Black Panthers For Beginners

Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book #49

by Herb Boyd, Lance Tooks (Illustrator)

"A crowd of onlookers gawked from the sidewalk as four young black men dressed in black leather jackets and berets leaped from a Volkswagen, each of them wielding shotguns with bandoliers strapped across their bodies. The young men surrounded two white police officers who had accosted a black man and had him spread-eagled against a building.

The young men did not say a word as the police officers watched them nervously, their eyes fixed on the shotguns. One of the young men held a large law book in his hand This was the Black Panther Party in ideal action. The real story--the whole story--was both more and less heroic."

So begins "Black Panthers For Beginners." The late 1960s, when the Panthers captured the imagination of the nation's youth, was a time of regulation. While their furious passage was marked by death, destruction and government sabotage, the Panthers left an instructive legacy for anyone who dares to challenge the system.

Herb Boyd has done exhaustive research, examined the claims of all parties involved, and boiled the story down to "the truth." We believe this is the most truthful book on the market, but each Panther has his or her own story to tell. We suggest that you check out the stories of all the Black Panthers."

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Comics, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Herb Boyd is an awarding-winning American author and journalist who has published 17 books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman:The Odyssey of Black Men in America: An Anthology (One World/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News.

In 2006, Boyd worked with world music composer Yusef Lateef on his autobiography The Gentle Giant, which was published by Morton Books of New Jersey. In 2008, he published Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin, and is working with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp on several projects. Boyd has been inducted into both the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent and the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame as a journalist.

Along with his writing, Boyd is also the Managing Editor of The Black World Today, one of the leading online publications on the Internet. Boyd, a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, teaches African and African-American History at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, and is an adjunct instructor at City College in the Black Studies Department.

Reviews

[HeavyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super book which tells the history of the Black Panther Party in comics. Easy to read and great for people who don't really like to read.

There's a whole series of "For Beginners" books.

[Jay Hun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's kinda like a comic but it's a quick and informative book about the creation and end of the Black Panther Party. Very quick read

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy-to-read illustrated primer on the Black Panther Party, this book was both interesting and informative. It was a great introduction to several of the key founders and players, as well as some of the more notorious events in their history. It did feel a little rushed at times, and more detail could’ve been beneficial. The formatting was also lacking, and there were several spelling or text issues (though these may have been a fault of the conversion to digital).

I’d recommend this to folks that want to learn more about Black history, especially this month!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really good survey of the history of the Black Panthers, its members, and the Black Panther Legacy. My only quibble is that the placement of the illustrations sometimes made the text hard to read. The illustrations would break up the page, and have chunks of text on different places, without it being intuitive which paragraph flowed to the next. Otherwise, very informative.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overview of the history of the BPP. Especially liked the numerous references to books written by members of the BPP. Wasn't impressed by the graphics.

[Antonia Antrobus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like how it feels like a comic. Radicalise the kids! However I felt the story of the panthers got confusing at points - was hard to keep up with names and who each major character was - should have leant into the comic book style more to tell the story in a more compelling way

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and packed full of quick information (especially for younger readers).

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad over view. Not un-biased - of course. But a nice quick read on the BPP.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, I knew next to nothing about the black panthers and their existence. As much as I love to cuddle up to a good book, graphic novels do me just fine. I’d recommend this to anyone who thinks they can’t slog through a book, let alone about the black panthers. Read it if you’d like to understand before judging. Read it if you’ve heard of Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Read it if you need a cheat sheet or crib notes on the subject. Consider this the gateway to more books and even documentaries about the group. Read this if you’ve heard they were a terrorist anti-white group and want to be better I formed. Read this if your wifi was cut off or your computer access was denied. Read this because I said so. Read it because you’ve heard too much misinformation about them, or you saw the movie made by Mario Van Peebles that left you asking more questions. I read this because I’d just finished reading the autobiography of Malcolm X and needed my fill of my black history. I didn’t realized how much was out there and that I was never led to it or realized how much information was out there. Every bit of black history is only the tip of the iceberg. Also, someone from my past asked why black people didn’t fight for their rights. He was my age and asked me this ignorant question. Had he read anything at all or even saw a documentary, he wouldn’t have insulted me with this question. If you’re angry because you “just don’t know”, then seek out any sort of material that’ll educate you. If it’s too hard for you or seems like too much work, start with the “...for Beginners” series, like this book. If you want to have a conversation about race from a place of understanding instead of venting about knowing nothing, start reading this.

[Meepelous · Rating 4 out of 5]

And today we are talking about the illustrator nonfiction book, Black Panthers for Beginners by Herb Boyd and Illustrated by Lance Tooks. This is only one in a series of For Beginner books that apparently covers everything from Foucault to the history of clowns.

Flipping over to the back I also got to see that this particular book was purchased through an alternative bookstore near the downtown called A Different Booklist, which focuses on "From the South to the North, from Africa to the Caribbean, from Asia to South America,
We bring you literary gems from Canada's cultural mosaic."

As a beginner in the whole Black Panther political party end of things this book and my lack of knowledge fit well together as promised. While not completely unbiased, considering how ubiquitous negative coverage is, this fairly positive but seemingly open to show the Black Panther leaders as real people (who make mistakes) is a pretty good balance in my opinion. I would have liked more information on the author, but I did appreciate all the book recommendations they did give me - most of them by Black Panthers.

While this was generally a fairly easy book to read, some of the text layouts were extremely overwrought and probably intimidating to none comic book readers. As far as illustrated nonfiction goes otherwise I felt like the images were a helpful memory/interest aid.

[Susan Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty simple book that takes the reader back to the beginning of the Black Panthers. It then takes you up to the mid 1970's and profiles various members of the Panthers.