for the African Americans to be able to protect themselves from the brutality of the police and the discrimination from the whites and others. The Black Panther Party group members felt that to ignore the need for self-defense would be to ignore the livelihoods of the African Americans and their right to civil freedom, equality and justice. Though the end of the Black Panther Party may have dimmed the light on the movement, modern day rappers, movie makers and even writers have tried as much to revive the knowledge for the movement. Efforts to create widespread awareness and sensitization of the contemporary African American about the movement have been rather successful. Nevertheless, its a fact that despite the Partys success as an African American organization committed to revolutionary change, the literature of the Panthers is beset with deficiencies (Jones, 1998, p. 7).
From rap music, to movies the movements struggles and contributions have been justifiably represented. The resurrection of the Black Panther Party has been made a success through the formation of the New Black Panther Party in the city of Dallas in Texas. This New Black Panther Party was formed by a talk show aide called Aaron Michaels in 1991. The events of the New Black Panther Party seem to be following on the footsteps of the original Black Panther Party. Jones (1998, p. 6) notes that, the New Black Panther Party has sponsored breakfast programs at a city recreation center, donated food and furniture to community residents, and supported a membership of approximately 150 individuals. One thing to remember though is that in the 1996 summer, the arrest of the New Black Panther Party leader is a clear reminder of the arrest and sufferings of the Black Panther Partys founders and first leaders.
Thirty (30) years have gone by since the founding of the Black Panther Party, however, the organizations still enjoys considerable popular attention (Jones, 1998, p. 6). The time that has elapsed seems to have provided the people who went through the BPP first movement days a healing session. The emotional, psychological, physical toll caused by their participation and struggle in the initial movement seems to have been lifted with time and now they are happy to be affiliated with the New Black Panther Party. This means that the New Black Panther Party offers the platform for the creation of awareness of the movements initial and present workings and what they stood and stand for. This means that the narrations of the Martin Luther Kings civil rights movement may not be the only representation of the African Americans struggle for equality and fair treatment in the contemporary African Americans minds.
Despite this positive representation of the Black Panther Party, there may be a negative or rather sensitive side to the formation of the New Black Panther Party. Jones (1998, p. 7) warns that, the resurgence of interest in the Black Panther Party is in danger of contributing to a depreciation of the organization, since misconceptions about the Party remain largely unchallenged by the extant literature on the BPP. On the contrary though, this new focus on the Black Panther Party that is directed towards its past activities and legacy seemingly could provide the much needed opportunity for both historians and contemporary African Americans to reconsider the Partys legacy, its dynamics and history. This may be the opportune chance for the movement to be adequately represented both in history and the contemporary African Americans mind.
The necessity for self-defence was also deepened when the Black Panther Party members resorted to violence in order to drive for and attain their goals. However, the brutality and violent resistance they got from the police led to a lot of blood shed from both sides. Nevertheless, the end results are evident in just how much freedom and civil equality the African Americans have in the present days on the American soil. Its evident that the recent wave of Panther Memoirs has also increased public awareness of the BPP (Jones, 1998, p. 3).
Equality to the women
Equality to the women in society was one of the efforts that the Black Panther Party tried so hard to fight for in the midst of great misrepresentations. The Black Panther Party advocated for gender equality both in its organization and structure as well as in the communities and societies that it operated. In a time when the women were told to take roles at home and rather be behind the men, the Black Panther Party sought to give women equal representation and opportunities to ensure that they were heard and well represented in the movement and society a great effort that was a great success.
Various print media sources have in the recent past tried to publicize the impact and events of the Black Panther Party and how it helped change both the history and the present times of the African American people. Numerous writers have scrutinize the history of the early days of civil rights movements in the 60s, but just a few have a real representation of the time when the Black Panther movement spread beyond the universities and into the upper-middle-class communities. Its evident that the popular narrative and history stereotypes of the 60s often stop at the Martin Luther Kings sad assassination yet the Black Panther Movement had by that time become so gigantic and so radical that its early supporters did not even give recognition or support the Martin Luther Kings movement. Jones (1998) states that, popular cultural productions referencing the BPP have also helped to rekindle interest in the organization, especially in the younger generation.
The Downfall and Resultant Misrepresentation of the Black Panther Party vs. the successful reminiscence of the Martin Luther King movement
Through the success of the Black Panther Party may have been in its outcomes, the internal misrepresentation and non-commitment to the Partys goals may have been the cause of its downfall and unpopularity in the end, even in the recent days. Stokely Carmichael, who later changed his name to Kwame Ture, is quoted as saying that majority of the Black Panther Party members were not serious about struggling for the people. They were using the peoples struggle to obtain positions of power (Jones, 1998, p. 8). This may be the evidence that reveals why the Panthers did not eventually become highly popularized as the Martin Luther Kings movement that in solidarity warn the hearts of many.
Despite the past and the present representation of the civil rights movements, its only fair to state that the legacies of all the movements shall always live on beyond time representations. Talking about the civil rights fighter of the early days (60s and 70s), Gordon (2000) notes that, notwithstanding the vast differences in their backgrounds, leadership styles, tactics, philosophies, and strategies, they had a common goal and shared vision for America, the land of the free. Their legacies are immortal.
Conclusion
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was an African American founded and led revolutionary, nationalist and civil rights association that was established to uphold the Black Power. By extension the Black Power Party was also founded to encourage, motivate and organize African Americans to implement their own self-defense mechanisms and programs. The Panthers gained both national and international acclamation and fame through their deep rooted involvement and participation in the Black Power Movement in the United States in the 60s and 70s.
The Black Power movement is therefore well thought-out as one of the most noteworthy and significant cultural, civil, social and political movements that would ever coin the United States history forever. The movement confrontational expression of power and vigor to fight for the African American civil rights, revolutionary position, as well as cultural, civil and political accomplishments eternally changed the shape and make-up of the African American and national identity.
In most instances, the Martin Luther King Jr. movement was characterized and is remembered by the narrations of his vision and the non-violence civil rights struggle. However, with the contemporary African American, the radical movements that coin todays history are taken out in the movies, rap music and other media to portray the violence that led to a lot of blood shed in the quest for the African Americans equal gain and representation in the government of the United States and in the reception of civil rights.
Through the free food, better education and rights to better housing and judicial representation, the Black Panther Party was able to drive the government of the United States to implement the free education, food programs, welfare programs, better housing, equal judicial representation as well as health care plans that would be friendly and accommodating of the African Americans. The government first wanted to use these programs to counter the impact and effect of the similar Black Panther Party programs. However, in the end the government programs cannot completely erase what the contemporary narrations and literature outlines about the BPP programs that changed the livelihoods of many African Americans at a time when they really needed the representation and defense that they got from the BPP.
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