Black Panthers: Behind the myth

-The B

lack P

anth

er p

arty

is m

ark

ed fo

r e

xtinctio

n b

y the

U.S

. go

vern

me

nt.

In th

e p

ag

es w

hic

h fo

llow

, the

Gu

ard

ian

w

eekly

new

spaper, p

roducers

of th

is s

upple

-m

ent, a

ttem

pts

to e

xpla

in th

e re

ality

behin

d

the

Pa

nth

er m

yth

cre

ate

d b

y th

e g

ove

rnm

en

t, police

and n

ew

s media

. In

clu

de

d a

re a

len

gth

y h

isto

ry o

f the

party

, from

the id

ea o

f its fo

rmatio

n; c

onceiv

ed

in a

pris

on c

ell, u

ntil to

day. T

he P

anth

er

10-p

oin

t pro

gra

m, g

uid

ing fo

rce b

ehin

d th

e o

r-g

an

iza

tion

, is p

ub

lish

ed

in fu

ll. In a

n in

terv

iew

co

nd

ucte

d in

jail, p

arty

ch

airm

an

Bo

bb

y S

ea

le

ela

bora

tes o

n th

e p

rogra

m a

nd d

iscusses th

e

party

vie

ws o

n g

uns, re

volu

tion, s

erv

ing th

e

pe

op

le, m

ale

ch

au

vin

ism

an

d g

ove

rnm

en

t re-

pre

ssio

n. A

no

the

r artic

le a

na

lyze

s th

e h

is-

tory

of p

olic

e h

ara

ssm

en

t ag

ain

st th

e p

arty

, am

ong o

ther fe

atu

res.

Fo

llow

ing

is a

sta

tem

en

t esp

ecia

lly w

rit-te

n b

y th

e n

atio

nal o

ffice o

f the B

lack P

an

the

r party fo

r this su

pple

ment.

By

the

Bla

ck

Pa

nth

er p

arty

Th

e B

lac

k P

an

the

r pa

rty s

tan

ds

for re

vo

-lu

tion

ary

so

lidarity

with

all p

eo

ple

fiah

rhin

I BY

: EM

OR

Y, M

INIS

TE

R O

F C

UL

TU

RE

, BL

AC

K P

AN

TH

ER

PA

RT

Y

pasuppet

=1

By th

e B

lack P

an

ther p

arty

The B

lack P

anth

er p

arty sta

nds fo

r revo

-lu

tionary

solid

arity

with

all p

eople

fightin

g

again

st the fo

rces o

f imperia

lism, ca

pita

lism,

racism

and fa

scism. O

ur so

lidarity is e

xtended

to th

ose

people

who a

re fig

htin

g th

ese

evils a

t hom

e a

nd a

bro

ad. B

eca

use

we u

ndersta

nd th

at

our s

truggle

for o

ur lib

era

tion is

part o

f a

world

wid

e stru

ggle

bein

g w

aged b

y the p

oor

and o

ppre

ssed a

gain

st imperia

lism a

nd th

e

world

's chie

f imperia

list, the U

nite

d S

tate

s of.

Am

eric

a, w

e —

the B

lack P

anth

er p

arty

—u

nd

ersta

nd

tha

t the

mo

st effe

ctive w

ay th

at w

e

can a

id o

ur V

ietn

am

ese

bro

the

rs an

d siste

rs is to

destro

y imperia

lism fro

m th

e in

side, a

ttack it

where

it bre

eds. A

s for th

e V

ietn

am

ese

people

, fo

r the p

eople

s of A

sia, A

frica a

nd L

atin

Am

er-

ica as well.

The a

ims o

f the B

lack P

anth

er p

arty a

re

manife

st in o

ur 1

0-p

oin

t pla

tform

and p

rogra

m.

We d

em

and th

e rig

ht to

self-d

ete

rmin

atio

n fo

r all th

ird-w

orld

people

s and w

e ca

ll for a

Unite

d

Natio

ns-s

uperv

ised p

lebis

cite

to b

e h

eld

th

roughout th

e b

lack co

lony in

which

only th

e

bla

ck colo

nia

l subje

cts will b

e a

llow

ed to

par- ;

ticipate

for th

e p

urp

ose

of d

ete

rmin

ing th

e w

ill of b

lack p

eople

as to

their n

atio

nal d

estin

y. Our

pro

gra

m is n

ot m

uch

diffe

rent fro

m a

ny lib

era

-tio

n

ton fro

nt's p

rogra

m in

the th

ird w

orld

. Beca

use

w

e a

re victim

s of U

.S. im

peria

lism (co

mm

unity

imperia

lism

) just a

s th

e p

eople

of th

e th

ird

world

are

, we se

e o

ur stru

ggle

as o

ne a

nd th

e

same. H

istory h

as sh

ow

n th

at w

hile

the n

atio

ns

of A

sia

, Afric

a a

nd L

atin

Am

eric

a w

ere

sh

ackle

d in

colo

nia

l bondage, b

lack p

eople

in

the U

.S. w

ere

bound b

y the ch

ain

s of ra

cism '

and fo

rced w

ith its sp

ecia

l bra

nd o

f murd

er a

nd

terro

r. We se

e o

ur re

volu

tionary p

ositio

n vis-

•a-vis th

is evil a

s dire

ctly derive

d fro

m th

e a

c- tio

ns o

f libera

tionists like

Nat T

urn

er a

nd T

ous-

sain

t L'O

uvertu

re. We m

ust emulate the actions

of th

ese

bla

ck hero

es, co

mbin

e th

em

with

the

socia

list persp

ective

the p

arty's 1

0-p

oin

t pro

-gram

gives us. In

the w

ord

s o

f the p

arty

's c

hairm

an,

Bobby S

eale

, we w

ill not fig

ht ca

pita

lism w

ith

bla

ck capita

lism; w

e w

ill not fig

ht im

peria

lism

with

bla

ck imperia

lism; w

e w

ill not fig

ht ra

cism

with

bla

ck ra

cis

m. R

ath

er w

e w

ill take o

ur

stand a

gain

st these

evils w

ith a

solid

arity d

e-

rived fro

m a

pro

leta

rian in

tern

atio

nalism

born

of so

cialist id

ealism

.

GU

AR

DIA

N /P

AN

TH

ER

S / F

EB

RU

AR

Y 1970 / 1

4 4 4 4 4

Black Panthers: Serving the people, fighting B

y Carl D

avidson T

he A

lamed

a county

jail contain

s an in

stituticin.

known to the black youth of the N

orth Oakland ghetto

as the "soul-breakers," the solitary confinement cells for

"disruptive" prisoners. In 1964, the cells were m

ore full than usual, follow

ing a series of food strikes and other dem

onstratio

ns b

y b

lack p

risoners th

at rock

ed th

e jail during the peak m

onths of the civil rights movem

ent. O

ne of the prisoners later said the time in solitary

gave him tim

e to think "about the relationship between

bein

g o

utsid

e of jail an

d b

eing in

." The p

risoner w

as H

uey

P. N

ewto

n an

d th

e "soulb

reaker" cell w

as the

birth

place o

f the B

lack P

anth

er org

anizatio

n o

f which

N

ewton subsequently becam

e minister of defense. H

e is presently in jail.

Befo

re bein

g co

nvicted

and sen

tenced

for a y

ear on an assault charge, N

ewton had been a law

student at M

erritt Colleg

e, where, lik

e any n

um

ber o

f militan

t young blacks, he had several run-ins w

ith the Oakland

police. When his sentence w

as up, he got in touch with

Bobby S

eale, who .he had know

n at Merritt and together

with a few

other friends they formed the B

lack Panther

Party for S

elf-Defense in the F

all of 1966.- "W

e're going to draw up a basic platform

," New

-to

n to

ld S

eale and th

e oth

ers, "that th

e moth

ers who

struggled hard to raise us, that the fathers who w

orked hard to feed us, that the .young brothers in school w

ho co

me o

ut o

f school sem

i-illiterate, sayin

g an

d read

ing

broken words, and all of these can read .

" (See text

below.)

Th

e 1

0- p

oin

t pro

gra

m

Fro

m th

e very

beg

innin

g, th

e Pan

thers' 1

0-p

oin

t program

has b

een th

eir hallm

ark w

ithin

the left m

ove-

men

t. At th

e same tim

e, this h

as been

the asp

ect of th

e party m

ost obscured by the bourgeois news m

edia which

from

the b

egin

nin

g h

as tried to

pass th

e party

off as a

hand of apolitical, gun-toting crazies. T

he p

ress based

its disto

rtions o

n th

e fact that th

e party

open

ly ad

vocated

and p

racticed th

e right o

f armed

self-d

efense. A

nd, g

iven

the-reig

n o

f white p

olice terro

r co

nstan

tly d

irected at th

e black

citizens o

f Oak

land, th

e P

anth

ers view

ed th

is aspect o

f their p

rogram

as a day

-to-

day

necessity

. "O

ur m

essage is o

ne an

d th

e same," N

ewto

n said

in

Febru

ary

1967. "W

e're

goin

g to

talk

about b

lack

peo

ple arm

ing th

emselv

es in a*

political fash

ion to

exert

org

aniz

ed

force in

the p

olitic

al a

rena to

-see to

it that

their d

esires and n

eeds are m

et. .. . So ii d

oesn

't matter

what h

eadin

g y

ou p

ut o

n it, w

e're

goin

g to

talk

about

Whenever black m

en or wom

en were stopped by

the police, armed P

anthers would-be on the scene, m

ak-ing sure their constitutional rights w

ere not violated. The

Oakland police w

ere outraged. But the brutality, harass-

ment and obscenity directed at black m

en and wom

en tapered off. T

he program w

as a success and news of the

party's existence spread rapidly. T

he sight of armed and disciplined groups of P

an-thers soon becam

e familiar in the B

ay Area. T

he party.

wen

t to g

reat length

s, how

ever, to

stress two p

oin

ts ab

out arm

ed self-d

efense. F

irst, they

were o

peratin

g

with

in th

e law as d

efined

by g

un reg

ulatio

ns an

d th

e constitutional right to bear arm

s. Second, that the arm

s w

ere to serv

e a political p

urp

ose an

d w

ere not to

be

viewed in purply m

ilitary. terms,.

• Ju

st how

the p

arty o

perated

was sh

ow

n iii th

e action taken around the death of D

enzil Dow

ell early in 1967. D

owell, a black youth living in N

orth Richm

ond, C

alif., had

been

shot an

d k

illed b

y th

e police, w

hose

official acco

unt o

f the slay

ing co

ntrad

icted d

ozen

s of

black eye-witnesses.

The D

ow

ell family

had

called in

the P

anth

ers to

investigate and the party decided to hold a streetcorner rally

in th

e neig

hborh

ood to

expose th

e facts of th

e slaying and the political im

portance of self-defense. The

Pan

thers; assu

min

g th

e police w

ould

try to

stop th

e rally, decided to dem

onstrate their point on the spot and set up arm

ed guards around the rally site. H

undreds of black people turned out, many carry-

ing their own w

eapons. The pblice w

ho came to stop the

rally quickly turned away, except for one, caught in the

middle of the crow

d, who sat quietly and listened to all

the speeches.

Polic

e ra

id C

hic

ago o

ffice, D

ec. 4

, 1969.

At th

at poin

t a police h

elicopter b

egan

buzzin

g

over the crowd.- N

ewton pointed up and shouted, "A

nd alw

ays remem

ber that the spirit of the people is greater th

an th

e man

's technolo

gy!" T

he 'cro

wd ch

eered an

d

hundreds signed up to work w

ith the party that day. A

t this time, the P

anthers had about 75 mem

bers an

d w

ere based

prim

arily in

the B

ay A

rea. The p

arty,

however, did not view

itself as only a local Organization

and now faced the problem

of expanding on a statewide

and national level. At the sam

e time, the party's initial

successes had already reverberated to the state legisla-ture, w

here California A

ssemblym

an Don M

ulford intro-duced

a gun co

ntro

l bill d

esigned

as an attack

on th

e P

anthers. T

he p

arty h

ad to

meet b

oth

the p

roblem

s of

spreading the word and defending their legal rights. A

n action w

as planned by New

ton that was one of the m

ore controversial events in the party's history. W

hile the gun bill w

as bein

g d

ebated

, on M

ay 2

, 1967, 3

0 arm

ed

Panthers, 24 m

en and 6 wom

en, walked up the steps of

the C

apito

l build

ing, read

a statemen

t again

st the b

ill an

d statin

g th

e party

's prin

ciples an

d w

alked

into

the

visitors gallery of the legislative chambers.

. When the police and press arrived, creating.a flurry

of ex

citemen

t, the P

anth

ers left the b

uild

ing, read

the

statement again and started to leave. T

hen they were all

arrested on a charge of conspiring to disturb the peace and held for several days until bailed out.

A P

anth

er m

inis

ter o

f health

at w

ork

.

Fro

m th

e P

anth

ers' p

ersp

ectiv

e, th

e a

ctio

n w

as

care

fully

pla

nned a

nd c

om

ple

tely

legal a

t every

step.

They

were actin

g n

o d

ifferently

from

any `g

lin lo

bby"

registerin

g o

ppositio

n to

the n

ew law

. But th

e spectre o

f "b

lacks-w

ith-g

uns-in

vad

e-legislatu

re" was to

o m

uch

for

the p

ress to tak

e and th

e new

s med

ia reported

the ev

ent

across th

e natio

n.

The P

anth

ers view

ed th

e action as a su

ccess. "I'm

actin

r.

their d

esires and n

eeds are m

et. ... So ri d

oesn

't matter

wh

at h

ead

ing

yo

u p

ut o

n it, w

e're

go

ing

to talk ab

out

po

litical po

wer g

row

ing

ou

t of th

e barrel o

f a gu

n."

Th

e party

pu

t the p

rog

ram in

to p

ractice. Am

on

g

their first effo

rts in O

aklan

d w

as the fo

rmatio

n o

f com

-m

un

ity p

olice p

atrols. N

ewto

n p

ut h

is law-sch

oo

l train-

ing

to w

ork

an

d in

structe

d a

ll party

mem

bers in

the

basic

constitu

tional rig

hts g

overn

ing a

rrests a

nd g

un

law

s. Fro

m th

ere

, the p

arty

esta

blish

ed a

syste

m o

f arm

ed p

atrol cars, co

mpletely

legal, carry

ing b

oth

guns

and

law h

oo

ks an

d fo

llow

ed p

olice p

atrol cars m

akin

g

their ro

un

ds o

f the g

hetto

.

ifel-L-g-Akatit 11 -514N

atltr014 11-1■17-164ie

Po

lice ra

id C

hica

go

office

, De

c. 4,1

96

9.

Sev

eral Pan

thers ad

dressed

the cro

wd, ex

plain

ing

the p

arty's p

rogram

. Then

Huey

New

ton, p

araphrasin

g

Mao

tse-Tu

ng

, spo

ke: "T

he m

asses of th

e peo

ple w

ant

peace. T

he m

asses of th

e peo

ple d

o n

ot w

ant w

ar. The

Black

Pan

ther p

arty ad

vo

cates the ab

olitio

n o

f war. B

ut

at the sam

e time, w

e realize that th

e only

way

you can

g

et rid o

f war, m

any

times, is th

rou

gh

a pro

cess of w

ar. T

herefo

re, the o

nly

way

you can

get rid

of g

uns is to

get

rid o

f the g

un

s of th

e o

pp

resso

r. Th

e p

eo

ple

mu

st be

able to

pick

up g

uns, to

defen

d th

emselv

es ....

