founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in 1966. The party was active in the
between 1966 and 1982, with chapters in numerous major cities, and international chapters in Britain and Algeria. Upon its inception, the
Party's core practice was its open carry armed citizens' patrols (cop watching) to monitor the behavior of police officers and challenge
in the city. Influent members include
Inspired by Robert F. Williams' armed
to the Ku Klux Klan (
KKK) and Williams' book Negroes with Guns, Newton decided to
organize patrols to follow the police around to monitor for incidents of brutality. But with a crucial difference: his patrols would carry loaded guns.
Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Huey Newton allegedly killed officer John Frey in 1967, and Eldridge Cleaver led an ambush, in which two officers were wounded and Panther Bobby Hutton was killed. In
1969, the FBI developed an extensive counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) of surveillance, infiltration police harassment, and many other tactics, designed to undermine Panther leadership, incriminate and assassinate party members. The program was responsible for the assassination of
Fred Hampton and is accused of assassinating other
Black Panther members, including Mark Clark.
The
Black Panther Party first publicized its original "What We Want Now!" Ten-Point program on May 15, 1967
1) We want
freedom. We want the power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.
2) We want full employment for our people.
3) We want an end to the robbery by the Capitalists of our Black Community.
4) We want decent
housing, fit for the shelter of
human beings.
5) We want
education for our people that exposes the true
nature of this decadent
American society. We want an
education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day
society.
6) We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.
7) We want an immediate end to
POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.
8) We want
freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county, and city
prisons and jails.
9) We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black Communities, as defined by the Constitution of the
United States.
10) We want land, bread,
housing,
education, clothing,
justice, and
peace.