The United States has always struggled to find a balance between equality and education, with many Black children and other kids of color, trailing behind education wise to their white counterparts.
During the civil rights movement, a group by the name “The Black Panther Party for Self Defense” or the BPP, revolutionized the classroom through their progressive movements and fights for equality.
The party was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, two African American men who valued Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense against police brutality.
It became a branch of the Black Power Movement, branching off of Dr. King’s civil disobedience ideals while also drawing inspiration from Malcom X and his teachings.
While the party began in California, its influence quickly spread, and chapters began all over America, with the most influential chapters being California and Chicago.
The Chicago chapter, headed by the founders, focused on being able to not only educate the youth on Black pride and how to defend themselves against police brutality.
“During those long years in Oakland public schools, I did not have one teacher who taught me anything relevant to my own life or experience,” Newton says when he is asked why he has been so supportive of education.
The BPP since its early chapters worked hard to give Black youth the ability to thrive equally to their white peers even at such a discriminatory disadvantage.
The most famous policy that the BPP tried to pass was the “Free Breakfast for School Children Program.”
The program aimed to provide disadvantaged schools with free meals to help feed children. With the support of the program over the years, it became one of the biggest academic programs to be almost universal in multiple states.
Another achievement that the Black Panthers helped was the organization of the Liberation School. It served as a school during the summer that was also a key contributor to the Free Breakfast Program.
The school focused its curriculum on topics such as revolutionary culture, Black pride, and current events.
However the BPP also had help from many other minority groups Los Siete and Young Lords were two Hispanic Californian groups, who collaborated with the Black Panthers to help uplift minority voices and raise attention to discrimination.
The collaborations led to not only more advancement of the civil rights movement but also brought attention to the most overlooked Chicano and Hispanic culture that has been persistent in the U.S. and the history they have had.
However, the group was not without its controversy. Faced with racism and multiple hate crimes, the group suffered massively during its last few years.
On August 22, 1989, Huey P. Newton, the biggest founder of the BPP, was assassinated by the U.S. government during the trial of Bobby Seale for creating a riot.
The wife of Newton described the night and the horror she felt when she saw her husband’s killers dance and laugh around his body.
After his death, people mourned the loss the party would eventually face. With the trial of Bobby Seale, people also saw just how horrendous the treatment of the party was.
Seale was hit and gagged inside the courthouse, claiming he was posing a threat after saying that his trial must be stopped since he did not have a lawyer.
Seale was sentenced to four years in prison, with his trial creating the movie “The Trial of the Chicago 7” which detailed the entire trial proceedings.
The party afterward suffered, losing much of its support and eventually no longer standing as proud as it once did.
While the BPP eventually lost itself in the background, it would be a disservice to the legacy of all the leaders to not recognize the history and foundation that the Black Panther Party left for not only African Americans but for the history of America.