The P

anth

ers view

ed th

e action as a su

ccess. goin

g to

show

you h

ow

smart b

roth

er Huey

was w

h.

plan

ned

.Sacra

men

to," B

ob

by

Seale

state

d. "H

e

`No

w th

e p

ap

ers a

re g

oin

g to

call u

s thu

gs a

nd

1

lum

s B

ut th

e bro

thers o

n th

e blo

ck, w

ho th

e t b

een callin

g th

ug

s and

ho

od

lum

s for 4

00

years„ th

g

oin

g to

say

, 'Th

em

's som

e o

ut o

f sigh

t thtig

s h

oo

dlu

ms u

p th

ere

.... Wh

o is th

ese

thu

gs a

nd

I lu

ms?' "H

uey

was sm

art eno

ug

h to

kn

ow

," Seale cc

ued

, "that th

e b

lack

peo

ple

were

go

ing

to sa

y,

they

've b

een callin

g u

s nig

gers, th

ug

s and

ho

od

lum

Political program of the Black Panther party F

ollowing is the 10-point program

of the B

lack Panther party, adopted in O

ctober 1966. 1. W

e wan

t freedo

m. W

e wan

t po

wer to

d

etermin

e the d

estiny

of o

ur b

lack co

mm

un

ity.

We b

elieve th

at black

peo

ple w

ill not b

e free u

ntil w

e are able to

determ

ine o

ur d

estiny

. 2

. We w

ant fu

ll emp

loy

men

t for o

ur p

eo-

ple. W

e believ

e that, th

e federal g

overn

men

t is resp

onsib

le and o

blig

ated to

giv

e every

man

em

plo

ym

ent o

r a guaran

teed in

com

e. We b

e-liev

e that if th

e white A

merican

butsinessm

en w

ill not g

ive fu

ll emplo

ym

ent, th

en th

e mean

s o

f pro

du

ction

sho

uld

be tak

en fro

m th

e bu

si-n

essmen

and

placed

in th

e com

mu

nity

so th

at th

e peo

ple o

f the co

mm

unity

can o

rgan

ize and

emp

loy

all of its p

eop

le and

giv

e .a hig

h stan

-dard of living.

3. W

e wan

t an en

d to

the ro

bbery

by th

e cap

italist of o

ur b

lack co

mm

unity

. We b

elieve

that th

is racist go

vern

men

t has ro

bb

ed u

s and

n

ow

we are d

eman

din

g th

e overd

ue d

ebt o

f 40

acres and two m

ules. Forty acres and tw

o mules

was p

rom

ised 1

00 y

ears ago as restitu

tion fo

r slav

e labo

r and

mass m

urd

er of b

lack p

eop

le. W

e will accep

t the p

aym

ent in

curren

cy w

hich

w

ill be d

istributed

to o

ur m

any co

mm

unities.

Th

e Germ

ans are n

ow

aidin

g th

e Jews in

Israel fo

r the g

enocid

e of th

e Jewish

peo

ple. T

he

Germ

ans murdered six m

illion Jews. T

he Am

er-

ican racist h

as taken

part in

the slau

ghter o

f over 50 m

illion black people; therefore, we feel

that th

is is a mo

dest d

eman

d th

at we m

ake.

4. W

e want decent housing, fit for shelter

of h

um

an b

eing

s. We b

elieve th

at if the w

hite

landlo

rds w

ill not g

ive d

ecent h

ousin

g to

our

black comm

unity, then the housing and the land sh

ould

be m

ade in

to co

operativ

es so th

at our

com

munity

, with

govern

men

t aid, can

build

and m

ake decent housing for its people. 5

. We w

ant ed

ucatio

n fo

r ou

r peo

ple th

at ex

poses th

e true n

ature o

f this d

ecaden

t Am

er- ican

society

. We w

ant ed

ucatio

n th

at teaches u

s o

ur tru

e histo

ry an

d o

ur ro

le in th

e presen

t-day

so

ciety. W

e believ

e in an

educatio

nal sy

stem

that will give to our people a know

ledge of self. If a m

an d

oes n

ot h

ave k

now

ledge o

f him

self an

d h

is positio

n in

society

and th

e world

, then

he has little chance to relate to anything else.

6. W

e wan

t all black

men

• to b

e exem

pt

from

military

service. W

e believ

e that B

lack

people

should

not b

e fo

rced to

fight in

the

military

service to

defen

d a racist g

ov

ernm

ent

that d

oes n

ot p

rotect u

s. We w

ill no

t figh

t and

kill o

ther p

eople o

f colo

r in th

e world

who, lik

e black

peo

ple, are b

eing v

ictimized

by th

e white

racist go

vern

men

t of A

merica. W

e will p

rotect

ou

rselves fro

m th

e force an

d v

iolen

ce of th

e racist p

olice an

d th

e racist military

, by w

hat-

ever means necessary.

7.W

e wan

t an im

med

iate end

to p

olice

bru

tality an

d m

urd

er of b

lack p

eople. W

, liev

e we can

end

po

lice bru

tality in

ou

r 1

com

mu

nity

by

org

anizin

g b

lack self-d

el g

rou

ps th

at a

re d

ed

icate

d to

defe

nd

ing

black

com

munity

from

racist police o

ppre:

and

bru

tality. T

he S

econ

d A

men

dm

ent tt

Constitu

tion o

f the U

nited

States g

ives ,a

to b

ear arms. W

e therefo

re believ

e that all t

people should arm them

selves for self-defm

8. W

e wan

t freedom

for all b

lack

held

in fed

eral, state, cou

nty

and

city p

ri and ja

ils. We b

elie

ve th

at a

ll bla

ck p

e

should

be released

from

the m

any jails

priso

ns b

ecause th

ey h

ave n

ot receiv

ed a

and impartial trial:

9. W

e want all black people w

hen bro to

trial to b

e tried in

cou

rt by

a jury

of

peer g

rou

p o

r peo

ple fro

m th

eir black

m

un

ities, as-defin

ed b

y th

e Co

nstitu

tion

of

Un

ited S

tates .... 1

0. W

e wan

t land

, bread

, ho

usin

g, ed

tio

n, clo

thin

g, ju

stice and p

eace. And as

majo

r po

litical ob

jective, a U

nited

Nati

superv

ised p

lebiscite to

be h

eld th

roughout

black

colo

ny in

which

only

black

colo

nial

jects w

ill be a

llow

ed

to p

artic

ipate

, for

purp

ose o

f determ

inin

g th

e will o

f black

pe

as to th

eir natio

nal d

estiny

... .

2 /P

AN

TH

ER

S /F

EB

RU

AR

Y 1

97

0 /G

UA

RD

IAN

'JP

sra

•ar... M

MM

MM

M

M

110.1

Pir.

police repression 400 y

ears, that ain

't go

n' h

urt m

e, I'm g

oin

g to

check

out w

hat th

ese bro

thers is d

oin

g!' "

Bu

t the su

ccess was n

ot w

itho

ut certain

draw

-backs. O

n the plus side, the Panthers w

ere now national-

ly known and w

ithin a, few m

onths claimed branches in

Los A

ngeles, Tennessee, G

eorgia, New

York and D

etroit. H

un

dred

s of b

lack g

hetto

yo

uth

were attracted

to th

e party and its program

. O

n the other. side, Bobby S

eale and several others serv

ed a six

-mo

nth

priso

n sen

tence: as a resu

lt of th

e actio

n. T

he g

un restrictio

ns w

ere passed

and th

e police

and n

ews m

edia u

sed 'th

e publicity

, which

had

work

ed

for th

e Pan

thers in

the b

lack co

mm

un

ity, to

initiate a

racist hysteria against the party among w

hites. The cam

-paign w

as often successful and the reaction reached into som

e sectors of the black comm

unity as well.

Fro

m th

e Pan

ther p

oin

t of v

iew, th

e white reac-

tion

was n

ot th

e result o

f any

"mistak

e" on

their p

art, but an unavoidable initial aspect of the course of revolu-tio

nary

struggle in

the U

nited

States th

at would

even

=

tually be overcome.

Tw

o p

olitical d

ynam

ics "W

e feel there are tw

o th

ings h

appen

ing in

this

country," said Eldridge C

leaver, the now-exiled m

inister of in

form

ation. "Y

ou h

ave a b

lack co

lony an

d y

ou h

ave

the w

hite m

oth

er country

and y

ou h

ave tw

o d

ifferent

sets of political dynamics involved in these tw

o relation- sh

ips. W

hat's c

alle

d fo

r in th

e m

oth

er c

ou

ntry

is a

revolu

tion an

d th

ere's a black

liberatio

n stru

ggle called

fo

r in th

e colo

ny."

What th

e "differen

t dynam

ics" mean

t was th

at w

hites, ev

en rev

olu

tionary

whites, w

ould

tend to

disto

rt or m

isun

derstan

d th

e natu

re of th

e black

strug

gle u

ntil

black control over the movem

ent in the colony had been estab

lished

. Once th

at was reso

lved

, then

unity

betw

een

the two struggles w

as not only possible but desirable. F

ollo

win

g th

e Sacram

ento

action an

d th

e legal

defen

se they

had

bu

ilt arou

nd

it, the P

anth

ers con

tinu

ed

their o

peratio

ns in

the O

aklan

d b

lack co

mm

unity

. The

po

lice patro

ls con

tinu

ed, as w

ell as the p

arty's ed

uca-

tional w

ork

around its 1

0-p

oin

t pro

gram

and th

e estab-

lishment of the B

lack Panther new

spaper. T

he party also continued and developed further its p

olicy

of fo

llow

ing

thro

ug

h o

n w

hatev

er imm

ediate

pro

blem

s black

peo

ple w

ould

presen

t to it an

d see th

at they w

ere solved.

Wh

at mad

e the d

ebate so

inten

se was th

e emer-

gen

ce of th

e Peace an

d. F

reedom

party

as a political

force in

the C

aliforn

ia left and ev

entu

ally acro

ss the

country

. The P

FP

was a co

alition 'm

ainly

of w

hite left-

liberals an

d rad

icals org

anized

as a third

party

electoral

alternativ

e in o

ppositio

n to

the V

ietnam

war an

d in

support of black liberation.

Th

e Pan

thers saw

in th

e PF

P's cam

paig

n m

a-ch

inery

a chan

ce for a w

ider ed

ucatio

nal cam

paig

n in

N

ewto

n's d

efense. B

ut th

e party

held

that an

y "fu

nc-

tion

al coalitio

n" w

ith w

hites co

uld

on

ly b

e form

ed o

n

the b

asis of su

pport fo

r the d

eman

d to

"Free H

uey

." T

hu

s, to fo

rm th

e alliance, th

e wh

ite radicals h

ad to

win

over th

e liberals,' m

any o

f whom

saw th

e Pan

thers as a

threat to

the P

FP

's vo

te-gettin

g "resp

ectability

." A

s the tim

e appro

ached

for th

e PF

P to

file its b

allot p

etition

s at the en

d o

f 19

67

, a sho

rtage o

f sign

a-tu

res forced

the issu

e. The rad

icals won o

ut an

d th

e allian

ce was fo

rmed

. The P

anth

ers took th

e petitio

ns

into

the b

lack c

om

munity

and p

ut th

e P

FP

on th

e

ballo

t—b

ut w

ith H

uey

New

ton

, Bo

bb

y S

eale and

Kath

-leen

Cleav

er as candid

ates for state o

ffices runnin

g o

n

the b

asis of th

e Pan

ther• 1

0-p

oin

t pro

gram

. Eld

ridg

e C

leaver was to be the C

alifornia PF

P's P

residential candi-date, pending the national convention.

Th

e party

's coalitio

n w

ith th

e PF

P g

ave th

em an

im

mediate public political exposure—

among both blacks

and w

hites—

that w

ould

hav

e. been

difficu

lt to attain

otherw

ise. And, given the needs of N

ewton's defense and

the p

rob

ability

of fu

rther rep

ression

, the m

ov

e was seen

as im

portant. if not necessary, for the party's survival.

the P

anth

ers' relationsh

ip to

oth

er forces in

the b

lack

movem

ent. •

Sq

on

after the P

FP

camp

aign

aid th

e.dcfen

se of

New

ton got underway, the anticipated police repression

beg

an: O

n Jan

. 16, 1

968, p

olice raid

ed th

e Cleav

ers' h

om

e. 'Fro

m th

en o

n," said

Kath

leen C

leaver, "th

e harassm

ent of the Party intensified."

• A

month ,later, follow

ing a raid on his !Mine, S

eale • w

as,-arrested an

d ch

arged

with

consp

iracy to

com

mit

murd

er. New

ly fo

rmed

party

bran

cheS

were h

arassed

across th

e cou

ntry

. On

Ap

ril 3, a p

ub

lic party

meetin

g

was b

roken

up b

y arm

ed illeg

al searebes b

y O

aklan

d

Police. T

hen, on .April 6, tw

o days afterlthe King assassi-

nation, dozens of police opened fire on, a home w

here a P

anth

er .meetin

g w

as takin

g p

lace. Bobby H

utto

n. a

fOu

nd

er of th

e party

, was m

urd

ered :w

hile try

ing

to

surrender and Eldridge C

leaver was w

ounded and placed under arrest.

Hu

ey's trial • ;.

Th

e trial of H

uey

New

ton

lasted fro

nt Ju

ly I S

to

Sept. 8 and m

arked a high point in the Panthers' history.

The p

ublic atten

tion g

iven

the trial, d

ue in

large p

art to

the defense efforts and the PF

P cam

paign, provided the P

anth

er's with

an ex

cellent o

pportu

nity

, not o

nly

to

defend New

ton, but to wage a political offensive' as w

ell. F

rom

start to fin

ish, th

e trial was v

iewed

as a m

odel political defense. New

ton's lawyer, C

harles Garry,

exp

osed

the class an

d racial b

ias bu

ilt into

the co

urt

system at every step. W

ithin the trial, New

ton managed

to ex

plain

the P

anth

er pro

gram

and

wh

y h

e was a

political prisoner, as well as dem

onstrate his innocence. O

utsid

e the co

urtro

om

, the p

arty m

obilized

the co

m-

munity in a continual series of m

ass rallies. W

hen

the v

erdict cam

e in, th

e Po

litical character

of th

e trial becam

e apparen

t. New

ton w

as convicted

of

inv

olu

ntary

man

slaug

hter, a ch

arge o

f wh

ich h

e cou

ld

not possibly have been guilty. The evidence of the trial

was su

ch th

at he co

uld

on

ly b

e gu

ilty o

r inn

ocen

t of

first-deg

ree murd

er. The "co

mpro

mise v

erdict sim

ply

revealed the politiC

al forces at play.

