I have a dream… This is the timeless speech delivered by Martin Luther King, one of the world’s greatest social rights activists, in 1963, which changed the direction of the largest civil rights movement in the United States. It shook the feudal United States, which had fallen into the abyss of racism. It was a period when the demands of black people for equality and justice rose in the land dominated by white people. It was a period of shocking racial violence and police brutality against black people. This situation gave rise to a political party that even the US intelligence agency, the FBI, was afraid of.
The name of this political party that became a thorn in the FBI’s side was the Black Panther Party. In fact, the events of February 21, 1965, laid the foundation for this party. Malcolm X, an African-American human rights activist and a representative figure of the civil rights movement, was shot and killed in New York City. Malcolm’s death shocked the African-American community. Hurt by this, the following year in 1966, two students studying at the University of California, Hugh P. Newton and Bobby Seale, founded the Black Panther Party. At first, few people took this black political party seriously. But as time went on, the number of members joining the organization began to increase rapidly.
This was a period in American history marked by racism, police brutality, and economic exploitation. The Black Panthers wore black jackets and berets to symbolize their struggle and community identity. When members took to the streets in their black jackets and berets, people’s eyes were on them.
But the strategy of only choosing black jackets is quite interesting. In 2015, a documentary about the Black Panther Party was also made, called The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, where director Stanley Nelson tells the story of Hugh Newton and Bobby Seale using black jackets and black pants as the party’s dress code. The hairpin hat was chosen because it is easy to buy and almost everyone has it in their wardrobe.
Why does skin color matter?
The United States prides itself on adhering to principles such as freedom, equality and justice, but its roots are soaked in the blood of racism. The history of this country is a testament to racial discrimination and violence. From enslaving Africans to the United States in the 17th century and denying them human rights, history shows that this country that loves white skin does have a problem with dark skin.
The history of American police is stained with the blood of countless George Floyds. The Black Panther Party was traumatized by racial violence and police brutality. 10-point plan It started. Many liberation schools were also opened under the program to introduce black history to children. But the FBI’s eyes stopped Free Breakfast Program But the FBI was not happy with the plan to start a protest against racial and economic exploitation. The FBI had its eyes on the party’s free breakfast plan.
The free breakfast program started in 1969. This American program quickly spread to more than 45 cities. The goal was clear, to provide free breakfast to poor and hungry children in the society. The party used to arrange breakfast for the children going to school every day. Soon, this program made headlines across the United States. Even churches joined this movement of the Black Panther Party and started arranging free breakfast for poor children, which shows its popularity. For this purpose, collective kitchens were prepared.
Following the success of the free breakfast program, the party also opened affordable health clinics in 13 cities, exposing the inequities in the U.S. healthcare system. But for the Black Panthers, who once spoke out against injustice, the road was fraught with difficulties.
Why do free breakfast programs make the feds uncomfortable?
The FBI believed that the Black Panthers posed a serious threat to the country. At the time, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover publicly stated that the party was a threat to society and could spread instability in the country. According to American experts, the FBI believed that the growing popularity of the Black Panthers could improve the self-esteem of the black community and that the group could fight against the US government.
The Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program became a thorn in the FBI’s side. The FBI believed that the breakfast program was challenging their brutal repressive tactics against black people. The program became a symbol of how the Black Panther Party could bring about change by being the voice of black people even without government policy. For all these reasons, the FBI did everything they could to end the breakfast program.
When the FBI started sending anonymous letters to party wives…
The Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program was growing in popularity. Frightened by this, the FBI and local police tried everything they could to shut down the program. In Baltimore, the police and FBI raided the place where the party arranged food for the next morning. Breakfasts at some churches in Chicago were also broken into and vandalized.
FBI agents used to send anonymous letters to the wives of people associated with the Black Panther Party, accusing their husbands of infidelity. For obvious reasons, people would stop joining the party out of fear or pain. FBI agents reportedly had no qualms about urinating on food. Rumors circulated in many places that breakfast was poisoned.
This strategy of the FBI was successful for a while. People were frightened by these rumors and kept their distance from the party. They started avoiding giving free breakfast to their children. But after the fog lifted, people started feeling the heat of the sun. Again, these rumors spread by the FBI were proven to be false.
In the following years, the Black Panthers renamed the Free Breakfast Program to the Survival Program. Whether coincidental or otherwise, years later the U.S. government began using the Black Panthers’ old name for its school breakfast program.
Why was the Black Panther Party so controversial?
The Black Panther Party was born out of discrimination and brutality against black people and police violence, but it was also considered an extremist organization. People in this party carried weapons in public. Their encounters with the police were common on the streets of the United States. The government and the FBI considered them dangerous. In order to eliminate this party, the FBI launched the counterintelligence program “COINTELPRO” in 1969. Many leaders of the program were either arrested and imprisoned or killed in conflicts. Finally, in 1982, the party was recorded in the pages of history.
A reporter once asked Hugh Newton what a white person could do if he wanted to join his Black Panther Party. To this, Newton gave a simple answer. He said: He could form his own White Panther Party.
In 1967, the FBI described Fred Hampton as a threat to the country. On December 4, 1969, Hampton was killed in a joint operation by the Chicago police and the FBI. He was only 21 years old at the time. This incident once again united the underworld. It is said that more than 5,000 people gathered at Hampton’s funeral. This may be the only party in American history that even the FBI was afraid of.
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