Black panthers : really that maoist?

[CHEtheLIBERATOR]

I am a black panther supporter but I've been hearing there maoists.Other than an occasional mao quote they don't really have any maoist tendencies

[Chapter 24]

Well Newton is said to be inspired by The Little Red Book, and used this to encourage BPP members to practice self-defense and achieve revolutionary ties with their respective communities through support programs and the offering of free food and services. Maoism I would say specifically was encouraging in its method of the self-determination that the Panthers wished to gain in order to build a socialist society (although they still worked with minority and white revolutionary organizations to acheive an international class solidarity). Whether they focused as much on Maoism or on general Marxism, they did hold an anti-capitalist stance, citing the capitalists as the robbers of the oppressed through racist methods.

[StalinFanboy]

They weren't originally a Maoist group. They were selling the Red Books to hippies so they could buy more shot guns. At one point they started reading the book. I don't know about them being officially Moaist. I do know that a few of them are/were anarchists.

[AbbieHoffman]

I was told they were by a Maoist Communist, but the new black panther party is not so much so. I have seen them downtown a few years ago, passing literature out (Cleveland).

[redSHARP]

the NEW Black Panther party is an extreme right wing group that should not be confused with the original black panther party. The NEW Black Panther Party has been denounced openly by the original group.

[brigadista]

isnt the new black panther party somehow connected to the NOI?

[Yehuda Stern]

It was a more radical split from it.

[PoWR]

The "new" Black Panther Party has nothing to do with the Black Panther Party. It is a racialist quasi-religious sect with absolutely nothing at all to do with communism. It's not a split from the BPP in any way, shape or form.

"As guardian of the true history of the Black Panther Party, the Foundation, which includes former leading members of the Party, denounces this group's exploitation of the Party's name and history. Failing to find its own legitimacy in the black community, this band would graft the Party's name upon itself, which we condemn... [T]hey denigrate the Party's name by promoting concepts absolutely counter to the revolutionary principles on which the Party was founded... The Black Panthers were never a group of angry young militants full of fury toward the 'white establishment.' The Party operated on love for black people, not hatred of white people." - Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation


As for the original Panthers, no they were not "Maoist." They took a lot of things from Mao and the Chinese Revolution but they also supported the Cuban Revolution and took other stands not taken by what today would be called "Maoists."

[AvanteRedGarde]

It was 1968. Everyone was influenced by Mao and Maoism.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but they were also influenced by Kim Il Sung.

[AvanteRedGarde]

"As guardian of the true history of the Black Panther Party, the Foundation, which includes former leading members of the Party, denounces this group's exploitation of the Party's name and history.

The funny thing about this, and something the BPP has never cam clean about is that they lifted the name from organizations associated with SNCC. Prior to the formation of the Oakland chapter of the BPPSD, there was already a BPP in Northern California. It's pretty hypocritical of them to whine about someone else doing the same thing to them this time around.

[Yehuda Stern]

Yes, the BPP wasn't a very coherent organization - either socially or politically, which unfortunately made them very vulnerable to suppression from the state.


Prior to the formation of the Oakland chapter of the BPPSD, there was already a BPP in Northern California. It's pretty hypocritical of them to whine about someone else doing the same thing to them this time around.

How can one seriously compare the two? The Black Panthers are known today by pretty much everyone in the states and are rightfully admired by many on the left, even if they are disagreed with. How can one compare that to some anonymous organization no one has heard of?

[AvanteRedGarde]

How can one seriously compare the two? The Black Panthers are known today by pretty much everyone in the states and are rightfully admired by many on the left, even if they are disagreed with. How can one compare that to some anonymous organization no one has heard of?

I'm not comparing the two instances persay. I was just noting something, but you had to go and provoke a political-history lesson

I think you are viewing this too much in hindsight. Does it really matter who is know more today? Plenty of people had heard of the BPP, and its partner projects, prior to Huey Newton popping onto the scene. In this regard, Huey and Bobby lifting and subsequent bending of this truth was actually more underhanded.

Going on, there isn't an active BPPSD right now that the NBPP lifted there name from. As Khaled Muhammed (RIP) said, the NBPP is (was) based not so much on Marxism Leninism but on Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism. Co-opting the BPP name is the logical choice for this.

Moreover, given a choice between the BPP namesake being co-opted as a means to score Huey free coke, to sell BBQ cookbooks, to promote integration outside of socialism and through the Democratic party, or as a platform for Khalid Muhammed's message (kill white babies), I'd choice the latter.

[KurtFF8]

It was 1968. Everyone was influenced by Mao and Maoism.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but they were also influenced by Kim Il Sung.

Indeed, even some of the more mainstream "leftists" were inspired by Maoist Third Worldism and refrained from calling for socialist revolution. Although the BPP was certainly calling for an end to capitalism, they refrained from getting too involved in intra-left group sectarianism and worried more about their situation and how it was relevant to the black community, not about which socialist leader they should affiliate themselves with in their literature.

[AvanteRedGarde]

"Maoism Third Worldism" is a phrase that didn't exist until recently. "Maoism" didn't really come into use untill the 80's. "Maoism" and "Third Worldism" have been used together to describe various formations of the sixties and 70's.

Speaking on its revolutionary strategic worldview, I don't think the BPPSD was the most "Maoist" "Third Worldist" grouping out there durign the period.