Reag

an ad

min

istration

enrag

ed

Califo

rnia's R

eagan

adm

inistratio

n an

d th

e Oak

-land police w

ho wanted N

ewton executed w

ere enraged at th

e ou

tcom

e of th

e trial. On

ly h

ou

rs after the v

erdict

was

an

no

un

ced

. th

e P

anth

er n

ffire

"tilts

IL 4

111u

J

CC

tIld

t they w

ere solved.

ration school in .F. N

ewto

n stated

, again

and

again

, that th

e patty

"w

as the p

eople's p

arty" an

d w

as "like an

oxen

, to b

e rid

den

by

, the p

eop

le and serv

e the n

eeds o

f the p

eop

le." If th

e'peo

ple wan

ted a traffic lig

ht, th

e Pan

thers to

ld th

e police to

install o

ne im

med

iately o

r the p

arty w

ould

sta

rt dire

ctin

g tra

ffic. If b

lack c

hild

ren w

ere

bein

g

harassed

in th

e scho

ols, th

e Pan

thers o

rgan

ized m

oth

ers to

patro

l the h

alls wh

ile armed

party

mem

bers sto

od

guard

outsid

e. Lib

eration sch

ools w

ere also set u

p after

regular classes were over.

Bu

t as the p

arty's su

ccesses grew

, so d

id th

e inten

-sity

of p

olice h

arassmen

t. Po

lice bu

lletin b

oard

s blo

s-so

med

with

descrip

tions o

f party

mem

bers an

d th

eir cars. O

n fo

ot o

r driv

ing

arou

nd

, Pan

thers w

ou

ld b

e sto

pped

and arrested

on ch

arges ran

gin

g fro

m p

etty

traffic violations to spitting on the sidewalk. (S

ee statis- • tics of police harassm

ent, page 4.) O

n O

ct. 28

, 19

67

, the issu

e came to

a head

: early

in th

e mo

rnin

g, a p

olice car rep

orted

, "I hav

e a Pan

ther

car." Sev

eral hours later, o

ne p

olicem

an w

as dead

and

Hu

ey N

ewto

n w

as un

der arrest w

ith fo

ur b

ullet w

ou

nd

s in his stom

ach. When he recovered, he w

as charged with

murd

er and lo

cked

in A

lamed

a County

jail with

out b

ail. N

ewto

n im

med

iately p

roclaim

ed h

is inn

ocen

ce, but th

e police an

d p

ress once ag

ain w

hip

ped

up an

d

inten

sified a racist, h

ysterical reactio

n'to

both

New

ton

and th

e Black

• Pan

ther p

arty. F

or its p

art, the p

arty

mobilized

its forces fo

r a "Free H

uey

" defen

se cam-

paign. While thousands of people, black and w

hite, rallied to

New

ton's d

efense, in

the b

egin

nin

g th

e uneq

uiv

ocal

demand to "F

ree Huey" w

as the cause of some footdrag-

gin

g in

the w

hite lib

eral and

radical co

mm

un

ity. M

any

arg

ued

that th

e dem

and

sho

uld

be "F

air Trial fo

r Hu

ey"

which w

ould supposedly win w

ider support. B

ut th

e Pan

thers w

ere wag

ing a p

olitical d

efense

and h

eld to

the p

ositio

n in

their p

rogram

that b

lack

peo

ple co

uld

on

ly receiv

e a fair trial by

a jury

of th

eir peers. S

ince the colonial and class .character of the Cali-

forn

ia courts p

recluded

that p

ossib

ility, th

e only

just

dem

and

-and

the o

nly

on

e that m

ade sen

se-was th

at H

uey New

ton be set free.

011111111r 1

11

11

11

11

11

11

P

Fred Ham

pton at a Chicago rally, 1968.

• T

he P

anth

ers saw th

e alliance as p

rincip

led, re-

specting the rights of black people to self-determination.

Th

e mu

tual ag

reemen

t was th

at the P

anth

ers, wo

uld

set th

e PF

P lin

e on all issu

es related to

the b

lack co

mm

un-

ity. A

ll oth

er po

licy w

ou

ld b

e form

ulated

on

the b

asis of

on

e-man

, on

e-vo

te. As E

ldrid

ge C

leaver su

mm

ed it u

p:

"We ap

pro

ached

the w

hole th

ing fro

m th

e poin

t of v

iew

of in

ternatio

nal relatio

ns. W

e feel that o

ur co

alition

is part o

f our fo

reign p

olicy

.... " N

everth

eless, a num

ber o

f black

radicals o

utsid

e the party view

ed the alliance with w

hites with dism

ay, if not as a sell-o

ut. T

he m

ain th

rust o

f black

pow

er-the

legitimacy and necessity for blacks td form

independent, all-black organizations-had only recently been establish-ed.

The issu

e was co

mplicated

by th

e fact that th

e P

anth

ers were in

the p

rocess o

f form

ing a "m

erger w

ith

SN

CC

, which

was fo

rmally

announced

at an O

aklan

d

"Free H

uey

" rally o

n. F

eb. 1

7, 1

96

8. T

he p

rincip

le lead

ers of S

NC

C-Jam

es Form

an, S

tokely

Carm

ichael

and H

. Rap

Bro

wn-w

ere nam

ed to

leadin

g p

ositio

ns in

th

e party

, with

the lead

ers of b

oth

gro

up

s ann

ou

ncin

g a

plan to form a m

ass black political party. T

he "m

erger" w

as short-liv

ed an

d b

egan

to cru

m-

ble almost as soon as it w

as formed. W

hile the full story is still n

ot k

now

n, th

e even

t was sig

nifican

t in sh

apin

g 4

at the o

utco

me o

f the trial. O

nly

ho

urs after th

e verd

ict w

as ann

ou

nced

, the P

anth

er office W

as ridd

led w

ith

bu

llets by

dru

nk

en co

ps. O

n S

ept. 2

7, th

e day

New

ton

'w

as sentenced, the courts reversed the decision on Clea-

ver's parole and gave him 60 days to return to prison.

Cleaver had played a leading role in N

ewton's and

the party'S defense. A

fter the California P

FP

named him

its P

residential candidate, several other states had follow-

ed su

it. Th

is had

op

ened

up

a wid

e rang

e of sp

eakin

g

eng

agem

ents aro

un

d th

e cou

ntry

, alon

g w

ith g

reater access to the new

s media.

In A

ug

ust, h

e wo

n th

e natio

nal P

FP

no

min

ation

, ev

en th

ough h

is nam

e was k

ept o

ff several state b

allots

(including California's) because of his youth. T

he educa- tio

nal effect o

f the cam

paig

n h

ad clearly

help

ed th

e party

's surv

ival an

d ev

en led

to its g

row

th. In

the en

d,

the o

fficial election tallies g

ave h

im alm

ost 2

00,0

00

votes. In

Novem

ber, C

leaver w

ent in

to fo

reign ex

ile rather than return to prison, w

here he believed he would

be killed. T

he p

arty, w

hich

had

dro

pped

the "fo

r self-de-

fense" from its nam

e to reemphasize its.political charac-

ter, was n

ow

larger th

an ev

er, with

30 b

ranch

es and

perh

aps a th

ousan

d m

embers at th

e end o

f 1968. "W

e g

ave th

e wh

ole y

ear of 1

96

8 to

the p

igs," said

Seale,

com

men

ting o

n th

e repressio

n, "an

d th

ank th

em fo

r organizing our organization."

(Continued on page 81

GU

AR

DIA

N

SU

PP

LE

ME

NT

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e largest in

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eekly

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GU

AR

D/A

N /P

AN

TH

ER

S /FE

BR

UA

RY

1*0 /3

Bobby Seigle explain

Panther politics B

lack

Pa

nth

er pa

rty ch

airm

an

Bo

bb

y S

eale is

servin

g a

fou

r-yea

r priso

n term

for co

ntem

pt o

f federa

l ju

dge J

uliu

s Hoffm

an

's con

spira

cy tria

l cou

rt in C

hica

go.

Sen

ten

ce w

as im

po

sed

. in N

ovem

ber a

fter S

ea

le w

as

bo

un

d a

nd

ga

gg

ed in

the co

urtro

om

wh

en h

e sou

gh

t to

represen

t him

self du

ring th

e Ch

icago 8

trial in

the a

b-

sence o

f his la

wyer. H

e still mu

st stan

d tria

l ag

ain

on

ch

arg

es resultin

g fro

m th

e con

fron

tatio

n in

Ch

icag

o d

ur-

ing

the D

emo

cratic co

nv

entio

n. In

ad

ditio

n, th

e pa

rty

chairm

an

is aw

aitin

g ex

trad

ition

to C

on

necticu

t for h

is a

lleged

role in

the ca

se of th

e New

Ha

ven

Pa

nth

er 14,

accu

sed o

f mu

rderin

g P

an

ther A

lex R

ack

ley. F

ollo

win

g

is an

inte

rvie

w c

on

du

cte

d w

ith S

eale

Feb

. 11 in

San

F

ran

cisco C

ou

nty

jail b

y G

ua

rdia

n sta

ff corresp

on

den

t F

rancis F

urey

.

You have been in jail since A

ugust. Could you give

some details on your treatm

ent in jail since then. - W

ell I'v

e b

een in

a n

um

ber o

f jails sin

ce

I w

as at rested

Aug. 1

9--S

.F. C

ounty

and C

ook C

ounty

[Chi-

ago] an

d a n

um

ber o

f oth

er jails across th

e country

. In

S.F

. County

jail I w

as th

row

n in

the h

ole

for h

avin

g a

P

an

ther p

arty

new

spap

er th

at o

ne o

f the g

uard

s here actu

ally let m

e hav

e after my law

yer, C

harles G

arry,

lucsted

that I

have it b

ase

d o

n th

e fa

ct th

at I h

ad to

In

a Le so

me n

otes an

d o

utlin

es on so

me sp

eeches th

at I had m

ade, th

e c

onte

nt o

f whic

h w

as to

com

e u

p in

C

Od r

t. Could

you d

escribe th

e hole?

Th

e h

ole

itself is a

bo

x fiv

e fe

et w

ide a

nd

seven

feet long. Y

ou h

ave n

o b

ed, n

o b

unk, n

o to

ilet. There is

only

a h

ole

in th

e flo

or w

here

one c

ould

defe

cate

, ulu

late

and th

is ofte

n o

verflo

ws. T

his h

ole

was ru

led

mic

onstitu

tional b

y sta

te su

pre

me c

ourt in

1966. T

he

rulin

g sta

ted

that a

man

's sup

po

sed

to h

av

e a

t least a

., 111,,i1T

etiti of so

me k

ind, fu

ll meals an

d a to

ilet. Recen

tly

iticr, iris been

a gran

d ju

ry in

vestig

ation o

f county

jail

Huey N

ewton and E

ldridge Cleaver. H

uey was in jail and

Cleav

er was in

political ex

ile and I th

ink th

ey also

saw

the n

ecessity to

move o

n m

e. At th

e time I w

as charg

ed I

was o

n a sp

eakin

g to

ur in

the S

candin

avian

countries so

p

erhap

s they

were h

op

ing

I wo

uld

n't co

me b

ack. A

ll in

all, their reaso

ns fo

r mo

vin

g ag

ainst m

e are the sam

e as th

e reason

s they

are no

w m

ov

ing

again

st bro

ther [D

a-vid

] Hilliard

and o

ther P

anth

er leaders. T

hey

don't h

ave

any evidence against me. A

ll I did was m

ake a speech [in C

hicag

o] ab

out th

e right to

self-defen

se again

st bru

tal, u

nju

st attack. W

e've alw

ays m

ade sp

eeches lik

e this, b

ut

they

turn

ed it aro

und an

d said

that I w

as advocatin

g a

riot. T

he B

lack P

anth

er party

show

s that w

e don't b

e-liev

e in sp

ontan

eous rio

ts becau

se we'v

e seen so

man

y o

f o

ur p

eop

le killed

du

e to th

e lack o

f pro

per o

rgan

ization

. A

noth

er reason th

ey in

cluded

me in

the co

nsp

iracy is

that th

e pow

er structu

re is beg

innin

g to

realize that 3

0

millio

n b

lack p

eop

le are beg

inn

ing

to listen

to th

e Pan

-th

er party

. If we w

ere black

racists they

cou

ld easily

iso

late us, b

ut su

ch is n

ot th

e case. T

he B

lack P

anth

er party

has b

een criticized

for its

rheto

ric. What is y

our reactio

n to

this?

When

we u

se the term

"pig

," for ex

ample, w

e are referrin

g to

peo

ple w

ho sy

stematically

vio

late peo

ples'

constitutional rights—w

hether they be monopoly capital-

ists or p

olice. T

he term

is now

bein

g ad

opted

by rad

icals, hip

pies an

d m

inority

peo

ples. E

ven

the w

ork

ers, when

th

e pig

s supported

strike-b

reakers lik

e they

did

at Unio

n

Oil iri R

ichm

on

d w

here 1

00

local p

olice cam

e in an

d

cracked

strikers' h

eads, b

egan

to call th

em b

y th

eir true

nam

e. Bu

t I thin

k p

eop

le,' especially

wh

ite peo

ple, h

ave

to co

me to

understan

d th

at the lan

guag

e of th

e ghetto

is a lan

guag

e of its o

wn

and

as the p

arty—

wh

ose m

emb

ers fo

r the m

ost p

art com

e from

the g

hetto

—seek

s to talk

to

the p

eop

le, it mu

st speak

the p

eop

le's lang

uag

e.

Party ch

airm

an B

obby S

eale

. W

ere you b

rought to

trial in th

e consp

iracy as a

result o

f the co

ntin

uin

g crack

dow

n b

y M

ayor D

aley an

d

Chicag

o au

thorities o

n th

e Black

Pan

ther p

arty, w

hich

in

Decem

ber resu

lted in

the d

eaths o

f Fred

Ham

pto

n an

d

represen

ted a g

ross criticism

of N

ixon an

d th

e pow

er stru

cture h

e represen

ted. T

he m

edia to

ok h

is remark

: out o

f this c

onte

xt a

nd c

reate

d a

clim

ate

of p

ublic

o

pin

ion

wh

ereby

he co

uld

be ch

arged

with

threaten

inE

th

e Presid

ent's life. A

s a result o

f this ty

pe o

f med

ic co

verag

e, law en

forcem

ent felt th

at the p

eople h

ad b

een

sufficien

tly m

isled to

allow

them

to m

ove o

n th

e Pan

-thers. A

fter they

had

effectively

taken

away

the lead

er-sh

ip th

ey co

uld

then

move o

n th

e rank an

d file m

ember.

ship of the Party?

Exactly.

Why do you think this backfired on them

? .T

hey c

ould

n't w

ipe th

e b

lood o

ff their h

ands

quick

enough. T

hey

had

done sim

ilar thin

gs in

the p

ast. A

lot o

f bro

thers h

ad b

een sh

ot an

d k

illed. B

efore, th

e press w

ould

prin

t the p

olice rep

orts an

d n

o o

ne w

ould

be ab

le to k

now

what really

hap

pen

ed. B

ut in

this case it

was d

ifferent. A

n estim

ated 8

0,0

00 p

eople w

ent th

rough

the h

ouse w

here H

ampto

n w

as shot d

ead an

d actu

ally

saw th

e bu

llet ho

les in th

e wall. T

hese p

eop

le received

a first-hand experience of genocidal tactics.

In th

e case o

f the p

olice a

ttack

in L

os A

ngeles, a

sim

ilar ed

uca

tion

al ex

perien

ce took

pla

ce did

n't it?

