3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

defense. He believed that no ruling class ever surnender+ed its privileges voluntarily, and
urged organization for planning and carrying out robellion . White supremacists would
not capitulate except by force . "The Black Panther Party;' he wrote, "was born in a
period of stress when Black people were moving away from the philosophy and strategy
of nonviolent action toward sterner actions" and "stronger stuff." Openly displaying
weapons and talking about "the necessity of the community to arm itself for its own self-
defense" was, according to Newton, "above-ground action" which identified the Black
Panther Party as a progressive political movement, not an underground terrorist
organization . The gun itself was not political power, but a preliminary step towards it . r°
Theory translated into action . The positive deeds of the Panthers-including the
Free Breakfast Programs, Fnx Health Clinics, Clothing and Shoe Programs, and Buses-
to-Prisons Program-always spoke louder than their words, but their words announced a
new kind of black militancy which fit squarely within the student radicalism of the time ;
however, by the early 1970s, the scurrilous deeds of some Panthers had eclipsed whatever
good the group had accomplished in Oakland. By November 26, 1973, the FBI had
ascertained that the Black Panther Party was "a thing of the past," and reported that Huey
Newton is "now attempting to create an organization-type of movement in the area to
control, among other things, dope pushers, prostitutes, and private social clubs :'e ~
B~FBI report, November 26, 1973, Series 4, Box 14, Folder 20, Huey P. Newton
Foundation Raords, 1968-94, Black Panther Party Researoh Project, Department of
Special Collections, Stanford University 4braries .
183