Black Panther Party

cawacko

cawacko

Well-known member
A day late, founded October 15, 1966 in Oakland, CA.

A lot of Oakland friends posting about it with pride in the Panthers and their roots there.

Interesting to hear folks like John McWhorter say outside of their free breakfast program they had limited lasting success. And that the black experience is so much more than just protest, even though that gets the most attention.

Saw a number of people posting with their fist raised in honor of black power and the Panthers. Always fascinating to see how much their legacy still resonates.
 
I know we have a number of Boomers here so you probably have memories of the Panthers. I know the Panthers expanded outside of Oakland as well. Anyone here live in an area where the Panthers had a presence? If so, what are your memories?
 
The Black Panthers were never much of a group in the USA, and have not existed at all in about a half a century. Their few members have moved on in their lives.

Noem using their past existence as an excuse for attacking Blacks is just nonsense. Cawacko bringing them up for no particular reason just shows the type of person he is.
 
Walt said:
The Black Panthers were never much of a group in the USA, and have not existed at all in about a half a century. Their few members have moved on in their lives.

Noem using their past existence as an excuse for attacking Blacks is just nonsense. Cawacko bringing them up for no particular reason just shows the type of person he is.
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I’m not sure what’s going on with you Walt, and why you’ve decided to go full-blown troll, but get help brother.
 
Walt said:
The Black Panthers were never much of a group in the USA, and have not existed at all in about a half a century. Their few members have moved on in their lives.

Noem using their past existence as an excuse for attacking Blacks is just nonsense. Cawacko bringing them up for no particular reason just shows the type of person he is.
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Re-reading your post, Walt, I’m actually flabbergasted.

The Black Panthers were founded in Oakland, California, my hometown. So it’s understandable if you’re not Black and you’re not from the Bay, you probably don’t hear a whole lot about the Panthers. And if you look on your Facebook feed, you probably don’t have a lot of friends posting about them.

The Black Panthers were a huge part of Black pride and the Black Power movement in the 1960s. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale are revered by many in the Black community.

And your response to that is they were never much of a group in the U.S. and haven’t existed in about half a century, as if their legacy just vanished?

When people say we don’t teach Black history in school, your response is exactly why.

I’m shocked that someone who calls himself a Democrat or progressive and thinks he’s racially open-minded would actually say what you just did.
 
cawacko said:
Re-reading your post, Walt, I’m actually flabbergasted.

The Black Panthers were founded in Oakland, California, my hometown. So it’s understandable if you’re not Black and you’re not from the Bay, you probably don’t hear a whole lot about the Panthers. And if you look on your Facebook feed, you probably don’t have a lot of friends posting about them.

The Black Panthers were a huge part of Black pride and the Black Power movement in the 1960s. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale are revered by many in the Black community.

And your response to that is they were never much of a group in the U.S. and haven’t existed in about half a century, as if their legacy just vanished?

When people say we don’t teach Black history in school, your response is exactly why.

I’m shocked that someone who calls himself a Democrat or progressive and thinks he’s racially open-minded would actually say what you just did.
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Noem using them as an excuse for killing Blacks today is nonsense.
 
cawacko said:
I know we have a number of Boomers here so you probably have memories of the Panthers. I know the Panthers expanded outside of Oakland as well. Anyone here live in an area where the Panthers had a presence? If so, what are your memories?
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Had a chapter in NYC, they did some good community stuff
 
Guno צְבִי said:
????????
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I was thinking about how hip hop started in New York and how rappers from other places early on felt they didn’t get much respect if they weren’t from there. The question was random, but that’s where I was coming from. I was wondering if the Panthers being West Coast based ever affected how they were viewed in New York. I’d assume not, since plenty of people joined, but that was my thinking
 
cawacko said:
I was thinking about how hip hop started in New York and how rappers from other places early on felt they didn’t get much respect if they weren’t from there. The question was random, but that’s where I was coming from. I was wondering if the Panthers being West Coast based ever affected how they were viewed in New York. I’d assume not, since plenty of people joined, but that was my thinking
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No petty stuff like that
 
Wednesday night Oakland is having a commemorative celebration for what would have been Bobby Seale's 89th birthday, whom they label a global icon.

images
 
The Black panthers were not that big and not that scary. They were made up bigly on TV and radio because fear sells. Trump learned that lesson. At its peak it claimed 2000 members. That was an exaggeration. They were formed to patrol the neighborhood and protect people from police abuse. I believe they also were at polling areas, just standing there. There were 3 at the one I used. I voted and talked to them afterwards. Suburbanites screamed about voter intimidation.
 
Nordberg said:
The Black panthers were not that big and not that scary. They were made up bigly on TV and radio because fear sells. Trump learned that lesson. At its peak it claimed 2000 members. That was an exaggeration. They were formed to patrol the neighborhood and protect people from police abuse. I believe they also were at polling areas, just standing there. There were 3 at the one I used. I voted and talked to them afterwards. Suburbanites screamed about voter intimidation.
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You’re correct that the Panthers were never large in numbers. But their size is not what made them significant. Their impact on Black identity, culture, and community programs is the reason they are still talked about and celebrated in some quarters. It is why Oakland has events like the one for Bobby Seale’s birthday on Wednesday and why they are studied in Black history classes.
 
cawacko said:
You’re correct that the Panthers were never large in numbers. But their size is not what made them significant. Their impact on Black identity, culture, and community programs is the reason they are still talked about and celebrated in some quarters. It is why Oakland has events like the one for Bobby Seale’s birthday on Wednesday and why they are studied in Black history classes.
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The press made them bigger and scarier. fear sells. They were correct about the police abusing blacks in the neighborhood. That failed. It still happens. The original black movements were run by white organizers. The blacks were capable of running their own organizations and they moved to power in the existing ones and started their own groups .
I was at some black power meetings. i liked listening to Stokely Charmichel. They were energizing the people to stand up to the power structure.
 
Nordberg said:
The press made them bigger and scarier. fear sells. They were correct about the police abusing blacks in the neighborhood. That failed. It still happens. The original black movements were run by white organizers. The blacks were capable of running their own organizations and they moved to power in the existing ones and started their own groups .
I was at some black power meetings. i liked listening to Stokely Charmichel. They were energizing the people to stand up to the power structure.
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There are different views of the Black Power movement. I have friends who still post photos with their fist raised and talk about the Panthers all the time.

Then you have someone like John McWhorter, who argues that Black Power was mostly performative. He says it focused more on symbolism and attitude than on results, and that the Civil Rights movement did far more to change everyday life.
 
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