Black Panther Party Impact On African American History

The Black Panther Party, established in 1966 in Oakland, California, was a revolutionary, African American autonomous and nationalist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982 and is still currently active but now known as "The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense." This party was founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. The Black Panther Party called for the protection of all African Americans ("Black Panther Party". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2016 .) Although the Black Panther Party 's perspective was controversial, it had a positive impact on American History due to their acts and beliefs in self-defense and their many community outreach

Although African Americans were freed years before the party was established, the Black Panthers felt as if they were still enslaved and were victimized by white racism in much of the same way (“The Black Panther Party Fights for Equality.” 123helpme.com 22 Apr 2016 http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=42592.) They continued to be targeted by white brutality and sometimes strained to living in deplorable housing. Most members of the Black Panthers remained with limited education. They were also on the bottom of the industrial chain. The continuance of these problems had a disastrous effect on African Americans and their families. The Black Panthers Party eventually began to stand up for themselves and fight back. They strongly believed in self-defense. The party organized rallies around the police brutality against African Americans and made speeches about every social and political issue affecting black Americans on a national level. During the Jim Crow Era, whites and the police would brutalize those blacks that were attending the rallies. The Black Panthers continued to fight back. Malcolm X stated in a one of his famous speeches that "the time has come to fight back in self-defense whenever the black man is being unjustly and unlawfully attacked (“The Black Panther Party Fights for Equality.” 123helpme.com 22 Apr 2016

By the beginning of the 1980s, attacks on the party and internal depravity and divisions, caused the party to fall apart. The leadership of the party had been fully crushed; its rank and file being constantly terrorized by the police. Many remaining Panthers were hunted down and killed in the following years, imprisoned, or forced to flee the United States ( Baggins, Brian. History of the Black Panther Party. Marxists Internet Archive (marx.org), copyleft 2002. Retrieved on (today 's date). URL: http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/.) It is without a doubt that the Black Panther Party only wanted justice and to be treated equally. The party wanted to put discrimination, denial of civil rights, and unjust actions made against them to an end. The party was to represent "the symbol of change for Americans". The Black Panther Party fought for equality. The party grew to expose violent revolution as the only means of achieving black liberation. The party still continues to stand up for the African-American race