What do you think?
Rate this book
The Black Panthers Speak
For over three decades, The Black Panthers Speak has represented the most important single source of original material on the Black Panther Party. With cartoons, flyers, and articles by Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver, this collection endures as an essential part of civil-rights history.
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
44 people are currently reading
3833 people want to read
About the author
Philip S. Foner
134 books37 followersPhilip Sheldon Foner was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
August 4, 2008
I like having this book lying around to look through occasionally, as far as I can tell this was one of the last really powerful community organizations in the United States, and usually is dismissed or narrowly understood as a militant organization. Nice collection of primary source material...
September 28, 2011
Foner's collection of primary Black Panther Party materials is an important read for anyone interested in moving beyond the commonly accepted and dismissive stereotypical representation of the Black Panthers as just a group of angry, young black men. "Hearing" the Panthers speak, you realize how much of their critical consciousness and deep revolutionary beliefs were silenced by labeling them a physical, violent threat. The extent to which law enforcement and judicial officials were willing to violate their Constitutional rights to defeat what was really a class struggle more than racial warfare (another common misrepresentation) is especially disturbing. The transcript from Bobby Seale's Chicago trial is particularly enlightening on this point. Reading this book in 2011, one can't help but think about our current "War on Terror" against "religious extremism" and wonder what those fear-provoking labels obscure in terms of our current understanding of the actual "threats" we face and the strident response to them.
September 19, 2019
Read for personal historical research. I found this work of immense interest and its contents inspiring - star rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
This admission "The black community is basically not a reading community." (The Black Panther, May 18, 1968) reiterates the dangers of a lack of education, understanding of historical contexts, Plantation Politics, and the effect of propaganda upon the uneducated and illiterate in poorer communities. Failed ideologies birthed from historic failed ideologies.
Overall, this work is also a good resource for the sociologist researcher and 60s enthusiast.
"Revolutionary strategy ... begins with the defensive movement of picking up the gun... people picking up the gun for self-defense is the only basis in America for a revolutionary offensive against Imperialist state power." (The Black Panther, April 25, 1970)
- Also of interest:
COINTELPRO: Kennedy spied on Congressional staffers and a law firm. Johnson ran frequent “name checks” on Barry Goldwater’s staff.
- And another source reports:
On April 1, 1963, President John F. Kennedy stood firmly opposed to the introduction of a major civil rights bill. He believed that such a law would not pass, and that its debate by the Congress could divide and destroy the Democratic Party.
Seven weeks later, on May 20, 1963, Kennedy announced to his cabinet that he was directing the Department of Justice to draft a civil rights bill.
What happened between April 1 and May 20, 1963 that so dramatically changed President Kennedy's assessment of the bill's chances? Birmingham.
On April 2, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, to lead a massive desegregation campaign. His co-leader was Birmingham's leading civil rights activist, Rev. Frederick Lee Shuttlesworth.
The bill's introduction was announced to the American public on June 11, 1963.
On July 2, 1964, in the wake of the President's assassination, that bill, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Civil Rights Act"), was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- Some background:
President John F. Kennedy was so "worried for the country" about the prospect that Vice President Lyndon Johnson might succeed him as president that he'd begun having private conversations about who should become the Democratic Party's standard-bearer in 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy recalled in a series of oral-history interviews recorded in early 1964.
She said her husband believed strongly that Johnson shouldn't become president and, in the months before his death in November 1963, he'd begun talking to his brother, Robert Kennedy, about ways to maneuver around Johnson in 1968.
"Bobby told me this later, and I know Jack said it to me sometimes. He said, 'Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon was president?'" she said.
Johnson's Party's racism transcends America's slave era and extends beyond its expedited reintroduction (2008-2009) to its historic all-time peak under President Obama in 2015.
"Let’s face it. Our ass is in a crack. We’re gonna have to let this n!##er bill pass." (Lyndon Johnson to Senator John Stennis, 1957) - “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power....”
