The Black Panther Party (BPP) occupies an anomalous space in the history of black politics. On the one hand, it is seen justifiably as an avatar of a home-grown version of socialism; on the other hand, it is viewed correctly as an exemplar of black power – often envisioned as the antipode of doctrines propounded by the German Karl Marx.
In truth, the party represented something of a halfway house between two eras: the heyday of the Marxist left, which found a citadel of support in the San Francisco Bay Area as the examples of William L. Patterson, Harry Bridges and Angela Y. Davis exemplified, and the decline of this trend, retreating in the face of sledgehammer blows wielded from Washington – and Sacramento: soon to follow was the accelerated rise of various forms of nationalism.
In this well-researched, smoothly written book, the author plunges deeply into the archives and emerges with what is probably the most thoughtful history of this important organization written to this point. Her revelation is to connect the organization's rise to their intellectual wherewithal – which contrasts sharply with the image of the Panthers as “lumpen,” even gun-wielding, thugs. She also connects the party's ascendancy to migratory trends, i.e. the World War II movement of African Americans from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana to the more welcoming climate that was northern California, which – like much of the Pacific Coast – had just endured the trauma of mass internment of Japanese Americans.
Of the two trends highlighted – migration and education – it is the latter that strikes me as being essential to the party's fortunes. Adroitly, the author notes the presence in the Bay Area of a substantial population of students from Africa, whose influence on African Americans should not be downplayed. After all, as the Panthers were rising, they were escaping from colonialism and/or seeking to forestall neocolonialism, and their example was magnetic. To its credit, the Golden State had constructed a broad array of community colleges, and here Laney College and Merritt College played a catalytic role in energizing black protest. Also prominent in this regard were the University of California–Berkeley and San Francisco State University – the latter was the site of some of the earliest attempts to establish black studies as a discipline.
In some ways, this book is a testament to the liberating impact of higher education.
Tragically, the BPP too – like its Marxist predecessors – was forced to retreat in the face of hostile attack. Fortunately, the BPP has left an adequate paper trail, not only at Stanford and Berkeley but, as well, at the Washington, DC headquarters of its major antagonist, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thus we can look forward to more studies on this important organization – however, it is quite doubtful if any will surpass this one in terms of imagination, clear writing, deft scholarship and weighty conclusions.
