About the Black Panther Movement: The Black Panthers were formed in California in 1966 and although their timing was short lived, they played an important part in the civil rights movement. The Black Panthers believed that Martin Luther King's nonviolent stand had failed and any promised changes to their lifestyle via the 'traditional' civil rights movement, would take too long to be implemented.
During this time, the Black Panthers were known to be violent. The two founders of the Black Panther Party were Huey Percy Newton and Bobby Seale. They preached for a "revolutionary war" and although they considered themselves an African-American party, they still spoke out for all of those who were oppressed from any minority group. They were willing to use violence to get what they wanted.
The Black Panther Party (BPP) had four desires: equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights. They expressed these four points in what is known as the 10 Point Plan to get.
Timeline of Key Events of The Black Panthers:
OCTOBER 1966 Bobby Seale and Huey Newton found the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland.
January 1967 First BPP office opens at 5624 Grove Street, Oakland, CA.
MAY 2, 1967 Armed Panthers invade the capitol in California to protest legislation limiting their right to bear arms.
MARCH 1968 Eldridge Cleaver publishes Soul on Ice, which becomes a best-seller.
APRIL 6, 1968 Shoot-out between Panthers and Oakland police leaves 17-year-old Panther Bobby Hutton dead.
SEPTEMBER 8, 1968 Newton found guilty of voluntary manslaughter of an Oakland police officer and is sentenced to two to 15 years; an appeals court reverses the conviction; two more trials end in mistrials.
JANUARY 17, 1969 UCLA shoot-out between Panthers and US organization kills leaders John Huggins and Bunchy Carter.
EARLY 1969 Panthers start free breakfast program for children. Other community programs follow.
SEPTEMBER 4, 1969 Opening of Chicago Eight trial. Bobby Seale and seven others are accused of crossing state lines to incite rioting at 1968 Democratic convention.
DECEMBER 4, 1969 A predawn raid by police leaves Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark dead in a Chicago apartment.
AUGUST 17, 1974 Newton is charged with murdering a prostitute and pistol-whipping a tailor and flees to Cuba, turning the Party over to Elaine Brown. He returns three years later, and is in and out of prison for that offense and for others over the next 15 years.
JANUARY 4, 1976 A Senate Intelligence Committee reveals the contents of an FBI report that shows that the FBI encouraged warfare between Black groups in California in late 1960's.
AUGUST 22, 1989 Huey Newton is killed in West Oakland.