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Black Panther Party (1966-1972)
Documents and Publications
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was a revolutionary Black Nationalist organization that existed from 1966 to 1972. The party’s founders, Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale, were inspired by the work of Malcolm X and saw their party as the political successor to Malcolm X’s Afro-American Unity Association.
Comrades of the Panthers were inspired by the work of the Chinese and Bolshevik Revolution and at various times also raised the banner of Marxism-Leninism.
During the party’s brief and spirited history, it quickly rose to the forefront of the US revolutionary movement and had supporters around the world. It was deeply engaged in community organizing in the Black community and the struggle against all forms of national oppression.
A substantial archive of materical related to the Black Panther Party, including its newspaper, is available at the Marxist Internet Archive (https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/index.htm). Other key documents and further reading is provided below. Please reach out to BannedThought with suggestions to improve this page at: freespeech@bannedthought.net.
Party Program:
- “Black Panther's Ten-Point Program”, version found in War Against the Panthers, by Huey P. Newton (1980), 3 pages. English: PDF format (92 KB);
Party Documents:
- "On the Ideology of the Black Panther Party", Eldridge Cleaver, BPP Minister of Information, 1969. 18 pages. English: PDF format (7,909 KB)
Party Newspaper:
- "The Black Panther - Vol. 1, No. 1", April 25, 1967. 4 pages. Addresses the police killing of 22-year-old Denzil Dowell in Richmond, CA. Some of the Party’s first work was organizing rallies in Richmond to protest police brutality against Black people, and to expose the circumstances and subsequent police cover-up of Denzil Dowell’s murder. English: PDF format (7,462 KB)
- "The Black Panther - Vol. I, No. 2", May 15, 1967. 8 pages. Describes protest in Sacramento against the Mulford Bill, which went on to outlaw the Panthers’ use of open carrying to defend against police brutality. Contains Executive Mandate no. 1. Also the first issue to include the Ten-Point Platform and Program, which was printed in every subsequent issue. English: PDF format (31,248 KB)
- "The Black Panther - Vol. I, No. 4", July 3, 1967. 12 pages. Contains Executive Mandate no. 2, in response to Stokely Carmichael being drafted into the Vietnam War (he had already been one of the first famous Black leaders to pledge not to fight). Also includes a statement from Mao in support of the Black struggle in the US. English: PDF format (681,003 KB)
- "The Black Panther - Vol. I, No. 5", July 20, 1967. 23 pages. Contains Panthers’ response to, and many images of, police brutality and mass rebellion in Newark. The Detroit Uprising, the largest urban uprising of the 20th century, began three days after this issue was released. English: PDF format (82,101 KB)
- "The Black Panther - Vol. II, No. 2", May 4, 1968. 23 pages. First issue after assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and assassination of 17-year-old Little Bobby Hutton just two days later, killed while surrendering to police. Also marks first printing of expanded Point 10 in Ten-Point Program, calling for a plebiscite for Black people within the US. English: PDF format (105,673 KB)
- "The Black Panther - Vol. II, No. 3", May 18, 1968. 28 pages. [Ed. - note that several pages are out of order.] Announces Eldridge’s plans to run for president; includes response to Mao’s “Statement in Support of the Afro-American Struggle Against Violent Repression” English: PDF format (95,614 KB)
- A small selection of articles from the Party's newspaper, The Black Panther, covering some of the its "Serve the People Programs." Published between 1971 and 1976. English: PDF format (7,130 KB)
Writings of Huey P. Newton:
- “The Huey P. Newton Reader”, Huey P. Newton, edited by David Hilliard and Donald Weise, Seven Stories Press, 2003, 351 pages. English: PDF format (1,356 KB);
- “Revolutionary Suicide”, Huey P. Newton, Penguin Classics, 1968, 335 pages. English: PDF format (52,492 KB);
Party Member Biographies:
- “Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention”, Jamal Joseph, Algonquin Books, 2012, 197 pages. English: PDF format (1,264 KB);
- “Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party”, Bobby Seale, Random House, 1970, 234 pages. English: PDF format (63,804 KB);
- “Soul On Ice”, Eldridge Cleaver, Dell Publishing, 1968, 259 pages. English: PDF format (9,807 KB);
- “Assata: An Autobiography”, Assata Shakur, Lawrence Hill Books, 1987, 346 pages. English: PDF format (1,231 KB);
- “Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson”, George L. Jackson, Lawrence Hill Books, 1994, 359 pages. English: PDF format (2,635 KB);
- “Blood in My Eye”, George L. Jackson, Random House, 1972, 219 pages. English: PDF format (12,599 KB);
Edited Collections and Books on the Panthers:
- “Fred Hampton Speaks”, compiled by Anarchist Black Cross Chicago, 2018, 52 pages. English: PDF format (18,201 KB);
- “Eldridge Cleaver: Post-Prison Writings and Speeches”, edited by Robert Scheer, Random House Books, 1969, 244 pages. English: PDF format (93,346 KB);
- “Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party”, Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr., University of California Press, 2013, 557 pages. English: PDF format (238,125 KB);
- “The Black Panther Party: Service to the People Programs”, Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr., Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, 2008, 162 pages. English: PDF format (26,390 KB);
- “The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther”, Jeffrey Haas, Lawrence Hill Books, 2010, 401 pages. English: PDF format (15,678 KB);
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