Malcolm X and the Black Panthers

Résumé du document

The Black Panther Party was established by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 to promote Black Power and self-defense through acts of social agitation. While the organization's leaders passionately espoused Malcolm X's theories and socialist doctrine, an ideological consensus within the party was difficult to achieve and some members openly disagreed with the leaders. From the beginning the Black Panther Party's focus on militancy came with a reputation for violence. They often took advantage of a California law which permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it was publicly displayed and pointed at no one. The BPP sought to oppose police brutality through neighborhood patrols and often followed them to avoid police brutality and perceived racial prejudice. From the fall of 1967 through the end of 1969, nine police officers and 10 panthers were killed; 56 policemen and 348 panthers were wounded in 1969 alone. The group created a Ten-Point Program: a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from military service for African-American men, among other demands.

Extraits

[...] The initial targets included the SCLC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Nation of Islam. Leaders who were targeted included Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammad. The Black Panthers ultimately condemned Black Nationalism as "black racism", and became more focused on socialism and instituted a variety of community programs as the Survival Programs inspired by the Little Red Book. While the party retained its all-black membership, it recognized that different minority communities needed to organize themselves and encouraged alliances. [...]

[...] Independent views After he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X began to articulate his own views. During the final year of his life, his philosophy was flexible, and it is difficult to categorize his views on some subjects. Malcolm X announced his willingness to work with leaders of the civil rights movement. However, he felt that the civil rights movement should change its focus to human rights. So long as the movement remained a fight for civil rights, its struggle remained a domestic issue. [...]

[...] He enumerated some of the historical reasons that, he felt, supported his argument: "Anybody who rapes, and plunders, and enslaves, and steals, and drops hell bombs on people . anybody who does these things is nothing but a devil". The Nation of Islam believed that black people were superior to white people, and only a total separation between the two races was possible. The black people didn't need the white man, as they always had been taught. While the civil rights movement fought against racial segregation, Malcolm X advocated the complete separation of African Americans from white people. [...]

[...] He is sent in a white community and goes to the White junior high school. He is accepted like a a pet. Thanks to his popularity and his good marks he is elected president of the class. But when he told his professor he wanted to be a lawyer, his answer lawyer: that's no realistic goal for a nigger”. Soon after that his interest for studies lessened and he moved to Boston to live with his sister Ella. Detroit Red He has several jobs that lead him to hustling (selling liquor or drugs and pimping) around Boston and NY. [...]

[...] After a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm rejected his former separatist beliefs and advocated world brotherhood. He was then permanently threatened as well as his family. He was shot dead at a party meeting in Harlem on 21st February Three Black Muslims were later convicted of the murder. The Autobiography of Malcolm based on interviews he had given to the journalist, Alex Haley, was published in 1965. The main themes in Malcolm X's teachings Islam and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad Before he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X taught its beliefs in his speeches which always started with the words "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that . [...]