Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. It was a revolutionary organization with an ideology of Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense, particularly against police brutality. It was part of the Black Power movement, which broke from the integrationist goals and nonviolent protest tactics of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The BPP name was inspired by the use of the black panther as a symbol that had recently been used by the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an independent Black political party in Alabama.
The BPP’s philosophy was influenced by the speeches of Malcolm X of the Nation of Islam, the teachings of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung of the Communist Party of China, and the anti-colonialist book The Wretched of the Earth (Les Damnés de la Terre, 1961) by the Martiniquan psychiatrist Frantz Fanon. The BPP’s practice of armed self-defense was influenced by African American activist Robert Williams, who advocated this practice against anti-black aggression by the Ku Klux Klan in his book Negroes with Guns (1962). Newton and Seale canvassed their community asking residents about issues of concern. They compiled the responses and created the Ten Point Platform and Program that served as the foundation of the Black Panther Party. The ten points are:
- We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.
- We want full employment for our people.
- We want an end to the robbery by the Capitalists of our Black Community.
- We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
- 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.
- We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.
- We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.
- We want freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.
- 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.
- We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.
Because of its practice of armed self-defense against police, as well as its Communistic and revolutionary elements, the BPP was frequently targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s COINTELPRO program as well as by state and local law enforcement groups. However, despite its militant stance, the BPP also provided free breakfast for school children, sickle cell anemia screening, legal aid, and adult education.
Friday 22rd Black History WOD:
“1966 The Black Panther Party is Founded”
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
66 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
66 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
66 AirSquats
RX: Deadlift 275 Power Clean 185Power Snatch 135
Scaled: Deadlift 185Power Clean 125Power Snatch 85
Upper Impairment
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
66 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
66 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
66 AirSquats
2 Point: Deadlift 225/155, Power Clean 135/95, Power Snatch 115/75
1 Point: Deadlift 185/125, Power Clean 105/80, Power Snatch 85/60
Lower Impairment
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
66 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
66 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
66 AirSquats
BK: Deadlift 225/155, Power Clean 155/105,Power Snatch 115/75
AK: Deadlift 185/125, Power Clean 115/75, Power Snatch 85/60
Neuromuscular
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
44 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
44 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
44 AirSquats
Minor: Deadlift 185/125, Power Clean 125/85, Power Snatch 95/65
Major: Deadlift 135/95, Power Clean 85/60, Power Snatch 65/45
Seated
For Time:
19 DB DeadLifts
44 Dips
19 Barbell Hang Power Cleans
44 Dips
19 Hang Power Snatch
44 Dips
Seated 2: Deadlift 75/50lb., Power Clean 110/60, Power Snatch 85/45
Seated 1: Deadlift 55/40lb., Power Clean 95/45, Power Snatch 75/35
Quad: Deadlift 35/20lb., Power Clean 65/35, Power Snatch 45/25
Short Stature
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
66 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
66 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
66 AirSquats
RX: Deadlift 155/105, Power Clean 105/85, Power Snatch 75/55
Sensory
For Time:
19 DeadLifts
66 AirSquats
19 PowerCleans
66 AirSquats
19 PowerSnatch
66 AirSquats
RX: Deadlift 225/155, Power Clean 135/95, Power Snatch 95/65
