The Black Panther Party (BPP)

This paper will attempt to show how the lack of economic development in certain neighborhood’s of Los Angeles has given rise to gang problems, but also how the societal labeling of and use of the term “gang” denotes a negative response and invokes fear in the minds of communities in Los Angeles. Instead of looking at the formation of gangs as social organizations and outlets, as originally designed in response as immigration into the U.S. increased, gangs have now taken on a completely different identity which has been consummated by expressing a complete lack of hope in the system. For example to quote from the Founding Father of The Black Panther’s, Huey Newton, he stated that, “The Black Panther Party (BPP) was formed in this country in 1966 as an organization of Black and poor persons embracing a common ideology, identified by its proponents as revolutionary intercommunalism.”[1]
Huey Newton developed The Black Panther Party in the 1960’s as a reaction against the unjust economic, social, and political practices of the American Government, and therefore the Black Panthers developed a Ten Point Program to redress certain issues which were plaguing their communities. (My words) This Ten Point Program is as follows:
1. We Want Freedom. We Want 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 Education That Teaches Us Our True History And Our Role In The 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.[2]
The Ten Points Program was basically drafting a covenant with the African American community in which it integrated their interpretation of the United States Constitution with the Constitutions promise to give its citizens the rights which they deserve as human beings, combined with the reality of life in inner city America, which demonstrably showed massive differences in the above mentioned opportunities. This Ten Point Program reflected the formation of a gang for the positive growth of the African American community, through Black Nationalism, which was a premise that had been defined a few years earlier in the decade by Malcolm X. What then does The Ten Points Program, Huey Newton, and Malcolm X have to do with the problem of gangs in the inner cities of the United States?

I am currently in the process of designing a paper which can address the economic, social, and political instability of the inner cities in the U.S. Through my research I started to attempt to understand how the evolution of gangs in the U.S. have direct involvement with the lack of economic development and lack of accessibility to the resources of society. The Black Panther Party originated as a social organization, a "gang" per se to address these issues. What if "gangs" still had a voice in society to address their laments about the inequality felt and experienced? My last blog post said that gangs do have a voice in society and Wow; "IT IS LOUD AND CLEAR!"
The Black Panthers simply utilized the U.S. Constitution as the document to which gives them the rights afforded citizens of the U.S., such as "Jury of peers", i.e. those who are from the same class, race, ethnicity, economic background as the person being tried. This would be the logical conclusion of the word, "peer". Logic of course is only utilized when it benefits the ruling class. The U.S. Constitution also gives citizens "the right to assemble", which we in the Church hold dear to our lives. Rome would not allow its citizens to assemble in more than twelve at any given time, which in essence were pre-modern "gang injunctions." Rome (Caesar) didn't like competition, for more on that see the Trial of Jesus at the end of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. I see many of these movements today very similarly to the Zealot movements in the New Testament, and Jesus called many Zealots to be his followers. He must see something in their heart which reflects the heart of God in relation to injustice, but would bring the kingdom of God, not through violence, but through the cross and resurrection.

Anyways, I find many of these causes start because people are extremely frustrated with the injustices, but I am finding more and more that God deeply wants to bear the injustice into the body of Christ, which means that we as Christians participate, but we have another voice, which wants to transform the person and the structures to reflect God's love. God's love is demonstrated in the incarnation of God's self becoming flesh and living with the oppressed, marginalized, and poor people. God though transformed humanity so that the anger and bitterness felt by said oppression did not destroy the people who were oppressed.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that "Racist hatred destroys the blacks to whom it is projected onto, but it also destroys the whites." I find that once though we back away from directly naming issues, such as structural racism, many say, "Oh, good, now I can get back to the peaceful life."

[1] Newton, Huey: The War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America: Doctoral Dissertation: UC Santa Cruz: 1980.
[2] Newton: War Against the Panthers.