Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers

by Stephen Shames, Seale Bobby

This pictorial history tells the story of the revolutionary Black Panther Party in the words of its co-founder, Bobby Seale. Coming toward the end of America’s epic Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party was one of the most creative and influential responses to racism and inequality in American history. They advocated armed self-defense to counter police brutality, and initiated a program of patrolling the police with shotguns—and law books. In words and photographs, Power to the People explores the impact and achievements of this revolutionary organization. The words are Seale’s, with contributions by other former party members. The photographs are by Stephen Shames, the Panther’s most trusted documentarian. Power to the People is a testament to their warm association, combining Shames’s memorable images with Seale’s colorful in-depth commentary culled from many hours of conversation.Shames also interviewed major party figures for this volume, including Kathleen Cleaver, Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Ericka Huggins, Emory Douglas, and William “Billy X” Jennings. His photography is supplemented with Panther ephemera and graphic art.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Race, Social Justice, African American, Historical

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2022

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowly enjoying this beautiful and gut wrenching book. Yes, I'm old enough to remember how things were & being part of an interracial family it breaks my heart to see so much hate & bigotry in our country now. Certainly recommend this well edited & illustrated history.

[Deidre]

I've been talking about Power to the People on my channel for awhile now. I finally did somewhat of a review of the little I did manage to read. I mostly skipped around. I could never really get into this book. I stopped and started it at least three times. I can't even really tell you why its so hard for me to read this book. I did enjoy the photos and the commentary that explained what was going on in the picture. I haven't given up completely on this book. I do plan to read this book in the future. You can check out the full review and flip through at https://youtu.be/jwh63G77w20

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a really beautiful book. I think it's a good option if you're like me and just learning about the Panthers, but you should definitely go into it keeping in mind it is a photography book more than a history book. It is very informative though. It's just that I felt like the quotes or text passages could've been more clarified. I believe that they're transcripts of previous interviews which is a cool idea, them juxtaposed with the photos of the time. But they're organized by subjects like Panther programs rather than chronological. I did really like the ending as well that shows their influence and comparison to the world currently. Definitely inspired to learn more about them!

[Simon B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book published in 2016 to mark 50 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defence. The Panthers were arguably the most influential revolutionary political organisation in modern US history. The book draws out the Black Panther's emphasis on coalition-building, radical education and community organising. It was this political orientation that caused the US establishment to consider them such a grave threat to the status quo and work so hard to crush them. Stephen Shames's photography of the Panthers in their heyday in the late 60s & early 70s is a real highlight. Bobby Seale, now in his eighties, concludes the book with these words:

"Now we must reach for the future. All human rights issues today are interconnected with the fight against global corporate exploitation and the need to get ecological control of the earth and adapt to climate change. Progressive people around the world understand that we must continue our liberation struggle. We must organise people's programs and evolve greater participatory community control democracies, void of racist, bigoted and chauvinistic practices. This is the true legacy of the Black Panther Party.

All Power to the People! Not the avaricious corporate money-rich."

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this an eBook which is not ideal, as there are a lot of very well shot photos that accompany the text which I didn't get to appreciate in full. Nonetheless, this is a great book with a casual, from-their-own-mouth story about the early successes of the Black Panther Party, with words from Bobby Seale and many others. There is no doubt they were shaped by the society which they reacted to, and their ten point programme remains sadly relevant in its demands.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

trigger warnings: police brutality, racism, torture, murder, gun violence

Fred Hampton's assassination and Bobby Seale's trial never fail to shake me to my core.

I'm not a fan of how Seale outright dismisses socialism and rioting. Plus, all the names and dates go over my head. Which isn't helped by the non-chronological order of events.

"You took turns staying up, because the cops were killing Panthers in their sleep." - Jamal Joseph

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accidentally deleted my review but this was really interesting! Loved the interviews and photos it would've been nice to have a little clearer of a timeline though

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars until the last chapter.

The book up to that point is a well-rounded look at the work undertaken by the BPP and the challenges they faced. The contemporary memory of the party too often solely focuses on their armed self-defense and survival programs, with less attention given to their electoral interventions, print media, coalition-building, schools, and organizing methods.
The photos really help the Panther members and their environment come alive — I had not realized how many of their famous photos had been taken by co-author Shames.

In the last chapter, white photographer Shames praises charter schools, Teddy Roosevelt & FDR, and the capitalist scheme to enrich insurance companies that is the Affordable Care Act. Shames claims, without citation, that five times as many white people use drugs as black people. In fact, white, Black, and Latino people use drugs at roughly the same rates, according to yearly SAMHSA surveys and an ASPE study using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Ali et al., 2023). Shames also makes an eyebrow-raising comment about his work with the Ford Foundation.
Shames clings to a feeble progressivism that has only further proven itself to be a dead-end in the years since this book was published. It’s a shame that the politics of some of our radical elders have shifted rightward in recent decades when we still have so much to fight for, especially when we can use these historical lessons from organizations like the BPP to learn how best to carry forward the working-class struggle.

