The Black Panther Party, extant from October 1966 until the early 1980s, epitomised the increasingly radical tenor of late 1960s civil rights. The Party embodied many aspects of the developing freedom struggle – a growing desire for militant action, a campaign for political and social equality, and an ethos based around profound reassessment of oneself and one’s relationship to the community. The Panthers’ seemingly contradictory blending of violent imagery with a rhetoric of community support has proved challenging for historians; to understand the Party’s complex composition, it is therefore imperative to first understand its origins.
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in October 1966, in Oakland, California as an outgrowth of the Alabama-based Lowndes County
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Citation: Torrubia, Rafael. "The Black Panther Party". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 March 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=16295, accessed 21 November 2024.]
