http://socialistworker.org/2010/05/13/power-to-decide-our-destiny
Helen Redmond reviews an exhibit about the hidden history of the
Black Panther Party.
May 13, 2010
THE BLACK Panther Party was one of the most vibrant and influential
revolutionary organizations in the U.S. It was also one of the most
feared and despised by the American government.
FBI head J. Edgar Hoover called the party "the greatest threat to the
internal security of the country." He oversaw the infamous program
"COINTELPRO," and one of its main objectives was eliminating the
influence and initiatives of the Black Panther Party. In city after
city, the forces of the state unleashed a vicious and racist
counter-organizing campaign of unlawful surveillance, eavesdropping,
infiltration, police harassment and targeted assassinations of Black
Panthers that ultimately brought the organization down.
A new exhibition at the DuSable Museum of African American History in
Chicago titled, The Black Panthers: Making Sense of History, invites
the viewer to learn about the politics and campaigns of the group
through Panther Party propaganda and a series of original and candid
photographs by Stephen Shames.
There are photos, lithographs, videos, official party newspapers and
posters. The first gallery contains a poster explaining the meaning
of the ubiquitous image of the Black Panther: The large black cat. It
symbolizes courage, determination and freedom.
Huey P. Newton, a prominent leader of the Black Panther Party, and
his brother Melvin composed the now iconic uniform the Panthers wore:
blue shirt, black pants, black leather jacket, black beret tilted to
the side and accessorized with an openly displayed, loaded shotgun.
There are courtroom sketches. Leaders and associates of the Black
Panthers--Newton, Angela Davis and Bobby Seale--were arrested and
tried in highly publicized trials. There was no Court TV in the
1960s, just an artist with paper and colored pencils. Much of the
exhibition's memorabilia is words and images describing the campaigns
to free Black Panther Party members from prison.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE PANTHERS are probably most famous for the battle they waged to
carry firearms openly. They argued that Blacks had the right to
defend themselves from police violence and racist attacks. Panthers
followed and monitored the police during arrests, and sometimes
intervened. The original name of the group was the Black Panther
Party for Self-Defense.
Photos show members patrolling neighborhoods. Other photos and
documents chronicle the infamous 1967 incident when members went to
the capital in Sacramento to protest the California State Assembly.
Legislators were discussing the Mulford Act, which proposed a ban on
public displays of loaded firearms. A group of Panthers walked into
the legislative session, some argue by mistake, carrying guns. But it
was perfectly legal at the time. Afterward, Bobby Seale and five
others were arrested.
A copy of the Panther's "Ten-Point Program" is on display. This
document lays out the social, political and economic demands of the
party and disproves the claim that the Panthers were solely about guns.
The 10 points address myriad aspects of how the capitalist system
oppresses Blacks. Number 1: We Want Freedom. We Want Power to
Determine the Destiny of Black and Oppressed Communities. Other
points demand full employment, decent housing and education, free
health care, reforms in the criminal justice system, and an end to
police brutality and wars of aggression abroad. It's a platform of
ideas and causes that are still being fought for today.
The poster of the iconic image of a defiant Huey Newton in an
oversized rattan chair with a spear in one hand and an M-1 rifle in
the other is on display. The photo is as powerful today as the day it
was taken and speaks volumes about the legacy of slavery and the
tension between being African and American in a country constructed on racism.
The Black community lacked a social service infrastructure to meet
the basic needs of people who were all too often refused services
outside of their neighborhoods. So the Panthers started free
breakfast programs to feed children and free health clinics. A
Panther poster titled, "A Program for Survival," addressed the health
care needs of people and included free medical, dental and optometry services.
Getting an ambulance in areas where poor Black people lived was a
constant, life-threatening problem. The Panthers answer was to start
an ambulance service. A leaflet explains: "The people's free
ambulance program provides free, rapid transport for sick or injured
people without time consuming checks into the financial status or means."
The cold-blooded assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton
by Chicago police and the FBI is explored in the show. He was shot
and killed as he slept in his bed. Newspaper articles, gruesome
photos, a jacket and the bullet-riddled door to his apartment are on
display. The objects are a chilling, visceral reminder of how law
enforcement used violent and illegal tactics to instill terror and
wipe out the Black Panther Party.
No police officer or FBI agent was ever convicted. A video of a
Democracy Now! interview with Jeffrey Haas, author of the new book
The Assassination of Fred Hampton, reveals in full detail the
government plot to execute Hampton and the subsequent cover-up.
The exhibition is a small slice of people's history in the tradition
of the late radical historian Howard Zinn, which aims to challenge
and inspire viewers to learn more about the Black Panther Party's
rich, radical and controversial history. Check it out.
--
Review: Exhibit
The Black Panthers: Making Sense of History, at Chicago's DuSable
Museum of African American History, showing through August 6.
http://www.dusablemuseum.org/exhibits/details/the-black-panthers-making-sense-of-history/
.
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