Foundation and Leadership

• The Black Panthers were originally established as a protective measure against police violence and racism. The organization also opened health clinics and provided thousands of schoolchildren with free food. Individuals who became household Black Panther names include Eldridge Cleaver, Angela Davis, Bobby Hutton and Stokely Carmichael. Group chapters were started in cities across the United States.
  
  

Increasing Violence

• By 1967, the Black Panthers were gaining a reputation as a violent organization. Shoot-outs involving alleged police harassment and Huey Newton's incarceration for voluntary manslaughter of a police officer made the relationship between the party and the police even more volatile. In 1968, Oakland police ambushed eight Black Panther members. Cleaver was shot in the leg, and Hutton was killed.
  
  

Malcolm X

• The Black Panther leaders were greatly influence by the political beliefs of Malcolm X and strongly supported a global working class unity, combining efforts with white revolutionary groups. The organization soon grew into a Marxist revolutionary group.
  
  

Herbert Hoover's FBI

• It was not long before the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, called the Black Panthers a major threat to America's internal security and focused on crippling the organization. At the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Panther Bobby Seale was arrested and found guilty of inciting riots. While serving his four years in prison, charges were filed, then dropped against Seale, who was accused of ordering the slaying of a former Panther who was suspected of being an FBI informant.
  
  

Police Vs. Panthers

• In 1969, the police raided the Chicago Black Panther office and said the party members had started a shoot-out. Two Panthers were killed, and the others arrested. Later, it was revealed that the Panthers had only fired one bullet, while the police fired almost 100 rounds. When Seale and Newton were freed from prison, they declared their end to violent acts and began to focus on efforts such as free meals, health clinics and assistance for the homeless.
  
  

Going Separate Ways

• Cleaver formed the Revolutionary People's Communication Network. Seale came in second in a mayoral election in Oakland in 1973. Party member Elaine Brown promoted women's rights and supported the successful campaign of Lionel Wilson, who was voted in as Oakland's first African American mayor.