P

recise

ly. I a

ssum

e th

at w

hat th

e L

.A. p

olic

e

ho

ped

to d

o w

as pu

ll off an

early m

orn

ing

10

or 1

5

min

ute raid

and sh

oot u

p an

d k

ill whoev

er they

wan

ted

to an

d g

et out o

f there b

ut th

e party

was sm

art and a

sister in th

e office g

ot a p

hone call o

ut b

efore th

ey cu

t th

e lines say

ing w

e need

the p

eople an

d press h

ere. and th

ey cam

e to th

e shoot-o

ut scen

e. So w

hen

the p

olice

versio

n o

f the sto

ry cam

e out in

the p

ress the p

eople

were

able

to c

om

pare

that v

ersio

n w

ith w

hat th

ey

saw

.... It is sig

nifican

t that in

the L

.A. case so

me 3

00 to

500 p

olice eq

uip

ped

with

the m

ost ad

van

ced w

eaponry

-to

ok fiv

e hours to

overco

me a fo

rce of 1

4 m

en an

d

wom

en Panthers.

Th

at's an im

po

rtant p

oin

t. Yo

u k

no

w th

ey h

ad a

tank ready on the scene. That's fascism

—that's all that is. '

Desp

ite police rep

orts to

the co

ntrary

that th

ey k

nock

ed

on th

e door an

d ask

ed th

e bro

thers to

com

e out, th

e brothers w

ere sleeping when the police riddled the office

with

bullets an

d w

hen

they

bro

ke d

ow

n th

e door an

d ;

came in

sho

otin

g th

e bro

thers h

ad n

o ch

oice b

ut to

j defend them

selves. Such tactics reveal the true n

atu

re of police in

tentio

ns: o

ne, to

shoot u

p an

d k

ill as man

y

Pan

thers a

s po

ssible

; two

, to p

ut th

e re

st in ja

il on

-'

trum

ped

up

charg

es. In o

ther w

ord

s, law en

forcem

ent

wan

ts to w

ipe th

e Pan

thers o

ut. T

hey

don't h

ide th

eir.

fl cr( bas b

een a g

rand ju

ry in

vestig

ation o

f county

jail co

udit lo

ns. b

ut ev

ery tim

e a gran

d ju

ry m

ember co

mes

around th

ey tak

e priso

ners o

ut o

f the h

ole u

ntil h

e has

left; then

they

'll put h

im b

ack in

. W

hat kind of reading are you allowed here?

The o

nly

thin

g allo

wed

is the d

aily n

ewsp

aper an

d

of co

urse th

at's very

limited

in term

s of an

y k

ind o

f black

histo

ry o

r literature d

ealing w

ith th

e revolu

tionary

ch

ange th

at's goin

g o

n in

Am

erica. Even

if I wan

ted to

re

ad a

bout th

e h

istory

of C

hic

ano p

eople

, Asia

n o

r A

frican p

eoples, th

ey w

on't allo

w th

ose m

aterials in th

e jails. T

hey

call it contrab

and h

ere. W

hy were you charged in the C

hicago 8 conspiracy case sin

ce your co

nnectio

n w

ith th

e oth

er seven

was.

tenuous an

d y

ou sp

ent o

nly

som

e 12 h

ours in

Chicag

o

durin

g th

e riot p

eriod?

Well, I w

as one o

f the lead

ers in th

e Pan

ther'S

co

ntrib

utio

n to

the rev

olu

tionary

struggle alo

ng w

ith

Decem

ber resu

lted in

the d

eaths o

f Fred

Ham

pto

n an

d

Mark

Clark

? Were th

ey afraid

of th

e gro

win

g in

fluen

ce of the party on C

hicago's West S

ide? •

Defin

itely. B

ut I w

ould

not o

nly

localize th

is con-

spirato

rial attempt to

part o

f the av

aricious d

emogogic

Julin

g class, w

hich

exten

ds fro

m th

e Nix

on reg

ime o

n

dow

n. A

ll are part an

d p

arcel of th

is attempt to

wip

e out

the p

arty. W

hen

we see w

hat h

appen

ed to

bro

ther F

red

Ham

pto

n an

d b

roth

er M,atk

Clark

in th

e pre-d

awn raid

. W

hen

we see th

is kin

d o

f action w

e see the sm

ack o

f fascism

. They

thin

k th

ey can

get aw

ay w

ith w

hat th

ey're

. doing because they've fooled and niisfed the people. Y

ou see w

hen

they

charg

e, a perso

n w

ith a crim

e the m

ass m

edia w

ill tend to

discred

it a perso

n co

mpletely

. We see

this happen in the Panther cases in C

onnecticut and New

Y

ork

... and in

the case o

f bro

ther H

illiard, th

ere was

no u

nderstan

din

g in

the p

ress of th

e way

he talk

s and

the lan

guag

e in th

e ghetto

. For ex

ample h

is remark

s

Hound, w

ounded a

fter L

os A

ngele

s Oa

consp

iratorial in

tent. In

the L

.A. case it

WE

pap

ers how

[Gov. R

onald

)' Reag

an an

d [F

I H

oover w

ere talkin

g o

ver th

e phone b

efore

show

s this. T

hen

when

the Ju

stice Dep

artmei

that it h

as no in

tentio

n o

f wip

ing o

ut th

e Par

know

its claims to

be false an

d w

e.know

that

bent on political repression.

■

•

"He afraid

of o

ur b

lackness! ... T

hey

afraid

of th

e pow

er of th

e peo

ple!" sh

outed

one o

f the y

oung P

anth

er 2

1 a

t pre

-trial

hearin

gs in

New

York

this m

onth

. Perh

aps

he su

mm

ed u

p so

me o

f the reaso

ns fo

r the

massiv

e govern

men

t repressio

n o

f the p

arty

that in

cludes o

ver 1

000 in

ciden

ts of h

arass-m

ent an

d 1

9 cases o

f hom

ocid

e betw

een

May

1967 th

rough th

e end o

f 1969.

Com

pile

d b

y th

e o

ffice o

f Charle

s G

arry, ch

ief attorn

ey fo

r the n

ational P

an-

ther p

arty, h

arassmen

ts range fro

m a fed

eral in

dictm

ent fo

r alleged

connectio

n to

a mur-

der w

ith n

o b

ail for th

e accused

—to

a charg

e on Ju

ly 6

, 1969 ag

ainst Jo

hn W

ashin

gto

n, a

Los A

ngeles P

anth

er mem

ber, fo

r spittin

g o

n

the sidewalk.

Charg

es inclu

ded

in m

ore th

an tw

o

years o

f police h

arassmen

t across th

e coun-

try w

ere

roughly

the fo

llow

ing: o

ver 3

5

charg

es of d

isord

erly co

nduct, lo

itering, etc.;

over 3

9 ch

arges o

f resisting arrest o

r inter-

fering w

ith a p

olice o

fficer; over 2

4 n

arcotics

charg

es; 4 S

elective S

ervice cases; o

ver 1

25

charg

es of co

nsp

iracy (to

bom

b, m

urd

er,

011 steal, co

mm

it arson); o

ver n

ine m

inor fo

rmal

court actio

ns su

ch as b

ench

warran

ts; over

36 traffic v

iolatio

ns in

cludin

g th

e May

1969

incid

ent in

Chicag

o w

here p

olice ram

med

th

e back

of P

anth

er mem

ber G

arry T

yler's

car and th

en g

ave h

im a tick

et for n

o tail

lights; o

ver 1

29 ch

arges in

volv

ing th

eft or

stolen

pro

perty

; over 1

52 acts o

r charg

es of

a vio

lent n

ature su

ch as o

f murd

er, arson,

aggrav

ated b

attery an

d attack

s by p

olice o

n

Panth

er m

em

bers a

nd o

ffices; o

ver 1

50

charges involving weapons, such as failure to

register or concealment.

The c

harg

es fo

llow

ed th

e P

anth

ers

wherev

er they

wen

t: In M

exico

Aug. 1

5,

1968, th

ree Pan

thers—

Geo

rge M

urray

, Lan

-don W

illiams an

d D

avid

Hilliard

—w

ere kid

-napped b

y th

e F

BI; in

Haw

aii tw

o d

ays

earlier, Kath

leen C

leaver w

as refused

en-

ttance to

Japan

; Big

Man

was refu

sed en

-tran

ce to W

est Germ

any in

Decem

ber o

f last year.

• T

he W

est coast saw

over 3

36 in

ciden

ts in

cludin

g 1

49 in

Los A

ngeles, 5

5 in

Seattle,

42 in

San

Fran

cisco, 3

2 in

Sacram

ento

, 28 in

O

aklan

d, sev

en in

Eugen

e and o

ne each

in

Rich

mond, C

alif.; Berk

eley an

d S

alt Lak

e C

ity. —

----111-e-444-dwes.t saw

_ _over1Q,..11arass,__

inen

ts in C

hicag

o, 3

6 in

Indian

apolis. 1

9 in

M

ilwau

kee, 1

0 each

in D

etroit an

d D

enver,

• five in

Kan

sas City

, Mo. an

d tw

o in

Des

Moines.

In th

e East th

e Pan

thers w

ere harassed

over 152 tim

es in New

York. T

hey were also

harassed

in W

hite P

lains, A

lban

y, P

eeksk

ill, Jersey

City

, Bosto

n, B

altimore, H

arrisburg

, Pa., N

ew H

aven and Philadelphia.

Bails h

ave ran

ged

from

$25 fo

r 17

Pan

ther m

embers an

d $

1000 fo

r 60 m

em-

bers (o

ne w

as forfeited

) to $

100,0

00 fo

r 29

mem

bers (tw

o w

ere reduced

to $

50,0

00 an

d

one to

$10,0

00).

The 1

9 h

om

ocid

es listed b

y atto

rney

G

arry's o

ffice beg

an w

ith th

e findin

g o

f the

body o

f Arth

ur G

lenn M

orris (n

ame also

given as A

rthur Glenn C

arter) in Los A

ngeles in M

arch, 1968, with police claim

ing to have no in

form

ation ab

out h

is vio

lent d

eath. T

he

second death was the follow

ing month w

hen B

obby H

utto

n w

as shot b

y p

olice in

Oak

-lan

d as h

e surren

dered

with

his h

ands in

the

air, unarm

ed. T

he last h

om

ocid

es were in

C

hicag

o o

n D

ec. 4 w

hen

police m

urd

ered

Fred

Ham

pto

n in

his b

ed an

d M

ark C

lark in

a pre-daw

n raid.

Perhaps

mos'

actions against the Pantl

raids against Black P

ant in

g th

e past tw

o y

ears.' th

e often

fatal and d

e police to various B

lack I T

he first listed

r 1968, w

hen w

ith sh

e

bro

ke u

p a m

eeting o

f N

eil's Church in O

aklanc O

ther ra

ids it

July, police attacked Sea

(nig

ht o

f Huey

New

toi

land o

ffice shot u

p; O

c sh

ot u

p; D

ecember, N

e• by p

olice; D

enver o

ffic seco

nd tim

e police d

id $

ag

e and alleg

edly

stole

office raid

ed, ran

sacked

M

oines office attacked b

1 h

e 1969 raid

s i F

rancisco, Los A

ngeles, M

oin

es offices attack

ed

stroyed

by b

om

bin

g; J

offices in

Chicag

o, S

an

and D

etroit; Ju

ly, p

olice

office in

a 45-m

inute sl

to b

urn

the o

ffice d

o,

destroyed food for break.

4 /PA

NT

HE

RS

/ FE

BR

UA

RY

1970 / GU

AR

DIA

N

th reg

ard to

the C

hicag

o co

nsp

iracy trial, d

efen-

nnie D

avis h

as said th

at the sin

gle m

ost im

por-

e dram

atized b

y th

e trial was racism

, as sym

bol-

'our gagging and chaining. How

do yOu see that?

:II, it's sym

bolic in

the sen

se that ju

dicial racism

as D

red S

cott an

d it sh

ow

s that v

ery little h

as sin

ce 1857 in

the co

urts. O

n th

e oth

er han

d, m

y

and

gag

gin

g p

oin

ts ou

t the fact th

at in A

merica

has ju

stice. I mean

the w

hite cats in

that trial

ed sim

ilar to th

e way

I was treated

. The racist

y c

an a

lso b

e a

pplie

d to

people

oth

er th

an

this is th

e mo

st imp

ortan

t po

int raised

by

my

it in

that tria

l. 1 m

ean th

e fa

ct th

at th

ey h

ad

rshals in

the trial d

idn't really

stop th

e racism

rial itself. The u

se of th

e black

marsh

als . was a

I.:try tactic o

n th

e part o

f the co

urt. T

he co

urt

en claim

as it did

that th

e presen

ce of b

lack law

len

t in th

e cou

rtroo

m m

ade m

y claim

s of racism

ib

le. Well, I say

that if a b

lack ju

dge w

as goin

g

ie same fascist, racist tactics as Julius H

offman, I

ave acted

no

differen

tly. Y

ou

see an im

po

rtant

understan

d is th

at the sy

stem itself is w

hite.

s evid

ent lately

that th

ere has b

een a tactical

on th

e part o

f radicals w

ith reg

ard to

the ju

dicial

Hereto

fore rad

icals, both

white an

d b

lack w

ould

an

d allo

w th

e court to

pro

ceed in

"ord

erly"

Now

radicals h

ave d

ecided

to m

ake th

eir trials itical fo

rum

s to ex

pose th

e political n

ature o

f ecu

tion an

d to

publicize p

olitical id

eas and life

by

has th

is chan

ge h

app

ened

? fo

lind th

at lhe p

rocess o

f the A

mer-

icial in

cludin

g trial p

roced

ure an

d ju

ry

presen

tly v

iolates th

e constitu

tional rig

ht to

a b

y ju

ry o

f on

e's peers. It d

oesn

't stop

in th

e 'in

. Lo

ok a

t the ra

nso

m b

ails in

the N

.Y. 2

1

iich a

mount to

forc

ible

dete

ntio

n. T

hey d

o

1-- $100,000 each—but it can't be m

et. This is an

vio

lation

of co

nstitu

tion

al righ

ts. In m

y case in

I w

asn't allo

wed

to ev

en d

efend

my

self, wh

ere-azi G

erman

y in

1933, a B

ulg

arian C

om

munist

of settin

g th

e Reich

stag fire. w

as allow

ed to

iim

self. In L.A

. recently, the Panthers accused of

ed m

urd

er in th

e Watts sh

ooto

ut b

rought rats to

:-tro

om

which

they

had

caught in

their jail cells.

on

e do

esn't h

ave m

uch

cho

ice bu

t to ex

po

se his racism

an

d fascism

and stan

d u

p fo

r his co

nstitu

tional rig

hts.

All I d

id in

Ch

icago

was to

exercise m

y leg

al righ

t to

speak in my ow

n behalf and I was given four years in jail

as a result. B

ut I th

ink th

e most serio

us in

justice p

erpe-

trated b

y th

e court sy

stem in

Am

erica is the in

ability

of

a black

man

to g

et a jury

of h

is peers. In

Huey

New

ton's

trial there was one black. O

n the jury and he was over 40.

