Synopsis
A portrait of the Black Panther Party outlines the causes and conditions that set the stage for the Party's founding, profiles leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, and examines the Party's role in American politics and history.
Reviews
Grade 10 Up. A thorough and objective history of the Black Panther Party, a group that embodied so many people's hopes at the end of the 1960s, but fell apart under pressure from without and from within. After the opening chapter, covering the headline-grabbing demonstration at the California State Capitol, Haskins shows how the party originated in reaction to violent suppression of civil rights demonstrations by police. In a lively style, the author describes the founders writing their statement of principles and organizing their supporters, then the various shifts of program and clashes among individuals and groups. The FBI's program of disinformation and destruction is covered, as are the police raids and murders and the Panthers' own violent acts. Most enlightening is the account of the power struggles in Los Angeles between the local Panthers and a group called US, led by Ron Karenga. Also notable is the description of how female leaders almost saved the party but saw their social programs sabotaged by the men returning from exile abroad. This title will fit well into high school curriculum dealing with recent history. It will be of particular interest to students researching the social movements of the 1960s, and those whose parents were involved in them. Black-and-white photos are primarily portraits of Panther activists. A unique source of information on an important period of our history.?Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Edmonds, WA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Comparing the brief career of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense to a ``burst of radiation, searing American race relations,'' Haskins (see review above) shows how that tough stance--which struck a chord in African-Americans radicalized by the violent white response to the Civil Rights Movement--later collapsed under the weight of drugs, ego, and internecine conflicts. While acknowledging that, in its bid for legitimacy, the party made solid gains in local elections and founded several short-lived but visionary social programs, the author is more detailed as he recounts its higher profile struggles with other civil rights organizations and the police. He quotes the original ten-point platform in full but otherwise gives readers only hints of the nature of Black Panther rhetoric, the obligations membership entailed, and the size and growth of the organization. The result is less a study of the Black Panthers' philosophy, methods, and enduring influence than a cautionary tale about the hazards and misuse of sudden power. (b&w photos, index, not seen, notes, chronology, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12-15) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Gr. 7^-12. The events and people are highly dramatic, but the writing is dull and distant in this account of the radical 1960s political organization and its revolutionary leaders. The facts are presented with a kind of dogged chronological detail. There is little discussion of issues and just a cursory analysis of the Panthers' role in the history of the black liberation struggle. Woven into the accounts of events are biographies and photographs of the party's leaders, including Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, and Elaine Brown. A chronology, a bibliography, and chapter notes for direct quotes are provided. Hazel Rochman
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
