Up Against the Wall Up Against the Wall Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party BY CURTIS J. AUSTIN University of Arkansas Press Fayetteville 2006 Copyright © 2006 by The University of Arkansas Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America 10 09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1 Designed by Liz Lester The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Austin, Curtis J., 1969– Up against the wall : violence in the making and unmaking of the Black Panther Party / by Curtis J. Austin.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-827-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-55728-827-5 (alk. paper) 1. Black Panther Party—History. 2. Black Panther Party—Biography. 3. Political violence—United States—History—20th century. 4. Black power— United States—History—20th century. 5. African Americans—Politics and government—20th century. 6. United States—Race relations—History—20th century. I. Title. E185.615.A88 2006 322.4'20973—dc22 2006026040 To my sisters and brothers CONTENTS Foreword by Elbert “Big Man” Howard Introduction Chronology of the Black Panther Party CHAPTER 1 Civil Wrongs and the Rise of Black Power CHAPTER 2 The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense CHAPTER 3 Speaking of Violence CHAPTER 4 Publicizing the Party CHAPTER 5 Growth and Transformation CHAPTER 6 Unjustifiable Homicides CHAPTER 7 Southern Discomfort: Tarheels, Pelicans, Panthers, and Police CHAPTER 8 To the East . . . and Back CHAPTER 9 The Rift Conclusion Acknowledgements APPENDIX A: Ten Point Program: What We Want, What We Believe APPENDIX B: Rules Of The Black Panther Party APPENDIX C: Partial Listing of BPP Chapters and Affiliates Notes Bibliographical Essay Bibliography FOREWORD After years of research that included often difficult-to-obtain interviews with former Black Panther Party members, historian Curtis J. Austin presents his extensive work in Up Against the Wall: Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party. In this book, he uncovers historical evidence related to the often misunderstood facts about the Black Panther Party and offers readers an interesting venue with which to familiarize themselves with pertinent material. Austin describes how, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, individuals from many areas of the black community joined the Black Panther Party and how it became the most potent political force in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area as well as a highly recognized force on the national and international scene. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, along with hundreds of other young members of this movement, demanded that the U.S. and other governments recognize and respect basic human rights. In Up Against the Wall, many of the controversial aspects of the BPP In and the atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s are graphically illustrated. Curtis Austin not only discusses the violence within the Black Panther Party but, by his very title, describes the position of party members in relationship to the violent acts perpetuated by them and against them and other blacks in America. His book lends a much-needed historical and academic perspective that, based on his interviews with former party members and other research, attempts to explain and put into context the often misunderstood details of the history of the Black Panther Party. Although former party members’ opinions and accounts may differ, what is important here is that Austin provides a valuable framework for open discussion, acknowledges the Black Panther Party’s accomplishments as a political force, and recognizes the contributions made and inspired mainly because of love for our people. This was demonstrated in our programs, which served the basic needs of the black and poor communities. We did this by example, no matter what the personal cost. The author links the founding of the Black Panther Party to the history of the civil rights movement and takes us down into the Mississippi Delta, where marches and murders took place as black Americans fought for human and civil rights. The only thing more relentless than the heat of the Delta was black people’s determination to be free and their purpose and conviction to be treated with dignity and respect. Austin’s book differs from other analyses of the Black Panther Party in that it is not merely a tell-all about irrelevant personal situations within the party. It does not focus on the sensationalism associated with the party. Neither is his book simply based on autobiographical sketches of prominent party members. What he has accomplished is to provide a detailed view with academic analyses of the tactics and strategies used by the party to promote change in America and the world. He has also chronicled the forces put into play by the American government to stop those changes. He reminds us of the price paid by so many of the Black Panther Party members in the struggle to create those changes. At the very least, this book allows us an opportunity and forum to openly discuss and recognize the historical significance and contributions made by the Black Panther Party members. Even more significantly, we are encouraged to learn from the history of the Black Panther Party, reflect on how much change is still needed, and discuss how this can best be accomplished. In these times, surely that is of the utmost importance to us all. ELBERT “BIG MAN” HOWARD Author, Lecturer, and Activist Sonoma County, California April, 2006 An original founding member of the Black Panther Party, member from 1966–1974 Former editor, Black Panther Party newspaper INTRODUCTION “Who in the hell are these niggers with these guns?”1 Bobby Seale, Bobby Hutton, Sherman Forte, and two dozen other compatriots, swathed in black leather and sporting berets and shotguns, marched through the state capitol in Sacramento in search of the California General Assembly. These self-appointed leaders of the fledgling Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, founded in Oakland in October 1966, went to the capitol ostensibly to protest the impending passage of the Mulford Act, a bill designed to prevent private citizens from carrying loaded weapons in public. The date was May 2, 1967, and the Panthers hoped to capitalize on their provocative appearance and bold statement. With the primary purpose of generating national news coverage for a fledgling group of less than thirty self-described revolutionaries, this shrewdly planned publicity stunt succeeded in attracting more recruits and led directly to the party’s spread from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area to other locales in California and subsequently throughout the nation. Consequently, many black men and women saw this budding organization as the answer to one of their most pressing problems: the lack of defense against police attacks. Seale described “how smart Brother Huey was when he planned Sacramento,” with the explanation that Huey Newton knew the papers would call the Panthers “thugs and hoodlums” but “the brothers on the block, who the man has been calling thugs and hoodlums for 100 years, they’re gonna say ‘Them’s some out of sight thugs and hoodlums up there.’ Who is these thugs and hoodlums?” Seale added that Newton knew that blacks would say, “well they’ve been calling us niggers, thugs, and hoodlums for 400 years, that ain’t gon’ hurt me, I’m going to check out what these brothers is doing!”2 The incident launched a movement that would eventually galvanize blacks and whites alike to address the debilitating political and economic subjugation that continued to plague blacks after the passage of civil rights legislation in 1960, 1964, and 1965. Emphatically impressing upon blacks the importance of self-defense, this tactic succeeded as headlines across the nation described armed blacks entering the legislature. The widespread coverage of the small group dwarfed the coverage given to members of California’s “gun lobby,” who “were also present registering opposition to the new law.”3