Comrades: A Local History of the Black Panther Party (Blacks in the Diaspora)

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland, California, in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. It was perhaps the most visible of the Black Power groups in the late 60s and early 70s, not least because of its confrontational politics, its rejection of nonviolence, and its headline-catching, gun-toting militancy. Important on the national scene and highly visible on college campuses, the Panthers also worked at building grassroots support for local black political and economic power. Although there have been many books about the Black Panthers, none has looked at the organization and its work at the local level. This book examines the work and actions of seven local initiatives in Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. These local organizations are revealed as committed to programs of community activism that focused on problems of social, political, and economic justice. Essays about the original Black Panther Party's local chapters in seven American cities that seek "to move beyond the usual media stereotypes . . . Recommended" ( Choice ). The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland, California, in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. It was perhaps the most visible of the Black Power groups in the late sixties and early seventies, not least because of its confrontational politics, its rejection of nonviolence, and its headline-catching, gun-toting militancy. Important on the national scene and highly visible on college campuses, the Panthers also worked at building grassroots support for local black political and economic power. Although there have been many books about the Black Panthers, none has looked at the organization and its work at the local level. This book goes beyond Oakland and Chicago examines the work and actions of seven local initiatives in Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. These local organizations are revealed as committed to programs of community activism that focused on problems of social, political, and economic justice. Introduction: Painting A More Complete Portrait Of The Black Panther Party / Judson L. Jeffries And Ryan Nissim-sabat -- Revising Panther History In Baltimore / Judson L. Jeffries -- Picking Up Where Robert F. Williams Left Off : The Winston-salem Branch Of The Black Panther Party / Benjamin R. Friedman -- Panthers Set Up Shop In Cleveland / Ryan Nissim-sabat -- Nap Town Awakens To Find A Menacing Panther : Ok, Maybe Not So Menacing / Judson L. Jeffries And Tiyi M. Morris -- Picking Up The Hammer : The Milwaukee Branch Of The Black Panther Party / Andrew Witt -- Brotherly Love Can Kill You : The Philadelphia Branch Of The Black Panther Party / Omari L. Dyson, Kevin L. Brooks, And Judson L. Jeffries -- To Live And Die In L.a. / Judson L. Jeffries And Malcolm Foley -- Conclusion: A Way Of Remembering The Black Panther Party In The Post-black Power Era : Resentment, Disaster, And Disillusionment / Floyd W. Hayes Iii. Edited By Judson L. Jeffries. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 10 Introduction: Painting a More Complete Portrait of the Black Panther Party 14 1. Revising Panther History in Baltimore 26 2. Picking Up Where Robert F. Williams Left Off: The Winston-Salem Branch of the Black Panther Party 60 3. Panthers Set Up Shop in Cleveland 102 4. Nap Town Awakens to Find a Menacing Panther; OK, Maybe Not So Menacing 172 5. Picking Up the Hammer: The Milwaukee Branch of the Black Panther Party 204 6. “Brotherly Love Can Kill You”: The Philadelphia Branch of the Black Panther Party 241 7. To Live and Die in L.A. 282 Conclusion: A Way of Remembering the Black Panther Party in the Post–Black Power Era: Resentment, Disaster, and Disillusionment 318 Appendix: Alan Wolfe’s Classifi cation of Political Repression in the United States 325 Contributors 327 Index 330 Examines the work and actions of seven local initiatives in Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. This book reveals these local organizations as committed to programs of community activism that focused on problems of social, political, and economic justice. Examines the work and actions of seven local initiatives in Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. This work reveals these local organizations as committed to programs of community activism that focused on problems of social, political, and economic justice.