- George Orwell, 1984
Fascists, Communists, and left-wing revolutionary Socialists notoriously deride liberty as a silly and sentimental weakness of their enemies, a 'petit bourgeois' prejudice, which can be utilized to provoke disorders, to disrupt the functioning of the State and carry on preparations for their particular revolutions with greater ease. (The Italians -1964- by Luigi Barzini)
In 2012, at the Democratic National Convention, Obama unveiled the slogan, “The government is the one thing we all belong to.” This fascist apotheosis to the centralized state is a sentiment that Gentile and Mussolini would surely have applauded. It couldn’t be more different from the American founders’ view, which is that we don’t belong to the government; the government belongs to us.
- - Instead...
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE !!!
This admission "The black community is basically not a reading community." (The Black Panther, May 18, 1968) reiterates the dangers of a lack of education, understanding of historical contexts, Plantation Politics, and the effect of propaganda upon the uneducated and illiterate in poorer communities. Failed ideologies birthed from historic failed ideologies.
Overall, this work is also a good resource for the sociologist researcher and 60s enthusiast.
"Revolutionary strategy ... begins with the defensive movement of picking up the gun... people picking up the gun for self-defense is the only basis in America for a revolutionary offensive against Imperialist state power." (The Black Panther, April 25, 1970)
- Also of interest:
COINTELPRO: Kennedy spied on Congressional staffers and a law firm. Johnson ran frequent “name checks” on Barry Goldwater’s staff.
- And another source reports:
On April 1, 1963, President John F. Kennedy stood firmly opposed to the introduction of a major civil rights bill. He believed that such a law would not pass, and that its debate by the Congress could divide and destroy the Democratic Party.
Seven weeks later, on May 20, 1963, Kennedy announced to his cabinet that he was directing the Department of Justice to draft a civil rights bill.
What happened between April 1 and May 20, 1963 that so dramatically changed President Kennedy's assessment of the bill's chances? Birmingham.
On April 2, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, to lead a massive desegregation campaign. His co-leader was Birmingham's leading civil rights activist, Rev. Frederick Lee Shuttlesworth.
The bill's introduction was announced to the American public on June 11, 1963.
On July 2, 1964, in the wake of the President's assassination, that bill, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Civil Rights Act"), was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- Some background:
President John F. Kennedy was so "worried for the country" about the prospect that Vice President Lyndon Johnson might succeed him as president that he'd begun having private conversations about who should become the Democratic Party's standard-bearer in 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy recalled in a series of oral-history interviews recorded in early 1964.
She said her husband believed strongly that Johnson shouldn't become president and, in the months before his death in November 1963, he'd begun talking to his brother, Robert Kennedy, about ways to maneuver around Johnson in 1968.
"Bobby told me this later, and I know Jack said it to me sometimes. He said, 'Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon was president?'" she said.
Johnson's Party's racism transcends America's slave era and extends beyond its expedited reintroduction (2008-2009) to its historic all-time peak under President Obama in 2015.
"Let’s face it. Our ass is in a crack. We’re gonna have to let this n!##er bill pass." (Lyndon Johnson to Senator John Stennis, 1957) - “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power....”
- George Orwell, 1984
Fascists, Communists, and left-wing revolutionary Socialists notoriously deride liberty as a silly and sentimental weakness of their enemies, a 'petit bourgeois' prejudice, which can be utilized to provoke disorders, to disrupt the functioning of the State and carry on preparations for their particular revolutions with greater ease. (The Italians -1964- by Luigi Barzini)
In 2012, at the Democratic National Convention, Obama unveiled the slogan, “The government is the one thing we all belong to.” This fascist apotheosis to the centralized state is a sentiment that Gentile and Mussolini would surely have applauded. It couldn’t be more different from the American founders’ view, which is that we don’t belong to the government; the government belongs to us.
- - Instead...
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE !!!
December 21, 2009
How I love this book...Im a revolutionary at heart and love to read about what people in a different time did with injustice. I think it's bold and commendable to step outside of yourself and 'take one for the team' to be so courageous!
