Topic: racism

Party, and the Black Panther Party. In order to issue out this program, the FBI begin to assassinate leaders of the parties and arrest others. They also attempt to split the parties up politically and morally by use of media and propaganda. On April 6th, Bobby Hutton is shot dead at 17 years old during a gun battle that lasted over 90 minutes long. Just two days before, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Meanwhile in Chicago, the Panthers are cleaning up the city. They began to hold breakfast programs, create medical centers, and clean up the streets. Fred Hampton, the leader of that certain group of Panthers, helped orchestrate the good deeds of the Panthers in Chicago. A FBI informant informs the FBI of Fred’s location. On December 4th, 1968 at 4 in the morning, Police raided his apartment shooting him and a fellow Panther, Mark Clark, dead. They also shot his pregnant wife and other panthers in the room with only one being left unharmed. The government saw the Black Panther Party as a serious threat and wanted to stop their success at all costs. The FBI continues to try and split the Panthers up. In 970, Bobby Seale publishes Seize the Time, which is the story of Huey Newton and The Panthers. He did all this while incarcerated. In April of the same year, twenty-one Panthers are trialed for attempting to multiple kill police officers and attempting to bomb various buildings. Many of the Panthers were in jail or were awaiting trial. The government used many different strategies to disband the revolutionary group. They begin forge letters to make the letters seem as if they are coming from Panthers and send them to other Panthers. The FBI went after many Panthers including Eldridge Cleaver. He is persuaded by the FBI (not knowing it is them) that the BPP is attempting to remove him from the party. He got many, many forged letters that went against Newton and told him to gain control of authority. Cleaver also receives letters from outside of the Party. Everything goes left when Newton goes on television for an interview and Cleaver calls him from home in Algiers. Cleaver then speaks on the BPP negatively and goes at the breakfast programs. Shortly after, many members resign from the party. They are no longer satisfied with the party and begin to lose faith. Huey Newton, the founder of the party, no longer wants to lead the party and soon became a drug addict. Many say that this also work of the FBI, but that has yet to be proven. Cleaver returns from the Algiers in 1975. In 1979, the charges against Cleaver are dropped after he pleads guilty and receives five years of probation. Many years later, Huey Newton has a public speech on the Panthers as a whole and what happened to the party itself. On August 22nd, 1989, Huey Newton is shot dead in Oakland over a drug dispute.As we see the downfall of the Black Panther Party, African Americans became more violent in defending themselves. More and more gangs lost their true meaning and began to fight against fellow African Americans. Black on Black crime began to rise around the 90s which was an all-time high. Left without a leader, the party itself separated. Other former party members began to try other things. Cleaver attempted to run for mayor of Oakland but he came up short in the race gaining nearly forty percent of all votes. In the United States now, racism hasn’t yet left. From police brutality to the lynching and hanging of many young African Americans, movements such as #Blacklivesmatter help to bring attention the oppressed people’s problems in United States. Citizens now use many outlets and sources to raise awareness such as forms of art and social media. People like Dick Gregory, Dr.Umar Johnson, and D.L. Hughley constantly speak on the Black community as a whole and how to fight those who oppose them. Colin Kaepernick started a movement by kneeling during the National Anthem to spread awareness on problems in the African American community such as police brutality and injustices done against African Americans in the United States of America.The Black Panther Party made a lot of progress during the years they were active. They defended African Americans for over a decade and a half. They took the right to health by creating medical programs and many other things. They developed the 10-Point Program (which is now referred to as Black and oppressed people). They influenced multiple groups such as the Australian Black Panther Party and gained support from places such as Cuba. They also have had their own success in creating groups such as the Black Liberation Army which was an armed force. As time went on, the party’s success began to gain attention from the FBI. The FBI began to ruin the party from the outside using propaganda and the inside using forged letters. Many Panthers were arrested or murdered. The government stuck fear in the hearts of the African American community by killing off multiple leaders in the Black community. Anyone that stood for something was seen as threat. Still, the Black Panther Party left a mark on society as whole. They stood for those opposed in the United States, gave back, and encouraged others to spread the message. Unity was one of the things they fought for and still is major topic in the revolutionary conversation in the African American community. For the 16 years that they were active, they left the blueprint for Black people to stand for themselves in this country.