Th

is hap

pen

ed in

a city w

hich

is ov

er .50

% b

lack. N

ow

H

uey

had

been

a studen

t in co

llege. W

hy co

uld

n't h

e h

ave h

ad so

me y

ou

ng

peo

ple o

r stud

ents o

n th

at jury

? W

hat d

o y

ou

thin

k ab

ou

t tht recen

t revelatio

n b

y

the M

ayor o

f Seattle th

at federal au

thorities attem

pted

to in

fluen

ce him

to raid

the P

anth

er head

quarters in

that

city? It's no

revelatio

n. W

e hav

e been

talkin

g ab

out a

federally

-led co

nsp

iracy ag

ainst th

e party

for so

me tim

e. In

one sen

se it is a revelatio

n th

at a govern

men

t official

would

expose th

e attempt. B

ut th

e man

com

pared

us to

M

inutem

en an

d w

e're not M

inutem

en. W

e don't b

elieve

in b

uild

ing arsen

als of w

eapons. If y

ou w

ere to g

o in

to a

Pan

ther o

ffice and

find

10

Pan

thers y

ou

wo

uld

pro

bab

ly

find th

at e

ach o

ne o

f these

people

ow

ns a

gun fo

r self-d

efense o

nly

. The p

arty's ru

les are quite strict ab

out

this. I th

ink

it's imp

ortan

t that th

is official d

idn

't giv

e in

to th

e Gestap

o tactics o

f federal law

enfo

rcemen

t, but I

thin

k h

is concep

tion o

f the p

arty's attitu

de ab

out self-

defen

se is erroneo

us. T

his is a ty

pical m

istake: m

any

peo

ple co

ncen

trate on th

e self-defen

se aspect o

f the

party

's pro

gram

and d

on't tak

e a look at o

ther p

rogram

s th

e party

supports lik

e free break

fast for ch

ildren

, com

-

munity

contro

l of th

e police, free clo

thin

g p

rogram

s, co

operativ

e mark

ets, cooperativ

e housin

g, w

ith an

em-

phasis to

unify

all work

ers around th

e issue o

f a 30-h

our

work

week

in th

is country

with

the sam

e pay

, the issu

e of jo

bs fo

r the p

oor an

d o

ppressed

and th

e issue o

f who

contro

ls the m

eans o

f pro

ductio

n in

this co

untry

. In

oth

er word

s, draS

tic social ch

ange th

rough so

cialism.

With this in m

ind, it is hard to accuse us of being Minute-

men types.

The self-d

efense asp

ect of th

e party

does b

oth

er a lo

t of p

eople

in th

is country

. Could

you c

larify

the

Panther position?

First o

f all, no P

anth

er can b

reak a g

un law

unless

his life is in

dan

ger an

d th

e party

recognizes th

is. If he

does so

we w

ill expel o

r susp

end h

im d

epen

din

g o

n th

e serio

usn

ess of h

is offen

se. Pan

ther p

arty train

ing in

the

area of self-defense includes a study of. gun laws, safe use

of w

eapons a

nd th

ere

is a stric

t rule

that n

o p

arty

m

ember can

use a w

eapon ex

cept in

the case o

f an

thro

ug

h th

e no

tion

of sex

ual d

ifferences b

y race. C

ul-

tural nationalists, like Ron K

arenga, are male chauvinists

as well. W

hat they do is oppress the black wom

an. Their

black

racism lead

s them

to th

eories o

f male d

om

inatio

n

as well. T

hus black racists come to the sam

e conclusions th

at wh

ite racists do w

ith resp

ect to th

eir wom

en. T

he

party

says n

o to

this. P

ersonally

, I .don't th

ink th

at w

om

en w

ho w

ant lib

eration w

ant p

enise—

they

just

wan

t to b

e treated as h

um

an b

eings o

n an

equal b

asis, just as blacks w

ho demand the liberation of their people.

Eld

ridge C

leaver talk

ed ab

out th

is in "S

oul o

n Ice."

Superm

an n

ever tries to

relate to L

ois L

ane, n

or d

oes h

e try

to re

late

to th

e o

ppre

ssed. R

ath

er h

e re

late

s to

superficial violence, throwing people halfw

ay across the ocean

, etc. The co

ncep

t I'm try

ing to

establish

is the

cross-relatio

n o

f male ch

auvin

ism to

any o

ther fo

rm o

f chauvinism

—including racism

. In other words the idea of

sayin

g "k

eep a w

om

an in

her p

lace" is on

ly a sh

ort step

aw

ay fro

m sa

yin

g "k

eep a

nig

ger in

his p

lace." A

s E

ldrid

ge said

in h

is book, th

e white w

om

an is a sy

mbol

of freed

om

in th

is country

. The w

hite m

an to

ok th

is ch

ick an

d stu

ck h

er up o

n a p

edestal an

d called

her th

e S

tatue of Liberty and gave her a torch to hold. W

ell I say put a m

achine gun in her other hand.

Pan

thers in

San

Fran

cisco rally.

Recen

tly Jerry

Rubin

remark

ed th

at althou

gh th

e ju

dge in

the con

spiracy trial h

as comp

lained

abou

t the

langu

age of the d

efend

ants, th

e real obscen

ity in th

e case

wa

s the w

illing

ness o

f the co

urt to

use v

iolen

ce in th

e . co

urtro

om

to p

reven

t the d

efend

an

ts from

assertin

g

their con

stitution

al rights.

Th

at's typ

ical. It sho

ws th

e system

's preo

ccup

a-tio

n w

ith w

ord

s rather th

an th

e more b

asic questio

n o

f how

peo

ple relate to

one an

oth

er. For ex

ample, in

low

er class term

s, moth

erfuck

er doesn

't necessarily

mean

a sex

ual tab

oo

. It can b

e used

five tim

es in o

ne sen

tence

by a b

roth

er in th

e black

ghetto

and each

time it w

ill hav

e a differen

t mean

ing an

d co

nnotatio

n. In

any case,

research indicates that the origin of the term com

es from

the slav

e master's rap

e of a slav

e's moth

er. We see th

e

Atm

$hakur, p

rote

stin

g N

. Y. 2

1 tria

l.

to m

ale dom

inatio

n an

d it is p

erpetu

ated as su

ch b

y tb

ru

ling d

ais in A

merica. W

hen

we talk

- about w

om

en's

. liberatio

n w

e're not talk

ing so

much

about b

iolo

gics'

equality

. There is a b

asic bio

logical d

ifference b

etween

m

ales and fem

ales just as th

ere are even

more strik

ing

bio

logical sim

ilarities betw

een th

e sexes. T

hough m

ale an

d fem

ale differ w

ith resp

ect to th

e gen

italia, all hum

an

beings have an essential biological similarity—

two arm

s, tw

o leg

s and

wh

at hav

e yo

u. B

ut th

at is no

t wh

at we're

talkin

g ab

out w

hen

we talk

about eq

uality

for w

om

en.

All p

eople talk

, thin

k, feel an

d h

um

an relatio

nsh

ips h

ave

to be d

etermin

ed o

n th

at basis, n

ot o

n a sex

basis. T

he

same goes for racial differences. T

he puritanical tradition also

had

a lot to

do w

ith m

ale chau

vin

ism. T

he tab

oo o

n

sex w

as absu

rd in

the first p

lace becau

se three b

illion

p

eo

ple

go

t on

this e

arth

that w

ay

. loo

kin

g b

ack

in

histo

ry, it Is easy

to see th

at wom

en h

ave receiv

ed th

e b

lun

t end

of E

uro

pean

preju

dice ag

ainst sex

. Ho

w is

racism co

nnected

with

this? A

good p

art of racism

is the

absu

rd p

sych

olo

gical feaii o

n th

e part o

f peo

ple w

ho

thin

k th

at the b

lack m

an- h

as a big

ger p

enis th

an th

e w

hite. T

hus m

ale suprem

acy o

n th

e basis o

f sexual

org

ans can

be co

nnected

to racial su

prem

acy arriv

ed at

Od

tside

Ne

w Y

ork co

urth

ou

se.

Ev

en jail co

nd

ition

s vio

late on

e's con

stitutio

nal rig

hts. In

th

at same jail recen

tly, o

ne o

f the d

eputies tried

to b

eat a b

roth

er up

and

the b

roth

ers had

to d

efend

them

selves

again

st the d

epu

ties, so o

ne can

see that th

e unco

nstitu

-tio

nality

of th

e jud

icial . system

app

lies to all lev

els, in

clud

ing

the p

enal. T

he p

eop

le wh

o b

ear the b

lun

t end

o

f this sy

stem are n

ow

sho

win

g a w

illing

ness to

stand

up

again

st it and re

cent tria

ls poin

t this o

ut. T

hey a

re

willin

g to

defin

e a racist judge as a fascist an

d a p

ig—

that's w

hat th

e party

mean

s by p

ig, o

ne w

ho v

iolates a

perso

n's co

nstitu

tion

al righ

ts. In an

y case th

e jud

icial bran

ch o

f the g

overn

men

t is the last area o

f appeal fo

r a p

erson

wh

ose rig

hts h

ave b

een v

iolated

by

un

just law

s an

d b

rutal en

forcem

ent, so

when

you g

et to a co

urtro

om

an

d fin

d th

at the ju

dg

e him

self is a fascist at this p

oin

t

iple

of

,qem

pte

ct to

burn

dow

n P

eeksk

ill, N Y

.

of 2

4

offic

e•

A u

gust , p

olic

e re

treate

d fro

m

:es dur- atte

mpte

d ra

id o

n R

ichm

ond o

ffice a

fter

itrcln at-tem

pt was_announced

Novem

ber_

its" by

San

Dieg

o an

d A

lban

y o

ffices raided

; De-

. cem

ber, police raided the Los A

ngeles office,

,pril 3

, setting off a five-hour glinfight.

police T

he list o

f hara

ssments o

f Panth

er

Fath

er m

embers in

Milw

aukee d

urin

g th

e month

of

August 1969 is an exam

ple—m

inus the horn-ocid

es—of co

ntin

uin

g h

arassmen

ts again

st

pt. 2

8,

Pan

ther m

embers acro

ss the co

untry

:

,) Oak-

Rich

ard S

mith

: curfew

vio

lation

. Rich

-

office an

d S

mith

: same, fo

llow

ing

week

. Rich

ard

ombed

Sm

ith: arrested

crossin

g in

correctly

at inter-

:e (the

sectio

n. R

ichard

Sm

ith: a

rreste

d in

vesti-

if dam-

gatin

g arrest o

f two sisters. R

ichard

Sm

ith:

aapolis arre

sted

sellin

g p

ap

ers fo

r litterin

g, ja

y-

d; Des

walk

ing o

r just w

alkin

g. Jak

i Sim

pso

n: h

a- rassed

, red-b

aited b

y p

olice. N

ate Bellam

y:

threaten

ed w

ith p

arkin

g tick

et, threaten

ed

il, San

w

ith arrest fo

r talkin

g w

ith p

eople ab

out

nd Des

arrest of sister fo

r jayw

alkin

g. K

aren B

undy:

Illy de- arrested

for d

isord

erly co

nd

uct ab

ou

t jay-

[eluded w

alkin

g tick

et. Lo

vetta X

. Bro

wn

: stop

ped

imento

by

po

lice, sub

mitted

to search

after hav

ing

11.icago gun p

oin

ted at h

er. Lovetta X

. Bro

wn: sto

p-

mpting

ped

in car. L

ov

etta X. B

row

n: sto

pp

ed in

car

)0 an

d

again

. Jesse White: p

olice .tried

to tak

e 'pa-

; police pers and harassed in several incidents.

R,B

tn,t1

tu" L

alt u

iw a

wra}f(Jl, G

AA

.C1

/1

. ttl I

nc ...C

IC

VI a

n

attack o

n h

is life—w

heth

er the attack

er be a p

olice

officer o

r any

oth

er perso

n. In

the case o

f po

lice harass-

men

t the p

arty w

ill merely

prin

t the o

ffend

ing

officer's

pictu

re in th

e new

spap

er so th

e officer can

be id

entified

as an

enem

y o

f the p

eople . .. n

o attem

pt o

n h

is life will

be made. W

hat is th

e Black

Pan

ther p

arty's p

ositio

n o

n m

ale chauvinism

? T

he fig

ht ag

ainst m

ale chau

vin

ism is a class stru

g-

gle—

that's h

ard fo

r peo

ple to

understan

d. T

o u

nderstan

d

male ch

auvin

ism o

ne h

as to u

nderstan

d th

at is it int

lock

ed w

ith racism

. Male ch

auv

inism

is directly

related

Ine slave m

aster s rape o

f a stave s m

otn

er. we see m

e tab

oo co

ncep

t as'bein

g clo

sely lin

ked

to racism

. At th

e sam

e time th

e party

sees the n

eed to

stop u

sing th

e term

just so

we can

get a seg

men

t of th

e wh

ite po

pu

lation

to

understan

d th

e aims o

f the p

arty. W

hen

we talk

about

obscen

ity in

the co

urtro

om

, 1 th

ink th

e most o

bscen

e

II" I

Th

is m

on

th, in

Ne

w Y

ork

City

.

thin

g is th

e ru

ling

cla

ss' !efu

sal to

rela

te to

the life,

liberty

and

pu

rsuit o

f hap

pin

ess of th

ose w

ho

culturally refu

se to g

o.along w

ith its norms. W

e say human beings

hav

e a righ

t to liv

e and

surv

ive. T

he o

bscen

ity in

the

Chicago_conrtrabm

_is the violation of human and consti-,

tutional rights. M

uch

of th

e mass m

edia h

as been

play

ing u

p th

e circus aspect of the trial in C

hicago and has been treating H

offm

an as an

excep

tion

al case in a ju

dicial sy

stem

wh

ich is o

therw

ise just an

d h

on

orab

le. Wh

at do

yo

u

thin

k? P

eople lik

e Hoffm

an are th

e rule esp

ecially w

ith

respect to

min

ority

peo

ples. M

urtag

h, th

e judge in

the

New

York

Pan

ther 2

1 case, is a n

oto

rious racist. It's ju

st n

ow

that p

eop

le like M

urtag

h an

d H

offm

an are b

eing

exposed for w

hat they are: fascist and racist. D

o y

ou ex

pect an

y ch

anges in

the stru

cture o

r directio

n o

f the B

lack P

anth

er party

in th

e futu

re? O

ur o

bjectiv

e is the ed

ucatio

n o

f the p

eop

le. I d

on

't thin

k w

e'll mak

e the sam

e mistak

e that th

e Co

m-

munist p

arty

made in

the 1

950s a

s a re

sult o

f the

repressiv

e measu

res the g

ov

ernm

ent to

ok

du

ring

that

time. Y

ou h

ave to

go o

ut an

d fig

ht th

e battle fo

r the

op

pressed

peo

ple—

wh

ite, black

. red, b

row

n—

wh

erever

they

may

be. T

he p

arty

's recen

t form

atio

n o

f the

Natio

nal C

om

mittee to

Co

mb

at Fascism

represen

ts a ch

ange, a g

ood o

ne, in

that it creates an organization in

which m

ovement groups can com

e together and coalesce to

fight th

e oppresso

r. In an

y case I d

on't th

ink th

ere is any w

ay for the party to stop doing what it's doing and I

don't th

ink it w

ill undertak

e any sig

nifican

t policy

change in the near future.