September 5, 2020
"The Black Panthers Speak" is still pretty radical, but it's definitely not the violent call to race war that many people (liberal and conservative!) STILL think it is or want it to be. What surprised this reader is actually how, uh, reasonable it is. Much of what the Panthers are talking about here has been adopted by the modern progressive left, because most of it is true: black people were and are the victims of outrageous, state-sanctioned injustices-- including poor housing, unemployment, police brutality, consistent violation of constitutional rights, etc-- and the way forward will not involve "Black Capitalism" (supported by Nixon with, for him, good reason) or Idpol (the Panthers reserve some of their harshest critiques for militants who categorically refuse to work with white people) but something more like democratic socialism-- a massive redistribution of wealth and power, the destruction of the racist profiteering class, collective ownership of the means of production, etc. Also interesting is how, like Frederick Douglass and Du Bois and Malcolm and so many great black critics others before and after, the Panthers consistently use the texts of American democracy against the tyranny of American empire. More than Mao or Che, the Panthers are quoting the Declaration of Independence (the initial statement of the Party quotes its first three paragraphs in their entirety); in his famous showdown with a racist judge, Bobby Seale insists, again and again, on the validity of the Constitution, and appears to be a better student of it than any of his oppressors.
So much of the popular image of the Black Panthers as gun-toting, "racist against whites" macho men is belied by this collection-- this was a group that armed itself because they had to (dozens of Panthers were literally murdered by the government), that made sincere efforts to form coalitions with other revolutionary groups in America and around the world (a whole chapter is given to the Latino, Asian, and poor white Panther spin-offs), that made space for female leaders and fervently denounced chauvinism, that thought deeply about issues and wrote about them passionately and intelligently, that created community service programs around the country providing food and healthcare for children and poor people. Why did America make such tremendous efforts to shut them down? It doesn't take a genius...
Anyway, as a reading experience, "The Black Panthers Speak" is probably more of a three or four, as the Panthers are kind of making the same (good) points in the same way, most of the time. But as, like, a historical experience, the Black Panthers are obviously a fucking five. These men and women spoke truth to power and we should honor their heroic work in whatever way we can (perhaps fundamentally changing our country's old-ass dumb-ass institutions is a good way to start?).
So much of the popular image of the Black Panthers as gun-toting, "racist against whites" macho men is belied by this collection-- this was a group that armed itself because they had to (dozens of Panthers were literally murdered by the government), that made sincere efforts to form coalitions with other revolutionary groups in America and around the world (a whole chapter is given to the Latino, Asian, and poor white Panther spin-offs), that made space for female leaders and fervently denounced chauvinism, that thought deeply about issues and wrote about them passionately and intelligently, that created community service programs around the country providing food and healthcare for children and poor people. Why did America make such tremendous efforts to shut them down? It doesn't take a genius...
Anyway, as a reading experience, "The Black Panthers Speak" is probably more of a three or four, as the Panthers are kind of making the same (good) points in the same way, most of the time. But as, like, a historical experience, the Black Panthers are obviously a fucking five. These men and women spoke truth to power and we should honor their heroic work in whatever way we can (perhaps fundamentally changing our country's old-ass dumb-ass institutions is a good way to start?).
April 28, 2022
It seems like most, if not all, of the problems that the Black Panthers raised at the time are still being faced by the African American community today. It’s also stunning the amount of organized repression their movement faced. An excellent collection of primary source documents that reflects what they stood and fought for.
Also, it makes me wish for a time when there were strong community organizations like this which were able to pressure the government into action to better circumstances for people. I never knew that organizations like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords provided free meals for children, ran schools, and provided free healthcare for people. Amazing stuff.
Also, it makes me wish for a time when there were strong community organizations like this which were able to pressure the government into action to better circumstances for people. I never knew that organizations like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords provided free meals for children, ran schools, and provided free healthcare for people. Amazing stuff.
May 29, 2021
Fantastic and in-depth. The BPP was incredible. I particularly loved Bobby Seale’s writing and speeches.
April 8, 2025
Not nearly as controversial as I’d been led to believe. In fact, I agree with them on most things. I hope one day we’ll really have an equitable political and economic situation.
