To commemorate Black History Month I will discuss some of the most
important Black leaders that impacted my life.
Growing up I often watched the PBS Black History Month specials every
February especially the Eye on the Prize. One of the most fascinating parts of
this series was the Black Pride Movement. It was a time when we as people said “Enough
is enough!” We had pleaded with America to stop the oppression of Black people,
yet we still weren’t getting the common respect of our human rights afforded us
constitutionally. One of the most interesting pioneers of this movement was the
Black Panther Party. I remember pictures of them standing in protest with guns
daring anyone to confront them with an uncivil approach. Their resolve made me
proud to be Black. However, it wasn’t until a high school homework assignment
that gave me the opportunity to explore the Black Panthers even deeper that I
realized the real impact that they made on our culture and communities.
While over the years, the Black Panther Party has been often viewed as a
negative organization that laid the foundation for much of the violence within
the Black community. There are many that believe that it was the position of
the federal government to destroy the organization and also blame the
organization for the demise of the Black community. During my research, I
realized that it was not the later and that the Black Panther Party’s role
within the Black community was a vital and important part to restoring justice
to the Black community. The Black Panther Party implemented programs, such as
the citizen’s patrol that monitored the activities of the police and limited
police brutality within Black communities and the Free Breakfast for Children
program that gave many poor inner city youth a good meal prior to going to
school. The Black Panther Party allowed me to realize my responsibility as a Black
man was not merely to myself, but my community, my people. I understood that
community service would always be a part of my life, as long as my fellow man
was in need. The disappointing part is that it has been many years since the
rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, and our communities are still facing
some of the same issues that the Black Panther Party was so adamant about
resolving. When will it change?
The Ten Point Program
1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our black
Community.
2. We want full employment for our people.
3. We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our black
Community.
4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of
this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true
history and our role in the present-day society.
6. We want all black men to be exempt from military service.
7. We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of black
people.
8. We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and
city prisons and jails.
9. We want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court
by a jury of their peer group or people from their black communities, as
defined by the Constitution of the United States.
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and
peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised
plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony in which only black colonial
subjects will be allowed to participate for the purpose of determining the will
of black people as to their national destiny.
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