[Tibby]

This was a really rich reading experience with the words of Bobby Seale and others from the Black Panther Party leadership paired with all the photographs. I've been reading a lot of different books about the BPP that have given me a really full picture of the party and this really contributed to that.

My favorite chapter was the one about the various programs they had. It focused on the grocery program, the breakfast program, the health clinics, the school, and a couple others. It gave a little more insight into the rational and operations of them that I don't feel like I have gotten in other places.

This is a coffee table book, but it's a readable one that gives another look at the the Black Panther Party.

[Evy Kras · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that shows you how this impressive organisation started. What kind of struggles they went through and how you hold on to your believes! No 5 stars because I did not always know who was talking about what, a different writing style than i’m used to.

[Brett Bosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pictorial and interviews with the surviving BPP members. Gets the history across, but I'd recommend reading up on them first. I'm sure I would have gotten more out of it. That's a criticism of me, not the book.

[Lewis Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great visual history of a pivotal era in our history. Many of the original people involved are passing away so it's great to have a permanent reminder of these events.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of Black Panther movement

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. A Lot of photos, some cool, mostly nothing I haven't seen before.
Some of the interviews were great, and most were interesting I would say. Maybe this could be Black Panthers "101".

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the photos. The text was blurbs from Black Panthers which was interesting but I could’ve used a more broad analysis of their role in history.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and worthwhile read.

[Venessia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intimate portrait of the Panther Party with interviews with Bobby Seale and other important Party members. Great read! Full review here: https://bit.ly/3nzfoCv

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue to be amazed by how little I knew and how little I understood what the Black Panthers were about. This book helped me to gain a bigger perspective. It's beautiful.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed history of the Black Panthers, with lots of historic photos and information. I learned a lot.

[Mike Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Stephanie G. Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well done history for all of us who only knew the mainstream media side.

[Zakithi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful light read. Beautiful photography.

[Jason Scoggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great backstory and visuals. Good as an introduction to the Black Panthers and their contributions

[Grace Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

personalized signature slay

[Armel Dagorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Power to the People is presents a overview of the history of the Black Panthers Party in an interesting format. Co-authered by Bobby Seales, founder of the party, and Stephen Shames, a Berkeley student who became "the most trusted photographer to the party", it is a nice mix of photographs and testimonies from Seales and other Black Panthers given in a very conversational style, and organised around themes and events.

It was great to learn about what the Panthers stood for and their actions, beyond what ideas I might have had of them. They implemented free breakfast programmes for school kids, for instance, and I was very interested to find out that one of their first actions was to organised armed patrols (also carrying law books) to oversee police patrols.

This last parts is one of the many elements that, in Power to the People, shine an interesting, if sometimes a little depressing, light on the continued systemic racism the news often make obvious in the US.

[I received an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]

[Mills College Library]

322.42 S5282 2016

[Laura Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mix of photos and text, great use of interviewed and statements to tell the story. Just wish more clarity between interviews now and then was provided.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Black History Month beginning in the US it seemed like it would be a good time to turn to a book to learn more about the Black Panthers. Had this book in my queue for a while and it seemed like an interesting pickup to read.

The book is basically what it says on the tin. There are pictures, interviews, and text about the BP and what they did/do, their origins, projects they undertook, the opposition they faced, and more. Some of the pictures/topics covered probably won't be a surprise: pictures of resistance against police brutality, armed patrols. But what I really enjoyed seeing are pictures that probably don't get much coverage/reproduced of the BP implementing the free school meals, running tutoring/school programs, etc. Unfortunately the media and detractors love distorting the image of the Black Panthers and I liked seeing these actions covered.

That said, while it looks like a gorgeous book I found the text hard to read. It looks like they took text from other writings and/or snipped from interviews to go along with the pictures. I understand that approach but I really don't care for it because it could have used more context. I suppose if you're someone who's already familiar with the history of the Black Panthers that might not make such a difference (the text format reminds me of a couple of books on the history of the 'Star Trek' universe which I liked because I was already very familiar with it but also didn't care for) but for myself who was looking more a basic history book or primer about the BP this wasn't the best for me.

I'm glad I picked it up but it's clear this wasn't the best place to start and depending on what you're looking for or what you like in terms of text formatting it may or may not be your style. It would probably make for a great gift or coffee table book for the right person, though. Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.

[Rita]

2016.
PHotos by Stephen Shames