December 30, 2021
Think I’ll be re-reading and re-reading this for a very long time. Primary sources, incredibly insightful and timeless. Almost crazy how relevant the politics of the panthers are in the modern day, makes you wonder what they could’ve achieved if not for the oppressive/homicidal US state.
September 21, 2019
Pasé de saber poco sobre Las Panteras Negras a conocer cómo se gestó esa organización política de tendencia marxista-leninista con líderes como Eldridge Cleaver. Fueron objetivo del sistema policial racista yanqui porque su lucha fue considerada una amenaza a la supremacía blanca en EUA.
February 8, 2019
Low key, I thought this might be some nonsense because I have a Haymarket edition, and I'm not here for Trotskyist takes on the Panthers. Luckily it's the original 1970 edition with a fine introduction from Barbra Ransby.
This book is so explosive you feel your hands getting hot and your wrists tense. The sweeping revolutionary audacity of these young people who faced down the war machine and declared: We Want Freedom, is evident on every page. Really well put together collection, drawing from the newspaper, speeches, letters and statements, it gives a clear indication of the breadth and influence of the organization and the magnitude of the repression they faced.
I'm sure hindsight would have changed the collection (more Fred Hampton to start), and some of the internal contradictions that would soon emerge are clear here, reading between the lines, but what is most evident is the heroism of the Panthers, and the grotesque vicious criminality of the government that murdered, exiled, and jailed them at every turn.
Excellent as a slice of history and narrative, and for those of who who believe in the urgency of changing the world, a living piece of what Mao Zedong called the mass line, the way of taking the ideas of the masses of people, synthesizing them with revolutionary theory, and returning them to the masses in concrete forms, evident here in the speeches, and revolutionary activity of the Panthers.
This book is so explosive you feel your hands getting hot and your wrists tense. The sweeping revolutionary audacity of these young people who faced down the war machine and declared: We Want Freedom, is evident on every page. Really well put together collection, drawing from the newspaper, speeches, letters and statements, it gives a clear indication of the breadth and influence of the organization and the magnitude of the repression they faced.
I'm sure hindsight would have changed the collection (more Fred Hampton to start), and some of the internal contradictions that would soon emerge are clear here, reading between the lines, but what is most evident is the heroism of the Panthers, and the grotesque vicious criminality of the government that murdered, exiled, and jailed them at every turn.
Excellent as a slice of history and narrative, and for those of who who believe in the urgency of changing the world, a living piece of what Mao Zedong called the mass line, the way of taking the ideas of the masses of people, synthesizing them with revolutionary theory, and returning them to the masses in concrete forms, evident here in the speeches, and revolutionary activity of the Panthers.
Read
December 21, 2020This is the story of one of the most misunderstood and radical movements in US history. It deals with real problems within the African-American community, and it's as relevant now and it was in the 1960s.
July 5, 2020
While I wish this book did a better job of giving dedicated to individual space to women in the Black Panther movement rather than consolidate them to a single chapter while male members have entire chapters set aside from themselves, this is an excellent collection of primary sources that provided insight into how the Black Panthers operated, especially in regard to the endorsement of ideologies that still feel modern. The book isn’t exhaustive, but this edition of The Black Panthers Speak lets readers focus on their policies, newspapers, and programs, in addition to theory.
May 25, 2012
I thought myself a Panthers aficionado until I read this this book. The collection of material in this book is truly awe-inspiring: interviews; speeches; articles from the Black Panther and other papers; official Party statements and contributions sent in by readers to both. If you want a concise look at that the leading minds behind the Black Panther Party thought of the issues of their day then you can't afford to not read this book.
January 13, 2021
Buy this book, read it, give copies to your friends and comrades and bug them until they read it. This is What is to be Done? for the United States. It lays out the Panthers ideology and methodology in ways that are still as relevant today as they were 50 years ago. Every revolutionary should read this and incorporate the lessons from the most advanced revolutionary organization in the history of this country into their practice.