GU

AR

DIA

N /P

AN

TH

ER

S / F

EB

RU

AR

Y 1970/5

Panther pa on trial in

Los Angeles

By P

atty Lee P

armalee

Guardian L

os Angeles B

ureau L

os Angeles

The en

tire Black

Pan

ther p

arty an

d its p

olitical p

hilo

s-ophy are o

n trial h

ere, not ju

st the y

oung b

lack m

en an

d w

om

en

known as the L

os Angeles 18.

The d

efendan

ts are charg

ed w

ith co

nsp

iracy to

com

mit

murder, a capital offense and other felony charges stem

ming from

police raids on P

anther offices in the pre-dawn hours of D

ec. 8. In one raid

at a Pan

ther o

ffice, the d

efenders h

eld o

ff 300 p

olice fo

r several hours in a w

ild exchange of gunfire. P

erhap

s concern

ed th

at the p

olice raid

s may

be d

eter-m

ined

illegal o

r that th

e Pan

ther ro

le in th

e gunfig

ht w

ill be

recognized

as a clear instan

ce of self-d

efense, th

e pro

secutio

n is

attemptin

g to

div

ert attentio

n b

y attack

ing th

e party

.

Even

the L

os A

ngeles T

imes reco

gnized

this m

ethod. A

t th

e end o

f the th

ree-week

prelim

inary

hearin

g; th

e Tim

es repcirter

sum

marized

on Jan

. 24: "M

uch

of th

e evidence presen

ted .. . w

as an

indictm

ent o

f the B

lack P

anth

er party

. The p

rosecu

tion ch

ar-ged

that th

e .party

policy

called , fo

r armed

insu

rrection .an

d

murd

er of p

olice o

fficers. They

intro

duced

' party

publicatio

ns,

confiscated

party

record

s and in

telligen

ce' reports to

support th

eir co

nten

tions. T

hey

then

presen

ted ev

iden

ce inten

ded

to sh

ow

the

Los A

ngeles g

roup to

ok actio

ns to

carry o

ut th

ose p

lans."

Durin

g th

e prelim

inary

hearin

g, 5

6 w

itnesses—

mostly

police o

fficers—attem

pted

to co

nnect th

e defen

dan

ts with

vario

us

crimes alleg

edly

com

mitted

. by o

ther. P

anth

ers and to

create the

impressio

n th

at the P

anth

ers were p

lannin

g a w

ar of ag

gressio

n

again

st the p

olice. O

ne p

olice w

itness d

escribed

,the in

ciden

t in

which

police m

urd

ered y

oung W

ally T

oure P

ope O

ct. 28 an

d

called it an

ambush

by P

anth

ers—w

hereu

pon th

e dep

uty

district

attorn

ey stated

that th

e L.A

. 18 w

ere also p

arties to su

ch acts o

f u

inlp

nra

A n

rstl....,

• •

ous b

easts has b

een co

mpounded

daily

by th

e way

the d

efendan

ts are led

into

the co

urtro

om

han

dcu

ffed an

d ch

ained

togeth

er. D

efense atto

rney

Leo

Bran

ton's attem

pt to

get th

e judge to

intervene against the chaining w

as unsuccessful. Branton charged

they

were treated

"like in

mates o

f som

e Gestap

o estab

lishm

ent"

and ad

ded

, "I can't h

elp• n

otice, in

new

spap

er pictu

res, that th

e defe

ndants in

the T

ate

and L

aB

ianca c

ase

, one o

f the m

ost

atrocio

us m

urd

ers in h

istory

, are not h

andcu

ffed."

After alm

ost a m

onth

in jail, th

e 1 1

defendants who had

been

held

with

out b

ail finally

got b

ail set Feb

. 6. B

ail, or ran

som

as th

ey call it, ran

ges fro

m $

10,0

00 to

$50,0

00.

Of th

e 22 P

anth

ers orig

inally

charg

ed D

ec. 8, th

ree were

released b

efore th

e pre-arraig

nm

ent an

d o

ne, G

ilbert P

arker, w

as releaS

ed after the preliminary hearing for lack of evidence. H

e was

in fact outside the Central S

t. Panther office.w

hen police attacked. P

olic

e g

rabbed h

im a

nd to

ok h

im to

the ro

of a

s a sh

ield

so

Pan

thers in

side w

ould

not sh

oot at th

em th

rough a sk

ylig

ht.

Parker:w

as arrested by the cops and charged with the sam

e crimes

as those inside, then badly beaten in jail.

Few

Pan

thers allow

ed b

ail

Only tw

o o

f the rem

ainin

g 1

8 d

efendan

ts are presen

tly

out o

n b

ail, and th

ese two w

ere not at th

e Cen

tral St. o

ffice D

ec, 8. D

efense strateg

y w

hen

the trial b

egin

s in M

arch w

ill be

to try

to h

urry

the p

roceed

ings alo

ng, sin

ce the first p

riority

is to

get th

e Pan

thers b

ack o

nto

the streets. T

he first d

efense m

otio

n

in th

e trial pro

per w

ill pro

bab

ly b

e a motio

n to

dism

iss charg

es since the search w

arrant leading to arrest was illegal.

It was th

e search w

arrant, sig

ned

by su

perio

r court ju

dge

Anto

nio

Chav

ez two d

ays b

efore th

e raid, th

at orig

inally

set the

strategy o

f tryin

g th

e party

for its b

eliefs, rather th

an in

div

iduals

for th

eir actions. T

he p

relimin

ary h

earing an

d p

resum

ably

also

the trial are o

nly

exten

sions o

f the lo

gic o

f the w

arrants.

Law

yers here say they have never seen a warrant like this

18-p

age d

ocu

men

t, which

purp

orts to

show

that "th

ere is pro

-bab

le and reaso

nab

le cause" fo

r issuin

g a search

warran

t, for

inclu

din

g a n

o-k

nock

clause an

d fo

r enterin

g in

the n

ight o

n th

e basis o

f an in

terpretatio

n o

f Pan

ther p

olitics an

d p

rior in

ciden

ts betw

een P

anth

ers and p

olice in

oth

er cities. The w

arrant g

oes so

far as to

cite the C

hicag

o p

olice v

ersion o

f the k

illings o

f Fred

H

ampto

n an

d M

ark C

lark as if it w

ere fact, as well as statin

g "in

th

e last several y

ears, mem

bers o

f the B

lack P

anth

er party

hav

e killed policem

en-in

Oak

land an

d a p

olicem

an in

San

ta Anna." It

is .true th

at a Pan

ther w

as accused

of k

illing a S

anta A

nna co

p last

sprin

g b

ut h

e was released

for lack

of ev

iden

ce and an

oth

er P

anth

er is still awaitin

g trial o

n th

e charg

e. The k

illing o

f Wally

T

oure Pope is also cited as an exam

ple of Panther violence against

police. T

o sh

ow

that th

ese alleged

acts are party

policy

, the

warran

ts reprin

t "Execu

tive M

andate N

o. 3

" by H

uey

New

ton,

which is nearly tw

o years old. It describes the St. V

alentine's Day

Massacre in 1929, w

hen outlaws nosed ac

at tu

nic

), state

u m

at to

e L

.A. its w

ere also parties to

such

acts of

vio

lence. A

noth

er cop testified

Pan

thers w

ere plo

tting to

lay a

trap fo

r police an

d firem

en b

y settin

g fire to

neig

hborin

g b

uild

-in

gs' an

d th

en firin

g fro

m th

eir head

quarters o

n firem

en an

d

policein

en w

ho resp

onded

. This ab

surd

claim is o

nly

one o

f man

y

that h

ad n

oth

ing w

hatev

er to d

o w

ith th

e charg

es bro

ught ag

ainst

the d

efendan

ts. T

he carefu

lly cu

ltivated

impressio

n b

eing fo

isted o

n th

e public an

d th

e yet u

nselected

jury

that th

e Pan

thers are d

anger-

New Haven 14 under pressure that bail be granted because there w

as no sub stan

tial evid

ence ag

ainst h

er The co

urt w

as fo

rced to

agree th

at this w

as so an

d in

a land-

mark decision bail w

as granted for the fitst time

ever in a Connecticut capital case. F

rances Car-

ter was b

ailed o

ut o

n Jan

. 19 after h

er paren

ts scraped up a $750 bond to secure $10,000 bail.

Less than tw

o days later, the state called her 'to

the stan

d, g

ranted

her a rath

er vag

ue

imm

unity

and to

ld h

er she m

ust. testify

. Her

lawyer p

rotested

the co

nstitu

tionality

of th

is m

ove, but was overruled. F

acing a bitter choice, C

arter noneth

eless refused

to testify

! "not 'b

e-cause I feared that anything I said w

ould result in any harm

to me by m

y brothers acid sisters, but b

ecause I lo

ve an

d resep

ct then

i and th

e m

asses of the people and would never turn on

them." S

he was im

mediately held in O

ontempt

of co

urt, h

er bail w

as revoked

and sh

e was

senten

ced to

six m

onth

s in jail. -

But even this kind of harassm

ent, includ-in

g b

eing sep

arated fro

m h

er two-m

onth

-old

child, did not break F

rances Carter's spirit. In a

statemen

t written

just after h

er mom

ent o

f freed

om

had

been

termin

ated, sh

e slid: "I'd

rath

er rot in

jail than

to g

ive state's n

ttorn

ey

Markle a chance to try to gain som

e manhood

or in

flate his eg

o an

y m

ore th

an w

hat it is. I

hav

e the p

eople w

ith m

e. As lo

ng as th

ey re-

main

to h

ave th

e fa

ith in

me, I'll re

main

stro

ng .. .. M

arkle an

d h

is lackey

s cannot jail

my spirit and they definitely can't jail the revo-

lutio

n. S

eize the tim

e! All p

ow

er to th

e Peo

-ple!"

Special to the Guardian

New

Haven, C

onn. . M

onth

s befo

re the N

ew H

aven

14'B

lack

Pan

ther m

urd

er trial is to b

egin

, the p

rosecu

-tion and police are increasing their coercion and intim

idation of the Panther defendants.

Unw

illing to wait until the trial starts, the

officials are attem

ptin

g to

pressu

re the d

efen-

dants into trying to save their own skins at the

cost of betraying their comrades in the P

anther party

, in retu

rn fo

r the p

ossib

ility o

f lesser punishm

ent. T

o date, nine of the defendants, although su

bm

itted to

eight m

onth

s of p

ressure an

d

brainwashing, have w

ithstood this pressure. Tw

o oth

ers, Loretta L

uck

es and W

arren K

imbro

, have given in to the pressure and have pleaded guilty to various lesser charges.

The P

anther defendants, including nation-al p

arty ch

airman

Bobby S

eale, are charg

ed

with

the k

idnap

-murd

er of A

lex R

ackley

. If convicted, all face the death penalty. T

he party m

aintains that Rackley w

as a mem

ber in good standing of the P

anthers and was m

urdered by police agents.

The p

olice ch

arge ' th

at the P

anth

ers th

ought R

ackley

was an

info

rmer in

the N

ew

YO

rk 21 case and was tried and executed by the

Panthers.

Frances C

arter, 22, is ch

arged

with

acces-so

ry

to m

urd

er, kid

nap

pin

g, co

nsp

iracy, an

d

bin

din

g. S

he w

as preg

nan

t at the tim

e of h

er arrest, an

d g

ave b

irth u

nder arm

ed g

uard

. Her

lawyer, C

atherine Rotaback, m

oved last month

6 /PA

NT

HE

RS /F

EB

RU

AR

Y 1970 /G

UA

RD

IAN

Massacre in 1929, w

hen outlaws posed as police to gain entr

to th

e lock

ed p

remises o

f rival b

ootleg

gers, w

hom

they

k

with

mach

ine g

uns. H

uey

lists a series of th

reats and il

entrees of Panther residences and concludes, "W

e have no wz

determ

inin

g th

at a man

in u

nifo

rm in

volv

ed in

a forced

ou

entry

into

our h

om

e is in fact a g

uard

ian o

f the law

. He is ai

like a law

break

er and w

e must m

ake an

appro

priate resp

oi

The search w

arrant interprets Huey's directive as advocating '

lence to police officers." Iro

nically

, New

ton's w

arnin

g o

n th

e St. V

alentin

e's M

assacre was alm

ost a p

rophecy

of th

e way

police b

ehav

c 4:3

0 a.m

. Dec. 8

. The p

olice v

ersion o

f the b

attle states sim

plY

yelled

"Open

up, th

is is the p

olice" at th

e door an

d

battered

the d

oor d

ow

n—

nev

er men

tionin

g th

at they

had

ran

ts. (Pan

thers say, th

at they

were aw

aken

ed b

y th

e soun

cops sh

ootin

g th

rough th

e door.) E

ven

were th

e police sto

ry

it would

be clear w

hy th

e Pan

thers th

ought th

ey w

ere t attacked. M

any prominent b

lack citizen

s as well as law

yers

stated th

at the raid

ing p

arty in

tended

to m

urd

er the P

anth

ers.

Search

warran

t a ploy

. The ev

iden

ce that th

e extrao

rdin

ary search

warran

t an

excu

se to catch

the P

anth

ers by su

rprise an

d m

urd

er they

nig

ht ap

pears co

mpellin

g. W

hy w

as no attem

pt m

ade o

n seN

possib

le occasio

ns to

peacefu

lly arrest P

anth

ers nam

ed in

w

arrant p

rior to

the attack

s? .Why d

id p

olice co

nduct th

e rai th

e early m

orn

ing d

arkness, th

en tell th

e new

s med

ia the r

started at 5

:30 (d

aybreak

)? Why d

id p

olice cu

t off all co

mm

catio

ns in

the attack

'area, inclu

din

g th

e streets and p

ay I

phones? Why did they attem

pt to keep the press out? Why dig

they

warn

any n

eighbors u

ntil tw

o h

ours after th

e shoo

began? Why did they practice the attack w

eeks in advance, bet th

ey h

ad a w

arrant, ev

en b

efore th

e alleged

"assault" (P

ant!

poin

ting a g

un at a co

p) w

hich

resulted

in th

e arrest warm

W

hy b

ring 3

00 co

ps, m

ilitary w

eapons, d

ynam

ite, an arr

helico

pter an

d a tan

k o

n th

e first attempt to

search a b

uild

ing?

The sp

irit of th

e jailed P

anth

ers and o

f those free

carry o

n p

arty w

ork

is amazin

gly

hig

h. T

he L

.A.'I8

are refer to

as h

ero

es a

nd v

icto

rs. The C

entra

l St. o

ffice h

as b

co

ndem

ned

by th

e Health

Dep

artmen

t and th

e Pan

thers h

been evicted, but they are opening a new

office on 1 13th St. 1

breakfast-for-children program is co

ntin

uin

g an

d ex

pan

din

g.3

1

health

clinic h

as now

been

open

ed. M

uch

of th

e Pan

thers' su

e( in

contin

uin

g th

eir work

is due to

tremen

dous co

mm

unity

s port, w

hite an

d b

lack. M

uch

is also d

ue to

the m

ood o

f victi

that still su

rrounds th

e Dec. 8

battle an

d to

the clear an

d

standin

g th

e govern

men

t has sin

gled

the p

arty o

ut fo

r annih

tion. M

oderate blacks-hav

e been

forced

to co

me to

terms w

ith

vio

lence o

f Am

erica and d

efend th

e Pan

ther p

rogram

; the m

o

men

t, black

, white an

d lib

eral is united

around th

e' need

defen

d th

e Pan

thers. If o

ne m

ore P

anth

er were to

be k

illed n

c all hell m

ight break loose.

