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

by Judson L. Jeffries (Editor)

The Black Panther Party suffers from a distorted image largely framed by television and print media, including the Panthers' own newspaper. These sources frequently reduced the entire organization to the Bay Area where the Panthers were founded, emphasizing the Panthers' militant rhetoric and actions rather than their community survival programs. This image, however, does not mesh with reality. The Panthers worked tirelessly at improving the life chances of the downtrodden regardless of race, gender, creed, or sexual orientation. In order to chronicle the rich history of the Black Panther Party, this anthology examines local Panther activities throughout the United States―in Seattle, Washington; Kansas City, Missouri; New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Detroit, Michigan.

This approach features the voices of people who served on the ground―those who kept the offices in order, prepared breakfasts for school children, administered sickle cell anemia tests, set up health clinics, and launched free clothing drives. The essays shed new light on the Black Panther Party, re-evaluating its legacy in American cultural and political history. Just as important, this volume gives voice to those unsung Panthers whose valiant efforts have heretofore gone unnoticed, unheard, or ignored.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2010

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadened my personal Black Panther geography, I had no idea there was an active branch in the city of Slipknot: Des Moines or in Seattle. The hardest cities in here are Detroit and New Orleans; after the demise of the Panthers these two were neck and neck for most homicides per capita all through the 1990s. They are also two cities with very unusual Black Freedom Struggle movement networks. Detroit surprises with activists overlapping from labor unions to campus politics to survival programs to ambushing police. New Orleans differs from the rest of the South, with the mercurial "Creoles" playing a lot of behind the scenes roles. This book came out before King and Woodfox of the Angola 3 released their memoirs, From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King and Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement.

There's a lot to be learned from the Panthers, especially the disciplined cadres 'on the ground' and under it in these smaller cities.