You can read an excellent history of the Black Panthers from BARD, when it's
back up and running.
DB-Bloom_ Joshua - Martin_ Waldo E Black against empire_ the history and
politics of the Black Panther Party DB76438
Thompson writes: "I turned away more than once while watching Stanley
Nelson's documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. I
averted my eyes from the screen when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's
nefarious mug first appeared. I turned away once more when the charismatic
and admirable Fred Hampton was first shown, knowing that eventually he would
be murdered by Chicago police and federal agents."
Black Panthers. (photo: Stephen Shames)
Rising Up Against Police Violence, From the Black Panthers to
#BlackLivesMatter
By Juan Thompson, The Intercept
05 September 15
I turned away more than once while watching Stanley Nelson's documentary The
Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. I averted my eyes from the
screen when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's nefarious mug first appeared. I
turned away once more when the charismatic and admirable Fred Hampton was
first shown, knowing that eventually he would be murdered by Chicago police
and federal agents.
But, of course, I could never turn away for long, because Nelson's
documentary is something all Americans should watch to better understand the
country's current racial climate, including the formation of the
#BlackLivesMatter campaign.
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first entered public consciousness after
George Zimmerman's acquittal, in July 2013, on charges of second-degree
murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Three activists, Alicia
Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, are credited with coining the
phrase. Tellingly, it wasn't until a year later - in August 2014 when a
white police officer killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri - that the
hashtag gained greater prominence and morphed into an enduring movement
against police brutality.
I write "tellingly" because many black American riots can be traced back to
an act of police violence. For black citizens, particularly those who are
economically disadvantaged, the police are the most consistent and cruel
representatives of the white supremacist state. It makes sense then that the
same origin story would be true for the revolutionary Black Panthers, who
organized after police killed a black person 49 years ago.
Nelson's documentary, which he spent seven years making, opens with the
organization's founding in Oakland, California, in October 1966, after the
death of Matthew Johnson. Johnson's death convinced Panthers co-founders
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale of the need for a different, more proactive
black movement. In Newton's mind it was time for black Americans to defend
themselves against police violence.
The Oakland Police Department, like so many today, was notorious for its
treatment of black residents. The Panthers, legally armed with guns after
Johnson's death, began following the Oakland police around to monitor their
actions. Whenever the police made a stop, armed Panthers were there,
ensuring no racist harassment or brutality would take place.
One of the great virtues of Nelson's film is the opportunity to see rare
footage. There's a clip of John Lennon, dressed in a Boston Red Sox jersey,
chatting on a talk show with Black Panthers. And there's the scene of Bobby
Seale, depicted with court sketches and audio, gagged and tied to a chair
during a trial because he kept calling the presiding judge a "racist, pig,
fascist, liar."
Given the Panthers' cultural significance, it's surprising that The Black
Panthers is the first documentary to present a thorough examination of the
group. (I omit from consideration the vapid and cartoonish 1995 docudrama
Panther.) And the film is replete with information many viewers will find
new. Nelson reminds us that one of the first major public displays of black
power occurred when the Panthers entered the California legislature in
Sacramento, armed with guns. Another surprising detail was that after Hoover
declared war on the Panthers in the late '60s, 233 of 295 domestic covert
actions by the FBI aimed at black nationalist groups were directed against
the Panthers. Undercover agents infiltrated the group almost from the very
beginning. It was also news to me that the first known SWAT raid in American
history was against the Black Panthers in Los Angeles, just five days after
the notorious assassination of Illinois Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.
The 116-minute film leaves viewers wanting more, however. Nelson barely
touches on the subject of Newton's alleged shooting of a white Oakland
police officer during a traffic stop in October 1967. Likewise, Newton's
struggle with a crack cocaine addiction later in life, and his 1989 killing
by a drug dealer, receive little attention in Nelson's documentary.
The film does, however, focus on Eldridge Cleaver, the eccentric Panther who
along with Seale and Newton composed the Panthers' powerful Troika. Some of
the most exciting storytelling occurs when the documentary recounts how
Cleaver fled the U.S. for Cuba, and then Africa, after being charged with
attempted murder following a botched attack on the police. Nelson also
focuses on how Cleaver, before his death, renounced his radical past and
converted to Mormonism. In 1958 Cleaver was convicted of assault during an
attempted rape, though Nelson doesn't mention it except in passing. But with
so much attention given to Cleaver's antics, Nelson ignores the radical
substance of the Panthers.
Former Panther Elaine Brown, writing in the Daily Beast, accused Nelson of
"excising from his film the Party's ideological foundation and political
strategies, despite the wealth of published materials articulating the
Party's goals and ideals, reducing our activities to sensationalist
engagements, as snatched from establishment media headlines."
The colorful characters who made up the Panthers may provide a cautionary
example for the young activists leading Black Lives Matter. Big
personalities and internal conflict helped to tear the group apart, but so
too did interference and disruption from the racist FBI. Like the Panthers,
Black Lives Matter has struggled with refashioning and expanding its
missions. The Panthers began a successful breakfast program in Oakland that
gave free meals to young people, and attempted to start black businesses
with the hope of constructing an economic foundation for black Americans.
Black Lives Matter doesn't seem quite sure where it wants to go next, though
some St. Louis activists are attempting to organize black people around
economic issues such as the Fight for $15 campaign.
Despite the struggles and the growing pains, Black Lives Matters represents,
for the first time since the civil rights era, a social movement focused on
battling American racism that has energized black Americans all around the
country.