Panthers grow from ghetto oppression B

y Renee B

lakkan D

ing

y sto

res mu

ltiply

in all d

irection

s aro

und th

e Black

Pan

ther p

arty m

inistry

of

information office in the B

ronx section of New

Y

ork

City

. Tin

cans an

d filth

line th

e streets, clogged w

ith traffic. Inside the office, B

renda Hyson, a young

Panther w

oman, described the conditions w

hich gave rise to the P

anther party. "T

he g

hetto

," she said

. "All th

e con-

ditio

ns o

f the g

hetto

mak

e the fo

rmatiO

n o

f a rev

olu

tionary

party

necessary

becau

se all the

conditio

ns—

from

disease to

poor h

ousin

g to

bad food

—co

nstitu

te a'plo

t of g

eno

cide b

y th

e pow

er structure against. the black people of the U

nited States."

As exam

ple she talked briefly of Brow

ns-v

ille, a spraw

ling

black

gh

etto in

Bro

ok

lyn

w

here the party is also organizing. "B

row

nsv

ille resemb

les a bo

mb

ed-o

ut

zone," she said. "There's not a block that is not

run down, w

here there aren't buildings burned out, boarded up or com

pletely torn down. R

ats run in packs. T

here must be three, four or five

bad fires a day." F

rom

the P

residen

t of th

e Un

ited S

tates an

d th

e rulin

g class to

the slu

m lan

dlo

rd an

d

the cheating grocer—all, she said, profit from

th

e explo

itation an

d o

ppressio

n o

f the b

lack

masses. "A

nd th

at," she co

ntin

ued

, "is why

there is a Black P

anther party." G

enocide, said Brenda H

yson, is when a

black

child

dies o

f pneu

inonia in

an u

nheated

g

hetto

apartm

ent. G

eno

cide is w

hen

a yo

un

g

man

or w

om

an is d

enied

a decen

t job

or th

e ed

ucatio

n to

get a jo

b. G

enocid

e is when

a

teenag

e kid

turn

s to h

ard d

rugs to

escape th

e reality of the w

hite man's black ghetto.

To b

e poor an

d b

lack in

Am

erica, she

said, is to

be th

e victim

of "a co

ld, calcu

lated

plot lasting from before birth until death."

Talk

ing ab

out d

rug ad

dicts in

the b

lack

comm

unity, she pointed out that just as opium

was used against the people by the rulers of old

Ch

ina, so

do

pe an

d h

eroin

are used

again

st oppressed people in the U

.S. "U

ntil black peo-_ ple g

ain co

ntro

l of th

e pig

[police] d

epart-

men

t," she d

eclared, "th

is pro

blem

will co

n-

tinue. T

he co

ps p

ermit th

e dru

g p

ush

ers to

op

erate. Th

e system

do

esn't w

ant to

stop

dope."

Poverty program

s a hustle

"Poverty program

s?" said Brenda H

yson. "T

hey have one going now w

here you are sup-p

osed

to call u

p th

e May

or an

d tell hiin your

problems. T

hese programs aren't m

eant to serve the people. T

hey are set up to serve the ruling class—

and th

e peo

ple k

now

that. T

he p

eople

they

get to

work

on th

e poverty

pro

gram

s are just hustling'for them

selves." O

ne o

f the reaso

ns th

e go

vern

men

t is crack

ing d

ow

n o

n th

e Pan

ther p

arty, sh

e said,

was that the people in the black com

munity are

beginnini tp realize the Panthers are seriously

trying to serve the people while the city, state

and federal agencies are serving the hustlers. T

he sch

oo

ls also serv

e the p

ow

er struc-

ture, she. said. "The rulers say, 'w

e will not let

blacks get too educated because we need cheap

labor; scab labor.' " T

he-Panthers understand th

ere will n

ever

be a d

ecent life fo

r black

peo

ple u

nd

er the

capitalist sy

stem. "H

uey

[New

ton] w

rites about how

the black man blam

es himself if he

fails. The p

arty p

oin

ts out," sh

e said, "th

at capitalism

makes him

fail. The only place out-

side the ghetto for a black person, in the capi-talist's m

ind, is in the grave." T

he P

anth

er party

was b

orn

out o

f the

needs of the people in black Am

erica, she said and the party has developed program

s to meet

these needs.. The police and press try to depict

the P

an

thers a

s tota

lly a

bso

rbed

in v

io-

lence—

bu

t the reality

, accord

ing

to B

rend

a H

yson and party practice, is quite different. T

he P

anth

er free break

fast-for-ch

ildren

p

rog

ram in

do

zens o

f black

com

mu

nities is a

serious effort to feed hungry children—to serve

the p

eop

le or at least th

at small n

um

ber o

f p

eop

le wh

o can

be serv

ed w

ithin

the P

anth

er party's lim

ited resources by providing the sem-

blan

ce.of an

adeq

uate d

iet for th

ou

sand

s of

young black children. T

he p

arty

also

conducts lib

era

tion

scho

ols w

here b

lack ch

ildren

learn rev

olu

-tionary culture and history. W

hen weather per-

mits, th

ey tak

e the ch

ildren

on

field trip

s. In

the liberation classes, children from age three to

10

learn ab

ou

t the p

arty's 1

0-p

oin

t pro

gram

(page 2), "about H

uey and Bobby [S

eale] and other things that relate directly to their lives," the P

anther wom

an said. "It is the children, fed good food for the first tim

e, learnin

g th

eir true

histo

ry fo

r the first tim

e, w

ho w

ill make th

e

revolu

tion."

N.Y. tries in

emo

ch th

in

By R

od Such

The B

lack P

anth

er party

came to

New

York

City

in th

e la

te su

mm

er o

f 1968. B

y A

pril 1

969, th

e p

arty

's New

York

lead

ership

was im

priso

ned

and n

ow

faces max

imum

senten

ces of

150 y

ears in p

rison

in th

e Pan

ther 2

1 co

nsp

iracy trial. P

re-trial hearin

gs b

egan

in F

ebru

ary.

But to

imag

ine th

at the p

arty's o

rigin

al leadersh

ip en

joy-

p.ft nprin

ri i.n

nt

• •

•

to smasn toe

Panthers B

ut to

imag

ine th

at the p

arty's o

rigin

al leadersh

ip en

joy-

ed a p

eriod o

f at least eight m

onth

s in w

hich

to o

rgan

ize in th

e black

com

munities o

f Harlem

and B

edfo

rd S

tuyvesan

t, free from

police h

arassmen

t, is an illu

sion. N

ew Y

ork

police fasten

ed th

eir h

oo

ks _

on th

e Pan

thers fro

m th

e mo

men

t of th

e party

's incep

tion

. " T

he testim

ony in

the first w

eek o

f the trial h

earing o

f police in

specto

r William

Knap

p h

as clearly rev

ealed th

e natu

re an

d ex

tent o

f the p

olice actio

ns. T

he p

olice S

pecial S

ervices

Div

ision, k

now

n as th

e Red

Squad

, infiltrated

the P

anth

ers with

th

ree full-tim

e underco

ver p

olicem

en, w

ho jo

ined

the p

arty w

hen

it w

as org

anized

. The in

filtrators w

ere regular p

olice o

fficers, not

paid

info

rmers, w

ho rem

ained

in th

e party

until A

pril 2

last year

when

the P

anth

er 21 w

ere arrested o

n th

e consp

iracy ch

arges,

according to police sources. T

he u

nderco

ver co

ps, acco

rdin

g to

the N

.Y. P

ost, are to

be th

e Man

hattan

district atto

rney

's key

. witn

esses• when

he at-

tempts to

pro

ve th

at the P

anth

ers consp

ired to

firebom

b fiv

e M

anhattan

dep

artmen

t stores, to

bom

b sectio

ns o

f the N

ew

Hav

en co

mm

uter railro

ad, to

attack v

arious p

olice p

recincts an

d

to• b

om

b th

e Bro

nx B

otan

ical Gard

ens, as ch

arged

in th

e gran

d

jury

indictm

ent A

pril 2

.

Police h

arassmen

t

Pan

ther attorn

ey Gerald

Lefcou

rt describ

ed th

e un

der-

cover surveillan

ce as a clear ind

ication th

at "th

e governm

ent

wan

ted to

try to

set up

the p

arty

from

the b

egin

nin

g a

nd

to

con

trol its co

urse."

It also

mad

e it possib

le to im

priso

n th

e P

anth

ers on con

spiracy ch

arges, for crimes n

ever comm

itted.

Du

ring th

eir brief h

istory in N

ew Y

ork th

e Pan

thers h

ave b

een co

ntin

ually

sub

ject to p

olice h

ara

ssmen

t. Th

ey w

ere at-

tacked

by off-d

uty p

olicemen

in a B

rooklyn

courth

ouse S

ept: 4,

1968; they h

ave consisten

tly faced arrests on

petty ch

arges and

last O

ctober th

e Harlem

office was ran

sacked

. In

the m

onth

s before th

eir arrests, the P

anth

ers were

active in organ

izing arou

nd

school d

ecentralization

in N

ew Y

ork;

specifically, th

e experim

ent in

comm

un

ity control of sch

ools in

the O

cean H

ill-Brow

nsville d

istrict. Th

ey establish

ed a b

reakfast-

for-child

ren p

rogram, a lib

eration sch

ool and

organized a success-fu

l rent strik

e, in ad

ditio

n to

setting u

p a cen

ter where w

elfare rights w

ork was done.

Zay

d S

hak

ur, th

e Pan

ther's•N

ew Y

ork

dep

uty

min

ister o

f info

rmatio

n, h

as argued

that w

hen

any m

ilitant b

lack g

roup

beg

ins relatin

g co

ncretely

to b

lack p

eople, it is en

dem

ic to th

e city

's pow

er structu

re to d

estroy th

at gro

up. S

ince th

e assassi-natio

n o

f Malco

lm X

, emerg

ing b

lack o

rgan

izations, lik

e the

form

er Rev

olu

tionary

Actio

n M

ovem

ent (R

AM

), were d

estroyed

befo

re they

could

gro

w an

d th

e same p

olice lo

gic w

as applied

to

the P

anth

ers, Shak

ur said

. A

s priso

ners aw

aiting trial th

e New

York

21 w

ere incar-

cerated in

seven

differen

t jails spread

across th

e four b

oro

ughs o

f,

the city

, mak

ing it v

irtually

impossib

le for th

e defen

se attorn

eys

to p

repare th

eir defen

se. It to

ok a fed

eral court ru

ling sev

eral m

onth

s after the in

dictm

ent b

efore atto

rney

s could

meet w

ith

the im

priso

ned

Pan

thers as a grou

p. It also took

several mon

thi

Mounted cops on guard during N

. Y. 21 p

rotest.

befo

re the 2

4-h

ou

r, ligh

ts-on

lock

up

, the restricted

visitin

g an

d

recreation rig

hts an

d o

ther d

iscrimin

ating p

rison co

nditio

ns w

ere partially

relieved

. Even

now

, how

ever, th

e Pan

thers are k

ept in

m

axim

um

security

, isolated

from

oth

er priso

ners an

d fed

one

meal a day in the evening.

Man

hattan

suprem

e court an

d ju

stice John M

. Murtag

h,

the trial ju

dge, in

particu

lar, are prim

arily resp

onsib

le, for th

e nearly 11 m

onth

s impriso

nm

ent o

f 12 P

anth

ers curren

tly o

n trial,

held

on b

ail rangin

g from $50,000 to $100,000. In

the cou

rse of th

e pre-trial h

earings, th

e Pan

thers h

ave mad

e it clear that th

eir op

en d

efiance of th

e courts is largely d

ue to th

e violation of th

eir con

stitution

al rights, u

nd

er the 14th

Am

end

men

t, becau

se the

bail requirements am

ount to pre-trial detention. P

anth

er attorneys h

ave app

ealed for b

ail redu

ctions at

20 differen

t hearin

gs before five state cou

rts and

three fed

eral cou

rts. Th

e U.S

. sup

reme cou

rt has d

elayed for n

early a mon

th its

decision

on w

heth

er to hear th

e Pan

ther's ap

peal. T

he d

elay, according to the P

anther party, is clearly for political reasons. In

refusin

g to

low

er bail, M

urtag

h an

d ju

stice Charles

Mark

s befo

re him

apparen

tly accep

ted assistan

t district atto

rney

Jo

seph P

hillip

s' argum

ent th

at the P

anth

ers were "terro

rists." D

espite a n

ebulo

us in

dictm

ent, th

e fact that b

om

bin

gs d

id n

ot

occu

r and

the b

ackg

rou

nd

s of m

ost o

f the P

anth

ers, the ju

stices hav

e in effect d

etermin

ed th

e Pan

thers g

uilty

—until p

roven

inno-

cent. The court can barely hide its collusion in a political trial.

The m

edia h

as play

ed a p

articularly

destru

ctive ro

le in

the case o

f the P

anth

er 21

. Beg

inn

ing

with

sensatio

nalized

ac-co

unts o

f the arrests last A

pril, th

e press fo

llow

ed u

p w

ith articles

alleging the Panthers received aid from

Cuba; w

ere involved in the fireb

om

bin

g o

f a black

church

; had

stolen

funds fro

m &

city

poverty agency; were involved in the shooting of a black national-

ist in Harlem

and were linked w

ith the murder of A

lex Rackley in

New

Hav

en, C

onn. N

one o

f these alleg

ations p

anned

out, b

ut

police co

ntin

ue to

leak sto

ries of th

is natu

re to th

e med

ia when

-ever convenient.

Betw

een th

e -police, th

e press an

d th

e judge, it h

ardly

seem

s likely

the P

anth

er 21 w

ill be b

ack o

n, th

e streets for a lo

ng

time to

com

e—w

hich

is precisely

what th

e pow

er structu

re in-

tended

the d

ay th

e first Pan

ther cam

e.to N

ew Y

ork

to o

rgan

ize am

ong the largest concentration of black people in Am

erica.

GU

AR

DIA

N /P

AN

TH

ER

S / FE

BR

UA

RY

1970 /7

Black oppression

in America

By R

andy Fiust F

or 22 million black A

mericans in the U

nited States, the

daily struggle for survival is particularly acute. They are oppressed

as black

s and as w

ork

ers—an

d in

capitalist A

merica, th

ey co

me

• out last, econom

ically, politically and of course, as a race. W

hat follows are statistics outlining that oppression, de-

rived from governm

ent reports except where otherw

ise noted: • In

fant m

ortality

rate: Out o

f every

100 b

abies W

ho d

ie in infancy, 75%

are black babies, the National U

rban League said

in its 1

968 an

nual rep

ort.... T

he in

fant m

ortality

rate in 1

968

was 24.8 per thousand for non-w

hite infants, less than one month

old

. The rate fo

r whites w

as 15.6

.... The in

fant d

eath rate fo

r one m

onth

to a y

ear was 1

4 p

er thousan

d fo

r non-w

hites. T

he

rate for whites w

as five per thousand. (There are about 22 m

illion black

s, constitu

ting 1

1%

of th

e populatio

n o

f the U

.S. T

he term

non-w

hite is o

ften u

sed b

y th

e Cen

sus B

ureau

. Of th

e,total

non-white population, 92%

is black.) L

ife expectan

cy: F

or b

lacks in

the U

.S., th

e Urb

an

Leag

ue rep

orts th

at life expectan

cy w

as 63.6

years in

1968 w

hile

for white A

mericans, it w

as 70.19 Years.