September 10, 2020
If you want to know the truth about who the BPP was, I highly recommend this book. The lies our government and everyone in a white society has told us about BPP. sadly nothing has changed only technology in America. But again the white washed propaganda they feed us at a young age and how everything is so much better for POC makes me angry. Do read this book, especially if you’re white.
July 24, 2023
This book is phenomenal! It’s a compilation of writings, interviews, news clippings of words straight from BPP members mouths. Besides some outdated terms, it’s astonishing how much is still very very relevant today. 100% worth the read.
January 21, 2008
Extremely important book, many different original documents, speeches etc. Great section on the Young Patriots Organization.
Read
April 17, 2008good primary source
Read
October 21, 2008pawer to the people!!!!!
December 20, 2008
It is what it is, a collection of the Black Panthers speeches. I knew little about them beforehand other than what popular culture would tell me. This was a valuable educational experience.
January 13, 2011
Became very useful tool while researching data for a presentation.
August 2, 2012
Beyond interesting collection of documents and speeches
August 14, 2012
Oral testimony on black power.
February 21, 2013
Read this when it was originally published. Required it for my Master's Urban Soc classes.
October 24, 2018
Good book but huey newtons book told it better
February 18, 2024
Let take this opportunity to begin by saying fuck the pigs!
i had a hard time understanding where the radicals went, i.e., why there aren't several Panther-like groups today and I realized that the carceral state was put in place to prevent their genesis after the Black Panthers were destroyed. That and the 80s crack epidemic which appears to be what got Huey Newton killed.
Anyway, the pattern that is described herein hasn't gotten any better...and, I think it is reasonable to draw ANOTHER conclusion from this book, namely one cause for "deaths of despair." From Wretched of the Earth (decolonization), from, Race First (Garveyism/UNIA), that despite all the hoopla over a BLM "leader" saying she was a "trained Marxist," the economic realities then at play animating the BPP or Malcolm X or Marcus Garvey that made socialism/Marxism seem attractive have not gone away. 2008 proved that. What has gone away was the revolutionary and animating idea that the dialectical struggle should be fought and could be won.
I think that the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent delegitimization of socialism as a viable social/economic system has dealt a huge blow to the belief that revolutionary movements can be successful. The loss of the dialectical struggle as an organizing principle has not credibly been replaced with something as galvanizing as Marxism. And the losses of purpose and hope that the power structure will redress grievances if sufficiently pushed by the people have bred helplessness.
Further, it is clear that the power structure has gone in very much the opposite direction. Kent State was not a wake-up call that military engagement of civilian protesters was not to be tolerated as it resulted in dead kids, it was the beginning of the "War on Us" by an out-of-control police "establishment" of warrior cops completely unresponsible to the people—literally no duty to protect anyone but themselves —and a gun culture that results in mass shootings... let's go with "all the time" so I don't have to bother to look it up.
If your situation is intolerable and you have no means of redress, there's is little question that violence will ensue: "deaths of despair" are just violence directed toward the self.
i had a hard time understanding where the radicals went, i.e., why there aren't several Panther-like groups today and I realized that the carceral state was put in place to prevent their genesis after the Black Panthers were destroyed. That and the 80s crack epidemic which appears to be what got Huey Newton killed.
Anyway, the pattern that is described herein hasn't gotten any better...and, I think it is reasonable to draw ANOTHER conclusion from this book, namely one cause for "deaths of despair." From Wretched of the Earth (decolonization), from, Race First (Garveyism/UNIA), that despite all the hoopla over a BLM "leader" saying she was a "trained Marxist," the economic realities then at play animating the BPP or Malcolm X or Marcus Garvey that made socialism/Marxism seem attractive have not gone away. 2008 proved that. What has gone away was the revolutionary and animating idea that the dialectical struggle should be fought and could be won.
I think that the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent delegitimization of socialism as a viable social/economic system has dealt a huge blow to the belief that revolutionary movements can be successful. The loss of the dialectical struggle as an organizing principle has not credibly been replaced with something as galvanizing as Marxism. And the losses of purpose and hope that the power structure will redress grievances if sufficiently pushed by the people have bred helplessness.