Perhaps the most important lesson that Black Lives Matter, and the rest of
us, can learn from Nelson's film can be encapsulated in an insight from
Bobby Seale, which comes in the documentary's closing scenes: "You don't
fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity."
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Black Panthers. (photo: Stephen Shames)
https://theintercept.com/2015/08/16/black-panthers-blacklivesmatter/https://
theintercept.com/2015/08/16/black-panthers-blacklivesmatter/
Rising Up Against Police Violence, From the Black Panthers to
#BlackLivesMatter
By Juan Thompson, The Intercept
05 September 15
turned away more than once while watching Stanley Nelson's documentary The
Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. I averted my eyes from the
screen when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's nefarious mug first appeared. I
turned away once more when the charismatic and admirable Fred Hampton was
first shown, knowing that eventually he would be murdered by Chicago police
and federal agents.
But, of course, I could never turn away for long, because Nelson's
documentary is something all Americans should watch to better understand the
country's current racial climate, including the formation of the
#BlackLivesMatter campaign.
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first entered public consciousness after
George Zimmerman's acquittal, in July 2013, on charges of second-degree
murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Three activists, Alicia
Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, are credited with coining the
phrase. Tellingly, it wasn't until a year later - in August 2014 when a
white police officer killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri - that the
hashtag gained greater prominence and morphed into an enduring movement
against police brutality.
I write "tellingly" because many black American riots can be traced back to
an act of police violence. For black citizens, particularly those who are
economically disadvantaged, the police are the most consistent and cruel
representatives of the white supremacist state. It makes sense then that the
same origin story would be true for the revolutionary Black Panthers, who
organized after police killed a black person 49 years ago.
Nelson's documentary, which he spent seven years making, opens with the
organization's founding in Oakland, California, in October 1966, after the
death of Matthew Johnson. Johnson's death convinced Panthers co-founders
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale of the need for a different, more proactive
black movement. In Newton's mind it was time for black Americans to defend
themselves against police violence.
The Oakland Police Department, like so many today, was notorious for its
treatment of black residents. The Panthers, legally armed with guns after
Johnson's death, began following the Oakland police around to monitor their
actions. Whenever the police made a stop, armed Panthers were there,
ensuring no racist harassment or brutality would take place.
One of the great virtues of Nelson's film is the opportunity to see rare
footage. There's a clip of John Lennon, dressed in a Boston Red Sox jersey,
chatting on a talk show with Black Panthers. And there's the scene of Bobby
Seale, depicted with court sketches and audio, gagged and tied to a chair
during a trial because he kept calling the presiding judge a "racist, pig,
fascist, liar."
Given the Panthers' cultural significance, it's surprising that The Black
Panthers is the first documentary to present a thorough examination of the
group. (I omit from consideration the vapid and cartoonish 1995 docudrama
Panther.) And the film is replete with information many viewers will find
new. Nelson reminds us that one of the first major public displays of black
power occurred when the Panthers entered the California legislature in
Sacramento, armed with guns. Another surprising detail was that after Hoover
declared war on the Panthers in the late '60s, 233 of 295 domestic covert
actions by the FBI aimed at black nationalist groups were directed against
the Panthers. Undercover agents infiltrated the group almost from the very
beginning. It was also news to me that the first known SWAT raid in American
history was against the Black Panthers in Los Angeles, just five days after
the notorious assassination of Illinois Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.
The 116-minute film leaves viewers wanting more, however. Nelson barely
touches on the subject of Newton's alleged shooting of a white Oakland
police officer during a traffic stop in October 1967. Likewise, Newton's
struggle with a crack cocaine addiction later in life, and his 1989 killing
by a drug dealer, receive little attention in Nelson's documentary.
The film does, however, focus on Eldridge Cleaver, the eccentric Panther who
along with Seale and Newton composed the Panthers' powerful Troika. Some of
the most exciting storytelling occurs when the documentary recounts how
Cleaver fled the U.S. for Cuba, and then Africa, after being charged with
attempted murder following a botched attack on the police. Nelson also
focuses on how Cleaver, before his death, renounced his radical past and
converted to Mormonism. In 1958 Cleaver was convicted of assault during an
attempted rape, though Nelson doesn't mention it except in passing. But with
so much attention given to Cleaver's antics, Nelson ignores the radical
substance of the Panthers.
Former Panther Elaine Brown, writing in the Daily Beast, accused Nelson of
"excising from his film the Party's ideological foundation and political
strategies, despite the wealth of published materials articulating the
Party's goals and ideals, reducing our activities to sensationalist
engagements, as snatched from establishment media headlines."
The colorful characters who made up the Panthers may provide a cautionary
example for the young activists leading Black Lives Matter. Big
personalities and internal conflict helped to tear the group apart, but so
too did interference and disruption from the racist FBI. Like the Panthers,
Black Lives Matter has struggled with refashioning and expanding its
missions. The Panthers began a successful breakfast program in Oakland that
gave free meals to young people, and attempted to start black businesses
with the hope of constructing an economic foundation for black Americans.
Black Lives Matter doesn't seem quite sure where it wants to go next, though
some St. Louis activists are attempting to organize black people around
economic issues such as the Fight for $15 campaign.
Despite the struggles and the growing pains, Black Lives Matters represents,
for the first time since the civil rights era, a social movement focused on
battling American racism that has energized black Americans all around the
country.
Perhaps the most important lesson that Black Lives Matter, and the rest of
us, can learn from Nelson's film can be encapsulated in an insight from
Bobby Seale, which comes in the documentary's closing scenes: "You don't
fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity."
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