Inco

me an

d p

overty

: Desp

ite the rh

etoric o

f the K

enne-

dy, Jo

hnso

n an

d N

ixon ad

min

istrations, co

rporate p

rofits re-

mau

led far m

ore im

portan

t than

peo

ple's in

com

es and b

lack

Am

ericans rem

ained

the m

ost o

ppressed

. Based

on th

e govern

-, m

ent's d

efinitio

n o

f poverty

, there w

ere 25.5

millio

n p

oor p

eople

in the U.S

. in 1968 and three out of 10 were black and non-w

hite, th

e Dep

artmen

t of L

abor rep

orts.. .. In

1968 th

e inco

me o

f black

families w

as only

60%

of th

e med

ian in

com

es of w

hites

.. The m

edian

family

inco

me o

f a black

family

in th

e U.S

. was

$5359 in

1968. T

he m

edian

inco

me fo

r a white fam

ily acco

rdin

g

to th

e U.S

. Dep

t. of C

om

merce w

as $8936. ... In

1968 2

3%

of

black

families h

ad m

edian

inco

mes o

f less than

$3000. N

ine p

er cen

t of w

hite fam

ilies in th

e U.S

. earned

less than

$3000.... T

he

Com

merce D

epartm

ent rep

orts th

at one-th

ird o

f all families th

at w

ere black

or n

on-w

hite earn

ed $

8000 o

r more. H

ow

ever, in

fla-tio

n h

as taken

its toll o

n in

creased in

com

es. An $

8000 in

com

e in

1968 w

as e

quiv

ale

nt to

the p

urc

hasin

g p

ow

er o

f $5100 in

1947.... B

lack wom

en workers face the m

ost severe...wage discri-

mination. T

he income of a black w

oman is about $1800 less than

a black

male. T

he m

edian

inco

me o

f a full-tim

e black

male

worker w

ho took home w

ages or salary in 1968 was $5370. F

or a black

wom

an it w

as $3561.... In

1968, ab

out o

ne h

alf of all

blacks who lived in urban areas, lived in poverty areas. S

ome 55%

of blacks lived in central cities.

Unem

plo

ym

ent: T

he u

nem

plo

ym

ent rate am

ong b

lacks

was 6

.5%

accord

ing to

Lab

or D

epartm

ent fig

ures th

at carry

thro

ugh Jan

uary

1969, a fig

ure th

at runs tw

ice that o

f whites. A

t th

e same tim

e, the .u

nem

plo

ym

ent rate fo

r black

teenag

ers was

24.4%, com

pared to 10.8% for w

hite teenagers. E

mploym

ent:' About 40%

of black and other non-whites

were in service, laborer' or farm

occupations, more than tw

ice the pro

portio

n o

f .whites w

ho m

ust d

o su

ch w

ork

.... In 1

890, a

reported

seven

of eig

ht b

lack w

ork

ers were field

work

ers or

servan

ts. Tw

enty

per cen

t of b

lack o

r non-w

hite w

om

en w

ork

ers (m

ore th

an 8

00,0

00) are p

rivate h

ouseh

old

work

ers.. . . Som

e 45%

of all b

lack an

d n

on-w

hite w

ork

ers with

child

ren u

nder six

were em

ployed. For w

hite wom

en faced with the sam

e situation, the figure w

as 28%.

Capitalists: N

ixon's promise of creating black capitalists'

in th

e U.S

. is a myth

. It can't h

appen

here. T

he A

merican

rulin

g

class is virtually all white and m

ost black-owned business depends

on loans from w

hite-controlled banks, and the white pow

er struc-tu

re contro

l.... As o

ne illu

stration, th

ere were so

me 1

000 b

lack-

orien

ted rad

io statio

ns in

the U

.S. in

1967 w

hich

reported

ly •

brought in $28 million. A

ll but five of those stations were ow

ned by w

hites, according to History of the N

egro in Am

erica (1969). W

elfare: Black A

mericans are disproportionately on w

el-fare.' S

om

e 3.8

millio

n b

lack an

d n

on-w

hites receiv

ed w

elfare: allo

wan

ces in 1

968. A

n estim

ated 5

.6' m

illion w

hites receiv

ed

welfare. T

he law

: Acco

rdin

g to

the. S

tatistical Abstract o

f the

United

States fo

r 1969, m

ore th

an o

ne-th

ird o

f indiv

iduals in

priso

n, refo

rmato

ries, jails or w

ork

houses w

ere black

in 1

960.

There w

ere 216,0

49 w

hites in

"correctio

nal" in

stitutio

ns an

d

.133,2

49 b

lacks.... B

etween

1930 an

d 1

964 so

me 1

751 w

hites

were executed for alleged crim

es. During the sam

e period, 2066 blacks w

ere executed by civil authorities. E

ducatio

n: O

n M

ay 1

7, 1

95'4

; in iliro

wn v

s. the B

oard

of. E

ducatio

n" th

e suprem

e court ru

led sch

ool seg

regatio

n w

as unco

nstitu

tional sin

ce "separate ed

ucatio

nal facilities are in

-heren

tly u

neq

ual." T

he C

ivil R

ights A

ct: of 1

964 fo

rbad

e discri-

mination in public accom

modations and em

ployment, rights gua-

ranteed

by C

onstitu

tional am

endm

ents—

but—

discrimination re-

main

s a blatan

t reality.... F

or ex

ample, acco

rdin

g to

the g

overn

-, m

ent d

efinitio

n o

f racial imbalan

ce, 99%

of th

e schools in

LO

S

Angeles are segregated.. . . O

n Sept. 13, R

obert H. F

inch, Secre-

tary o

f. Health

Educatio

n an

d W

elfare said th

at 3327 o

f 4476

school districts in 17 Southern and border states had been totally •

desegregated. The C

ivil Rights C

omm

ission has charged that more

than 1000 of HE

W's "com

pletely desegregated" districts have no black

studen

ts at all. ... Black

studen

ts contin

ue to

finish

hig

h '

school at th

e low

est rates, although. th

e govern

men

t says th

e ' num

ber graduating is increasing. Eighteen per cent of w

hites and 42%

of blacks 20 and 21 years old had not completed high S

chool in

1968.... S

om

e 4.3

% o

f the b

lack an

d n

on-w

hite p

opulatio

n

com

pleted

colleg

e in 1

960. In

1969, 6

.6%

of b

lacks an

d n

on-

whites had finished four years of college or m

ore. In 1969, 16.2%

of w

hites h

ad fin

ished

four y

ears of co

llege o

r more.... A

n

estimated 3%

of medical students in the U

.S. are black.

Housin

g: T

he B

ureau

of th

e Cen

sus say

s that h

ousin

g, .

which

lacks b

asic plu

mbin

g facilities o

r is dilap

idated

does n

ot

meet specified criteria. A

full* 24% of black and other non-w

hite ' househ

old

s fail to m

eet this sp

ecific criteria. For w

hites, 6

% o

f the households fell below

this minim

um standard.

The w

ar in V

ietnam

: After all th

is, black

Am

ericans.

must fig

ht in

Vietn

am ag

ainst a p

eople stru

gglin

g fo

r:. self-- determ

ination. In 1966 and 1967, 269,000 black Am

ericans were •

called for pre-induction examinations by S

elective Service. D

uring th

ose tw

o y

ears alone, so

me 9

3,0

00 b

lacks w

ere drafted

.. .. As

of March 31, 1969, 67,000 blacks had served in S

outheast Asia,

and 4000 blacks had died, according to the Defense D

epartment.

111.

FtlY

dle

11O

US

C1101(1

work

ers.... som

e 45%

of all b

lack an

d n

on-w

hite w

ork

ers with

child

ren u

nder six

of M

arch 3

1, 1

969, 6

7,0

00 b

lacks h

ad serv

ed in

South

east Asia,

and 4000 blacks had died, according to the Defense D

epartment.

Black Panthers: Serving people, fighting repression (C

ontin

ued fro

m p

age 3

) W

hile th

e party

's defen

se work

had

help

ed its

gro

wth

, the w

orst w

as yet to

com

e. Seale an

d th

e re-m

ainin

g p

arty lead

ers faced ev

en g

reater tasks. L

ate in

Novem

ber, S

eale publicly

said th

e party

had

been

heav

-ily

infiltrated

by p

olice ag

ents. B

y D

ecember, p

arty

branches everywhere w

ere being hit by local police, with

public in

dicatio

ns fo

r the first tim

e that th

e attacks w

ere directed

from

Wash

ingto

n. O

n Jan

. 18, m

embers o

f the

black

cultu

ral natio

nalist "U

S" o

rgan

ization, k

now

n fo

r w

ork

ing w

ith th

e police, o

pen

ly m

urd

ered tw

o p

arty

mem

bers in Los A

ngeles. T

o su

rviv

e the g

row

ing attack

s, Seale effected

a dram

atic shak

e-up- o

f the p

arty's ch

aracter. Alo

ng w

ith

chief o

f staff Dav

id H

illiard, h

e ord

ered a th

ree-month

ban

on recru

itmen

t and at th

e same tim

e beg

an a p

ro

gram

of in

tensified

political ed

ucatio

n. T

hese m

easures

accom

pan

ied a sy

stematic p

urg

e of th

e party

's ranks o

f "fo

ols an

d jack

anap

es" refusin

g p

arty d

isciplin

e, indul-

gin

g in

dru

gs o

r petty

crime, o

r operatin

g in

a "purely

m

ilitary" manner—

as well as conscious police agents.

Serv

e th

e p

eo

ple

• A

long w

ith th

e intern

al chan

ges, a ren

ewed

em-

phasis w

as placed

on th

e party

's orig

inal "serv

e the

peo

ple" p

rogram

s in th

e black

com

munity

. Four p

ro-

gram

s were sp

ecified: free b

reakfast fo

r child

ren, free

health clinics, liberation schools and petition campaigns

for co

mm

unity

contro

l of p

olice. E

very

bran

ch w

as req

uired

to im

plem

ent at least th

e break

fast pro

gram

and the police petitions.

The first b

reakfast p

rogram

started in

Oak

land,

Jan. 2

0,1

969 an

d sp

read to

dozen

s of cities w

ithin

a few

month

s. The b

reakfasts—

cooked

from

donated

food o

b-

tained

by th

e party

from

local b

usin

esses and serv

ed in

lo

cal church

es or co

mm

unity

centers—

were so

on feed

-ing thousands of hungry children every day.

While im

men

sely p

opular, th

e pro

gram

was criti-

cized b

y so

me rad

icals as "reform

ist." Seale an

swered

: "a refo

rmist p

rogram

is one th

ing w

hen

the cap

italists put it u

p an

d it's an

oth

er thin

g w

hen

the rev

olu

tionary

cam

p p

uts it u

p."

Bre

akfa

st for ch

ildre

n.

In ad

ditio

n to

its ow

n m

erits, the b

reakfast p

ro-

gram

was also

an asp

ect of th

e party

's political d

efense.

The m

edia-created

imag

e of th

e Pan

thers as a "b

lack

mafia" w

as still wid

ely accep

ted b

y w

hites an

d ev

en

among som

e blacks where the party w

as not known. T

he natio

nw

ide p

ractice of serv

ing th

e peo

ple b

y feed

ing

hungry

child

ren w

as a great h

elp in

shatterin

g th

e false stereo

type..

The p

olitical reactio

n to

the p

arty's n

ew tu

rn w

as ev

en m

ore sev

ere and w

as now

bein

g d

irected b

y th

e N

ixon ad

min

istration th

rough th

e Atto

rney

. General's

office and the Justice Departm

ent. Panther offices across

the country were raided. F

ood supplies for the breakfast program

were destroyed. T

he New

York 21 and the N

ew

Hav

en 1

4-w

ere framed

,- along with a num

ber of smaller

cases. On M

arch 2

0, S

eale, along w

ith 7

white an

tiwar

activists, w

as indicted

on co

nsp

iracy ch

arges stem

min

g

from

the d

emonstratio

ns at th

e Dem

ocratic N

ational

Convention in C

hicago. F

aced w

ith th

is onslau

ght—

which

decim

ated th

e party

's leadersh

ip, p

laced h

undred

s in jail, tied

the rest

up in

court cases, an

d resu

lted in

at least 19 d

eaths—

Seale an

d th

e remain

ing fu

nctio

nal lead

ership

called fo

r

a natio

nal co

nferen

ce in M

id-Ju

ly to

establish

a "united

front against fascism

." A

s far as the Panthers w

ere concerned, fascism w

as not o

nly

a theo

retical possib

ility in

the U

.S., it w

as so

meth

ing th

ey felt th

e bru

nt o

f every

day

. "Peo

ple

have to realize," said Seale, "that fascism

is right in front of their very noses in new

garments."

The U

FA

F m

eeting w

as open

to an

yone—

liberal,

radical or whatever—

who opposed fascism

and had the so

le purp

ose o

f appro

vin

g an

d im

plem

entin

g o

ne p

ro-

gram

: a natio

nw

ide cam

paig

n fo

r com

munity

contro

l of

police.

Urg

en

cy a

bo

ut d

efe

nse

Alth

ough w

idely

attended

, the su

ccess of U

FA

F

was lim

ited. Its p

ositiv

e achiev

emen

t was a ren

ewed

sen

se of u

rgen

cy am

ong a w

ide sp

ectrum

of g

roups to

rally

to th

e Pan

thers' d

efense. H

ow

ever, th

e petitio

n

campaig

n, alth

ough v

erbally

endorsed

, nev

er really g

ot

off the ground. In

the m

onth

s since U

FA

F, th

e repressio

n o

f the

Black P

anther party has continued to escalate. Seale has

been

impriso

ned

for fo

ur y

ears after bein

g b

ound an

d

gag

ged

and fo

und in

contem

pt o

f Judge H

offm

an's

court. In

August h

e was ch

arged

with

consp

iracy to

co

mm

it murd

er in C

onnecticu

t. Fred

Ham

pto

n an

d

Mark C

lark have been murdered in C

hicago, followed by

a pollee para-military assault on the L

os Angeles P

anther office. D

avid Hilliard is charged w

ith threatening Nixon's

life. Y

et the P

anth

ers hav

e contin

ued

to h

old

their

ow

n, to

furth

er their p

rogram

s and to

gain

even

wid

er su

pport am

ong g

row

ing n

um

bers o

f peo

ple—

black

, brow

n and white. T

he party has its problems, to be sure

and the assault against them w

ill undoubtedly grow. B

ut so w

ill its will to resist and its chances of final victory.

For in

form

atio

n a

bout th

e B

lack P

anth

er p

arty

or to

send

contrib

utio

ns, a

ddre

ss M

inis

try o

f Info

rmatio

n, B

lack P

anth

er

party, B

ox 2

967, C

usto

m H

ouse

, San F

rancisco

, Calif. 9

4126-4

th

ree-m

onth

subscrip

tion to

the p

arty's w

eekly p

aper, T

he B

lack

Panth

er, is a

vaila

ble

for $

2.5

0.

. _

8 /PA

NTH

ER

S /FE

BR

UA

RY 1970 /G

UA

RD

IAN