Black Panthers
 The
Black Panthers wanted to be the vanguard of a revolution that would
create economic, social and political equality across gender and color
lines. Since the non-violent campaign of Martin
Luther King had
ended in that brave man’s death and little improvement of minority
rights, the Panthers saw their only option as one of violence. They
preached a revolutionary war to the US.
The Panthers were founded by Huey Newton and Bobby
Seale in California in 1966. They did not just advocated black
uprising and violence. The Panthers worked with all minorities
regardless of color and creed, created a Free Food Program for the
hungry, provided free medical care and set up youth bands to encourage
pride in the poor communities. The Panthers were providing services
that the government would not.
But the Panthers violent call for revolution at a time
when the US was bloodied in the fight against Communists in Vietnam,
immediately drew the attention of the FBI. Edgar J Hoover, then head
of the FBI, called the Panthers “the greatest threat to internal
security of the country", and ordered his officers to take all
necessary measures to cripple the group.
Snitches infiltrated the movement, reporting to the
FBI the whereabouts of the Panthers’ leaders. The FBI arrested 21
regional leaders of the Panthers, and the men were held and tried for
two years before all charges were dropped and the men released.
Dissension, paranoia or fear prevented most of those men continuing
the struggle and the movement gradually collapsed.
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