In political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal’s new book “We Want Freedom�, he places black liberation in historical context through the history of the Black Panther Party(BPP). Mumia beautifully invokes the tradition of black liberation by placing the Black Panther Party in the lineage of predecessors like Harriet Tubman,
Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Dubois, and Malcolm X. In this context, the rise of the Black Panther Party emerged organically from the liberatory dreams of racially and economically marginalized communities.
Throughout the history of the United States, the construction of institutionalized racism has been used to advance the capitalist exploitation of the working majority of this country. Mumia argues that the Panthers represented a political force capable of restructuring our country to benefit the working class majority. The history of the Black Panther Party offers insight in what is needed to organize disenfranchised masses into a revolutionary movement today.
Founded in West Oakland in 1966, The BPP gained immediate widespread support from communities it served by organizing copwatch brigades, serving breakfast to schoolchildren, and providing a venue for alienated black youth to express their desire to uplift their communities with discipline. The movement spread like wildfire and chapters of the organization spread across the country to places like New York, Nashville, and New Orleans. Scared by the exponential growth of the party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover called the organization, “the biggest threat to U.S. domestic interest�.
Mumia argues that while the Panthers were black nationalists, they never saw white workers as enemies. Their Marxist outlook guided them to the formation of multi-racial coalitions united for “housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace�, as it reads in their 10 point platform. In 1970, the Philadelphia chapter of the BPP organized the Revolutionary People’s Constitution Convention. This historic event brought together a broad-based coalition uniting gay and lesbian, socialist and communist, women’s, and workers’ organizations interested in creating “a constitution that serves the people, not the ruling class�. Fred Hampton, chair of the Chicago BPP, worked to organized working class Chicago youth out of gangs and into political cadre. This work led to the formation of the Young Lords Party, an organization led by young Puerto Ricans committed to the independence of Puerto Rico and the broader ideology of the Black Panther Party.
In this age of “Homeland Security,� the story of how the FBI’s counter-intelligence programs (Cointelpro) were used to divide movements is especially important. The FBI, in order to create conflicts and tensions in the movement, forged letters and met with employers, schools, and community organizations in an attempt to shut out politically ‘undesirable’ people. The crackdowns led by J. Edgar Hoover should serve as a lesson to all that fight for peace and justice of the extent the existing order will go in defense of its wealth.
The history of the United States is a history of class conflict. Throughout the history of our country, the ruling class has perpetuated institutions that use race as a justification for slavery and exploitation. Yet in the schools, we are not taught about the true atrocities of slavery or the heroic struggles it took to end slavery. Similarly, the education system often fails to mention the history of black liberation after the Civil Rights movement. That’s one of the reasons “We Want Freedom� is so important. Mumia’s book is a captivating expression of the legacy and lineage of the Black Panther Party.
Greg King is an activist and student in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a member of the National Council of the YCL.
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