Since United States gained independences from England, it has always proclaimed to be the land of the free. Meaning that all persons born or naturalized in United States should have the right to equality, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness, but that simply not true. If that was the case the Untied States would allow such things as lynching, segregation, police brutality, and racial profiling. If America was the land of the free there won't be a need for such civil rights organizations as the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, SNCC, and etc. One of the most powerful and feared civil rights organizations was the Black Panther Party. Often when you hear Black Panther Party you automatically think of a militant and violent organization. In this discussion you will see that there was more to the Black Panthers Party than marches with guns. How did this radical organization that at a time in American history put such fear and terror in to the hearts of white America, and at the same time do so much for black communities? .
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense began on October 1966, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale on Peralta Street in West Oakland. In January 1, 1967 the Black Panther Party opened its first official headquarters on fifty-fifth and Grove Street in Oakland, California. Seale, and Newton pooled their funds and rented a $150 storefront. Which was the perfect location because it was right in the heart of North Oakland community, one block from Merritt College. Newton and Seale choose the black panther as the Party's symbol because it was a powerful image. The Black Panther Party also formed the Young Panthers. The Young Panthers were an auxiliary group that the Party organized for the young people from the community, but they weren't actual party members. The Black Panther Party promoted "Black Power" and self-defense. The Black Panthers Party openly carried guns around, but it was legal to bar arms as long as the guns were not hidden and unloaded.
