The founders of the Black Panther Party, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale first met in 1961 at Merritt College in Oakland, California. They both protested the school's "Pioneer Day," which celebrated the settling of the West but failed to recognize African Americans in that role. They founded the Black Panther Party in October of 1966 after Malcolm X was assassinated and after an unarmed black teen, Matthew Johnson, was shot and killed by police in San Francisco. Early on, the Black Panthers focused on monitoring police activities in black neighborhoods in Oakland and other cities.
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Political Activities and Social ProgramsHuey Newton and Bobby Seale based their party platform on Marxist ideology. They outlined their goals and beliefs in a ten-point program. The program called for an end to police brutality, employment for African Americans, and equal opportunity for African Americans in regards to housing and land. While the Black Panthers were seen as a gang by many, they were actually a political party that wanted to get more elected black officials in all levels of government. The Black Panthers also started social programs, such as free breakfast for school children and free health clinics in thirteen African American communities.
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Black Panthers Violence and ConflictsWhile the goals of the Black Panther Party were to increase the status of African Americans and to help them in the battle for civil rights, there were some violent aspects to the Panthers. For example, in 1967, Huey Newton killed Oakland police officer John Frey. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years in prison, but his conviction was reversed later. Violent encounters with police were not the only problems the Black Panthers faced. There were also internal conflicts among the members. For example, in 1969, Alex Rackley, a member of the group, was tortured and murdered by other Black Panthers who thought he was a police informant.
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The Black Panthers' socialist message and black nationalist goals made them a target for the FBI's secret counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO. In 1969, the FBI declared the Black Panthers a communist organization and the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, declared them a great threat to the nation's internal security. The FBI weakened the Black Panthers by exploiting existing rivalries among black nationalist groups and undermining and dismantling the Free Breakfast for Children Program and other social programs that the Black Panthers put in place. The FBI also played a significant role in the events leading up to the fierce gun battle between police and members of the Black Panthers.
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New Black Panther PartyThe New Black Panther Party is a black nationalist organization that was founded in 1989 in Dallas, Texas. Members of the original Black Panther Party say that there is no relation between their former party and the one founded in Dallas. The United States Commission on C Civil Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center have called the New Black Panther Party a hate group.
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