On the Ground: The Black Panther Party in Communities across America

318 Pages·2010·2.93 MB·English

by  Judson L. Jeffries

On the

GrOund
On the
GrOund
The Black Panther Party
in Communities across America
Edited by Judson L. Jeffries
University Press of MississiPPi • Jackson
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of
American University Presses.
Copyright © 2010 by University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2010
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
On the ground : the Black Panther Party in communities across America / edited by
Judson L. Jeffries.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60473-492-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60473-493-5 (ebook)
1. Black Panther Party—History. 2. African Americans—Politics and government—
20th century. 3. African Americans—Civil rights—History—20th century. 4. African
Americans—Services for—History—20th century. 5. Poor—Services for—United
States—History—20th century. 6. Civil rights movements—United States—History—
20th century. 7. United States—Race relations—History—20th century. 8. United
States—History, Local. I. Jeffries, J. L. (Judson L.), 1965–
E185.615.O57 2010
322.4’20973—dc22 2009047230
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
This book is dedicated to Michael Jackson,
a revolutionary in his own right.
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COntents
Introduction
the seCOnd Installment
Judson L. Jeffries and Ryan Nissim-Sabat ix
Chapter 1
arm YOurself Or harm YOurself
People’s Party II and the Black Panther Party in Houston, Texas
Charles E. Jones 3
Chapter 2
a Panther sIGhtInG In the PaCIfIC nOrthwest
The Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party
Jeffrey Zane and Judson L. Jeffries 41
Chapter 3
the Kansas CItY BlaCK Panther PartY and the rePressIOn
Of the BlaCK revOlutIOn
Reynaldo Anderson 96
Chapter 4
mOtOr CItY Panthers
Joel P. Rhodes and Judson L. Jeffries 125
Chapter 5
the des mOInes, IOwa, afrICan amerICan COmmunItY and
the emerGenCe and ImPaCt Of the BlaCK Panther PartY, 1948–1973
Bruce Fehn and Robert Jefferson 186
Chapter 6
the BIG easY was anYthInG But fOr the Panthers
Orissa Arend and Judson L. Jeffries 224
viii Contents
Conclusion
nestInG the BlaCK Panther PartY In the ZeItGeIst Of unCertaIntY
Omari L. Dyson 273
Contributors 283
Index 285
IntrOduCtIOn
The Second Installment
Judson L. Jeffries and Ryan Nissim-Sabat
The Black Power movement, compared to its predecessor, the modern civil
rights movement, was comprised of fewer organizations and members. Simply
put, there were many more card-carrying civil rights activists than there were
advocates of Black Power. Arguably, the four most prominent civil rights orga-
nizations—the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Urban League—had hundreds of chap-
ters across the country, with massive membership rolls in the thousands, per-
haps hundreds of thousands, of people. For example, in the 1950s the NAACP
had over 500 chapters and hundreds of thousands of members. While certainly
not as impressive as the NAACP, the SCLC, the CORE, and the Urban League
also boasted scores of chapters as well as members. It is likely that no Black
Power organization had more than fifty chapters or a membership equal to that
of any of the major civil rights organizations. The Black Panther Party (BPP),
with its reported forty branches and chapters and estimated (but never substan-
tiated) 5,000 members at its apex, was perhaps the largest of the Black Power
organizations.1
In recent years, some scholars have incredulously lamented that a compre-
hensive and exhaustive study of the BPP has yet to be done. Although true, the
same can be said of most organizations of any era, including those that com-
prised the Black Power movement. Writing a comprehensive and exhaustive
study (if there is such a thing) of any organization is a daunting, one might even
say a nearly impossible task, for obvious reasons. Having said that, though, of
all the Vietnam War–era organizations, the BPP is most in need of serious,
systematic, invasive, and rigorous scholarly examination. We can think of no
organization that was or is more maligned, misrepresented, or misconstrued
ix