Black Panther History
The Black Panther Party Research Project
Developed to fill the need to preserve the history and legacy of Black Panther Party, this site is designed to provide information for individuals who want to locate primary and secondary sources about the Black Panther Party. Currently, the site contains the 1966 and 1972 platforms, a list of Panther Community Programs, a photo gallery, and curriculum suggestions for grade school.
Psychedelic Sixties: Four Radical Groups
Amid the social and political upheaval that emerged during the 1960s, a number of groups began to advocate radical measures to achieve their goals of justice and equality. This site profiles four of the most prominent of these organizations: the Black Panther Party, Students for a Democratic Society, the Weather Underground, and the Youth International Party. Take a look at some of the posters, paraphernalia, and symbolism that defined the image of the Black Panther Party.
Black Panther Party Photo Archive
This is Roz Payne’s online photo archive of the Black Panther Party. The site includes footage from rallies and demonstrations as well as images of Panthers at home, in meetings, and in handcuffs.
Social Activism Sound Recording Project: The Black Panther Party
The Media Resources Center at UC Berkeley presents this collection of primary source sound recordings broadcast on Pacifica Radio about the Black Panthers. The site also summarizes other press stories covering the Black Panthers between 1960 and the present and includes some poignant video clips of the Panthers at work.
Black Panthers Today
World History Archives: Geronimo Pratt
Read press coverage of Geronimo Pratt, the Black Panther who visited Pete’s home in Tanzania during the film. After spending 27 years in jail, Pratt was granted a new trial in 1997 and ultimately acquitted of all charges.
Bobby Seale’s Homepage
Bobby Seale was the chairman and co-founder, along with Huey Newton, of the Black Panther Party in 1966. During the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Seale was charged with conspiracy to incite riots and he was famously bound and gagged during his trial. Today, Bobby Seale holds more moderate views, and you can find out about his community service work and view a photo history tour of the Black Panthers at his website.
It’s About Time…Black Panther Party Legacy & Alumni
The It’s About Time Committee maintains a network of Black Panther Party alumni and supporters. The site also contains an archive of memorabilia about Pete and Charlotte’s United African Community Center.
CNN Interactive: Eldridge Cleaver Dies at 62
CNN reports on the death of Eldridge Cleaver, the 1960s Black Panther activist and fugitive who later swung to the other side of the political spectrum to become a Republican. Site includes audio clips of two other former Black Panthers, David Hilliard and Roland Freeman, speaking on his death, and a video clip memorializing his life.
The Huey P. Newton Foundation
The official site of the Black Panther Party, maintained by the Huey P. Newton Foundation, states its mission to “serve the needs of the oppressed people in our communities and defend them against their oppressors.” Explore the history and legacy of the Panthers, or arrange for an original member of the party to speak at an event.
A Panther in Africa
At the film’s official site, learn more about Pete O’Neal, see some clips from the film, and check for screenings in your area.
BBC News: Panther Pursues His Goals in Africa
BBC World News profiles Pete O’Neal, the Black Panther featured in Panther in Africa.
United African Alliance Community Center
The website of the United African Alliance Community Center, Pete and Charlotte’s organization in Tanzania, maintains an archive of the press they have received and discusses in the details the community programs and projects they are currently undertaking to enrich the Arusha community and promote closer cultural ties to the African-American community in the United States. Got a question or comment for Pete and Charlotte about the UAACC? Write them a note at http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz/Contact.htm
Also on PBS and NPR
A Huey P. Newton Story
Originally born in a small town in Louisiana and later moving to Oakland, California, Huey P. Newton became the co-founder and leader of the Black Panther movement for over two decades. This site, accompanying a Spike Lee film of the same name, profiles some of the Panther leaders, scrutinizes the FBI policies that led to the purge of the party, and profiles some of the community programs that formed the unglamorous backbone of the Panthers’ day-to-day work. (2002)
FRONTLINE: The Two Nations of Black America
Henry Louis Gates nervously notes, “Thirty years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, how have we reached this point where we have both the largest black middle class and the largest underclass in our history?” Check out interviews with famous black Americans, explore economic charts and arguments, and read an essay by Professor Gates at this FRONTLINE website that grapples with this troubling question. See especially the interviews with Eldridge Cleaver and Kathleen Cleaver, both prominent members of the Black Panther Party. (1998)
This Far by Faith: From Civil Rights to Black Power
Take a journey through the decades preceding the rise of the Black Power movement through the lens of faith in African-American communities. How did the early civil rights movement fail the African-American community, driving some to more radical measures, and how did faith help them to keep on fighting? (2003)
Independent Lens: The Weather Underground
Former members of the Weather Underground, another notorious 1960s American radical movement, speak candidly about their plans to overthrow the United States government. Learn about the movement, read an interview with two Weathermen leaders, and find out what some of the members are doing today. (2004)
35th Anniversary of the Black Panther Movement
2001 marked the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panthers Party. Talk of the Nation interviews Bobby Seale, the founder and former chair of the Party, and Earl Neil, the priest at St. Augustine’s in Oakland, California, when Panthers met there from 1967-1973. (August 2001)
Reexamining the Black Panthers
Join Neal Conan for a conversation about the legacy of the Black Panthers, with guests Yohuru Williams, history professor, and Kathleen Cleaver, the former secretary of communications for the Black Panthers. (June 2003)
Tavis Smiley: Looking Back at the Black Panther Movement
In the 1960s, the Black Panther Party formed based on the idea of armed self-defense. At the time, FBI officials and media reports portrayed the Panthers as dangerous militants. Now, a new Santa Monica, California, exhibit of photographs from the 1960s examines the Panthers’ image then and now. Senior editor Phillip Martin reports. (July 2004)