Further, it is clear that the power structure has gone in very much the opposite direction. Kent State was not a wake-up call that military engagement of civilian protesters was not to be tolerated as it resulted in dead kids, it was the beginning of the "War on Us" by an out-of-control police "establishment" of warrior cops completely unresponsible to the people—literally no duty to protect anyone but themselves —and a gun culture that results in mass shootings... let's go with "all the time" so I don't have to bother to look it up.
If your situation is intolerable and you have no means of redress, there's is little question that violence will ensue: "deaths of despair" are just violence directed toward the self.
November 22, 2022
This compilation of the work and initiatives of the Black Panther Party — including their solidarity with other groups — is an indispensable view of a deep democracy movement in America. One particularly interesting aspect made clear by Foner's volume is how the Black Panther Party attempted to move means and relations of production and governance (interestingly called "National Critical Functions by the USG today) into a domain of deep democracy.
For example, medical care (the People's Medical Center), food security (breakfast programs), shelter (advocating for housing), defense and public safety and upholding constitutional rights (monitoring police and law enforcement by upholding the law), elections (advocating for an UN-administered plebiscite), and education (anti-racist summer schooling programs), just to name a few.
Adjacent and inspired movements, such as the early Hawai'i sovereignty movements, very interestingly worked to shift different modes/relations of production into domains of deep democracy that varied based on material conditions - i.e. water, agriculture, imminent domain and governance of landholding, and control over travel.
This collection of writing and interviews of the Black Panther Party shows what a vision of deep democracy can look like, and also how the approach can change - among solidarity movements - based on the specific context.
For example, medical care (the People's Medical Center), food security (breakfast programs), shelter (advocating for housing), defense and public safety and upholding constitutional rights (monitoring police and law enforcement by upholding the law), elections (advocating for an UN-administered plebiscite), and education (anti-racist summer schooling programs), just to name a few.
Adjacent and inspired movements, such as the early Hawai'i sovereignty movements, very interestingly worked to shift different modes/relations of production into domains of deep democracy that varied based on material conditions - i.e. water, agriculture, imminent domain and governance of landholding, and control over travel.
This collection of writing and interviews of the Black Panther Party shows what a vision of deep democracy can look like, and also how the approach can change - among solidarity movements - based on the specific context.
October 29, 2024
The Black Panthers Speak edited by Philip S. Foner is a collection of primary sources including speeches, art, poetry, and written materials from the Black Panther Party and its leaders. You hear a lot of things about the Black Panther Party and their supposed beliefs but it's interesting to learn about the parties actual beliefs straight from primary sources. While I don't agree with every point the Black Panthers believe in or argue about, I respect a lot of their takes and opinions. Their stances on free school lunches and breakfasts, improving living conditions in ghettos, civil rights, criminal justice reform to be more egalitarian and less racist, and an end to and or punishment for police brutality. The book helped me dispel some myths I've learned over the years about the party and has helped cast them in a new light for me. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the Black Panther Party, The History of Communist Parties in America, History or just loves to read nonfiction or a collection of primary sources.
February 28, 2025
The Black Panthers Speak is a collection of writings such as speeches, newspaper articles and interviews from the leaders of the Black Panther Party in the late 60's and early 70's. The BPP was a party composed of Black Americans which advocated the downfall of Capitalism in order to give All Power to the common People. The Panthers were tired of police brutality and capitalistic exploitation in their communities. These writings were a call to action for revolution, and for oppressed people to educate and defend themselves. Many of these writings were written while the authors were in jail, but their determination to liberate all oppressed peoples still shines through. Huey P. Newton, the Minister of Defense for the BPP, wrote in prison, "Today it should mark a new time for the two-revolutionary force in the country: the alienated white group and the masses of black in the ghettos, who for years sought freedom and liberation from a racist reaction-system"(48). There is no commentary about most of these writings, so this book is a way to form your own opinion about the Black Panthers. This deserves a read from anyone who is politically active.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews