1 00:00:04,003 --> 00:00:05,084 ERICKA HUGGINS: There's an old story, 2 00:00:05,405 --> 00:00:07,395 and it's used in various cultures, where 3 00:00:07,841 --> 00:00:09,801 a group of blind men approach an elephant 4 00:00:10,243 --> 00:00:11,413 and try to describe him. 5 00:00:11,745 --> 00:00:14,735 The first man approaches the elephant, touches its side, 6 00:00:15,315 --> 00:00:17,505 and says, it feels like a wall. 7 00:00:17,984 --> 00:00:20,614 The next man touches a tusk and says, 8 00:00:21,154 --> 00:00:23,114 the elephant must be like a spear. 9 00:00:23,556 --> 00:00:26,596 Another blind man touches the trunk and says, 10 00:00:27,193 --> 00:00:29,303 it feels like a snake. 11 00:00:29,763 --> 00:00:32,803 And that is quite often what happens with our descriptions 12 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:34,540 of the Black Panther Party. 13 00:00:34,868 --> 00:00:39,378 We know the party we were in and not the entire thing. 14 00:00:40,173 --> 00:00:45,363 We were making history and it wasn't nice and clean. 15 00:00:46,246 --> 00:00:47,586 It wasn't easy. 16 00:00:47,947 --> 00:00:50,287 It was complex. 17 00:00:50,784 --> 00:00:52,804 From Chicago, lilinois, the mighty Chi-Lites. 18 00:00:53,253 --> 00:00:54,953 MUSIC THE CHI LITES, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE") 19 00:00:59,125 --> 00:01:00,355 ALL: (SINGING) For God's sake, you 20 00:01:00,693 --> 00:01:03,503 got to give more power to the people. 21 00:01:04,063 --> 00:01:08,283 There's some people up there hogging everything. 22 00:01:09,035 --> 00:01:10,645 JAMAL JOSEPH: The thing that led to the Panthers 23 00:01:11,037 --> 00:01:13,697 was what we were seeing on television every day-- 24 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,700 attack dogs, fire hoses, bombings. 25 00:01:17,210 --> 00:01:20,610 We stand on the eve of a black revolution, brothers. 26 00:01:21,247 --> 00:01:22,447 JAMAL JOSEPH: Now we have the emergence 27 00:01:22,782 --> 00:01:25,392 of voices within the community that were saying, 28 00:01:25,919 --> 00:01:28,849 we're not going to continue fo turn the other cheek. 29 00:01:29,422 --> 00:01:31,532 You tell them white folk in Mississippi 30 00:01:31,991 --> 00:01:33,601 that all the scared niggers are dead. 31 00:01:33,993 --> 00:01:34,723 (crowd chanting) 32 00:01:34,994 --> 00:01:38,334 We want black power. 33 00:01:38,965 --> 00:01:40,455 MUSIC THE CHI LITES, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE") 34 00:01:44,170 --> 00:01:45,980 WILLIAM CALHOUN: This was a revolutionary time. 35 00:01:46,406 --> 00:01:48,746 50 countries in the world gained their independence 36 00:01:49,242 --> 00:01:52,402 in the decade before the founding of the Black Panther 37 00:01:53,012 --> 00:01:54,032 Party. 38 00:01:54,347 --> 00:01:55,927 This was the time when people are getting drafted 39 00:01:56,316 --> 00:01:58,806 to go and fight in Vietnam. 40 00:01:59,319 --> 00:02:00,749 So if somebody's coming and saying well, 41 00:02:01,121 --> 00:02:02,140 if you're going to fight, why not 42 00:02:02,455 --> 00:02:06,435 fight right here in LA or Oakland, you know? 43 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,380 That made a lot of sense. 44 00:02:09,863 --> 00:02:12,733 ELAINE BROWN: You couldn't be absent and see what we saw. 45 00:02:13,299 --> 00:02:15,229 We couldn't unsee it. 46 00:02:15,668 --> 00:02:19,268 I was a cocktail waitress in a white strip club 47 00:02:19,939 --> 00:02:22,369 two years before I joined the Black Panther Party. 48 00:02:22,876 --> 00:02:24,456 How did that happen? 49 00:02:24,844 --> 00:02:26,454 The rage was in the streets. 50 00:02:26,846 --> 00:02:27,806 It was everywhere. 51 00:02:28,114 --> 00:02:29,074 MUSIC THE CHI LITES, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE") 52 00:02:32,819 --> 00:02:34,399 HUEY NEWTON: We're not gonna get nothing. 53 00:02:34,787 --> 00:02:36,397 Not by sitting around here and just doing 54 00:02:36,789 --> 00:02:38,159 these sit-in demonstrations and nothing. 55 00:02:38,525 --> 00:02:39,815 People are not going to do anything. 56 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:41,590 REPORTER: But how are we going te do it? 57 00:02:41,961 --> 00:02:43,191 By violence. 58 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:45,460 Violence. 59 00:02:45,899 --> 00:02:47,799 By uprising, having a revolution. 60 00:02:48,234 --> 00:02:49,664 Just with blood, you know. 61 00:02:50,036 --> 00:02:51,876 Let everybody bleed a little bit. 62 00:02:52,305 --> 00:02:55,085 MUSIC THE CHI LITES, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE") 63 00:03:01,414 --> 00:03:02,434 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): Relations 64 00:03:02,749 --> 00:03:04,649 between police and Negroes throughout the country 65 00:03:05,084 --> 00:03:05,574 are getting worse. 66 00:03:05,818 --> 00:03:10,568 (police siren} 67 00:03:11,391 --> 00:03:13,531 One of the cities most troubled by animosity 68 00:03:13,993 --> 00:03:15,803 between police and Negroes is Oakland, California. 69 00:03:19,832 --> 00:03:23,262 People always talked about freedom and what that means 70 00:03:23,903 --> 00:03:25,043 during that time period. 71 00:03:25,371 --> 00:03:28,031 Being black in America meant that you didn’t walk down 72 00:03:28,575 --> 00:03:31,205 the street with the same sense of safety 73 00:03:31,744 --> 00:03:34,704 and the same sense of privilege as a white person. 74 00:03:35,281 --> 00:03:36,511 There was absolutely no difference 75 00:03:36,849 --> 00:03:39,279 in the way the police treated us in Mississippi than they 76 00:03:39,786 --> 00:03:40,806 did in California. 77 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:42,580 They may not have called you nigger everyday, 78 00:03:42,956 --> 00:03:45,236 but they treated you the same way they did in Mississippi. 79 00:03:49,095 --> 00:03:50,145 WAYNE PHARR: The police jump on you, 80 00:03:50,463 --> 00:03:53,333 beat you up, put the gun at your head. 81 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:57,620 This is what we were going through on a daily basis. 82 00:03:58,304 --> 00:04:00,054 ELBERT HOWARD: When I first met Huey and Bobby, 83 00:04:00,473 --> 00:04:04,543 they were in the process of forming an organization 84 00:04:05,278 --> 00:04:06,538 for primarily self-defense. 85 00:04:09,782 --> 00:04:13,242 We didn't plan to have a nationwide organization 86 00:04:13,886 --> 00:04:15,116 or anything like that. 87 00:04:15,455 --> 00:04:19,845 We were organizing, dealing with the problems in Oakland. 88 00:04:20,627 --> 00:04:23,587 HUEY NEWTON: We use the Black Panther as our symbol 89 00:04:24,163 --> 00:04:27,233 because the nature of panther, panther doesn't strike anyone, 90 00:04:27,834 --> 00:04:31,644 but when he's assailed upon that he'll back up first. 91 00:04:32,338 --> 00:04:35,818 But if the aggressor continues then he'll strike out. 92 00:04:36,476 --> 00:04:38,966 SHERWIN FORTE: Huey had studied the law. 93 00:04:39,479 --> 00:04:41,029 In Oakland at that particular time, 94 00:04:41,414 --> 00:04:45,804 anyone could carry a firearm who did not have a felony 95 00:04:46,586 --> 00:04:47,956 conviction at the time. 96 00:04:48,321 --> 00:04:49,751 The firearm could not be concealed. 97 00:04:50,123 --> 00:04:51,263 It had to be in the open. 98 00:04:51,591 --> 00:04:55,161 The California Penal Code, section 12020 through 12027, 99 00:04:55,828 --> 00:04:57,848 and also the Second Amendment of the Constitution, 100 00:04:58,298 --> 00:05:00,848 guarantees the citizen a right to bear arms 101 00:05:01,367 --> 00:05:03,097 ‘on public property. 102 00:05:03,503 --> 00:05:05,403 ELBERT HOWARD: Huey said we're going to carry our guns 103 00:05:05,838 --> 00:05:07,268 and we're going to follow the police. 104 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,180 And if they stop someone, we're going to stop. 105 00:05:11,844 --> 00:05:14,034 We're going to maintain a legal distance 106 00:05:14,514 --> 00:05:18,024 and we're going to observe the so-called law officers 107 00:05:18,685 --> 00:05:20,585 in performance of their duties. 108 00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:24,270 {music playing} 109 00:05:32,065 --> 00:05:33,905 EMORY DOUGLAS: We were in the car and driving around, 110 00:05:34,334 --> 00:05:35,324 having fun. 111 00:05:35,635 --> 00:05:37,185 We would-- we was looking at the pretty women 112 00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:38,300 and chasing the sisters. 113 00:05:47,413 --> 00:05:50,783 Then something might happen, and then all of a sudden the focus 114 00:05:51,417 --> 00:05:52,347 would just become serious. 115 00:05:57,156 --> 00:05:58,676 MAN (ON RADIO): We're coming around the corner. 116 00:05:59,058 --> 00:06:00,108 Uh, stay facing where you are. 117 00:06:00,426 --> 00:06:01,156 SHERWIN FORTE: We would stop. 118 00:06:01,427 --> 00:06:03,737 We would get out of the cars. 119 00:06:04,230 --> 00:06:08,130 We would walk up to the scene. 120 00:06:08,835 --> 00:06:11,465 Those who had rifles would carry them 121 00:06:12,004 --> 00:06:13,844 in the open, clearly visible. 122 00:06:14,273 --> 00:06:17,113 We would stand at a, um, a distance where 123 00:06:17,677 --> 00:06:19,227 the police couldn't say that we were interfering 124 00:06:19,612 --> 00:06:23,072 with their arrest or their detention of the individual 125 00:06:23,716 --> 00:06:26,326 and, um, make sure that there was no brutality. 126 00:06:30,690 --> 00:06:32,970 We stood back with our weapons, ready to throw down 127 00:06:33,459 --> 00:06:34,719 if necessary. 128 00:06:35,061 --> 00:06:39,421 They would, uh, take the weapon and pass it across like this, 129 00:06:40,199 --> 00:06:43,859 and it would sweep-- pass right over the officer. 130 00:06:44,537 --> 00:06:46,207 SHERWIN FORTE: No one would do anything 131 00:06:46,606 --> 00:06:51,736 until a policeman ejected a round in the chamber. 132 00:06:52,612 --> 00:06:55,362 Then we would all eject rounds in the chamber, 133 00:06:55,915 --> 00:06:57,935 and all up and down the street you 134 00:06:58,384 --> 00:07:00,314 could hear this clackity-clack, clack, clack, clack. 135 00:07:00,753 --> 00:07:04,703 And then when the traffic stop or the incident's over, 136 00:07:05,425 --> 00:07:07,975 they'd bring the weapon down across by you like this 137 00:07:08,494 --> 00:07:10,984 and get back in their car and drive off. 138 00:07:11,497 --> 00:07:14,337 It was pretty intimidating. 139 00:07:14,901 --> 00:07:19,061 We referred to ourselves as the vanguard, 140 00:07:19,806 --> 00:07:23,756 and we were setting, by example, a new course that we wanted 141 00:07:24,477 --> 00:07:25,467 the entire community to follow. 142 00:07:31,150 --> 00:07:33,200 No one wants to touch the legitimate hunter, 143 00:07:33,653 --> 00:07:36,523 but we've got to protect society from nuts with guns. 144 00:07:37,089 --> 00:07:39,869 When bands of armed people with loaded weapons 145 00:07:40,426 --> 00:07:43,526 can move about our streets, intimidating and frightening 146 00:07:44,130 --> 00:07:45,940 citizens, then I think we should act. 147 00:07:46,365 --> 00:07:48,175 And we intend to act. 148 00:07:48,601 --> 00:07:51,911 It's my intention to make it a misdemeanor to have, uh, loaded 149 00:07:52,538 --> 00:07:56,318 rifles and shotguns and weapons in public places. 150 00:07:57,009 --> 00:07:58,209 BOBBY SEALE: The police department 151 00:07:58,544 --> 00:08:00,824 had went to a local congressman to get a bill written. 152 00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:03,214 So Huey called me up and says, we have to go to Sacramento. 153 00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:05,379 It was conceived as a media event 154 00:08:05,785 --> 00:08:09,735 that the press is always at the California state capitol. 155 00:08:10,456 --> 00:08:13,176 SHERWIN FORTE: No one really wanted Huey himself to go, 156 00:08:13,726 --> 00:08:17,156 because Huey was kind of a quick-tempered firebrand. 157 00:08:17,797 --> 00:08:21,077 Bobby was a little more cautious. 158 00:08:21,701 --> 00:08:23,281 And it was like, look. 159 00:08:23,669 --> 00:08:26,039 You know, you've been great so far, 160 00:08:26,539 --> 00:08:31,019 but you might blow it up there, and bad things could happen. 161 00:08:39,719 --> 00:08:42,499 We caravaned to Sacramento. 162 00:08:43,055 --> 00:08:47,595 I think there were about 30 of us altogether, and most of us 163 00:08:48,394 --> 00:08:49,264 had weapon. 164 00:08:52,365 --> 00:08:54,555 EMORY DOUGLAS: We was on the state capitol on the lawn, 165 00:08:55,034 --> 00:08:57,284 and Ronald Reagan-- then the governor 166 00:08:57,770 --> 00:09:01,080 of the state of California-- was there about 10 feet away 167 00:09:01,707 --> 00:09:04,197 from us holding a press conference 168 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:09,250 with these young, like, parochial school kids. 169 00:09:10,049 --> 00:09:13,119 And what happened, as soon as the press seen us 170 00:09:13,719 --> 00:09:15,449 they gravitated from Ronald Reagan 171 00:09:15,855 --> 00:09:17,525 over to where the Panthers was. 172 00:09:17,924 --> 00:09:19,264 The Black Panther Party for Self Defense 173 00:09:19,625 --> 00:09:21,435 calls upon the American people in general, 174 00:09:21,861 --> 00:09:22,881 and the black people in particular, 175 00:09:23,195 --> 00:09:25,825 to take careful note of the racist California 176 00:09:26,365 --> 00:09:29,205 legislature which is now considering legislation aimed 177 00:09:29,769 --> 00:09:32,199 at keeping the black people disarmed and powerless 178 00:09:32,705 --> 00:09:34,405 at the very same time racist police 179 00:09:34,807 --> 00:09:37,937 agencies throughout the country are intensifying the terror, 180 00:09:38,544 --> 00:09:41,264 brutality, murder, and repression of black people. 181 00:09:41,814 --> 00:09:43,074 NEWSCASTER: The state assembly was 182 00:09:43,416 --> 00:09:45,346 in the midst of a heated debate when the young Negroes, armed 183 00:09:45,785 --> 00:09:47,365 with loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols, 184 00:09:47,753 --> 00:09:48,983 marched into the capital. 185 00:09:49,322 --> 00:09:51,432 BOBBY SEALE: When we got in the halls, you have to imagine, 186 00:09:51,891 --> 00:09:54,731 there's 100 cameras-- still cameras, print media pecple-- 187 00:09:55,294 --> 00:09:56,254 backing up. 188 00:09:56,562 --> 00:09:57,462 And I'm saying, where is the spectator section? 189 00:09:57,763 --> 00:10:01,043 And the press says this way, Bobby. 190 00:10:01,667 --> 00:10:04,297 Some party members got ahead of me with shotguns, pistols 191 00:10:04,837 --> 00:10:07,767 and wound up on the actual floor of the California State 192 00:10:08,341 --> 00:10:09,301 legislature. 193 00:10:09,609 --> 00:10:10,839 REPORTER {VOICEOVER}: They're heavily armed. 194 00:10:11,177 --> 00:10:12,987 Whether their weapons are loaded or not, nobody seems to know. 195 00:10:26,759 --> 00:10:27,869 NEWSCASTER: The armed group, who said 196 00:10:28,194 --> 00:10:29,774 they were members of the Black Panther Party, 197 00:10:30,162 --> 00:10:31,742 retreated to a service station several blocks 198 00:10:32,131 --> 00:10:33,151 from the capital. 199 00:10:33,466 --> 00:10:35,106 l remember this one cop came down on a motorcycle, 200 00:10:35,501 --> 00:10:36,641 and he's seen all these guns, and he 201 00:10:36,969 --> 00:10:39,049 got on the-- on the thing. 202 00:10:39,505 --> 00:10:41,255 And that's when they started to swoop down 203 00:10:41,674 --> 00:10:42,964 ‘on us from everywhere. 204 00:10:43,309 --> 00:10:45,329 You have no right to take my gun away from me. 205 00:10:45,778 --> 00:10:47,328 You don't know the constitutional right? 206 00:10:47,713 --> 00:10:48,643 Sure we do. 207 00:10:48,948 --> 00:10:50,348 We're well aware of the constitutionality. 208 00:10:50,716 --> 00:10:52,766 I would like to have my gun back. 209 00:10:53,219 --> 00:10:55,119 Why do you believe the legislature is racist? 210 00:10:55,554 --> 00:10:56,814 Because, you know, you're a part of it. 211 00:10:57,156 --> 00:10:57,616 Isn't it obvious? 212 00:10:57,857 --> 00:10:59,347 This is a white system. 213 00:10:59,725 --> 00:11:01,565 SHERWIN FORTE: The news got to everyone 214 00:11:01,994 --> 00:11:04,894 in the black community who had a television, everyone 215 00:11:05,464 --> 00:11:07,104 who had a radio. 216 00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:10,780 It was in every newspaper across the nation. 217 00:11:11,404 --> 00:11:14,834 It put us on center stage. 218 00:11:15,474 --> 00:11:17,314 RONALD REAGAN: I don't think that loaded guns is the way 219 00:11:17,743 --> 00:11:19,413 to solve a problem that should be solved 220 00:11:19,812 --> 00:11:21,482 between people of good will. 221 00:11:21,881 --> 00:11:23,901 And anyone who would approve of this kind of demonstration 222 00:11:24,350 --> 00:11:25,140 must be out of their mind. 223 00:11:30,990 --> 00:11:32,920 MICHAEL MCCARTY: When I heard about Sacramento, 224 00:11:33,359 --> 00:11:36,839 I was like, damn, these brothers are bad. 225 00:11:37,496 --> 00:11:40,076 They're here up in Sacramento, in the capital, packing? 226 00:11:48,074 --> 00:11:51,264 MOHAMMED MUBARAK: The boldness, the courageousness about it, 227 00:11:51,877 --> 00:11:56,007 the arrogance of it-- that put a whole new face on things. 228 00:11:56,749 --> 00:11:58,969 I said man, I want to be part of this, whatever that is. 229 00:12:03,889 --> 00:12:05,529 TARIKA LEWIS: Yeah, I walked into the office 230 00:12:05,925 --> 00:12:08,235 and told them I wanted to join the Black Panther Party, 231 00:12:08,728 --> 00:12:11,418 and they kind of laughed. 232 00:12:11,964 --> 00:12:14,244 I didn't know that there were any other women 233 00:12:14,734 --> 00:12:17,194 in the party at that time. 234 00:12:17,703 --> 00:12:19,513 But then I asked them, could I have a gun? 235 00:12:22,108 --> 00:12:23,948 ERICKA HUGGINS: I was a student at Lincoln University 236 00:12:24,376 --> 00:12:26,956 outside Philly when I first heard about the Black Panther 237 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:28,410 Party. 238 00:12:28,714 --> 00:12:32,084 I found my friend, John Huggins, and I said, 239 00:12:32,718 --> 00:12:35,058 we need to leave this stupid campus. 240 00:12:35,554 --> 00:12:36,574 We have work to do. 241 00:12:36,889 --> 00:12:39,879 We got in John Huggins’ little hooptie car 242 00:12:40,459 --> 00:12:43,329 and we drove across the country from New York, 243 00:12:43,896 --> 00:12:45,296 and when we got to the west coast 244 00:12:45,664 --> 00:12:48,974 we joined the Black Panther Party. 245 00:12:49,602 --> 00:12:52,122 MAN (VOICEOVER}: What we want, what we believe. 246 00:12:52,638 --> 00:12:54,418 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): Point number one, we want freedom. 247 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,710 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): We want decent housing. 248 00:12:57,143 --> 00:12:59,133 MAN (VOICEOVER): We want an an education for our people. 249 00:12:59,578 --> 00:13:00,888 MAN (VOICEOVER): We want an immediate end 250 00:13:01,247 --> 00:13:02,417 to police brutality. 251 00:13:02,748 --> 00:13:04,498 LANDON WILLIAMS: People joined for all kinds of reasons, 252 00:13:04,917 --> 00:13:08,197 but the Panthers have a 10 point platform or program that really 253 00:13:08,821 --> 00:13:11,601 was sort of like the fundamental sort of organizing tool 254 00:13:12,158 --> 00:13:13,178 and orientation tool. 255 00:13:17,196 --> 00:13:19,066 JAMAL JOSEPH: The civil tights movement was basically 256 00:13:19,498 --> 00:13:20,608 a southern movement. 257 00:13:20,933 --> 00:13:22,633 So when you had an organization like the Panthers 258 00:13:23,035 --> 00:13:26,375 who were taking on things like housing and welfare and health, 259 00:13:27,006 --> 00:13:28,206 that was stuff that people in the north 260 00:13:28,541 --> 00:13:31,001 could relate to and rally behind. 261 00:13:31,510 --> 00:13:32,770 PHYLLIS JACKSON: Our attack was not 262 00:13:33,112 --> 00:13:34,812 only against white supremacy, but it was also 263 00:13:35,214 --> 00:13:36,444 about capitalism. 264 00:13:36,782 --> 00:13:40,092 We actually thought that the way in which capitalism created 265 00:13:40,719 --> 00:13:43,879 a working class that was kept absolutely destitute-- 266 00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:45,570 was that was wrong. 267 00:13:45,891 --> 00:13:48,351 ‘So we took the position that in order for us to free, 268 00:13:48,861 --> 00:13:50,001 that system had to be dismantled. 269 00:13:50,329 --> 00:13:52,789 We could not be free ina system that had oppressed us 270 00:13:53,299 --> 00:13:54,119 in the first place. 271 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:55,710 So you have to get rid of that system. 272 00:14:00,906 --> 00:14:02,716 WILLIAM CALHOUN: We were not after the church folks. 273 00:14:03,142 --> 00:14:04,752 We were not after the Muslim folks. 274 00:14:05,144 --> 00:14:06,344 We wanted the brother on the comer, 275 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:08,549 the brother who's getting his head banged in every weekend 276 00:14:08,981 --> 00:14:10,001 by the police. 277 00:14:10,316 --> 00:14:12,156 We wanted the brother who was going to jail-- just 278 00:14:12,585 --> 00:14:14,335 snatched out of this car for a traffic ticket 279 00:14:14,753 --> 00:14:15,683 because he was black. 280 00:14:15,988 --> 00:14:16,748 That's who we were after. 281 00:14:19,525 --> 00:14:23,835 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): We get calls from Atlanta, Nashville, 282 00:14:24,597 --> 00:14:28,817 Raleigh, North Carolina, from Washington, DC, Bridgeport, 283 00:14:29,568 --> 00:14:32,528 Connecticut-- every city, small or large, you could think 284 00:14:33,105 --> 00:14:35,275 of wanted a chapter of the Black Panther Party. 285 00:14:35,741 --> 00:14:38,461 {music playing} 286 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,530 We would send members of the organization 287 00:14:51,056 --> 00:14:54,976 to help connect them to us. 288 00:14:55,694 --> 00:14:57,154 But it was destabilizing in the sense 289 00:14:57,529 --> 00:15:00,519 that it was somewhat chaotic, the way the party was growing. 290 00:15:01,100 --> 00:15:04,500 And it was too fast and too big. 291 00:15:05,137 --> 00:15:06,747 WILLIAM CALHOUN: There was no screening process. 292 00:15:07,139 --> 00:15:08,249 There was no, why are you here? 293 00:15:08,574 --> 00:15:10,324 What do you expect to have happen while you're here? 294 00:15:10,743 --> 00:15:11,673 What are you trying to accomplish? 295 00:15:11,977 --> 00:15:13,497 There was none of that. 296 00:15:13,879 --> 00:15:16,219 Members came from whoever just came in off the street. 297 00:15:16,715 --> 00:15:18,645 The downside, of course, was we had no idea who 298 00:15:19,084 --> 00:15:21,984 any of these people were. 299 00:15:22,554 --> 00:15:24,454 We didn't have time for a whole lot of, who are you? 300 00:15:24,890 --> 00:15:25,820 What are you doing? 301 00:15:26,125 --> 00:15:27,265 We need-- you want to do this? 302 00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:27,913 Fine. 303 00:15:28,127 --> 00:15:28,267 Here. 304 00:15:28,460 --> 00:15:28,780 Go. 305 00:15:33,599 --> 00:15:34,889 Uh, this week on “Firing Line", my guest 306 00:15:35,234 --> 00:15:37,164 is Mr. Eldridge Cleaver, the information minister 307 00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:40,063 of the Black Panthers. 308 00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:42,622 MARK KURLANSKY: Eldridge Cleaver comes out with this book, 309 00:15:43,075 --> 00:15:46,885 "Soul on Ice,” a series of his essays from prison, 310 00:15:47,579 --> 00:15:49,769 and the New York Times says that it's brilliant, 311 00:15:50,249 --> 00:15:52,679 it gets on to the best seller list. 312 00:15:53,185 --> 00:15:55,145 So when Eldridge joined the Panthers, 313 00:15:55,587 --> 00:15:56,787 the Panthers had gotten themselves 314 00:15:57,122 --> 00:15:58,612 a star, a literary star. 315 00:15:58,991 --> 00:16:00,131 ELDRIDGE CLEAVER: I've been called 316 00:16:00,459 --> 00:16:02,979 by the National Review, the (? gogols ?) of the Black 317 00:16:03,495 --> 00:16:04,605 Panther Party. 318 00:16:04,930 --> 00:16:07,360 And all of this is an attempt to undermine the party 319 00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:12,086 or to give ita bad presentation to the public. 320 00:16:12,838 --> 00:16:15,058 CLAYBORNE CARSON: Huey Newton always had this vision. 321 00:16:15,541 --> 00:16:17,441 He was the visionary of the party. 322 00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:20,596 Bobby Seale, he had the personality. 323 00:16:21,146 --> 00:16:22,816 Eldridge Cleaver was the person who 324 00:16:23,215 --> 00:16:26,525 made the party credible to black intellectuals, 325 00:16:27,152 --> 00:16:29,762 to the white, left intellectuals. 326 00:16:30,289 --> 00:16:33,659 You know, all of them loved Eldridge Cleaver. 327 00:16:34,293 --> 00:16:35,633 They understood what he was talking about, 328 00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:38,305 or at least they thought they did. 329 00:16:38,797 --> 00:16:40,697 FELIPE LUCIANO: Eldridge had this incredible ability 330 00:16:41,133 --> 00:16:43,273 to encapsulate a thought in a few sentences 331 00:16:43,736 --> 00:16:47,016 and form it into an artistic statement that pointed right-- 332 00:16:47,639 --> 00:16:49,419 that stabbed right into the heart of the enemy, 333 00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:50,922 and he did that all of the time. 334 00:16:51,243 --> 00:16:52,823 lapplause) 335 00:16:53,212 --> 00:16:54,502 Now, was he always correct? 336 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:56,077 No. 337 00:16:56,415 --> 00:16:58,755 And I say that Ronald Reagan is a punk, a sissy, and a coward, 338 00:16:59,251 --> 00:17:01,391 and I challenge him to a duel. 339 00:17:01,854 --> 00:17:03,464 I challenge him. 340 00:17:03,856 --> 00:17:07,806 I challenge him to a duel fo the death or until he 341 00:17:08,527 --> 00:17:10,697 says Uncle Eldridge. 342 00:17:11,163 --> 00:17:12,393 Was he insane? 343 00:17:12,731 --> 00:17:13,841 Fuck yeah. 344 00:17:14,166 --> 00:17:16,886 That boy was crazy, and he got a lot of people hurt. 345 00:17:17,436 --> 00:17:19,546 And I give him his choice of weapon. 346 00:17:20,005 --> 00:17:22,785 He could use a gun, a knife, a baseball bat or a marshmallow, 347 00:17:23,342 --> 00:17:25,092 and I'll beat him to death with the marshmallow. 348 00:17:25,511 --> 00:17:28,171 That's how I feel about him, see? 349 00:17:28,714 --> 00:17:30,204 MARVIN X: Now see, they are not going 350 00:17:30,582 --> 00:17:33,772 to be able to control Eldridge. 351 00:17:34,386 --> 00:17:38,226 Eldridge was a Rottweiler, uncontrollable personality. 352 00:17:38,924 --> 00:17:40,764 Who could be in an organization with Eldridge 353 00:17:41,193 --> 00:17:42,743 and he not be the leader? 354 00:17:43,128 --> 00:17:43,538 Nobody. 355 00:17:46,799 --> 00:17:47,939 And that's basically how it ended up. 356 00:18:01,113 --> 00:18:02,603 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): A pool of blood marks 357 00:18:02,981 --> 00:18:06,201 the spot where 23-year-old officer John Frey was found 358 00:18:06,819 --> 00:18:08,839 fatally wounded from four gunshots. 359 00:18:09,288 --> 00:18:10,868 The shooting happened at 5:00 AM, 360 00:18:11,256 --> 00:18:13,866 approximately where I'm standing, on 7th Street 361 00:18:14,393 --> 00:18:17,233 in the heart of Oakland's Negro ghetto. 362 00:18:17,796 --> 00:18:19,726 The suspect, charged with murder and attempted murder, 363 00:18:20,165 --> 00:18:22,795 is Huey Newton, 25-year-old leader of the Black 364 00:18:23,335 --> 00:18:25,385 Panthers for Self Defense. 365 00:18:25,838 --> 00:18:27,888 Newton is hospitalized in serious condition 366 00:18:28,340 --> 00:18:30,680 and under heavy guard. 367 00:18:31,176 --> 00:18:33,316 We went up to Highland Hospital and it 368 00:18:33,779 --> 00:18:37,209 looked like every police in America was there. 369 00:18:37,850 --> 00:18:42,920 We didn't know for sure if Huey was dead or alive. 370 00:18:43,789 --> 00:18:44,779 We didn't sleep that night. 371 00:18:45,090 --> 00:18:46,290 Nobody slept that night, I don't think. 372 00:18:50,262 --> 00:18:51,492 LISE PEARLMAN: As he was handcuffed 373 00:18:51,830 --> 00:18:55,200 to a gumey going into surgery, he was arrested for murder 374 00:18:55,834 --> 00:18:57,264 and expected to face execution. 375 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:02,370 Alot of the other Panthers were 376 00:19:02,708 --> 00:19:06,458 in jail because of the protests that they'd done in Sacramento, 377 00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:10,926 so Eldridge was the only available spokesperson 378 00:19:11,617 --> 00:19:13,607 for the Black Panther Party. 379 00:19:14,052 --> 00:19:15,342 ELDRIDGE CLEAVER: The Black Panther Party 380 00:19:15,687 --> 00:19:18,757 demands that Huey P. Newton be set free, 381 00:19:19,358 --> 00:19:21,258 and we wish to make it very clear 382 00:19:21,693 --> 00:19:23,473 that if he is not set free, there 383 00:19:23,896 --> 00:19:26,506 is little hope of avoiding open, armed war 384 00:19:27,032 --> 00:19:30,512 on the streets of California and sweeping across this nation. 385 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:32,540 We said, well, Huey's in jail. 386 00:19:32,905 --> 00:19:34,045 He's facing the death penalty. 387 00:19:34,373 --> 00:19:36,073 What can we do? 388 00:19:36,475 --> 00:19:39,025 I think the initial slogan was Huey must be set free. 389 00:19:39,545 --> 00:19:42,915 Eventually it got shortened to free Huey. 390 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:45,719 CROWD: (CHANTING) Black is beautiful 391 00:19:46,185 --> 00:19:46,915 Free Huey! 392 00:19:47,186 --> 00:19:49,086 Set our warrior free. 393 00:19:49,521 --> 00:19:50,251 Free Huey! 394 00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:52,632 Black is beautiful. 395 00:19:53,091 --> 00:19:54,111 Free Huey! 396 00:19:54,426 --> 00:19:56,006 Set our warrior free. 397 00:19:56,395 --> 00:19:57,795 Free Huey! 398 00:19:58,163 --> 00:19:59,913 KATHLEEN CLEAVER (VOICEOVER): It became a huge movement. 399 00:20:03,669 --> 00:20:04,569 CROWD: {CHANTING} Free Huey! 400 00:20:04,870 --> 00:20:06,980 Black is beautiful. 401 00:20:07,439 --> 00:20:08,459 Free Huey! 402 00:20:08,774 --> 00:20:10,914 Set our warrior free. 403 00:20:11,376 --> 00:20:12,106 Free Huey! 404 00:20:12,377 --> 00:20:14,277 Black is beautiful. 405 00:20:14,713 --> 00:20:15,413 Free Huey! 406 00:20:15,681 --> 00:20:17,231 Set our warrior free. 407 00:20:17,616 --> 00:20:18,406 Free Huey! 408 00:20:18,684 --> 00:20:19,584 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): Today there 409 00:20:19,885 --> 00:20:21,085 were a number of free Huey Newton rallies 410 00:20:21,420 --> 00:20:22,620 across the nation. 411 00:20:22,955 --> 00:20:25,855 You did not have to be a member of the Black Panther Party. 412 00:20:26,425 --> 00:20:28,175 All you had to be was a human being. 413 00:20:28,594 --> 00:20:31,754 People of all kinds took up that cry, Free Huey. 414 00:20:41,607 --> 00:20:43,507 ELDRIDGE CLEAVER: The Examiner made a report back here 415 00:20:43,942 --> 00:20:46,252 in the last Sunday's paper that we were anti-white, 416 00:20:46,745 --> 00:20:48,795 that we hold no bones-- this is a quote-- hold 417 00:20:49,248 --> 00:20:51,738 no, pick no bones about being anti-white. 418 00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:54,331 This is & bold faced lie. 419 00:20:54,786 --> 00:20:56,836 We don't hate nobody because of their color. 420 00:20:57,289 --> 00:20:58,989 We hate oppression. 421 00:20:59,391 --> 00:21:03,341 We hate murder of black people in our communities. 422 00:21:04,062 --> 00:21:05,402 The people just turned out. 423 00:21:05,764 --> 00:21:07,724 They wanted to help us, they wanted to give us money, 424 00:21:08,166 --> 00:21:09,246 they wanted us to come speak. 425 00:21:09,568 --> 00:21:13,698 It was this gathering of connection 426 00:21:14,439 --> 00:21:16,549 to the Black Panthers that was different to before. 427 00:21:17,009 --> 00:21:20,029 MAN: (SINGING) We've got to free Huey. 428 00:21:20,612 --> 00:21:29,022 We've got to free Huey. 429 00:21:30,355 --> 00:21:31,615 Everybody! 430 00:21:31,957 --> 00:21:35,767 We've got to free Huey. 431 00:21:42,334 --> 00:21:45,794 ERICKA HUGGINS: We were a phenomenon-- the way 432 00:21:46,438 --> 00:21:50,308 that we walked and talked and dressed. 433 00:21:51,009 --> 00:21:51,439 We had swagger. 434 00:22:00,052 --> 00:22:01,862 It was a rhythm. 435 00:22:02,287 --> 00:22:04,337 It was a rhythm to how we spoke. 436 00:22:04,790 --> 00:22:06,160 It was a rhythm to how we walked, 437 00:22:06,525 --> 00:22:08,015 and the people recognized it. 438 00:22:08,393 --> 00:22:11,083 We stood out. 439 00:22:11,630 --> 00:22:14,000 Outside of that, on the street, they'd-- ooh that's a butt ugly 440 00:22:14,499 --> 00:22:14,959 person. 441 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:16,250 Ooh, they ugly. 442 00:22:16,568 --> 00:22:20,138 But in the Party it was just something that gave them 443 00:22:20,806 --> 00:22:22,266 this tremendous sex appeal. 444 00:22:28,513 --> 00:22:30,383 JAMAL JOSEPH: The Panthers didn’t invent the idea of black 445 00:22:30,816 --> 00:22:31,866 is beautiful. 446 00:22:32,184 --> 00:22:34,994 People had started wearing afros and dashikis-- 447 00:22:35,554 --> 00:22:36,694 but one of the things the Panthers did 448 00:22:37,022 --> 00:22:40,242 was that urban black is beautiful, 449 00:22:40,859 --> 00:22:44,369 and that look just blew people away. 450 00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:47,050 JULIAN BOND: If you were a young black man living in the city 451 00:22:47,499 --> 00:22:49,049 anywhere, you wanted to be like this. 452 00:22:49,434 --> 00:22:51,574 You wanted to dress like this, you wanted to act like this, 453 00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:53,057 you wanted to talk like this. 454 00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:54,392 You wanted to be this. 455 00:22:54,706 --> 00:22:56,076 It's a standard of aggressiveness, of militance, 456 00:22:56,441 --> 00:22:59,921 of just forcefulness that's the sort of standard we 457 00:23:00,579 --> 00:23:01,339 haven't had in the past. 458 00:23:09,121 --> 00:23:10,521 REPORTER: But figuratively speaking, you're 459 00:23:10,889 --> 00:23:12,379 not about to become a Panther. 460 00:23:12,758 --> 00:23:13,518 No. 461 00:23:13,792 --> 00:23:15,192 Not today or tomorrow, at any rate. 462 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:16,610 Maybe the day after. 463 00:23:16,928 --> 00:23:20,268 (MUSIC BILLY PAUL, "AM I BLACK ENOUGH FOR YOU?") 464 00:23:28,907 --> 00:23:30,957 This brother here, myself, all of us 465 00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:32,490 were born with our hair like this, 466 00:23:32,811 --> 00:23:35,091 and we just wear it like this. 467 00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:36,720 The reason for it, you might say, 468 00:23:37,048 --> 00:23:39,158 is like a new awareness among black people 469 00:23:39,618 --> 00:23:41,368 that their own natural appearance-— 470 00:23:41,787 --> 00:23:43,777 physical appearance, is beautiful. 471 00:23:44,222 --> 00:23:46,032 Black people are aware now. 472 00:23:46,458 --> 00:23:47,278 They're proud of it. 473 00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:48,759 It's pleasing to them. 474 00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:49,524 Dig it? 475 00:23:49,761 --> 00:23:50,631 Isn't it beautiful? 476 00:23:50,929 --> 00:23:51,659 All right. 477 00:23:51,930 --> 00:23:54,970 flaughter) 478 00:24:06,778 --> 00:24:08,068 KATHLEEN CLEAVER (VOICEOVER): You're 479 00:24:08,413 --> 00:24:11,373 talking about people who are teenagers-- 17, 18, 19, 480 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:14,790 20-- that's the bulk of the Panthers are teenagers. 481 00:24:15,353 --> 00:24:17,223 So the fact that we were So young 482 00:24:17,656 --> 00:24:19,646 and the fact that this hadn't happened before-- I'm 483 00:24:20,091 --> 00:24:23,161 not certain that we recognized how startling it 484 00:24:23,762 --> 00:24:24,872 looked to other people. 485 00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:29,960 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): Dear Mr. Newton, 486 00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:33,202 I'm a 13-year-old black girl and { want to be a Black Panther. 487 00:24:33,772 --> 00:24:35,582 I wish you would fill me in. 488 00:24:36,007 --> 00:24:38,177 Does it matter what your religion is? 489 00:24:38,643 --> 00:24:41,273 What are some qualifications to be a Black Panther? 490 00:24:41,813 --> 00:24:45,093 P§-- write me back personally. 491 00:24:45,717 --> 00:24:46,707 RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA: I was taught 492 00:24:47,018 --> 00:24:49,478 to be proper-- behave yourself. 493 00:24:49,988 --> 00:24:52,038 Um, you're going out in public, to always know 494 00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:54,571 that the white man was listening. 495 00:24:55,026 --> 00:24:57,686 With the Black Panthers coming to the scene, 496 00:24:58,230 --> 00:25:01,830 it was just a completely different message. 497 00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:05,131 As a 12-year-old, you know-- what? 498 00:25:05,670 --> 00:25:09,540 You had this whole other portrayal of self, 499 00:25:10,242 --> 00:25:11,612 and just digging it. 500 00:25:17,716 --> 00:25:19,856 KATHLEEN CLEAVER (VOICEOVER): Photographers took advantage. 501 00:25:20,318 --> 00:25:21,368 I mean, they took our pictures. 502 00:25:21,686 --> 00:25:22,536 They put them on newspapers. 503 00:25:22,821 --> 00:25:24,191 They put them on magazines. 504 00:25:24,556 --> 00:25:27,186 And that look that we projected-- you know, 505 00:25:27,726 --> 00:25:29,866 the big Afro, the leather jacket, 506 00:25:30,328 --> 00:25:32,318 the shades-- that became a hit. 507 00:25:35,901 --> 00:25:39,941 And obviously, photographers were drawn to the Panthers. 508 00:25:40,672 --> 00:25:42,952 Well, we hear a great deal about the Black Panthers. 509 00:25:43,441 --> 00:25:44,731 Black Panthers. 510 00:25:45,076 --> 00:25:45,946 The Black Panthers. 511 00:25:46,244 --> 00:25:48,964 The Black Panthers were absolutely unique. 512 00:25:49,514 --> 00:25:50,414 The Black Panthers. 513 00:25:50,715 --> 00:25:51,505 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): The Black Panthers. 514 00:25:51,783 --> 00:25:52,743 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): Black Panthers. 515 00:25:53,051 --> 00:25:53,511 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): The Black Panther Party. 516 00:25:53,752 --> 00:25:54,652 Black Panther movement. 517 00:25:54,953 --> 00:25:55,773 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): Black Panther Party. 518 00:25:56,054 --> 00:25:57,194 NEWSCASTER (VOICEOVER): Black Panthers. 519 00:25:57,522 --> 00:26:00,072 I think the Black Panthers really understood the media. 520 00:26:00,592 --> 00:26:01,552 They knew what we were after. 521 00:26:01,860 --> 00:26:05,840 They knew what we were focusing on. 522 00:26:06,565 --> 00:26:07,585 The Panthers has amounted to-- 523 00:26:07,899 --> 00:26:08,889 The Black Panther Party. 524 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,370 Many people know of the Panthers. 525 00:26:10,702 --> 00:26:13,222 JIM DUNBAR: You might say that we exploited the Black 526 00:26:13,738 --> 00:26:14,588 Panthers. 527 00:26:14,873 --> 00:26:16,333 But I think there's a lot of evidence 528 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:20,108 that they used us to their advantage. 529 00:26:20,745 --> 00:26:24,175 They were able to establish their legitimacy 530 00:26:24,816 --> 00:26:25,686 as a voice of protest. 531 00:26:25,984 --> 00:26:27,354 The Chairman of the Black Panther Party. 532 00:26:27,719 --> 00:26:28,979 And here he is. 533 00:26:35,827 --> 00:26:37,407 We have a film of your breakfast program. 534 00:26:37,796 --> 00:26:39,346 Is this without sound also? 535 00:26:39,731 --> 00:26:40,521 Uh, yeah. 536 00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:41,209 I think so. 537 00:26:41,433 --> 00:26:42,283 All right. 538 00:26:42,567 --> 00:26:43,207 Would you-- would you comment on this? 539 00:26:43,468 --> 00:26:43,638 Yes. 540 00:26:50,408 --> 00:26:51,428 BOBBY SEALE (VOICEOVER): Yeah, this 541 00:26:51,743 --> 00:26:54,173 is a free breakfast for children program, 542 00:26:54,679 --> 00:26:56,729 and they're preparing the food there early in the morning. 543 00:26:57,182 --> 00:26:59,052 It's about two hours work in the morning. 544 00:26:59,484 --> 00:27:01,324 These party members primarily set this whole program up, 545 00:27:01,753 --> 00:27:03,683 and then we get involved as many of the community people 546 00:27:04,122 --> 00:27:06,462 as we can. 547 00:27:06,958 --> 00:27:09,128 MAN (ON VIDEO): Who all wants tea? 548 00:27:09,594 --> 00:27:10,644 Put more tea in, little brother. 549 00:27:10,962 --> 00:27:11,892 Come on it, little sister. 550 00:27:12,197 --> 00:27:14,597 Yall can sit down and get something to eat. 551 00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:16,440 DAVID LEMIEUX: Studies came out saying 552 00:27:16,801 --> 00:27:18,851 that children that didn't have a good breakfast in the morning 553 00:27:19,304 --> 00:27:21,554 were less attentive at school and less inclined to do well 554 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:23,500 and suffered from fatigue. 555 00:27:23,875 --> 00:27:26,655 l mean, there was all sorts of scientific reasons 556 00:27:27,212 --> 00:27:30,142 to have a good breakfast in the morning. 557 00:27:30,715 --> 00:27:33,785 And we just simply took that information, 558 00:27:34,386 --> 00:27:36,966 and a program was developed serving breakfast to children. 559 00:27:40,825 --> 00:27:43,165 RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA: After my father came home from Vietnam 560 00:27:43,662 --> 00:27:45,882 and was discharged from the army and couldn't get work, 561 00:27:46,364 --> 00:27:48,294 we were going through a very hard time. 562 00:27:48,733 --> 00:27:52,013 Food was kind of-- you know, just the everyday necessities 563 00:27:52,637 --> 00:27:53,717 were hard. 564 00:27:54,039 --> 00:27:56,319 I was embarrassed to go, but when you went, 565 00:27:56,808 --> 00:28:00,178 you know, kids are all laughing, and then all of a sudden 566 00:28:00,812 --> 00:28:02,562 the stigma-- or whatever you thought 567 00:28:02,981 --> 00:28:05,411 was the stigma-- went away, and you really 568 00:28:05,917 --> 00:28:09,287 got to see that yes, this is what the Black Panthers are. 569 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:17,600 We were showing love for our people. 570 00:28:18,029 --> 00:28:20,219 You know, if you have a child, if you'd know that hey, 571 00:28:20,699 --> 00:28:23,449 these men and women are going to feed my child in the morning, 572 00:28:24,002 --> 00:28:24,672 that's a big deal. 573 00:28:31,710 --> 00:28:33,580 BEVERLY GAGE: The breakfast program actually really caught 574 00:28:34,012 --> 00:28:34,772 on. 575 00:28:35,046 --> 00:28:37,216 It served about 20,000 meals a week 576 00:28:37,682 --> 00:28:40,262 to young people in 19 different communities. 577 00:28:40,785 --> 00:28:42,835 So it wasn't a fly by night thing. 578 00:28:43,288 --> 00:28:45,458 It really, actually was making a difference. 579 00:28:55,033 --> 00:28:57,253 DONNA MURCH: Just at the moment that the Panthers are turning 580 00:28:57,736 --> 00:28:59,986 toward survival programs-- towards free breakfast 581 00:29:00,472 --> 00:29:02,462 programs, free clinics, and free food programs that 582 00:29:02,907 --> 00:29:04,547 will help them reconnect with the black community 583 00:29:04,943 --> 00:29:08,343 and build their membership, and repudiating this earlier 584 00:29:08,980 --> 00:29:11,410 advocacy of armed self defense and police patrols-- 585 00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:13,786 J Edgar Hoover attacks the Panthers. 586 00:29:19,224 --> 00:29:22,914 Hoover saw any form of black organizing as a threat 587 00:29:23,595 --> 00:29:25,845 to the status quo as he saw it. 588 00:29:26,331 --> 00:29:28,171 Change that would have involved equality, 589 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,330 that would have put power in black people's hands, 590 00:29:30,735 --> 00:29:34,015 was very much a threat to Hoover. 591 00:29:34,639 --> 00:29:37,269 He started something called COINTELPRO, 592 00:29:37,809 --> 00:29:40,879 directed against what he called black nationalist hate groups. 593 00:29:41,479 --> 00:29:44,549 M. WESLEY SWEARINGEN: COINTELPRO was the abbreviation of Counter 594 00:29:45,150 --> 00:29:47,140 Intelligence Program. 595 00:29:47,585 --> 00:29:49,365 J. EDGAR HOOVER (VOICEOVER): The purpose of this new 596 00:29:49,788 --> 00:29:53,858 counterintelligence endeavour is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, 597 00:29:54,592 --> 00:29:57,432 discredit or otherwise neutralize the activities 598 00:29:57,996 --> 00:30:00,016 of black nationalists. 599 00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:01,635 M. WESLEY SWEARINGEN: Neutralize could 600 00:30:01,966 --> 00:30:04,366 mean making somebody an informant 601 00:30:04,869 --> 00:30:08,089 or putting somebody in jail or having somebody killed. 602 00:30:13,111 --> 00:30:17,151 Hoover was sending letters to various offices 603 00:30:17,882 --> 00:30:20,602 almost on a weekly basis to come up with new ideas 604 00:30:21,152 --> 00:30:24,082 to go after members of the Black Panther Party. 605 00:30:30,028 --> 00:30:33,538 JEFF HAAS: 245 of the 290 COINTELPRO actions 606 00:30:34,199 --> 00:30:36,689 were against the Black Panthers. 607 00:30:37,202 --> 00:30:40,102 One of the mandates was do not make this program public. 608 00:30:40,672 --> 00:30:44,212 Do not tell anybody that it exists. 609 00:30:44,876 --> 00:30:47,066 SCOT BROWN: FBI has a memo that states 610 00:30:47,545 --> 00:30:51,765 the objectives of counterintelligence operations. 611 00:30:52,517 --> 00:30:54,537 One is to prevent the rise of what 612 00:30:54,986 --> 00:30:57,676 they call the black messiah-- a single charismatic leader that 613 00:30:58,223 --> 00:31:00,003 could unify the movement. 614 00:31:00,425 --> 00:31:04,345 They want to prevent the appeal of radical political movement 615 00:31:05,063 --> 00:31:08,723 to black youth, and they wanted to isolate 616 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,890 these groups to prevent them from gaining respectability 617 00:31:12,403 --> 00:31:13,573 in the black community. 618 00:31:13,905 --> 00:31:17,885 And they were very explicit in stating these goals. 619 00:31:18,610 --> 00:31:20,160 We were followed every day. 620 00:31:20,545 --> 00:31:21,475 We were harassed. 621 00:31:21,779 --> 00:31:23,829 Our phones were tapped. 622 00:31:24,282 --> 00:31:26,592 Our families were harassed. 623 00:31:27,085 --> 00:31:30,335 My parents were both visited by the FBI. 624 00:31:30,955 --> 00:31:32,565 J. EDGAR HOOVER (VOICEOVER): We must create suspicion 625 00:31:32,957 --> 00:31:35,147 with respect to their respective spouses, 626 00:31:35,627 --> 00:31:37,527 and your imagination and resourcefulness 627 00:31:37,962 --> 00:31:40,512 must be employed in order for the Bureau to be successful. 628 00:31:43,768 --> 00:31:46,488 LANDON WILLIAMS: They would send letters to my wife, 629 00:31:47,038 --> 00:31:48,588 and the letters would say that Landon 630 00:31:48,973 --> 00:31:51,143 is sleeping with this woman or sleeping with that woman 631 00:31:51,609 --> 00:31:53,599 or sleeping with the other women. 632 00:31:54,045 --> 00:31:56,475 Then when I got arrested, the FBI came to me and said, 633 00:31:56,981 --> 00:31:57,711 ha, look. 634 00:31:57,982 --> 00:31:59,002 We've got all this evidence. 635 00:31:59,317 --> 00:32:01,487 All these people are gonna flip and turn on you. 636 00:32:01,953 --> 00:32:04,003 We're gonna execute you, because we got you now. 637 00:32:04,455 --> 00:32:05,715 We're going to execute you. 638 00:32:06,057 --> 00:32:13,007 But if you will be an informant for us, then we'll let you go. 639 00:32:14,132 --> 00:32:15,682 WILLIAM O'NEAL: My recruitment by the FBI 640 00:32:16,067 --> 00:32:18,757 was very efficient-- very simple, really. 641 00:32:19,304 --> 00:32:22,904 I'd stolen a car and went joyriding over the state limit, 642 00:32:23,574 --> 00:32:26,564 and they had a potential case against me, 643 00:32:27,145 --> 00:32:30,305 and I was looking for an opportunity to work it out. 644 00:32:30,915 --> 00:32:33,255 And a couple of months later that opportunity 645 00:32:33,751 --> 00:32:37,411 came when the FBI agent Roy Mitchell asked me to, 646 00:32:38,089 --> 00:32:40,899 uh, go down to the local office of the Black Panther Party 647 00:32:41,459 --> 00:32:44,589 and try to, uh, gain membership. 648 00:32:45,196 --> 00:32:47,246 The FBI wanted to destroy the Panthers. 649 00:32:47,699 --> 00:32:51,769 They absolutely saw the Panthers as the vanguard 650 00:32:52,503 --> 00:32:58,013 of a very, very threatening and violent revolutionary movement. 651 00:32:58,943 --> 00:33:02,103 They absolutely wanted this organization to be destroyed. 652 00:33:05,316 --> 00:33:09,446 The FBI was coming around my mother-in-law and my wife, 653 00:33:10,188 --> 00:33:14,088 and uh, um, for me to stop that kind of activity, 654 00:33:14,792 --> 00:33:17,372 I stopped going home, and a lot of other people 655 00:33:17,895 --> 00:33:21,175 did also, to protect their families. 656 00:33:21,799 --> 00:33:24,319 You could kind of in a sense say that we abandoned our families 657 00:33:24,836 --> 00:33:25,476 for the Panther Party. 658 00:33:28,139 --> 00:33:29,689 You might have a three bedroom apartment 659 00:33:30,074 --> 00:33:31,914 that might have 10 Panthers staying there and sharing 660 00:33:32,343 --> 00:33:33,333 bedrooms. 661 00:33:33,644 --> 00:33:35,834 The living room was basically also a bedroom. 662 00:33:36,314 --> 00:33:37,864 BLAIR ANDERSON: We called them Panther pads. 663 00:33:38,249 --> 00:33:40,589 Somebody would be on 24 hour security. 664 00:33:41,085 --> 00:33:43,395 Somebody was responsible for cleaning the place. 665 00:33:43,888 --> 00:33:47,808 Often it was a rotating list of responsibilities. 666 00:33:48,526 --> 00:33:50,426 It was a sense of community that we created. 667 00:33:50,862 --> 00:33:54,202 {music playing} 668 00:34:11,082 --> 00:34:12,922 The rank and file was the every day members 669 00:34:13,351 --> 00:34:16,131 that did the daily work of the Party. 670 00:34:16,687 --> 00:34:18,057 They the ones that made the Party, 671 00:34:18,423 --> 00:34:20,613 the back breakers, the ones you put all the work on. 672 00:34:30,034 --> 00:34:31,784 JAMAL JOSEPH: Panthers realized we have to live together 673 00:34:32,203 --> 00:34:33,903 te protect one another, and we have 674 00:34:34,305 --> 00:34:37,585 to also be committed to this thing, to this cause, 675 00:34:38,209 --> 00:34:41,489 to this movement, 24 hours a day. 676 00:34:42,113 --> 00:34:43,423 MOHAMMED MUBARAK: The rank and file-- 677 00:34:43,781 --> 00:34:45,711 whatever orders that came down from our captains 678 00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:48,990 and lieutenants, we did that, because that spirit was 679 00:34:49,554 --> 00:34:52,834 in us to stay in this movement to our death, 680 00:34:53,458 --> 00:34:54,798 or if it meant going to jail. 681 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:57,059 So whatever they told us to do, we did it. 682 00:34:57,495 --> 00:35:00,535 {music playing} 683 00:35:13,444 --> 00:35:15,024 ORA WILLIAMS: was in labor, cooking breakfast 684 00:35:15,413 --> 00:35:18,723 for the breakfast program. 685 00:35:19,350 --> 00:35:22,660 So I was between contractions flipping pancakes. 686 00:35:23,287 --> 00:35:24,867 PHYLLIS JACKSON: I would spend all the day 687 00:35:25,256 --> 00:35:27,946 answering the phones, even after l had my son, when I came back 688 00:35:28,493 --> 00:35:29,603 to work. 689 00:35:29,927 --> 00:35:31,187 l used to have to jump him up and down really heavy, 690 00:35:31,529 --> 00:35:32,819 because it just wouldn't stop crying 691 00:35:33,164 --> 00:35:34,034 as I'm answering the phone. 692 00:35:34,332 --> 00:35:35,152 You name it. 693 00:35:35,433 --> 00:35:37,363 I cleaned freezers with a toothpick. 694 00:35:37,802 --> 00:35:39,582 And that's how I'd answer the phone-- Black Panther 695 00:35:40,004 --> 00:35:41,054 Party national headquarters. 696 00:35:41,372 --> 00:35:42,102 Black Panther Party central headquarters. 697 00:35:42,373 --> 00:35:42,723 Can I help you? 698 00:36:00,057 --> 00:36:01,137 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): Dear Huey, when 699 00:36:01,459 --> 00:36:03,709 I joined the party l was thrilled about becoming part 700 00:36:04,195 --> 00:36:06,275 of an organization that believes in the quality of men 701 00:36:06,731 --> 00:36:08,041 and women. 702 00:36:08,399 --> 00:36:11,329 It bothers me that there are brothers who still view women 703 00:36:11,903 --> 00:36:13,923 as sexual objects. 704 00:36:14,372 --> 00:36:16,072 We should have no men in the Black Panther Party 705 00:36:16,474 --> 00:36:18,904 who feel this way-- or women, for that matter. 706 00:36:22,146 --> 00:36:23,926 CLAYBORNE CARSON: One of the ironies of the Black Panther 707 00:36:24,348 --> 00:36:28,038 Party is that the image is the black male with the jacket 708 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,679 and the gun, but the reality is the majority of the rank 709 00:36:32,256 --> 00:36:35,006 and file at, by the end of the '60s are women. 710 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:37,930 Everybody knows that all the people don't have liberties, 711 00:36:38,429 --> 00:36:39,889 all the people don't have freedom, 712 00:36:40,264 --> 00:36:41,964 all the people don't have justice, 713 00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:44,476 and all the people don't have power, so that means none of us 714 00:36:44,936 --> 00:36:46,636 do. 715 00:36:47,038 --> 00:36:48,558 ELAINE BROWN: The Black Panther Party certainly 716 00:36:48,940 --> 00:36:51,660 had a chauvinist tone, and so we tried 717 00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:55,280 to change some of the clear gender roles 718 00:36:55,880 --> 00:37:01,300 so that women had guns and men cooked breakfast for children. 719 00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:02,859 Did we overcome it? 720 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:04,110 Of course we didn't. 721 00:37:04,422 --> 00:37:05,732 As I like to say, we didn't get these brothers 722 00:37:06,090 --> 00:37:07,840 from revolutionary heaven. 723 00:37:08,259 --> 00:37:09,809 "Black Panther Newspaper"? 724 00:37:10,194 --> 00:37:10,864 MAN: Panther paper! 725 00:37:21,272 --> 00:37:23,002 OMAR BARBOUR: The paper was the lifeblood of the Party. 726 00:37:23,407 --> 00:37:24,457 That's why we survived. 727 00:37:24,775 --> 00:37:27,355 We sold the papers at $0.25 back then. 728 00:37:27,878 --> 00:37:29,578 It cost maybe $0.12 to print it. 729 00:37:29,981 --> 00:37:31,941 The other 12 and 1/2 cent went to the various chapters 730 00:37:32,383 --> 00:37:33,343 and branches. 731 00:37:33,651 --> 00:37:35,171 That's how we basically survived. 732 00:37:35,553 --> 00:37:36,863 WILLIAM CALHOUN: The Party paper went 733 00:37:37,221 --> 00:37:40,091 places Party members would never get to go to, and be reaching 734 00:37:40,658 --> 00:37:42,118 people we would never see. 735 00:37:42,493 --> 00:37:44,363 But the paper get there some kind of way or other. 736 00:37:44,795 --> 00:37:46,965 So if was very important to get the paper out. 737 00:37:47,431 --> 00:37:49,511 Los Angeles, 2,850. 738 00:37:49,967 --> 00:37:51,137 New Haven, 3,000. 739 00:37:51,469 --> 00:37:53,079 WILLIAM CALHOUN: When we were loading boxes or bundling 740 00:37:53,471 --> 00:37:54,371 papers or whatever we were doing, 741 00:37:54,672 --> 00:37:56,132 we did it in an assembly line fashion, 742 00:37:56,507 --> 00:37:58,237 and we would just start singing, you know it. (SINGING) 743 00:37:58,643 --> 00:38:01,163 Ain't no mountain high enough. 744 00:38:01,679 --> 00:38:04,809 Ain't no valley low enough to keep me 745 00:38:05,416 --> 00:38:09,396 from getting this paper to you-- or whatever we would do. 746 00:38:10,121 --> 00:38:11,581 We would change the lyric just a little bit. 747 00:38:11,956 --> 00:38:13,186 You know-- (SINGING) It's your thing. 748 00:38:13,524 --> 00:38:14,954 Do what you want to do. 749 00:38:15,326 --> 00:38:17,786 Why do you keep tell me what the-- and then 750 00:38:18,296 --> 00:38:20,076 we'd say what to do. 751 00:38:20,498 --> 00:38:21,608 MAN: Panther paper! 752 00:38:21,932 --> 00:38:25,882 This man needs some help with finaudible) human beings. 753 00:38:26,604 --> 00:38:29,564 ORA WILLIAMS: In the paper everything came together. 754 00:38:30,141 --> 00:38:32,071 We had the platform-- the ten point platform was in there. 755 00:38:32,510 --> 00:38:33,800 You know, it was. the first thing you 756 00:38:34,145 --> 00:38:35,195 see when you open up the paper. 757 00:38:35,513 --> 00:38:37,213 We want an end to the robbery by the white man 758 00:38:37,615 --> 00:38:38,545 of our black community. 759 00:38:38,849 --> 00:38:40,279 That's what we talking about, like number 3. 760 00:38:40,651 --> 00:38:42,991 Number 4, we want decent housing fit to shelter human beings. 761 00:38:43,487 --> 00:38:43,807 You dig? 762 00:38:44,021 --> 00:38:45,661 I can dig that. 763 00:38:46,057 --> 00:38:48,487 And it explained who we were and what-- what we were about, 764 00:38:48,993 --> 00:38:49,753 what our goals were. 765 00:38:50,027 --> 00:38:50,987 REPORTER: Tell me, ma'am. 766 00:38:51,295 --> 00:38:52,605 Do you read the Black Panther Party newspaper? 767 00:38:52,963 --> 00:38:53,453 Yes I do. 768 00:38:53,698 --> 00:38:54,428 REPORTER: Why? 769 00:38:54,699 --> 00:38:56,569 Because I'm black and I'm proud. 770 00:38:57,001 --> 00:38:58,611 REPORTER: What do you like best about the paper? 771 00:38:59,003 --> 00:39:00,813 Because they're a proud people and ! love them. 772 00:39:01,238 --> 00:39:02,258 IMUSIC THE LAST POETS, "BLACK Is" 773 00:39:12,249 --> 00:39:13,859 FELIPE LUCIANO: For me there was only one reason 774 00:39:14,251 --> 00:39:16,001 to read the Panther newspaper, and that was 775 00:39:16,420 --> 00:39:18,530 to see Emory's illustrations. 776 00:39:18,989 --> 00:39:21,979 His paintings, his caricatures, his illustrations 777 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:24,170 literally gave us the story. 778 00:39:24,562 --> 00:39:25,552 IMUSIC THE LAST POETS, "BLACK Is" 779 00:39:33,504 --> 00:39:36,134 EMORY DOUGLAS: Well to me, you would respond to the artwork 780 00:39:36,674 --> 00:39:40,184 because it was a reflection of them in the artwork itself, 781 00:39:40,845 --> 00:39:42,985 because you were putting them on the stage as the characters 782 00:39:43,447 --> 00:39:45,587 and the heroes in the images. 783 00:39:46,050 --> 00:39:48,160 They could see their brother, or they could see their uncle 784 00:39:48,619 --> 00:39:49,259 in the images. 785 00:39:58,529 --> 00:40:00,429 Through the breakfast programs, through the other programs. 786 00:40:00,865 --> 00:40:02,235 that we had, the health clinics, people 787 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,820 come in and talk about how they can't pay their bills 788 00:40:05,302 --> 00:40:10,662 or they need child care-- that teardrop symbolized that pain 789 00:40:11,575 --> 00:40:13,475 that I observed. 790 00:40:13,911 --> 00:40:15,051 Even through their pain there was 791 00:40:15,379 --> 00:40:17,629 this strength and determination and conviction 792 00:40:18,115 --> 00:40:19,895 to still battle on. 793 00:40:20,317 --> 00:40:23,507 So we're trying to put that into the artwork itself. 794 00:40:29,627 --> 00:40:31,497 FELIPE LUCIANO: Emory was our social realism. 795 00:40:31,929 --> 00:40:35,799 He gave you a sense of bravery, resilience, courage, 796 00:40:36,500 --> 00:40:38,050 and most of all, beauty. 797 00:40:38,436 --> 00:40:39,666 That was what I loved about Emory. 798 00:40:50,514 --> 00:40:54,384 It was Huey and Bobby's idea to draw a pig drawing that 799 00:40:55,085 --> 00:40:58,015 would symbolize the police. 800 00:40:58,589 --> 00:41:02,979 So the first pig! did was one on the four hoofs. 801 00:41:03,761 --> 00:41:05,251 It just came to me one night, why don't I 802 00:41:05,629 --> 00:41:07,269 stand it up on two hoofs? 803 00:41:07,665 --> 00:41:09,715 I'll put a bandolier-- a gun bandolier 804 00:41:10,167 --> 00:41:13,627 on with the holster and a badge and the flies around it, 805 00:41:14,271 --> 00:41:16,411 and that became the symbol-- icon of the pig. 806 00:41:16,874 --> 00:41:18,334 It took on a life of its own. 807 00:41:18,709 --> 00:41:20,549 CROWD: (CHANTING) Revolution has come. 808 00:41:20,978 --> 00:41:21,708 Off the pigs! 809 00:41:21,979 --> 00:41:24,349 Time to pick up the guns. 810 00:41:24,849 --> 00:41:26,899 Off the pigs! 811 00:41:27,351 --> 00:41:29,251 RON MCCARTHY: That rhetoric didn't bother us when 812 00:41:29,687 --> 00:41:32,727 it was spoken by the Panthers. 813 00:41:33,324 --> 00:41:35,784 CROWD: (CHANTING) Power to the people. 814 00:41:36,293 --> 00:41:36,723 Off the pigs! 815 00:41:36,961 --> 00:41:38,861 Power to the people. 816 00:41:39,296 --> 00:41:40,226 Off the pigs! 817 00:41:40,531 --> 00:41:44,071 But when it was picked up by college students, 818 00:41:44,735 --> 00:41:48,485 them saying it, that definitely bothered us. 819 00:41:49,173 --> 00:41:52,453 CROWD: (CHANTING) Power to the people Off the pigs! 820 00:41:53,077 --> 00:41:55,217 Power to the people. 821 00:41:55,679 --> 00:41:57,349 Off the pigs! 822 00:41:57,748 --> 00:42:00,878 PAT MCKINLEY: I was a sergeant patrolling in the projects, 823 00:42:01,485 --> 00:42:04,355 and there was the cutest little girl. 824 00:42:04,922 --> 00:42:07,172 So I stopped to say hello, and I said hi, honey. 825 00:42:07,658 --> 00:42:08,588 How are you doing today. 826 00:42:08,893 --> 00:42:11,703 And she looked at me and she said, fuck you, pig. 827 00:42:12,263 --> 00:42:14,163 And I thought, we have lost it, man. 828 00:42:14,598 --> 00:42:16,208 We have fiat lost it. 829 00:42:19,336 --> 00:42:20,536 HOWARD SAFFOLD: Anybody that criticized 830 00:42:20,871 --> 00:42:24,061 the police, especially that didn't have fear of saying it, 831 00:42:24,675 --> 00:42:26,515 probably made the police angry. 832 00:42:34,685 --> 00:42:36,175 It was us against them. 833 00:42:36,554 --> 00:42:37,314 That became the theme. 834 00:42:40,791 --> 00:42:42,541 WOMAN (ON FILM): We have seen the pig on the scene. 835 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:44,100 We know what he's like. 836 00:42:44,428 --> 00:42:46,268 We know what he's capable of-- just being a damn pig, 837 00:42:46,697 --> 00:42:50,097 oinking and beating and walking the street. 838 00:42:50,734 --> 00:42:52,604 ELDRIDGE CLEAVER: The police must be brought under control 839 00:42:53,037 --> 00:42:54,407 by any means. necessary, including 840 00:42:54,772 --> 00:42:55,672 through force of arms. 841 00:42:55,973 --> 00:42:58,433 These racist, gestapo pigs have to stop 842 00:42:58,943 --> 00:43:01,023 brutalizing our community or we're going to take up guns, 843 00:43:01,478 --> 00:43:02,738 we're going to drive them out. 844 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:04,660 CLAYBORNE CARSON: That tendency to keep 845 00:43:05,049 --> 00:43:07,329 escalating the thetoric-- that was 846 00:43:07,818 --> 00:43:09,188 a major part of the growth of the party, 847 00:43:09,553 --> 00:43:11,453 but it was also a destructive force, 848 00:43:11,889 --> 00:43:13,499 because you were always upping the ante. 849 00:43:13,891 --> 00:43:16,321 GROWD: (CHANTING) I say guns, pick up the guns, 850 00:43:16,827 --> 00:43:19,667 pick up the guns and put the pigs on the run. 851 00:43:20,230 --> 00:43:21,490 Pick up the guns. 852 00:43:21,832 --> 00:43:23,732 Boom, boom, {inaudible) 853 00:43:24,168 --> 00:43:26,358 CLAYBORNE CARSON: It brought all the repression down on them 854 00:43:26,837 --> 00:43:29,387 before they were prepared to handle it. 855 00:43:29,907 --> 00:43:32,337 I just want to deal with black, and black liberation. 856 00:43:32,843 --> 00:43:34,423 My sin is picking up my damn gun-- 857 00:43:34,812 --> 00:43:37,472 and I'm a mother-- having my baby 858 00:43:38,015 --> 00:43:39,685 in one hand, my gun in the other, 859 00:43:40,084 --> 00:43:42,424 and then I'm here motherfuckers to get what's mine. 860 00:43:47,858 --> 00:43:50,348 lpolice sirens} 861 00:43:50,861 --> 00:43:52,031 NEWSCASTER: The voice that called 862 00:43:52,363 --> 00:43:54,793 for justice and brotherhood has been stilled. 863 00:43:55,299 --> 00:43:59,609 Men of all races now must join together in this hour 864 00:44:00,371 --> 00:44:02,421 to deny violence its victory and to fulfill 865 00:44:02,873 --> 00:44:03,693 the vision of brotherhood. 866 00:44:10,814 --> 00:44:12,544 The effect of the death of Martin Luther 867 00:44:12,950 --> 00:44:15,170 King on the Panthers was overwhelming in the sense 868 00:44:15,653 --> 00:44:21,042 that once King was assassinated, and the way 869 00:44:21,959 --> 00:44:27,469 he was assassinated so publicly, it shattered many, many people. 870 00:44:30,734 --> 00:44:32,464 WILLIAM CALHOUN: They'd killed their last chance for me 871 00:44:32,870 --> 00:44:34,480 to be peaceful with them. 872 00:44:34,872 --> 00:44:37,942 They'd killed their last chance for negotiation. 873 00:44:38,542 --> 00:44:40,412 They killed the man who walked through hell 874 00:44:40,844 --> 00:44:44,324 to try to get along with you, and you kill him? 875 00:44:44,982 --> 00:44:47,032 That was our champion. 876 00:44:47,484 --> 00:44:50,324 You killed whatever hope I had in you, 877 00:44:50,888 --> 00:44:53,198 and I have no more use for you-- none. 878 00:45:06,904 --> 00:45:08,244 KATHLEEN CLEAVER: I believe that there 879 00:45:08,605 --> 00:45:11,825 was a decision made that some response on the part 880 00:45:12,443 --> 00:45:13,753 of the Black Panther Party has to be 881 00:45:14,111 --> 00:45:16,451 made to what happened to King. 882 00:45:16,947 --> 00:45:18,117 DONNA MURCH: Eldridge Cleaver was 883 00:45:18,449 --> 00:45:21,059 worried that if the Panthers didn't take decisive action 884 00:45:21,585 --> 00:45:23,015 they would cease to be the vanguard. 885 00:45:23,387 --> 00:45:26,727 So we had this idea of actually actively attacking the police. 886 00:45:29,927 --> 00:45:31,657 He goes and he approaches members of the Party 887 00:45:32,062 --> 00:45:35,192 in Oakland, and all of the older people refused to participate. 888 00:45:35,799 --> 00:45:37,349 They knew that this would be suicide. 889 00:45:37,735 --> 00:45:39,695 But the youngest member of the party, little Bobby Hutton, 890 00:45:40,137 --> 00:45:43,447 decides to follow Eldridge into battle. 891 00:45:44,074 --> 00:45:46,154 ELBERT “BIG MAN” HOWARD: Little Bobby called me-- Big Man, 892 00:45:46,610 --> 00:45:47,600 I need a weapon. 893 00:45:50,748 --> 00:45:54,998 I gave him a Winchester 12-gauge pump shotgun that I had, 894 00:45:55,753 --> 00:46:00,113 and I told him, well, be careful out there, you know. 895 00:46:00,891 --> 00:46:02,291 Watch yourself. 896 00:46:02,659 --> 00:46:06,469 And he said OK, I will, and he left. 897 00:46:07,164 --> 00:46:10,734 And then first thing in the morning, I, uh, 898 00:46:11,401 --> 00:46:12,421 have the radio on. 899 00:46:12,736 --> 00:46:13,906 SPEAKER: The Oakland police stated 900 00:46:14,238 --> 00:46:15,988 that they were fired upon during a routine investigation 901 00:46:16,406 --> 00:46:19,686 into a suspicious person, and after a short search cornered 902 00:46:20,310 --> 00:46:23,910 Hutton and Eldridge Cleaver in the basement of a nearby house. 903 00:46:24,581 --> 00:46:26,631 KATHLEEN CLEAVER: A tear gas canister blew up, 904 00:46:27,084 --> 00:46:29,714 and the basement they were hiding in caught on fire. 905 00:46:30,254 --> 00:46:31,894 They decided they didn't want to burn to death. 906 00:46:32,289 --> 00:46:34,189 They would rather surrender. 907 00:46:34,625 --> 00:46:37,175 Eldridge told Bobby Hutton to take off all your clothes 908 00:46:37,694 --> 00:46:39,594 so they can't see you're concealing a weapon. 909 00:46:40,030 --> 00:46:42,050 When you surrender, take off everything. 910 00:46:42,499 --> 00:46:46,399 But Bobby was embarrassed, and he just took off his shirt 911 00:46:47,104 --> 00:46:47,684 and he kept on his pants. 912 00:46:50,607 --> 00:46:51,917 Bobby Hutton came out with his hands 913 00:46:52,276 --> 00:46:55,996 in the air-- first member who walked out of the house 914 00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:57,530 and was gunned down. 915 00:47:03,020 --> 00:47:04,630 ELBERT "BIG MAN" HOWARD: My heart sank. 916 00:47:05,022 --> 00:47:10,122 He was only 17 years old, and one of the first people 917 00:47:10,994 --> 00:47:12,924 to get killed in the party, and so young. 918 00:47:16,633 --> 00:47:19,473 In essence, I felt that I went out and got 919 00:47:20,037 --> 00:47:22,467 my little brother killed. 920 00:47:22,973 --> 00:47:26,543 What if I'd not given him the weapon? 921 00:47:27,211 --> 00:47:31,751 Those are some of the demons that, uh, were in my closet. 922 00:47:36,653 --> 00:47:39,783 Shot down like a common animal, he died a warrior 923 00:47:40,390 --> 00:47:42,730 for black liberation. 924 00:47:43,227 --> 00:47:46,447 In the name of brotherhood and survival, remember Bobby. 925 00:47:47,064 --> 00:47:51,254 That could have been my son lying there, 926 00:47:52,002 --> 00:47:55,132 and I'm going to do as much as I can. 927 00:47:55,739 --> 00:48:00,719 I'm going to start right now to inform white people of what 928 00:48:01,578 --> 00:48:03,218 they don't know. 929 00:48:03,614 --> 00:48:06,604 For the Black Panther Party, it was crisis and chaos, 930 00:48:07,184 --> 00:48:11,964 because this was the first time that this had ever happened. 931 00:48:12,789 --> 00:48:17,739 There had been no Panther murdered by police. 932 00:48:18,595 --> 00:48:19,795 HUEY NEWTON: We want non-violence, 933 00:48:20,130 --> 00:48:22,680 just like Martin Luther King-- but non-violence on the part 934 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:24,430 of who? 935 00:48:24,768 --> 00:48:29,278 To sit and watch ourselves to be slaughtered like our brother? 936 00:48:30,073 --> 00:48:32,973 We must defend ourselves, as Malcolm X said, 937 00:48:33,543 --> 00:48:34,183 by any means necessary. 938 00:48:40,984 --> 00:48:42,884 KATHLEEN CLEAVER: After the loss of Bobby Hutton, 939 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:46,160 Eldridge was ordered to surrender to San Francisco 940 00:48:46,723 --> 00:48:50,913 police to go back to prison, but on November 28, 1968, 941 00:48:51,662 --> 00:48:56,202 he didn't turn himself in, and he was not to be found. 942 00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,110 REPORTER: Mrs. Cleaver, do you know where your husband is? 943 00:48:59,569 --> 00:49:00,499 No. 944 00:49:00,804 --> 00:49:01,704 REPORTER: When was the last time you saw him? 945 00:49:02,005 --> 00:49:03,235 Sunday night. 946 00:49:03,573 --> 00:49:04,773 REPORTER: It's rumored that Eldridge is out of the country. 947 00:49:05,108 --> 00:49:05,898 Do you think this is possible? 948 00:49:06,176 --> 00:49:07,876 No, I don't think so. 949 00:49:08,278 --> 00:49:09,738 NEWSCASTER: And so the mystery remains-- 950 00:49:10,113 --> 00:49:11,723 where is Eldridge Cleaver? 951 00:49:12,115 --> 00:49:14,015 It's entirely possible that his wife and lawyer really 952 00:49:14,451 --> 00:49:15,381 do not know. 953 00:49:15,686 --> 00:49:17,856 To the law, he is simply a fugitive from justice. 954 00:49:24,928 --> 00:49:26,188 KATHLEEN CLEAVER: He had gone to Algeria. 955 00:49:34,104 --> 00:49:35,624 There's nothing the United States government 956 00:49:36,006 --> 00:49:37,116 can do to us in Algeria. 957 00:49:37,441 --> 00:49:40,161 They don't have diplomatic relations with Algeria. 958 00:49:40,711 --> 00:49:44,141 We could function openly, politically, in Algeria, 959 00:49:44,781 --> 00:49:46,971 so we opened our international section of the Black Panther 960 00:49:47,451 --> 00:49:47,831 Party. 961 00:49:51,521 --> 00:49:52,811 MARK KURLANSKY: The Black Panthers 962 00:49:53,156 --> 00:49:57,466 were welcomed by all sorts of liberation movements. 963 00:49:58,228 --> 00:50:01,128 The North Vietnamese, who were moving into a newer embassy, 964 00:50:01,698 --> 00:50:03,838 gave their old embassy to the Panthers. 965 00:50:04,301 --> 00:50:06,821 And the Black Panthers, of course, uh, 966 00:50:07,337 --> 00:50:08,767 loved being accepted like this. 967 00:50:12,509 --> 00:50:14,529 YOHORU WILLIAMS: In Eldridge Cleaver's successful attempt 968 00:50:14,978 --> 00:50:16,208 fo establish an international wing, 969 00:50:16,546 --> 00:50:18,716 he's able to do some things that are very important. 970 00:50:19,182 --> 00:50:20,822 Malcolm X and other black nationalists 971 00:50:21,218 --> 00:50:23,708 had talked about forging those types of alliances. 972 00:50:24,221 --> 00:50:26,091 The Panthers actually did it. 973 00:50:26,523 --> 00:50:29,213 MAN: (speaking french} 974 00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:31,660 INTERPRETER: We wish you victory in your struggle. 975 00:50:32,095 --> 00:50:32,645 Thank you. 976 00:50:32,896 --> 00:50:35,706 (speaking french) 977 00:50:36,266 --> 00:50:37,496 INTERPRETER: And we hope to receive you 978 00:50:37,834 --> 00:50:39,034 in liberated Saigon. 979 00:50:39,369 --> 00:50:41,679 And tell them that I hope to receive them in Washington, DC. 980 00:50:42,172 --> 00:50:43,402 KATHLEEN CLEAVER: At that time America 981 00:50:43,740 --> 00:50:47,220 was being demonized considerably because of the war in Vietnam. 982 00:50:47,878 --> 00:50:51,748 So here we are, black Americans who are opposed to all of this. 983 00:50:52,449 --> 00:50:55,289 We're the counter to the United States. 984 00:50:55,852 --> 00:50:58,632 We were able to connect with North Koreans, 985 00:50:59,189 --> 00:51:01,299 with Vietnamese, with the Chinese, 986 00:51:01,758 --> 00:51:03,928 and with also many African liberation movements. 987 00:51:04,394 --> 00:51:06,854 And many people came to see us there. 988 00:51:07,364 --> 00:51:08,594 ELDRIDGE CLEAVER: We came over here 989 00:51:08,932 --> 00:51:11,742 to do what we can to communicate to you 990 00:51:12,302 --> 00:51:14,852 what's happening in our struggle in the United States. 991 00:51:15,372 --> 00:51:17,592 I think a lot of what draws these groups together 992 00:51:18,075 --> 00:51:19,805 is a kind of anti-American sentiment. 993 00:51:20,210 --> 00:51:22,760 If you want to really shake the American establishment, 994 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:25,650 you want them to think that they are in danger, 995 00:51:26,149 --> 00:51:28,639 that a revolutionary new world is on its way. 996 00:51:29,152 --> 00:51:30,672 Um, the Panthers are certainly the people 997 00:51:31,054 --> 00:51:32,364 you're going to support. 998 00:51:32,722 --> 00:51:34,122 Since the United States of America 999 00:51:34,491 --> 00:51:36,541 is the backbone of oppression in the world, 1000 00:51:36,993 --> 00:51:40,503 the blows that we strike against the empire there will also 1001 00:51:41,164 --> 00:51:44,064 aid the liberation struggles in Africa, Asia, and Latin 1002 00:51:44,634 --> 00:51:45,974 America as we aid ourselves. 1003 00:51:49,639 --> 00:51:52,069 NEWSCASTER: Face the Nation-- a spontaneous and unrehearsed 1004 00:51:52,576 --> 00:51:54,826 news interview with the chief of staff of the Black Panther 1005 00:51:55,312 --> 00:51:57,042 Party, David Hilliard. 1006 00:51:57,447 --> 00:51:58,907 Your minister of information is now 1007 00:51:59,282 --> 00:52:01,062 in exile-- Eldridge Cleaver. 1008 00:52:01,485 --> 00:52:02,825 You speak with him often on the phone. 1009 00:52:03,186 --> 00:52:03,616 Is that correct? 1010 00:52:03,854 --> 00:52:04,724 Well, you know ! do. 1011 00:52:05,021 --> 00:52:06,191 They tap the phones. 1012 00:52:06,523 --> 00:52:08,223 The phone Is probably hooked up through the White House. 1013 00:52:08,625 --> 00:52:10,795 The leaders of the party, its national leadership, 1014 00:52:11,261 --> 00:52:13,921 sits with David Hilliard. 1015 00:52:14,464 --> 00:52:16,654 Bobby Seale is in and out of prison, 1016 00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:20,504 Huey Newton is in jail-- at this point for a number of years-- 1017 00:52:21,138 --> 00:52:24,648 and Eldridge Cleaver is in Algeria. 1018 00:52:25,308 --> 00:52:29,178 David was someone who was considered 1019 00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:34,800 a, um-- you can say he was a sound storekeeper. 1020 00:52:35,652 --> 00:52:37,762 He kept the shop in order. 1021 00:52:38,221 --> 00:52:39,531 Richard Nixon is the chief spokesman 1022 00:52:39,890 --> 00:52:42,500 of the American people, and if the man is not 1023 00:52:43,026 --> 00:52:44,806 responsible for the people in government 1024 00:52:45,228 --> 00:52:47,568 like the FBI agencies or the local police, 1025 00:52:48,064 --> 00:52:50,814 then he should stand up and, uh, let the American people know 1026 00:52:51,368 --> 00:52:53,738 that they do not endorse the kind of campaigns that's been 1027 00:52:54,237 --> 00:52:55,167 waged against black America. 1028 00:52:55,472 --> 00:52:56,492 finterposing voices) 1029 00:53:01,678 --> 00:53:05,078 FLORES FORBES: Nixon is elected with a sense of a mandate 1030 00:53:05,715 --> 00:53:08,345 to crack down, and he feels that it 1031 00:53:08,885 --> 00:53:14,535 is his personal charge after the ‘68 election to repress. 1032 00:53:15,492 --> 00:53:19,152 This is a nation of laws, and as Abraham Lincoln has said, 1033 00:53:19,829 --> 00:53:22,699 no one is above the law, no one is below the law, 1034 00:53:23,266 --> 00:53:24,786 and we're going to enforce the law. 1035 00:53:25,168 --> 00:53:26,628 And Americans should remember that if we're 1036 00:53:27,003 --> 00:53:27,963 going to have law and order. 1037 00:53:28,271 --> 00:53:29,441 FLORES FORBES: The Nixon administration 1038 00:53:29,773 --> 00:53:34,223 gives J. Edgar Hoover even more of a sense that he can 1039 00:53:35,011 --> 00:53:37,791 repress without restriction. 1040 00:53:38,348 --> 00:53:40,428 Do you feel the nation is in trouble? 1041 00:53:40,884 --> 00:53:42,114 I think very definitely it is. 1042 00:53:42,452 --> 00:53:43,412 But what is the answer? 1043 00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:46,710 The answer is vigorous law enforcement. 1044 00:53:47,290 --> 00:53:49,100 That's the only answer. 1045 00:53:49,526 --> 00:53:50,576 How about justice? 1046 00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:52,854 You hear a lot about justice with law enforcement. 1047 00:53:53,296 --> 00:53:56,776 Justice is merely incidental to law and order. 1048 00:54:00,303 --> 00:54:02,053 NEWSCASTER: FBI director J. Edgar Hoover today 1049 00:54:02,472 --> 00:54:04,342 asserted that the Black Panthers represent the greatest 1050 00:54:04,774 --> 00:54:06,064 internal threat to the nation. 1051 00:54:06,409 --> 00:54:08,599 Hoover said the Panthers have perpetrated numerous assaults 1052 00:54:09,079 --> 00:54:11,159 on police and have engaged in violent confrontations 1053 00:54:11,615 --> 00:54:12,815 throughout the country. 1054 00:54:13,149 --> 00:54:14,989 CLAYBORNE CARSON: When Hoover identified the Black Panther 1055 00:54:15,418 --> 00:54:18,108 Party as the number one threat to the national security 1056 00:54:18,655 --> 00:54:19,915 of the United States at a time when 1057 00:54:20,257 --> 00:54:24,507 they're fighting in Vietnam, you know, of course that was crazy. 1058 00:54:25,262 --> 00:54:28,222 But it was politically very effective, 1059 00:54:28,798 --> 00:54:32,138 and it says to law enforcement at the local level, 1060 00:54:32,769 --> 00:54:34,079 we can take the gloves off now. 1061 00:54:34,437 --> 00:54:36,987 We don't have to respect the civil liberties 1062 00:54:37,507 --> 00:54:39,117 and we can go after them with everything we got. 1063 00:54:50,353 --> 00:54:52,403 RONALD FREEMAN: One of the executive orders of the Panther 1064 00:54:52,856 --> 00:54:55,316 Party was that we was to defend ourselves 1065 00:54:55,825 --> 00:54:59,365 from unwanted attacks, and not allow the police 1066 00:55:00,030 --> 00:55:01,900 to just forcibly come in. 1067 00:55:02,332 --> 00:55:04,642 If the tear gas is thrown, here's 1068 00:55:05,135 --> 00:55:06,125 your water and your eye mask. 1069 00:55:06,436 --> 00:55:07,746 Keep this on you. 1070 00:55:08,104 --> 00:55:09,004 OK. 1071 00:55:09,306 --> 00:55:10,766 Nobody's coming in the front door-- nobody. 1072 00:55:11,141 --> 00:55:11,931 No gas. 1073 00:55:12,208 --> 00:55:14,168 Nobody gets on the roof, (inaudible}. 1074 00:55:14,611 --> 00:55:15,951 ‘Well, just wish they would come tonight. 1075 00:55:16,313 --> 00:55:17,213 Yeah, well, ! want them to come. 1076 00:55:17,514 --> 00:55:18,774 finterposing voices) 1077 00:55:24,354 --> 00:55:26,984 The Panthers were a criminal organization, 1078 00:55:27,524 --> 00:55:29,894 were violent, and they wanted to kill cops. 1079 00:55:30,393 --> 00:55:32,003 That's all needed to know. 1080 00:55:32,395 --> 00:55:34,095 REPORTER: About 40 policemen artived on the scene 1081 00:55:34,497 --> 00:55:36,747 and began surrounding the Black Panther headquarters. 1082 00:55:37,233 --> 00:55:40,453 They were trying to change government as we know it 1083 00:55:41,071 --> 00:55:43,531 to terrorist activity. 1084 00:55:44,040 --> 00:55:47,820 We took a very proactive stance in combating what we considered 1085 00:55:48,511 --> 00:55:51,471 a terrorist organization. 1086 00:55:52,048 --> 00:55:55,738 think the FBI manipulated the police, 1087 00:55:56,419 --> 00:55:58,169 and the FBI arranged for the Black Panthers 1088 00:55:58,588 --> 00:56:02,018 to get guns through informants. 1089 00:56:02,659 --> 00:56:07,409 They would convince the police that the Panthers had weapons. 1090 00:56:08,231 --> 00:56:09,811 They had to go in and be ready to be shot at, 1091 00:56:10,200 --> 00:56:12,280 so the police went in and shot at them first. 1092 00:56:15,438 --> 00:56:17,928 MOHAMMED MUBARAK: You'd hear about raids taking place 1093 00:56:18,441 --> 00:56:20,751 against Black Panther offices. 1094 00:56:21,244 --> 00:56:22,234 They were coming to kill us. 1095 00:56:22,545 --> 00:56:23,915 REPORTER {VOICEOVER}: Police say there 1096 00:56:24,280 --> 00:56:26,390 was sniper fire throughout the early morning hours, 1097 00:56:26,850 --> 00:56:28,690 so they moved in cautiously and then began shooting. 1098 00:56:29,119 --> 00:56:31,079 REPORTER (VOICEOVER): The Black Panther police shootout 1099 00:56:31,521 --> 00:56:33,271 lasted 30 minutes. 1100 00:56:33,690 --> 00:56:34,920 It was obvious that the government 1101 00:56:35,258 --> 00:56:38,918 had made a decision that this was all-out attack on the Black 1102 00:56:39,596 --> 00:56:40,556 Panther Party. 1103 00:56:40,864 --> 00:56:42,234 Every significant office is going to be raided. 1104 00:56:42,599 --> 00:56:43,209 It's going to be bombed. 1105 00:56:43,466 --> 00:56:44,756 It's going to be shot. 1106 00:56:45,101 --> 00:56:46,561 They're going to be mass arrests. 1107 00:56:46,936 --> 00:56:49,216 REPORTER (VOICEOVER): In the pre-dawn hours in Chicago 1108 00:56:49,706 --> 00:56:51,316 today, police and Negroes fought a-- 1109 00:56:51,708 --> 00:56:53,318 REPORTER (VOICEOVER): Police and Black Panthers clash 1110 00:56:53,710 --> 00:56:55,320 in Houston, New Orleans, and other cities. 1111 00:56:55,712 --> 00:56:57,822 For the Black Panther Party it was a crisis situation, 1112 00:56:58,281 --> 00:57:00,421 because we didn't have the resources to handle 1113 00:57:00,884 --> 00:57:02,404 all these arrests and all these trials. 1114 00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:18,840 WOMAN (ON TV): Contributions to Panther Defense Fund? 1115 00:57:22,939 --> 00:57:25,839 Contributions to the Panther Defense Fund? 1116 00:57:26,409 --> 00:57:28,489 They're trying to either wipe out the Panther Party 1117 00:57:28,945 --> 00:57:32,865 by jailing all the members and wiping them out economically, 1118 00:57:33,583 --> 00:57:35,923 financially, or violently, through killing them. 1119 00:57:39,189 --> 00:57:43,059 After all, they're just-- they're just Negroes, you know. 1120 00:57:43,760 --> 00:57:47,420 In other cities the Panthers were under physical attack 1121 00:57:48,097 --> 00:57:50,057 from police departments. 1122 00:57:50,500 --> 00:57:53,810 But New York City, it was going to handle its Panther problem 1123 00:57:54,437 --> 00:57:55,637 differently. 1124 00:57:55,972 --> 00:57:58,192 They created a conspiracy case that 1125 00:57:58,675 --> 00:58:02,775 allowed them te arrest the entire leadership of the New 1126 00:58:03,513 --> 00:58:05,653 York City Black Panther Party. 1127 00:58:06,115 --> 00:58:08,985 ANew York grand jury has indicted 21 alleged Black 1128 00:58:09,552 --> 00:58:12,622 Panthers on charges of plotting several bombings in the city 1129 00:58:13,223 --> 00:58:14,213 tomorrow. 1130 00:58:14,524 --> 00:58:16,224 GERALD LEFCOURT (VOICEOVER): On April 2, 1969, 1131 00:58:16,626 --> 00:58:19,496 in, uh, pre-dawn raids, 21 Black Panthers 1132 00:58:20,063 --> 00:58:23,403 were charged with all kinds of terrorist activity. 1133 00:58:24,033 --> 00:58:26,113 REPORTER: These are some of the men the police are accusing 1134 00:58:26,569 --> 00:58:27,739 of being involved in the plot, which 1135 00:58:28,071 --> 00:58:30,381 could have wounded or killed scores of busy New Yorkers. 1136 00:58:30,874 --> 00:58:33,214 12 men were arrested today, two are already in jail, 1137 00:58:33,710 --> 00:58:35,410 and seven more are still at large. 1138 00:58:35,812 --> 00:58:38,302 And so the Panther 21 started. 1139 00:58:38,815 --> 00:58:40,655 JAMAL JOSEPH: ! had just turned 16 years old, 1140 00:58:41,084 --> 00:58:43,334 but I had already become a section leader. 1141 00:58:43,820 --> 00:58:45,960 When they first kicked in the door of my grandmother's house 1142 00:58:46,422 --> 00:58:48,092 at 4 o'clock in the morning, I thought wow, 1143 00:58:48,491 --> 00:58:49,541 I'm important enough to be arrested. 1144 00:58:49,859 --> 00:58:52,259 I'm a real Panther now. 1145 00:58:52,762 --> 00:58:55,542 There was a feeling that it was a badge of honor. 1146 00:58:56,099 --> 00:58:57,269 GERALD LEFCOURT (VOICEOVER): This 1147 00:58:57,600 --> 00:58:59,880 was the most important place in the nation 1148 00:59:00,370 --> 00:59:02,180 at that time for the Party. 1149 00:59:02,605 --> 00:59:05,155 It was spreading all over the east coast- 1150 00:59:05,675 --> 00:59:09,985 from New Haven, Baltimore, everywhere, it was spreading. 1151 00:59:10,747 --> 00:59:13,997 This group, 21 people, was the leadership 1152 00:59:14,617 --> 00:59:19,537 of the New York area, all tied up in court with $100,000 bails 1153 00:59:20,390 --> 00:59:23,290 which none of them could make. 1154 00:59:23,860 --> 00:59:27,610 JAMAL JOSEPH: We were facing 360 plus years in prison, 1155 00:59:28,298 --> 00:59:32,398 and I began to feel and accept the fact 1156 00:59:33,136 --> 00:59:35,246 that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. 1157 00:59:35,705 --> 00:59:36,605 REPORTER: The Black Panther Party 1158 00:59:36,906 --> 00:59:38,836 is riddled with informers who are 1159 00:59:39,275 --> 00:59:41,935 intent on creating situations in order 1160 00:59:42,478 --> 00:59:45,498 to bring forth such indictments in an attempt to destroy-- 1161 00:59:46,082 --> 00:59:48,302 Are you saying that they try to frame them? 1162 00:59:48,785 --> 00:59:50,075 No question about it. 1163 00:59:50,420 --> 00:59:52,790 I mean, I told the jury that maybe the police 1164 00:59:53,289 --> 00:59:53,839 started the Party. 1165 00:59:58,161 --> 00:59:59,561 People who've come back to New York 1166 00:59:59,929 --> 01:00:02,739 are going to work full time until the Panther 21 1167 01:00:03,299 --> 01:00:06,899 and the people accused are allowed to get a fair trial. 1168 01:00:07,570 --> 01:00:09,650 We spent a lot of time building awareness 1169 01:00:10,106 --> 01:00:11,126 and doing fundraisers. 1170 01:00:11,441 --> 01:00:13,751 And then we had to have high profile fundraisers, 1171 01:00:14,243 --> 01:00:15,733 because this kind of money that we needed 1172 01:00:16,112 --> 01:00:17,542 couldn't come from the black community. 1173 01:00:24,854 --> 01:00:26,374 We would wind up doing fundraisers 1174 01:00:26,756 --> 01:00:29,126 at places like Jane Fonda's townhouse 1175 01:00:29,626 --> 01:00:33,436 so that we could raise money for the Legal Defense Fund 1176 01:00:34,130 --> 01:00:35,440 We'd all be in our leather jackets. 1177 01:00:35,798 --> 01:00:37,138 We all would have our berets. 1178 01:00:37,500 --> 01:00:38,460 Some of us would be packing. 1179 01:00:38,768 --> 01:00:41,398 Some of us wouldn't. 1180 01:00:41,938 --> 01:00:43,988 The only people that would speak would be the two people 1181 01:00:44,440 --> 01:00:45,610 that was designated to speak. 1182 01:00:45,942 --> 01:00:47,112 They would speak. 1183 01:00:47,443 --> 01:00:49,373 The rest of us would just line the walls, fold our arms, 1184 01:00:49,812 --> 01:00:52,302 and look like Black Panthers-- like, you know, 1185 01:00:52,815 --> 01:00:54,275 we was ready to kill somebody. 1186 01:00:54,651 --> 01:00:56,961 And them stars, they loved that shit. 1187 01:00:57,453 --> 01:00:59,383 They just ate that shit up, you know. 1188 01:01:05,995 --> 01:01:08,685 JAMAL JOSEPH: After a 13-month trial 1189 01:01:09,232 --> 01:01:10,782 where New York state spent millions of dollars 1190 01:01:11,167 --> 01:01:14,567 and put dozens of witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, 1191 01:01:15,204 --> 01:01:18,954 a jury deliberated for three hours. 1192 01:01:19,642 --> 01:01:23,042 SPEAKER: The jury have considered all the counts 1193 01:01:23,680 --> 01:01:26,200 and charges against the defendants 1194 01:01:26,716 --> 01:01:28,796 and have found them not guilty. 1195 01:01:29,252 --> 01:01:32,032 (cheering} 1196 01:01:34,757 --> 01:01:37,977 MIKE GRAY: There were 156 not guilty verdicts. 1197 01:01:41,831 --> 01:01:43,911 It was astonishing. 1198 01:01:44,367 --> 01:01:46,297 Courtroom erupted. 1199 01:01:46,736 --> 01:01:48,226 The city erupted. 1200 01:01:48,604 --> 01:01:52,354 There were people dancing in the streets as word spread. 1201 01:01:53,042 --> 01:01:54,242 Come on over. 1202 01:01:54,577 --> 01:01:58,677 Jury, defendants, everybody, we're all here-- 640 Broadway. 1203 01:01:59,415 --> 01:02:01,145 REPORTER: Most of the defendants have been in jail 1204 01:02:01,551 --> 01:02:03,301 for more than two years, unable to raise 1205 01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:04,740 the high bail set for them. 1206 01:02:05,054 --> 01:02:06,664 The trial lasted eight months. 1207 01:02:07,056 --> 01:02:08,396 REPORTER: The jury reached its verdict 1208 01:02:08,758 --> 01:02:10,928 of innocent on all counts in less than four hours, 1209 01:02:11,394 --> 01:02:13,504 concluding the longest criminal proceeding in New York state 1210 01:02:13,963 --> 01:02:14,833 history. 1211 01:02:15,131 --> 01:02:16,441 What it was on the part of the jury to me-- 1212 01:02:16,799 --> 01:02:19,379 I don't know how each individual juror feels-- but together they 1213 01:02:19,902 --> 01:02:23,152 have rejected, once and for all, a society which 1214 01:02:23,773 --> 01:02:25,233 refuses to allow change. 1215 01:02:25,608 --> 01:02:28,238 They said, you must allow people to get together and think 1216 01:02:28,778 --> 01:02:30,998 about changing life and the way they live. 1217 01:02:31,481 --> 01:02:33,621 And it's a beautiful victory. 1218 01:02:39,822 --> 01:02:42,012 FEMALE SPEAKER: Even as the New York 21 are being acquitted, 1219 01:02:42,492 --> 01:02:45,922 you're seeing smaller trials, other trials pop up really 1220 01:02:46,562 --> 01:02:48,082 all over the country. 1221 01:02:48,464 --> 01:02:50,484 Some of them result in acquittals, some of them 1222 01:02:50,933 --> 01:02:52,743 result in convictions, but this really 1223 01:02:53,169 --> 01:02:55,219 consumes most of the Party's energy. 1224 01:02:55,671 --> 01:02:57,631 People were afraid to join. 1225 01:02:58,074 --> 01:02:59,774 They knew that it was infiltrated. 1226 01:03:00,176 --> 01:03:03,216 They knew that they would be watched immediately. 1227 01:03:03,813 --> 01:03:07,153 They were afraid of being prosecuted unjustly. 1228 01:03:07,784 --> 01:03:10,564 Nobody wants to go near such an organization that's so hot. 1229 01:03:28,004 --> 01:03:29,204 TOM HAYDEN: I was part of planning 1230 01:03:29,539 --> 01:03:31,999 a demonstration against Vietnam at the 1968 1231 01:03:32,508 --> 01:03:35,468 Democratic Convention in Chicago. 1232 01:03:36,045 --> 01:03:39,065 Bobby Seale was invited to speak. 1233 01:03:39,649 --> 01:03:44,069 The revolution in this country at the time 1234 01:03:44,854 --> 01:03:49,334 is in fact people coming forth to demand freedom. 1235 01:03:50,126 --> 01:03:52,996 (cheering} 1236 01:03:53,563 --> 01:03:55,233 TOM HAYDEN: He then left and didn't have anything 1237 01:03:55,631 --> 01:03:59,171 to do with the demonstrations or riots or confrontations 1238 01:03:59,836 --> 01:04:04,285 in Chicago, but he was arrested ‘on the advice of the FBI, 1239 01:04:05,074 --> 01:04:09,324 and he was later indicted for that speech. 1240 01:04:10,079 --> 01:04:11,309 JEFF HAAS: Bobby Seale asked to have 1241 01:04:11,647 --> 01:04:14,457 his-- to postpone the trial until his lawyer, Charles Gary, 1242 01:04:15,017 --> 01:04:16,067 could come to Chicago. 1243 01:04:16,385 --> 01:04:18,285 The judge refused, and then Bobby said well, 1244 01:04:18,721 --> 01:04:19,921 I'll represent myself. 1245 01:04:20,256 --> 01:04:21,716 REPORTER: It started when Seale demanded 1246 01:04:22,091 --> 01:04:23,841 to cross examine a prosecution witness, 1247 01:04:24,260 --> 01:04:26,840 accusing the judge of denying his constitutional rights 1248 01:04:27,363 --> 01:04:28,853 to defend himself. 1249 01:04:29,232 --> 01:04:31,602 The judge ordered him to sit down and be quiet, 1250 01:04:32,101 --> 01:04:34,731 but the fiery Black Panther leader continued to cry out. 1251 01:04:51,220 --> 01:04:54,120 GERALD LEFCOURT: The judge told the marshals to hold him down, 1252 01:04:54,690 --> 01:04:57,270 and that started several days of insanity. 1253 01:04:57,793 --> 01:04:59,223 BOBBY SEALE: This stuffis a lie. 1254 01:04:59,595 --> 01:05:01,175 We have a right to (inaudible). 1255 01:05:01,564 --> 01:05:03,614 l'll represent myeslf. 1256 01:05:04,066 --> 01:05:06,286 MIKE GRAY: He kept insisting on his right to represent himself, 1257 01:05:06,769 --> 01:05:08,549 and the judge's response to that was 1258 01:05:08,971 --> 01:05:12,341 to order the bailiffs to put gaffer tape over his mouth 1259 01:05:12,975 --> 01:05:16,135 and tie him to his chair. 1260 01:05:16,746 --> 01:05:19,706 I mean, it couldn't have been more definitive if they had 1261 01:05:20,283 --> 01:05:22,593 put a sign on him saying slave. 1262 01:05:23,085 --> 01:05:25,135 You know. 1263 01:05:25,588 --> 01:05:29,128 BOBBY SEALE: (muffled speech 1264 01:05:29,792 --> 01:05:32,102 JEFF HAAS: But it turned out Bobby could make noise and say 1265 01:05:32,595 --> 01:05:34,645 things through the gag. 1266 01:05:35,097 --> 01:05:37,497 BOBBY SEALE: (muffled speech 1267 01:05:53,182 --> 01:06:01,912 Stop the trial. 1268 01:06:03,292 --> 01:06:05,402 MIKE GRAY: One of the most amazing phenomena of that time 1269 01:06:05,861 --> 01:06:10,111 was outside the federal court building there was a plaza. 1270 01:06:10,866 --> 01:06:12,856 It was right in the heart of town, 1271 01:06:13,302 --> 01:06:15,052 right in the middle of the loop. 1272 01:06:15,471 --> 01:06:19,421 And these kids were coming down from the courtroom, and they-- 1273 01:06:20,142 --> 01:06:21,782 with fire in their eyes, having just 1274 01:06:22,178 --> 01:06:23,908 seen that madness up there. 1275 01:06:24,313 --> 01:06:30,323 And all of a sudden, one day this black orator-- 1276 01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:33,540 who at that time was 20 years old-- 1277 01:06:34,023 --> 01:06:36,453 starts talking to these people, and all of a sudden 1278 01:06:36,959 --> 01:06:38,129 it's like a magnet. 1279 01:06:38,461 --> 01:06:42,881 The deputy chairman of the Illincis Black Panther Party, 1280 01:06:43,666 --> 01:06:44,366 Fred Hampton. 1281 01:06:44,633 --> 01:06:47,033 lapplause) 1282 01:06:52,041 --> 01:06:55,641 And I just want to tell you that the chairman of the Black 1283 01:06:56,312 --> 01:06:58,742 Panther Party is going to be ungagged 1284 01:06:59,248 --> 01:07:03,758 and they're going to have to take those chains off him. 1285 01:07:04,553 --> 01:07:05,863 Bobby Seale's going through all types. 1286 01:07:06,222 --> 01:07:09,622 of physical and mental torture, but that's all right, 1287 01:07:10,259 --> 01:07:12,809 because we said even before this happened and we're 1288 01:07:13,329 --> 01:07:15,759 going to say it after this, and after I'm locked up. 1289 01:07:16,265 --> 01:07:17,575 and after everyone's locked up, that you 1290 01:07:17,933 --> 01:07:21,883 can jail a revolutionary, but you can't jail a revolution. 1291 01:07:22,605 --> 01:07:24,945 Right. 1292 01:07:25,441 --> 01:07:27,781 You may run a liberator like Eldridge out the country, 1293 01:07:28,277 --> 01:07:30,677 but you can't run a liberation out the country. 1294 01:07:31,180 --> 01:07:33,670 You might murder a freedom fighter like Bobby Hutton, 1295 01:07:34,183 --> 01:07:35,933 but you can’t murder freedom fighting. 1296 01:07:36,352 --> 01:07:39,662 MICHAEL MCCARTY: Whatever It was, Fred had it. 1297 01:07:40,289 --> 01:07:42,339 When he got up in front of a group of people, 1298 01:07:42,792 --> 01:07:45,542 the words just flowed. 1299 01:07:46,095 --> 01:07:48,705 You were awash in the words, OK? 1300 01:07:49,231 --> 01:07:50,251 It was like that. 1301 01:07:50,566 --> 01:07:52,086 And I don't care how many people were there-- it's 1302 01:07:52,468 --> 01:07:54,138 like he was talking to you. 1303 01:07:54,537 --> 01:07:57,557 That's a dangerous person. 1304 01:07:58,140 --> 01:08:00,100 He wasn't above us. 1305 01:08:00,543 --> 01:08:02,003 He was one of us. 1306 01:08:02,378 --> 01:08:04,518 I'm the deputy chairman of the State of Illinois Black Panther 1307 01:08:04,980 --> 01:08:06,060 Party, Fred Hampton. 1308 01:08:06,382 --> 01:08:07,642 DENNIS CUNNINGHAM: By the time he was 17, 1309 01:08:07,983 --> 01:08:11,933 he was the head of the NAACP youth branch. 1310 01:08:12,655 --> 01:08:16,665 He was already experienced by the time the Illinois 1311 01:08:17,393 --> 01:08:19,673 chapter of the Panther Party was formed, 1312 01:08:20,162 --> 01:08:24,032 so he was a natural choice to lead it. 1313 01:08:24,733 --> 01:08:27,693 We say all power to all people. 1314 01:08:28,270 --> 01:08:29,700 JEFF HAAS: Fred spoke in the People's Church 1315 01:08:30,072 --> 01:08:33,172 in August of 1969, and was in the crowd. 1316 01:08:33,776 --> 01:08:36,586 Toward the end of his speech, he said, everybody stand up, 1317 01:08:37,146 --> 01:08:37,966 and we did. 1318 01:08:38,247 --> 01:08:39,357 And he says, now raise your right hand. 1319 01:08:39,682 --> 01:08:41,142 Say this-- lam a revolutionary. 1320 01:08:41,517 --> 01:08:43,477 CROWD: I am a revolutionary. 1321 01:08:43,919 --> 01:08:45,909 And I couldn't say it, because I thought to myself, 1322 01:08:46,355 --> 01:08:47,145 I'm a lawyer for the movement. 1323 01:08:47,423 --> 01:08:48,473 I'm not a revolutionary. 1324 01:08:48,791 --> 01:08:51,691 And then he said it again-- lam a revolutionary. 1325 01:08:52,261 --> 01:08:53,811 And by the third or fourth time, I 1326 01:08:54,196 --> 01:08:55,926 was saying a revolutionary as loud 1327 01:08:56,332 --> 01:08:59,792 as anybody else in the room. 1328 01:09:00,436 --> 01:09:02,516 We say white power to white people. 1329 01:09:02,972 --> 01:09:03,992 CROWD: White power to white people. 1330 01:09:04,306 --> 01:09:05,506 Brown power to brown people. 1331 01:09:05,841 --> 01:09:07,101 CROWD: Brown power to brown people. 1332 01:09:07,443 --> 01:09:08,263 Yellow power to yellow people. 1333 01:09:08,544 --> 01:09:09,804 CROWD: Yellow power to yellow people. 1334 01:09:10,145 --> 01:09:11,135 Black power to black people. 1335 01:09:11,447 --> 01:09:12,847 CROWD: Black power to black people. 1336 01:09:13,215 --> 01:09:15,795 We say Panther power to defend our Party. 1337 01:09:16,318 --> 01:09:17,398 MIKE KLONSKY: A lot of us thought 1338 01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:20,300 that we were on the eve of a revolutionary situation 1339 01:09:20,823 --> 01:09:22,843 here in the United States. 1340 01:09:23,292 --> 01:09:24,522 We used to call, uh, the Panther Party 1341 01:09:24,860 --> 01:09:27,170 the vanguard of the movement, because they were out 1342 01:09:27,663 --> 01:09:28,513 in the forefront. 1343 01:09:28,797 --> 01:09:31,727 They were kind of setting the pathway. 1344 01:09:32,301 --> 01:09:34,551 Uh, the things that uh, that we would 1345 01:09:35,037 --> 01:09:36,907 face some repression for, they would face it 1346 01:09:37,339 --> 01:09:38,919 10 times as great. 1347 01:09:39,308 --> 01:09:42,298 They were, uh, sacrificing their-- oftentimes 1348 01:09:42,878 --> 01:09:43,988 their lives in the struggle. 1349 01:09:44,313 --> 01:09:45,653 FRED HAMPTON: And these people, this class 1350 01:09:46,015 --> 01:09:46,915 have divided themselves. 1351 01:09:47,216 --> 01:09:48,066 They say I'm black and I hate white people. 1352 01:09:48,350 --> 01:09:49,870 I'm white and I hate black people. 1353 01:09:50,252 --> 01:09:51,862 I'm Latin American and ( hate hillbillies. 1354 01:09:52,254 --> 01:09:54,094 Im a hillbilly and I hate Indians. 1355 01:09:54,523 --> 01:09:56,013 So we're fighting amongst each other. 1356 01:09:56,392 --> 01:09:58,032 MIKE KLONSKY: Fred Hampton, here in Chicago, 1357 01:09:58,427 --> 01:09:59,887 was the main voice for racial unity. 1358 01:10:00,262 --> 01:10:01,572 FRED HAMPTON: The Black Panther Party 1359 01:10:01,931 --> 01:10:04,361 stood up and said that we don't care what anybody said. 1360 01:10:04,867 --> 01:10:06,037 We don't need to fight fire with fire. 1361 01:10:06,368 --> 01:10:07,658 Yes, we better fight fire with water. 1362 01:10:08,003 --> 01:10:09,023 Yes, we're going fo fight racisim not with racism, 1363 01:10:09,338 --> 01:10:10,978 but we're going to fight with solidarity. 1364 01:10:11,373 --> 01:10:14,063 We worked with organizations such as the Young Lords-- 1365 01:10:14,610 --> 01:10:17,630 a Puerto Rican street gang that had become political-- 1366 01:10:18,214 --> 01:10:20,904 and the Young Patriots, hillbillies, 1367 01:10:21,450 --> 01:10:22,740 Appalachian white boys. 1368 01:10:36,465 --> 01:10:39,185 Bob Lee, who was our deputy field marshal, 1369 01:10:39,735 --> 01:10:41,315 had a meeting with them, and he was explaining 1370 01:10:41,704 --> 01:10:42,874 why we should work together. 1371 01:10:59,088 --> 01:11:00,318 LANDON WILLIAMS: The coalition that Fred 1372 01:11:00,656 --> 01:11:02,826 was building in Chicago represented 1373 01:11:03,292 --> 01:11:05,922 the Latinos, the poor whites and poor blacks. 1374 01:11:06,462 --> 01:11:08,332 But also, because he had been in the NAACP, 1375 01:11:08,764 --> 01:11:10,984 he had linkages with folks who in the congregations, or church 1376 01:11:11,467 --> 01:11:13,607 folks, and with working class folks. 1377 01:11:14,069 --> 01:11:16,209 So Fred was building a broad-based coalition 1378 01:11:16,672 --> 01:11:18,042 in Chicago, and that was the threat. 1379 01:11:27,149 --> 01:11:29,929 J. Edgar Hoover most feared young whites uniting 1380 01:11:30,486 --> 01:11:31,976 with the blacks' struggle. 1381 01:11:32,354 --> 01:11:34,544 And he was most afraid of, uh, what 1382 01:11:35,024 --> 01:11:39,624 he called a black messiah, uh, rising up out of this movement. 1383 01:11:43,365 --> 01:11:45,535 MIKE GRAY: Fred Hampton was very good at running 1384 01:11:46,001 --> 01:11:46,731 an organization. 1385 01:11:47,002 --> 01:11:48,492 He could delegate responsibility. 1386 01:11:48,871 --> 01:11:50,241 He could spot talent. 1387 01:11:50,606 --> 01:11:52,126 The one thing that he failed to spot, 1388 01:11:52,508 --> 01:11:56,638 however, was the FBI plant-- who was, of course, 1389 01:11:57,379 --> 01:11:58,049 his personal bodyguard. 1390 01:12:04,520 --> 01:12:05,630 WILLIAM O'NEAL: 1 routinely supplied 1391 01:12:05,954 --> 01:12:10,674 whatever floor plans or diagrams. \ could, uh, to the FBI. 1392 01:12:11,493 --> 01:12:13,573 -- that started in June, 1969. 1393 01:12:14,029 --> 01:12:16,609 I mean, they had a floor plan and keys to the Black Panther 1394 01:12:17,132 --> 01:12:17,332 headquarters. 1395 01:12:22,538 --> 01:12:25,848 December 3, 1969, there was a rally at the People's Church 1396 01:12:26,475 --> 01:12:27,845 on the west side of Chicago. 1397 01:12:28,210 --> 01:12:29,670 And it was one of those rallies where Fred 1398 01:12:30,045 --> 01:12:31,945 gave one of those speeches. 1399 01:12:32,381 --> 01:12:33,281 FRED HAMPTON: I don't believe I'm 1400 01:12:33,582 --> 01:12:34,842 going to die in a car wreck. 1401 01:12:35,184 --> 01:12:36,704 I don't believe I'm going to die from slipping 1402 01:12:37,086 --> 01:12:37,876 on a piece of ice. 1403 01:12:38,153 --> 01:12:39,203 I don't believe that I'm going to die 1404 01:12:39,521 --> 01:12:41,271 because I've got a bad heart. 1405 01:12:41,690 --> 01:12:43,060 Why don't you heal for the people? 1406 01:12:43,425 --> 01:12:44,795 Why don't you struggle for the people? 1407 01:12:45,160 --> 01:12:46,180 Why don't you die for the people? 1408 01:12:49,998 --> 01:12:52,428 Close to 12 midnight, William O'Neal 1409 01:12:52,935 --> 01:12:55,515 came and picked me up and brought me back 1410 01:12:56,038 --> 01:12:58,348 to our apartment. 1411 01:12:58,841 --> 01:13:02,351 Chairman Fred had been running 24/7 trying to organize, 1412 01:13:03,011 --> 01:13:04,061 so he fell asleep. 1413 01:13:07,249 --> 01:13:11,639 Il was 8 and 1/2 months pregnant with our son, 1414 01:13:12,421 --> 01:13:14,121 so I fell asleep too. 1415 01:13:17,393 --> 01:13:19,063 NEWSCASTER: Police attached to the Cook County State's 1416 01:13:19,461 --> 01:13:22,011 Attorney's office raided a Chicago apartment 1417 01:13:22,531 --> 01:13:24,521 shared by two high ranking members of the Black Panther 1418 01:13:24,967 --> 01:13:26,867 Party before dawn today. 1419 01:13:27,302 --> 01:13:29,352 The police were acting on a tip that a supply of weapons 1420 01:13:29,805 --> 01:13:32,555 was in the apartment. 1421 01:13:33,108 --> 01:13:35,418 MIKE GRAY: The state's attorney recreated 1422 01:13:35,911 --> 01:13:38,661 the layout of the Panther apartment 1423 01:13:39,214 --> 01:13:41,204 and, uh, made arrangements for them 1424 01:13:41,650 --> 01:13:44,050 to produce his version of what happened. 1425 01:13:44,553 --> 01:13:45,373 He stands up. 1426 01:13:45,654 --> 01:13:48,114 I stepped over and I put the machine-- 1427 01:13:48,624 --> 01:13:49,794 In short bursts. 1428 01:13:50,125 --> 01:13:52,115 We realized that there are still some people remaining-- 1429 01:13:52,561 --> 01:13:54,111 And before I could get past the threshold, 1430 01:13:54,496 --> 01:13:57,366 there were three shots fired from the rear bedroom. 1431 01:13:57,933 --> 01:14:00,303 The immediate, violent, criminal reaction 1432 01:14:00,803 --> 01:14:03,903 of the occupants in shooting at announced police officers 1433 01:14:04,506 --> 01:14:06,406 emphasizes the extreme viciousness 1434 01:14:06,842 --> 01:14:08,712 of the Black Panther Party. 1435 01:14:09,144 --> 01:14:12,164 So does their refusal to cease firing at the police officers 1436 01:14:12,748 --> 01:14:14,968 when urged to do so several times. 1437 01:14:15,451 --> 01:14:17,411 REPORTER (VOICEOVER): When the 15-minute gun battle was over, 1438 01:14:17,853 --> 01:14:19,313 two Black Panthers were dead. 1439 01:14:19,688 --> 01:14:22,238 Police and Panthers differ about what happened. 1440 01:14:26,995 --> 01:14:29,745 In the apartment, we received no warning, 1441 01:14:30,299 --> 01:14:36,569 no tear gas-- nothing to offer us to surrender or come out. 1442 01:14:37,606 --> 01:14:41,646 Bullets start coming through the walls-- plaster flying. 1443 01:14:42,377 --> 01:14:43,637 Saw bullets coming, \ mean, looked 1444 01:14:43,979 --> 01:14:47,899 like the front of the apartment, from the kitchen area. 1445 01:14:48,617 --> 01:14:51,927 They were-- the police were just shooting. 1446 01:14:52,554 --> 01:14:55,624 This cop stepped to the door with a sub-machine gun 1447 01:14:56,225 --> 01:14:59,155 and you could see was a silhouette. 1448 01:14:59,728 --> 01:15:04,648 And the muzzle flash as he fired, you know, 1449 01:15:05,501 --> 01:15:08,631 a fully automatic weapon into, uh, a room 1450 01:15:09,238 --> 01:15:10,498 that was barely six feet wide. 1451 01:15:13,976 --> 01:15:15,586 DEBORAH JOHNSON: I laid on top of Chairman Fred, 1452 01:15:15,978 --> 01:15:19,548 and I could feel even through him the mattress vibrating. 1453 01:15:20,215 --> 01:15:22,265 You could feel the bullets gong into you. 1454 01:15:22,718 --> 01:15:26,118 I just knew we'd be dead, everybody in there. 1455 01:15:26,755 --> 01:15:30,855 Cop stepped back in and, uh, fired off another round, hit me 1456 01:15:31,593 --> 01:15:32,703 in the hips. 1457 01:15:33,028 --> 01:15:36,308 Everything was like this, it was just going so fast. 1458 01:15:36,932 --> 01:15:38,362 We told them we were wounded, and they said 1459 01:15:38,734 --> 01:15:40,024 come out with your hands up. 1460 01:15:40,369 --> 01:15:43,559 One of them grabbed my robe and they swung it open and say 1461 01:15:44,172 --> 01:15:44,602 oh, what do you? 1462 01:15:44,840 --> 01:15:46,300 We got a broad here. 1463 01:15:46,675 --> 01:15:48,195 And then another one grabbed my hair 1464 01:15:48,577 --> 01:15:51,767 and slung me into the kitchen area. 1465 01:15:52,381 --> 01:15:55,481 I heard a voice say, he's barely alive. 1466 01:15:56,084 --> 01:15:57,514 He's-- he'll barely make it. 1467 01:15:57,886 --> 01:16:00,076 They started shooting again. 1468 01:16:00,556 --> 01:16:03,745 I heard a sister scream and they stopped shooting. 1469 01:16:04,359 --> 01:16:06,639 Police said he's good and dead now. 1470 01:16:13,936 --> 01:16:17,186 (police siren} 1471 01:16:20,742 --> 01:16:24,402 The police made what must be a historic type of blunder 1472 01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:26,830 in leaving the apartment open. 1473 01:16:27,249 --> 01:16:30,969 So right away people went in there. 1474 01:16:31,653 --> 01:16:37,723 stepped into the living room and there 1475 01:16:38,727 --> 01:16:41,947 was blood, Fred’s blood, pouring from-- all the way 1476 01:16:42,564 --> 01:16:44,614 from the bedroom in the very back of house, 1477 01:16:45,067 --> 01:16:49,107 out into-- from the kitchen into the living room. 1478 01:16:51,940 --> 01:16:53,310 MIKE GRAY: It was like a slaughterhouse 1479 01:16:53,675 --> 01:16:56,305 and there was blood all over the place. 1480 01:16:56,845 --> 01:17:00,945 When we lifted the mattress up to look underneath, 1481 01:17:01,683 --> 01:17:05,023 three 45-caliber machine gun slugs fell out of the mattress. 1482 01:17:08,857 --> 01:17:11,487 Only one shot came from a Panther weapon, 1483 01:17:12,027 --> 01:17:14,077 because Mark Clark, a young kid who 1484 01:17:14,529 --> 01:17:17,019 answered the door was shot in the heart 1485 01:17:17,532 --> 01:17:19,932 as he answered the door and the gun 1486 01:17:20,435 --> 01:17:23,865 dropped and went off through the ceiling. 1487 01:17:24,506 --> 01:17:27,256 All of the splinters were coming into the apartment. 1488 01:17:27,809 --> 01:17:29,889 So we said, this was a shoot-in. 1489 01:17:30,345 --> 01:17:31,455 It wasn't a shootout. 1490 01:17:31,780 --> 01:17:32,950 There's gas that the police department 1491 01:17:33,281 --> 01:17:35,061 uses as standard equipment that nobody can stand 1492 01:17:35,484 --> 01:17:36,474 to stay in the room with it. 1493 01:17:36,785 --> 01:17:38,425 They could have shot four canisters of gas 1494 01:17:38,820 --> 01:17:40,570 and then waited outside for everybody to come out. 1495 01:17:40,989 --> 01:17:42,889 REPORTER: Then this was, uh, this was planned? 1496 01:17:43,325 --> 01:17:46,315 This was a plan to get Fred Hampton? 1497 01:17:46,895 --> 01:17:48,705 All indications to me personally 1498 01:17:49,131 --> 01:17:52,231 that this was, uh, obviously a political assassination. 1499 01:17:52,834 --> 01:17:55,874 I don't think anybody would have expected the police 1500 01:17:56,471 --> 01:17:59,131 to commit just murder. 1501 01:17:59,675 --> 01:18:01,315 It takes a certain kind of guy to carry that out. 1502 01:18:05,547 --> 01:18:07,717 They lied about what happened that night. 1503 01:18:08,183 --> 01:18:09,763 Much of what they said happened couldn't 1504 01:18:10,152 --> 01:18:12,402 have happened the way they say that it happened. 1505 01:18:12,888 --> 01:18:14,348 REPORTER: Today many blacks came to the house 1506 01:18:14,723 --> 01:18:16,863 where Fred Hampton was killed to see for themselves. 1507 01:18:17,325 --> 01:18:18,555 MAN (ON FILM): Don't touch nothing. 1508 01:18:18,894 --> 01:18:21,414 Don't move nothing because we want to keep everything 1509 01:18:21,930 --> 01:18:23,240 just the way it is. 1510 01:18:23,598 --> 01:18:25,298 They fired through the door and hit the brother 1511 01:18:25,701 --> 01:18:26,571 through the door. 1512 01:18:26,868 --> 01:18:28,798 The brother was shot four or five times, 1513 01:18:29,237 --> 01:18:30,877 though after they came through the door, 1514 01:18:31,273 --> 01:18:33,233 they shot him again to make sure he was dead. 1515 01:18:33,675 --> 01:18:36,365 This is where our chairman had his brains blown out as he, uh, 1516 01:18:36,912 --> 01:18:40,572 laying in bed sleeping at 4:30 in the morning. 1517 01:18:41,249 --> 01:18:44,059 I do not intend to quibble about that account. 1518 01:18:44,619 --> 01:18:46,049 NEWSCASTER: Do you know that it’s the truth? 1519 01:18:50,092 --> 01:18:54,132 The account that we gave of the events is the truth. 1520 01:18:54,863 --> 01:18:57,493 It was a death squad that did this raid. 1521 01:18:58,033 --> 01:19:01,163 It was a police death squad, and the whole thing 1522 01:19:01,770 --> 01:19:04,810 was set up by the FBI. 1523 01:19:05,407 --> 01:19:08,777 The FBI gave William O'Neal a $300 bonus 1524 01:19:09,411 --> 01:19:12,781 because of his information being so valuable and not available 1525 01:19:13,415 --> 01:19:15,055 for any other source. 1526 01:19:15,450 --> 01:19:18,910 Internally, the FB! was bragging and taking credit for the raid. 1527 01:19:19,554 --> 01:19:21,664 Publicly they were denying any knowledge or participation. 1528 01:19:39,641 --> 01:19:41,421 NEWSCASTER: The funeral of the slain Panther leader 1529 01:19:41,843 --> 01:19:43,953 was marked by angry eulogies, including 1530 01:19:44,412 --> 01:19:46,962 one from Ralph Abernathy, head of the non-violent Southern 1531 01:19:47,482 --> 01:19:49,182 Christian Leadership Conference. 1532 01:19:49,584 --> 01:19:52,014 Enjoy your peace, Freddie, because there 1533 01:19:52,521 --> 01:19:59,031 will be no peace in this land until freedom comes to all. 1534 01:20:00,095 --> 01:20:06,605 We are going to trample these streets with our feet. 1535 01:20:07,669 --> 01:20:10,009 lapplause) 1536 01:20:15,277 --> 01:20:19,587 The last message that I think that Fred would've, uh, 1537 01:20:20,348 --> 01:20:23,418 wanted everybody to hear-- and that is 1 am-- 1538 01:20:24,019 --> 01:20:25,189 CROWD: I am. 1539 01:20:25,520 --> 01:20:26,480 Arevolutionary. 1540 01:20:26,788 --> 01:20:28,308 CROWD: A revalutionary. 1541 01:20:28,690 --> 01:20:29,150 lam. 1542 01:20:29,391 --> 01:20:39,411 lam a revolutionary. 1543 01:20:40,969 --> 01:20:44,219 lam~ 1544 01:20:48,410 --> 01:20:50,460 MOHAMMED MUBARAK: We didn't know when it was going to happen, 1545 01:20:50,912 --> 01:20:54,572 but we felt there was something about to happen. 1546 01:20:55,250 --> 01:20:59,560 We were filling up sandbags, fortifying the headquarters, 1547 01:21:00,322 --> 01:21:03,452 putting sand in the walls, putting sandbags 1548 01:21:04,059 --> 01:21:07,429 around the entrance to the office. 1549 01:21:08,063 --> 01:21:10,553 Well, we were actually trying to build a tunnel to the sewer 1550 01:21:11,066 --> 01:21:12,996 line. 1551 01:21:13,435 --> 01:21:16,045 If the police attacked us, we were 1552 01:21:16,571 --> 01:21:18,271 going to escape into the sewers, and you know, 1553 01:21:18,673 --> 01:21:20,483 we were going to set charges on the building 1554 01:21:20,909 --> 01:21:23,719 and blow the building after we left. 1555 01:21:24,279 --> 01:21:26,119 It seemed like it was more-- it was more, uh, 1556 01:21:26,548 --> 01:21:28,328 police presence around. 1557 01:21:28,750 --> 01:21:30,010 We were getting stopped more. 1558 01:21:30,352 --> 01:21:32,602 We were getting harassed more. 1559 01:21:33,088 --> 01:21:34,108 PAT MCKINLEY: ! think they found out 1560 01:21:34,422 --> 01:21:36,942 that it was a different climate for them here. 1561 01:21:37,459 --> 01:21:40,449 We'd stop them, we'd search them, we'd shake them down. 1562 01:21:41,029 --> 01:21:42,699 And I think we did establish that we 1563 01:21:43,098 --> 01:21:44,088 were the dominating force. 1564 01:21:47,636 --> 01:21:49,536 RON MCCARTHY: The Special Weapons and Tactics concept 1565 01:21:49,971 --> 01:21:52,221 was formed in 1966. 1566 01:21:52,707 --> 01:21:55,637 The original SWAT team in the United States-- or anywhere, 1567 01:21:56,211 --> 01:21:58,201 for that matter-- was the LAPD SWAT team. 1568 01:21:58,647 --> 01:22:02,747 And in, uh, this particular case, this was the first time, 1569 01:22:03,485 --> 01:22:08,235 uh, the SWAT team was activated to serve a high risk warrant. 1570 01:22:16,064 --> 01:22:18,644 It was decided that a no-knock warrant would be utilized, 1571 01:22:19,167 --> 01:22:22,627 and surprise would be the element that you would use. 1572 01:22:23,271 --> 01:22:27,111 Avery close friend was working intelligence, and he told me, 1573 01:22:27,809 --> 01:22:29,539 he said, Pat, these guys think they're going up 1574 01:22:29,945 --> 01:22:31,235 against some street hoodlums. 1575 01:22:31,579 --> 01:22:32,399 He said, they're not. 1576 01:22:32,681 --> 01:22:33,991 They're fighters and they're shooters. 1577 01:22:34,349 --> 01:22:37,129 Don't be at the deor. 1578 01:22:37,686 --> 01:22:41,406 am on watch on the roof, and it's a real quiet night. 1579 01:22:42,090 --> 01:22:43,020 Everything is just still. 1580 01:22:43,325 --> 01:22:45,605 You don't hear anything. 1581 01:22:46,094 --> 01:22:48,234 The access to that roof on the other side-- pow! 1582 01:22:48,697 --> 01:22:49,427 It breaks open. 1583 01:22:49,698 --> 01:22:50,838 By the time I was swinging around 1584 01:22:51,166 --> 01:22:52,036 I'm seeing the lights on me. 1585 01:22:52,334 --> 01:22:53,944 They had a big light, and I'm hearing 1586 01:22:54,336 --> 01:22:55,736 the whole-- freeze, freeze! 1587 01:22:56,104 --> 01:22:57,034 Still, drop it! 1588 01:22:57,339 --> 01:23:01,529 And the front door blew open-- went boom! 1589 01:23:02,277 --> 01:23:04,237 Well, Pat had went in the gun room. 1590 01:23:04,679 --> 01:23:06,429 We had a Thompson sub-machine gun, 1591 01:23:06,848 --> 01:23:09,188 put it down with that Thompson-- wa wa wa wa wa wa wa. 1592 01:23:09,684 --> 01:23:14,314 -making machine gun noises} And he sprays across the-- across 1593 01:23:15,123 --> 01:23:16,053 the roof. 1594 01:23:16,358 --> 01:23:17,258 You could see it in the light from the street. 1595 01:23:17,559 --> 01:23:18,669 And I was seeing, it was like-- at the time, 1596 01:23:18,994 --> 01:23:20,304 man, I'm going to tell you, that instance, 1597 01:23:20,662 --> 01:23:22,332 it was the best music I ever heard. 1598 01:23:22,731 --> 01:23:24,781 And then all of a sudden my gun just went off. 1599 01:23:25,233 --> 01:23:26,193 I don't know what happened. 1600 01:23:26,501 --> 01:23:27,841 The gun just went off, you know, so we had them 1601 01:23:28,203 --> 01:23:29,783 in flank in front. 1602 01:23:30,171 --> 01:23:31,781 And then Paul Redd got down. 1603 01:23:32,173 --> 01:23:35,653 He got busy, and we drove them out the front door. 1604 01:23:36,311 --> 01:23:41,821 Three officers were down and the gun fight 1605 01:23:42,751 --> 01:23:44,801 continued as the officers were drug out of the way 1606 01:23:45,253 --> 01:23:47,943 by other officers. 1607 01:23:48,490 --> 01:23:51,770 Peaches and Tommy were two sisters that were there. 1608 01:23:52,394 --> 01:23:54,004 They went into the communication, 1609 01:23:54,396 --> 01:23:56,766 which is, you know, start calling the news media 1610 01:23:57,265 --> 01:23:58,845 and calling national headquarters 1611 01:23:59,234 --> 01:24:02,164 and calling everybody they could call. 1612 01:24:02,737 --> 01:24:04,317 MAN (IN HELICOPTER): Five minutes after 10, 1613 01:24:04,706 --> 01:24:08,486 about four and 1/2 hours after the original raid this morning. 1614 01:24:09,177 --> 01:24:10,107 REPORTER: All right. 1615 01:24:10,412 --> 01:24:12,692 Running down the street now toward the building. 1616 01:24:13,181 --> 01:24:14,791 Going to see what's going on. 1617 01:24:15,183 --> 01:24:20,223 There are police officers, look like Vietnam combat uniforms, 1618 01:24:21,089 --> 01:24:24,629 with automatic weapons, calling us back. 1619 01:24:25,293 --> 01:24:26,963 Shotguns everywhere you can look. 1620 01:24:27,362 --> 01:24:28,702 MOHAMMED MUBARAK: Ilcoked at the TV. 1621 01:24:29,064 --> 01:24:32,494 Channel 5 had it on live. 1622 01:24:33,134 --> 01:24:35,304 So I'm feeling like I can sneak in the back 1623 01:24:35,770 --> 01:24:39,430 and join them some kind of way-- it's crazy as I'm thinking. 1624 01:24:40,108 --> 01:24:42,568 REPORTER: There's a large group of people right now. 1625 01:24:43,078 --> 01:24:44,418 They're putting the pressure on the police 1626 01:24:44,779 --> 01:24:46,799 to allow us to stay so we can witness this. 1627 01:24:50,118 --> 01:24:51,138 ROLAND FREEMAN: When the police was 1628 01:24:51,453 --> 01:24:52,943 trying to creep up on the side, you 1629 01:24:53,321 --> 01:24:55,661 could see them, their reflection, through the windows 1630 01:24:56,157 --> 01:24:56,947 across the street. 1631 01:24:59,627 --> 01:25:01,847 When they got close enough, they would tell me, 1632 01:25:02,330 --> 01:25:03,590 OK, throw it now, throw it now. 1633 01:25:03,932 --> 01:25:05,862 Then they'd throw the damn bomb out the window and the police, 1634 01:25:06,301 --> 01:25:07,941 they'd blow up and they'd run back and shit. 1635 01:25:11,306 --> 01:25:15,346 We see this little cloud of smoke come, and it just moved. 1636 01:25:16,077 --> 01:25:16,807 And that’s the tear gas. 1637 01:25:20,148 --> 01:25:22,638 Back in those days everybody smoked all the time. 1638 01:25:23,151 --> 01:25:26,961 So what we did was we put the cigarette butts in our nose 1639 01:25:27,655 --> 01:25:30,675 to filter out the fumes. 1640 01:25:31,259 --> 01:25:33,689 REPORTER: We're looking right at the Panther headquarters. 1641 01:25:34,195 --> 01:25:35,455 The devastation is astounding. 1642 01:25:35,797 --> 01:25:37,877 The whole front of the building has been shot up-- bullet holes 1643 01:25:38,333 --> 01:25:40,083 all over the place, front door smashed down, 1644 01:25:40,502 --> 01:25:42,082 screens ripped out. 1645 01:25:42,470 --> 01:25:44,550 I got shot here, got shot in the arm, 1646 01:25:45,006 --> 01:25:46,436 missed-- they missed my head here. 1647 01:25:46,808 --> 01:25:48,098 I got buckshot all in me. 1648 01:25:48,443 --> 01:25:49,843 They shot that room up, you know. 1649 01:25:50,211 --> 01:25:51,061 So this arm was dead. 1650 01:25:51,346 --> 01:25:53,426 So now I'm up there with just one arm, 1651 01:25:53,882 --> 01:25:55,142 bleeding all down the face and stuff. 1652 01:25:58,453 --> 01:25:59,243 But I'm alive. 1653 01:25:59,521 --> 01:26:01,951 felt free. 1654 01:26:02,457 --> 01:26:04,977 felt absolutely free. 1655 01:26:05,493 --> 01:26:08,483 And I was a free Negro, you know. 1656 01:26:09,063 --> 01:26:11,753 l was making my own rules. 1657 01:26:12,300 --> 01:26:12,940 You couldn't get in. 1658 01:26:13,201 --> 01:26:14,021 I couldn't get out. 1659 01:26:14,302 --> 01:26:17,672 But in my space, I was the king. 1660 01:26:18,306 --> 01:26:23,466 In that little space I had, I was the king. 1661 01:26:24,345 --> 01:26:29,885 And that's what I felt. You understand? 1662 01:26:30,818 --> 01:26:31,718 That's what I felt. 1663 01:26:32,020 --> 01:26:36,620 (gunfire} 1664 01:26:37,425 --> 01:26:40,765 We had riflemen across the street-- on the roofs 1665 01:26:41,396 --> 01:26:42,266 across the street. 1666 01:26:42,564 --> 01:26:44,554 They were shooting into the-- well, 1667 01:26:44,999 --> 01:26:47,109 the shooting ports of the building 1668 01:26:47,569 --> 01:26:48,769 that the Panthers had created. 1669 01:26:49,103 --> 01:26:51,793 Panthers, on the other hand, were shooting back out. 1670 01:26:55,376 --> 01:26:59,826 Tommy had come downstairs and she was laying behind me, 1671 01:27:00,615 --> 01:27:01,845 like in aT. 1672 01:27:02,183 --> 01:27:05,723 You could see, uh, a sunbeam went across her legs like that. 1673 01:27:06,387 --> 01:27:08,057 So like, you need to move. 1674 01:27:08,456 --> 01:27:10,626 And she-- you know, she didn't, she just kept talking and shit. 1675 01:27:11,092 --> 01:27:12,962 Next thing, you hear a shot go off. 1676 01:27:13,394 --> 01:27:15,174 The bullet went through both her legs, like that. 1677 01:27:15,597 --> 01:27:19,667 So you know, at this time we had pretty much got shot out. 1678 01:27:20,401 --> 01:27:21,861 You know, we were saving enough bullets 1679 01:27:22,237 --> 01:27:23,547 that when they came in the door that we 1680 01:27:23,905 --> 01:27:26,515 would have some bullets to shoot back with, you know. 1681 01:27:27,041 --> 01:27:28,121 And I mean, it was like-- it wasn't 1682 01:27:28,443 --> 01:27:30,723 like it took no brain scientist to figure out, 1683 01:27:31,212 --> 01:27:32,522 well, this shit is over with. 1684 01:27:32,880 --> 01:27:36,690 We were talking about giving up, and, uh, you know, 1685 01:27:37,385 --> 01:27:38,785 all the brothers saying well, man, I'm ain't 1686 01:27:39,153 --> 01:27:40,143 going out there, man. 1687 01:27:40,455 --> 01:27:41,355 I'm not giving up. 1688 01:27:41,656 --> 01:27:43,086 And for like 30 minutes, it just want around. 1689 01:27:43,458 --> 01:27:44,628 Oh, I'm not going out first. 1690 01:27:44,959 --> 01:27:46,009 And I'm nat going out first. 1691 01:27:46,327 --> 01:27:47,407 We'll die in this motherfucker. 1692 01:27:47,729 --> 01:27:49,189 I'm not going out first. 1693 01:27:49,564 --> 01:27:50,734 Peaches said I'll go out there. 1694 01:27:51,065 --> 01:27:52,145 And I said, Peaches. 1695 01:27:52,467 --> 01:27:53,807 She said, no, I'll go. 1696 01:27:54,168 --> 01:27:55,918 REPORTER: There's a white flag coming out the door. 1697 01:27:56,337 --> 01:27:56,917 It's a woman. 1698 01:27:57,171 --> 01:27:58,631 She's holding her hands up. 1699 01:28:01,676 --> 01:28:05,276 WAYNE PHARR: And she went outside and Peaches gave up. 1700 01:28:05,947 --> 01:28:07,967 And when they didn't shoot Peaches there, 1701 01:28:08,416 --> 01:28:09,966 we came out one at a time. 1702 01:28:10,351 --> 01:28:11,661 That's how that went. 1703 01:28:17,759 --> 01:28:21,599 It was a big glorious shootout, but after they raided us 1704 01:28:22,297 --> 01:28:24,986 they had all the players locked up. 1705 01:28:25,533 --> 01:28:26,823 All of the main players was in jail. 1706 01:28:33,007 --> 01:28:35,437 CROWD: (CHANTING) We want Huey out today. 1707 01:28:35,943 --> 01:28:38,343 We want Huey out today. 1708 01:28:38,846 --> 01:28:40,106 NEWSCASTER: For about three years, 1709 01:28:40,448 --> 01:28:42,288 the Black Panthers have used Huey Newton's name 1710 01:28:42,717 --> 01:28:44,827 for a rallying cry, demanding that he 1711 01:28:45,286 --> 01:28:47,946 be freed from jail, where he is held on a charge of killing 1712 01:28:48,489 --> 01:28:49,479 a police officer. 1713 01:28:49,791 --> 01:28:52,341 The words “free Huey Newton” have been chalked 1714 01:28:52,860 --> 01:28:55,730 and spray painted on a thousand fences and walls. 1715 01:28:56,297 --> 01:28:58,197 This spring, the California Supreme Court 1716 01:28:58,633 --> 01:29:01,123 found some errors in his trial and ordered a new trial. 1717 01:29:01,636 --> 01:29:04,446 (crowd chanting) 1718 01:29:08,409 --> 01:29:10,279 When the case was given to the jury, 1719 01:29:10,712 --> 01:29:13,232 they were sequestered for four days to deliberate. 1720 01:29:24,192 --> 01:29:26,092 It was extremely tense. 1721 01:29:26,527 --> 01:29:30,097 You could feel the energy and the tension in the air. 1722 01:29:30,765 --> 01:29:33,045 People were talking about doing all types of things, you know. 1723 01:29:33,534 --> 01:29:35,724 And Oakland could explode, you know. 1724 01:29:36,204 --> 01:29:38,754 Matter of fact, every city across America 1725 01:29:39,273 --> 01:29:41,963 could explode that day. 1726 01:29:42,510 --> 01:29:45,380 The Panthers had been getting ready for guerrilla warfare, 1727 01:29:45,947 --> 01:29:47,787 and they said the sky's the limit 1728 01:29:48,216 --> 01:29:49,646 if the jury convicted him. 1729 01:29:50,017 --> 01:29:51,217 CROWD: We want Huey! 1730 01:29:51,552 --> 01:29:56,792 We want Huey! 1731 01:29:57,692 --> 01:29:59,532 NEWSCASTER: Shouting we want Huey now, 1732 01:29:59,961 --> 01:30:01,481 the crowd got their wish. 1733 01:30:01,863 --> 01:30:04,003 At this hour Huey Newton is a free man. 1734 01:30:04,465 --> 01:30:07,095 (cheering} 1735 01:30:12,039 --> 01:30:15,319 TARIKA LEWIS: Everybody was just jubilant that day. 1736 01:30:15,943 --> 01:30:20,483 Finally he gets to walk out of that jail a free man. 1737 01:30:21,282 --> 01:30:24,302 The sky was the limit and the sky turned blue. 1738 01:30:35,329 --> 01:30:37,909 The image that was mobilized to create the Free Huey movement 1739 01:30:38,433 --> 01:30:40,653 gave Huey almost mythic status in the Party. 1740 01:30:41,135 --> 01:30:43,185 He had become an image and not a man, 1741 01:30:43,638 --> 01:30:47,098 and that gave him power that ultimately proved dangerous. 1742 01:30:47,742 --> 01:30:49,002 WOMAN (ON PHONE): Come to the clinic 1743 01:30:49,343 --> 01:30:50,363 tomorrow for an appointment. 1744 01:30:56,250 --> 01:30:57,300 FLORES FORBES: He came out focusing 1745 01:30:57,618 --> 01:31:00,168 on returning to the survival program, the breakfast 1746 01:31:00,688 --> 01:31:03,438 program, the free health clinics, free food 1747 01:31:03,991 --> 01:31:06,481 program, and the sickle cell anemia research program. 1748 01:31:10,031 --> 01:31:13,021 l remember Huey P. Newton saying the Black Panther Party 1749 01:31:13,601 --> 01:31:15,151 was not going to last. 1750 01:31:15,536 --> 01:31:17,346 He said the organization was going to get destroyed, 1751 01:31:17,772 --> 01:31:18,732 based on the way we were. 1752 01:31:19,040 --> 01:31:20,940 We were very aggressive, and we kind of 1753 01:31:21,375 --> 01:31:23,045 realized that this wasn't going to last long. 1754 01:31:26,447 --> 01:31:29,137 HUEY NEWTON: We know those are not revolutionary programs. 1755 01:31:29,684 --> 01:31:31,584 They are, at best, survival programs. 1756 01:31:32,019 --> 01:31:35,479 We know that the people are in jeopardy of genocide, 1757 01:31:36,123 --> 01:31:38,373 and that if they do not survive then 1758 01:31:38,860 --> 01:31:41,030 it won't be possible to bring about revolution. 1759 01:31:41,496 --> 01:31:44,836 We were really trying to connect more 1760 01:31:45,466 --> 01:31:47,746 with the people in the community. 1761 01:31:48,236 --> 01:31:50,406 And this was, um, this was a big push. 1762 01:31:50,872 --> 01:31:56,612 And there was probably some people who were not happy. 1763 01:31:57,578 --> 01:31:59,828 We have a breakfast for children program here. 1764 01:32:00,314 --> 01:32:02,364 But that's not what the Black Panther Party is all about, 1765 01:32:02,817 --> 01:32:04,017 you see. 1766 01:32:04,352 --> 01:32:07,042 I don't agree with saying that the Black Panther Party, uh, 1767 01:32:07,588 --> 01:32:09,138 supports breakfast for children and that's 1768 01:32:09,524 --> 01:32:10,374 all that we're about, you know. 1769 01:32:10,658 --> 01:32:12,148 Don't talk about this other thing. 1770 01:32:12,527 --> 01:32:14,487 The Black Panther Party is for overthrowing the United States 1771 01:32:14,929 --> 01:32:16,009 government. 1772 01:32:16,330 --> 01:32:18,170 Those people who were on the other side of this issue 1773 01:32:18,599 --> 01:32:21,149 politically did not see the Black Panther Party 1774 01:32:21,669 --> 01:32:23,419 as a vehicle for social service. 1775 01:32:23,838 --> 01:32:26,328 We saw it as a vehicle for political transformation, 1776 01:32:26,841 --> 01:32:28,681 tadical change-- for revolution. 1777 01:32:29,110 --> 01:32:31,010 So we couldn't get excited about survival. 1778 01:32:37,084 --> 01:32:38,284 ELAINE BROWN: Eldridge Cleaver, who-- 1779 01:32:38,619 --> 01:32:40,349 while sitting comfortably in Algeria-- 1780 01:32:40,755 --> 01:32:42,335 was assailing the Black Panther Party as being weak, 1781 01:32:42,723 --> 01:32:44,503 and it didn't have any more muscle, 1782 01:32:44,926 --> 01:32:48,086 and it was a reform organization, a breakfast 1783 01:32:48,696 --> 01:32:51,126 for children club, and he denounced the Party 1784 01:32:51,632 --> 01:32:53,472 and he denounced the administrator-- chief 1785 01:32:53,901 --> 01:32:55,331 administrator of the Party at that time, who. 1786 01:32:55,703 --> 01:32:56,813 was David Hilliard. 1787 01:32:57,138 --> 01:33:00,038 He wanted to have even more blood shed, which was not 1788 01:33:00,608 --> 01:33:03,098 endearing us to the community. 1789 01:33:03,611 --> 01:33:05,481 JAMAL JOSEPH: There were also problems with the Panther 21 1790 01:33:05,913 --> 01:33:06,523 case. 1791 01:33:06,781 --> 01:33:07,921 There were legal fees. 1792 01:33:08,249 --> 01:33:10,119 And there became questions about how much of the money 1793 01:33:10,551 --> 01:33:12,221 that was raised for the Panther 21 1794 01:33:12,620 --> 01:33:15,690 was actually getting back to defend the Panther 21. 1795 01:33:16,290 --> 01:33:19,950 We wrote an open letter really criticizing national leadership 1796 01:33:20,628 --> 01:33:22,708 and Huey P. Newton. 1797 01:33:23,164 --> 01:33:24,454 And the response of national leadership-- 1798 01:33:24,799 --> 01:33:26,199 and in particular Huey P. Newton-- 1799 01:33:26,567 --> 01:33:28,407 was to kick out the Panther 21. 1800 01:33:28,836 --> 01:33:31,586 They were expelled from the Panther Party. 1801 01:33:32,139 --> 01:33:36,089 Eldridge came to the defense of the Panther 21. 1802 01:33:36,811 --> 01:33:38,301 J. EDGAR HOOVER (VOICEOVER): The Black Panther 1803 01:33:38,679 --> 01:33:41,519 Party has split it into two factions, namely the Cleaver 1804 01:33:42,083 --> 01:33:44,303 and Newton supporters. 1805 01:33:44,785 --> 01:33:47,395 This dissension offers an exceptional opportunity 1806 01:33:47,922 --> 01:33:50,262 to aggravate and possibly neutralize 1807 01:33:50,758 --> 01:33:52,598 through counterintelligence. 1808 01:33:53,027 --> 01:33:56,307 The FBI was picking at Huey and picking at Eldridge. 1809 01:33:56,931 --> 01:33:58,451 And I don't know who else they were picking at 1810 01:33:58,833 --> 01:34:00,733 to create this sense of distrust. 1811 01:34:01,168 --> 01:34:02,568 J. EDGAR HOOVER (VOICEOVER): In the future, 1812 01:34:02,937 --> 01:34:05,717 submit counterintelligence proposals against the Cleaver 1813 01:34:06,273 --> 01:34:08,763 faction in the Black Panther Party designed 1814 01:34:09,276 --> 01:34:11,676 to widen the existing rift, effectively 1815 01:34:12,179 --> 01:34:16,959 driving a wedge between Newton and Eldridge Cleaver. 1816 01:34:17,785 --> 01:34:21,155 Ensure this mailing cannot be traced to the Bureau. 1817 01:34:21,789 --> 01:34:23,429 What we thought the FBI wanted to do 1818 01:34:23,824 --> 01:34:27,304 was kill us, blow up our offices, shoot us. 1819 01:34:27,962 --> 01:34:30,542 I don't think we understood exactly how 1820 01:34:31,065 --> 01:34:34,105 insidious their project was. 1821 01:34:34,702 --> 01:34:36,542 They created a culture of paranoia 1822 01:34:36,971 --> 01:34:38,231 which was incredibly destructive. 1823 01:34:38,572 --> 01:34:40,912 In this sense, it was the ultimate intelligence success, 1824 01:34:41,409 --> 01:34:43,369 being able to pit the Party against itself. 1825 01:34:43,811 --> 01:34:45,331 And the Panthers internal conflict 1826 01:34:45,713 --> 01:34:48,173 would soon erupt in the mainstream media. 1827 01:34:48,683 --> 01:34:49,883 Good morning. 1828 01:34:50,217 --> 01:34:52,297 Yes, it's AM all right, and this is 1829 01:34:52,753 --> 01:34:54,773 Jim Dunbar with Nancy Fleming and Gary Bentley. 1830 01:34:55,222 --> 01:34:57,502 We had become aware of some sort 1831 01:34:57,992 --> 01:35:04,962 of a rift that had come to pass between Huey and Eldridge. 1832 01:35:06,100 --> 01:35:09,850 We had booked Huey and arranged the call from Eldridge 1833 01:35:10,538 --> 01:35:14,318 in Algeria to take advantage of that. 1834 01:35:15,009 --> 01:35:17,639 We've got lots of things coming up here on AM this morning-- 1835 01:35:18,179 --> 01:35:19,549 lots of things that you'll like to see, 1836 01:35:19,914 --> 01:35:21,904 and we're looking forward to them too, right here on AM. 1837 01:35:22,349 --> 01:35:24,159 JIM DUNBAR: I'll not try to sugarcoat this. 1838 01:35:24,585 --> 01:35:27,455 We thought this is a wonderful opportunity to build audience, 1839 01:35:28,022 --> 01:35:30,422 and so we decided to go ahead and put the two of them 1840 01:35:30,925 --> 01:35:31,095 together. 1841 01:35:59,954 --> 01:36:02,324 Huey's goal in having Eldridge on the show 1842 01:36:02,823 --> 01:36:05,753 was to show people that he and Eldridge were on the same page. 1843 01:36:06,327 --> 01:36:09,227 And Eldridge sabotaged that, so Huey was livid. 1844 01:36:09,797 --> 01:36:11,137 He was embarrassed. 1845 01:36:11,499 --> 01:36:12,869 He was furious. 1846 01:36:13,234 --> 01:36:16,254 And so within 10 minutes or so he called back. 1847 01:37:00,981 --> 01:37:03,531 It was a split in the party, and within days we 1848 01:37:04,051 --> 01:37:05,721 began to feel just how bad it was. 1849 01:37:06,120 --> 01:37:09,110 Someone has to be disciplined, and my recommendation 1850 01:37:09,690 --> 01:37:12,180 is to discipline Eldridge Cleaver-- 1851 01:37:12,693 --> 01:37:14,563 not for the criticism itself, but, 1852 01:37:14,995 --> 01:37:17,955 uh, the way in which it was presented. 1853 01:37:18,532 --> 01:37:19,792 WILLIAM CALHOUN: The word got back to us 1854 01:37:20,134 --> 01:37:22,324 that Eldridge had put out the edict that the streets were not 1855 01:37:22,803 --> 01:37:24,413 supposed to safe for Panthers. 1856 01:37:24,805 --> 01:37:28,345 Whether he said that or not-- he was in Algeria, we were here. 1857 01:37:29,009 --> 01:37:29,649 Who knows? 1858 01:37:29,910 --> 01:37:30,610 It was chaos. 1859 01:37:36,483 --> 01:37:39,883 JAMAL JOSEPH: It was certain chapters that stayed with Huey. 1860 01:37:40,521 --> 01:37:42,981 Many of the people who followed Eldridge leave the party 1861 01:37:43,490 --> 01:37:45,190 and go underground. 1862 01:37:45,593 --> 01:37:47,583 And then some people just were confused and frustrated 1863 01:37:48,028 --> 01:37:49,198 and walked away. 1864 01:37:49,530 --> 01:37:51,200 They don't know which faction of the Black Panther Party 1865 01:37:51,599 --> 01:37:54,589 to follow or if they should deal with Panthers at all. 1866 01:37:58,405 --> 01:38:01,275 CLAYBORNE CARSON: The Party had leaders who at that point 1867 01:38:01,842 --> 01:38:04,472 were not worthy of the dedication of their followers. 1868 01:38:05,012 --> 01:38:07,562 And I think that that was probably 1869 01:38:08,082 --> 01:38:09,982 the worst aspect of the Party, is 1870 01:38:10,417 --> 01:38:11,757 that I think some of the followers 1871 01:38:12,119 --> 01:38:13,699 felt betrayed by their leaders. 1872 01:38:16,957 --> 01:38:21,617 And the split becomes so deep that it erupts, in some cases, 1873 01:38:22,429 --> 01:38:25,209 into violence, into fights and into shootings, uh, 1874 01:38:25,766 --> 01:38:26,436 between Panthers. 1875 01:38:30,404 --> 01:38:32,334 BEVERLY GAGE: This is exactly what the Bureau, in fact, 1876 01:38:32,773 --> 01:38:34,853 wanted to see happen in the first place. 1877 01:38:35,309 --> 01:38:38,179 This was part of what the COINTELPRO operations were 1878 01:38:38,746 --> 01:38:39,536 really all about. 1879 01:38:42,249 --> 01:38:44,269 J. Edgar Hoover, in particular, says 1880 01:38:44,718 --> 01:38:46,648 we've been pitting people against each other. 1881 01:38:47,087 --> 01:38:48,377 That's all worked out really well. 1882 01:38:48,722 --> 01:38:51,352 But you know, now we don’t even have to worry about it anymore. 1883 01:38:51,892 --> 01:38:53,972 Now they're just going to keep it going on their own 1884 01:38:54,428 --> 01:38:56,068 and we can step back a little bit 1885 01:38:56,463 --> 01:38:58,833 and just let them play it out. 1886 01:39:03,170 --> 01:39:04,480 In the midst of all of this turmoil, 1887 01:39:04,838 --> 01:39:07,268 the Panthers decide to go ina really radically new direction. 1888 01:39:10,477 --> 01:39:11,937 Bobby Seale, the Black Panther leader, 1889 01:39:12,313 --> 01:39:14,483 has been in trouble with the law for many years. 1890 01:39:14,949 --> 01:39:17,638 He's been in prison on some charges, acquitted on others. 1891 01:39:18,185 --> 01:39:20,615 And now he's trying to make a new career for himself. 1892 01:39:21,121 --> 01:39:23,021 He wants to be mayor of Oakland, California, 1893 01:39:23,457 --> 01:39:25,477 where the Black Panther movement began. 1894 01:39:25,926 --> 01:39:26,746 WOMAN IN CROWD: It was nice meeting you. 1895 01:39:27,027 --> 01:39:27,897 WOMAN IN CROWD: OK, nice meeting you. 1896 01:39:28,195 --> 01:39:28,605 All right, then. 1897 01:39:28,829 --> 01:39:29,059 How you all doing? 1898 01:39:36,270 --> 01:39:37,290 YOHORU WILLIAMS: The Panthers decide 1899 01:39:37,604 --> 01:39:40,154 to call members to Oakland in an effort 1900 01:39:40,674 --> 01:39:43,164 to run Bobby Seale for mayor of Oakland and Elaine Brown 1901 01:39:43,677 --> 01:39:45,457 for city council. 1902 01:39:45,879 --> 01:39:47,779 STEVE MCCUTCHEN: Don Seale, member of the central committee 1903 01:39:48,215 --> 01:39:50,235 of the Black Panther Party, called me 1904 01:39:50,684 --> 01:39:53,174 at the Baltimore chapter office and told 1905 01:39:53,687 --> 01:39:57,527 me to begin closing down all of our programs. 1906 01:39:58,225 --> 01:40:03,265 So we were instructed fo cease and desist all Party operations 1907 01:40:04,131 --> 01:40:06,121 and to bring as. many Party members 1908 01:40:06,567 --> 01:40:08,437 from Baltimore out to Oakland as possible. 1909 01:40:11,739 --> 01:40:12,999 Ultimately they roll the die. 1910 01:40:13,340 --> 01:40:16,680 They assume that if they're successful in this campaign, 1911 01:40:17,311 --> 01:40:18,981 this might help to transform one American city. 1912 01:40:19,380 --> 01:40:22,010 This might be the blueprint for the future. 1913 01:40:22,549 --> 01:40:23,689 But they do roll the die. 1914 01:40:24,018 --> 01:40:26,268 The numbers were dwindling, and therefore 1915 01:40:26,754 --> 01:40:28,864 the force of the Party was dwindling. 1916 01:40:29,323 --> 01:40:32,633 So it only made sense to consolidate everything 1917 01:40:33,260 --> 01:40:36,330 and to say, what can we do with what we have? 1918 01:40:36,930 --> 01:40:38,160 We laid down the guns two years ago. 1919 01:40:38,499 --> 01:40:39,899 We don't need guns, we said, because we 1920 01:40:40,267 --> 01:40:42,227 knew we had the ability to really organize and educate 1921 01:40:42,669 --> 01:40:44,569 the people and show them, really, 1922 01:40:45,005 --> 01:40:47,585 some of the concrete things we can do in the community. 1923 01:40:48,108 --> 01:40:49,478 PHYLLIS JACKSON: Initially, the idea of Bobby running for mayor 1924 01:40:49,843 --> 01:40:50,273 seemed ridiculous. 1925 01:40:53,180 --> 01:40:54,580 NEWSCASTER: Black Panther leader Bobby Seale 1926 01:40:54,948 --> 01:40:58,078 ran second in his race for mayor of Oakland, California, 1927 01:40:58,685 --> 01:40:59,945 but Seale polled just enough votes 1928 01:41:00,287 --> 01:41:02,687 fo force a runoff with the conservative incumbent John 1929 01:41:03,190 --> 01:41:04,060 Reading. 1930 01:41:04,358 --> 01:41:04,968 PHYLLIS JACKSON: I think we were shocked 1931 01:41:05,225 --> 01:41:06,095 when he ended up in a runoff. 1932 01:41:06,393 --> 01:41:08,643 But as we got into the campaign and as he 1933 01:41:09,129 --> 01:41:11,269 started doing his campaign runs, as Elaine started 1934 01:41:11,732 --> 01:41:13,752 doing her campaign speeches, as people started getting-- 1935 01:41:14,201 --> 01:41:16,981 we started galvanizing people's enthusiasm, 1936 01:41:17,538 --> 01:41:18,848 it started looking like he might win. 1937 01:41:24,044 --> 01:41:26,444 IMUSIC CHARLES WRIGHT, "EXPRESS YOURSELF") 1938 01:41:34,221 --> 01:41:36,471 PHYLLIS JACKSON: Part of the strategy for the campaign 1939 01:41:36,957 --> 01:41:39,327 was to increase the number of black voters 1940 01:41:39,827 --> 01:41:41,787 on the rolls in Oakland. 1941 01:41:42,229 --> 01:41:44,569 We sent people out into the community going door to door, 1942 01:41:45,065 --> 01:41:48,085 walking the streets, registering people to vote en masse. 1943 01:41:48,669 --> 01:41:49,979 ELAINE BROWN: And we went to the churches, 1944 01:41:50,337 --> 01:41:52,797 and we went to the dope houses, and we went to the streets, 1945 01:41:53,307 --> 01:41:55,037 and we went everywhere where the people were, 1946 01:41:55,442 --> 01:41:59,862 trying to organize people to vote for Bobby and Elaine. 1947 01:42:04,418 --> 01:42:06,168 DONNA MURCH: They run an amazing campaign. 1948 01:42:06,587 --> 01:42:08,427 Bobby Seale used to tide buses in Oakland 1949 01:42:08,856 --> 01:42:10,166 and do stump. speaking on the bus. 1950 01:42:10,524 --> 01:42:12,634 And they really took it to the streets in a different way. 1951 01:42:15,929 --> 01:42:17,189 PHYLLIS JACKSON: Bobby had made a promise 1952 01:42:17,531 --> 01:42:19,721 that he was going to give away 10,000 bags of groceries 1953 01:42:20,200 --> 01:42:21,810 with a chicken in every bag. 1954 01:42:22,202 --> 01:42:24,782 And that was a takeoff on FDR's a chicken in every pot. 1955 01:42:27,474 --> 01:42:28,844 BOBBY SEALE: We counted up and we found out 1956 01:42:29,209 --> 01:42:33,019 last night it was 6,882 bags we actually gave away last night. 1957 01:42:33,714 --> 01:42:36,024 And I think that the voter registration is 1958 01:42:36,517 --> 01:42:37,977 running neck and neck with it. 1959 01:42:38,352 --> 01:42:40,572 I'm sure of that, because of a lot of-- oh, it blew our minds, 1960 01:42:41,054 --> 01:42:42,514 so many black people in the black community's 1961 01:42:42,890 --> 01:42:43,560 unregistered to vote. 1962 01:42:46,326 --> 01:42:47,816 DONNA MURCH: It was amazing, because they 1963 01:42:48,195 --> 01:42:50,095 were able to register between 20,000 and 50,000 people 1964 01:42:50,531 --> 01:42:51,491 to vote. 1965 01:42:51,798 --> 01:42:53,878 They basically turned their survival programs 1966 01:42:54,334 --> 01:42:55,624 into a get out the vote apparatus. 1967 01:43:07,047 --> 01:43:09,507 DONNA MURCH (VOICEOVER): But in the end, it wasn't enough. 1968 01:43:10,017 --> 01:43:12,097 NEWSCASTER: Mayor John Reading of Oakland, California 1969 01:43:12,553 --> 01:43:15,713 was reelected yesterday in a runoff against Bobby Seale, 1970 01:43:16,323 --> 01:43:17,283 the Black Panther leader. 1971 01:43:17,591 --> 01:43:18,761 Don Oliver has that story. 1972 01:43:21,595 --> 01:43:23,295 NEWSCASTER 2: Looking at the mood in Bobby Seale's 1973 01:43:23,697 --> 01:43:25,367 headquarters, you would have thought he won. 1974 01:43:25,766 --> 01:43:26,906 You know what somebody told me? 1975 01:43:27,234 --> 01:43:28,194 What did they tell us, Bobby? 1976 01:43:28,502 --> 01:43:30,782 They say, we don't care how the election goes. 1977 01:43:31,271 --> 01:43:32,201 Bobby Seale is for finaudible). 1978 01:43:32,506 --> 01:43:33,906 And they told me this, it blew my mind. 1979 01:43:34,274 --> 01:43:36,584 You're still our mayor, and we're going to inaudible}. 1980 01:43:37,077 --> 01:43:39,537 lapplause) 1981 01:43:40,047 --> 01:43:41,507 Power to the people. 1982 01:43:44,351 --> 01:43:46,931 FLORES FORBES: Plan A was for Bobby to win, Elaine to win, 1983 01:43:47,454 --> 01:43:49,204 and our slate to win. 1984 01:43:49,623 --> 01:43:54,223 There wasn't-- as far as I could remember-- a plan B. 1985 01:43:55,028 --> 01:44:00,598 Once we lost the campaign there was kind of a, um-- 1986 01:44:01,535 --> 01:44:01,915 there was a void. 1987 01:44:05,205 --> 01:44:07,315 YOHORU WILLIAMS: It was in theory a great idea 1988 01:44:07,774 --> 01:44:09,964 that you could marshal this army of organizers 1989 01:44:10,444 --> 01:44:11,584 to come to Oakland. 1990 01:44:11,912 --> 01:44:14,282 But for the most part, when all the chapters come back 1991 01:44:14,781 --> 01:44:17,211 to Oakland, uh, the Panthers as a national phenomena 1992 01:44:17,718 --> 01:44:19,268 really, um, cease. 1993 01:44:24,825 --> 01:44:26,375 JEFFREY OGBAR: After the elections in Oakland, 1994 01:44:26,760 --> 01:44:30,010 Huey Newton is known to have some erratic behavior. 1995 01:44:30,631 --> 01:44:31,771 People who were very close to him 1996 01:44:32,099 --> 01:44:34,999 would say that it depends on the day you meet him. 1997 01:44:35,569 --> 01:44:38,559 Some days Huey Newton could be a brilliant, thoughtful 1998 01:44:39,139 --> 01:44:41,039 political strategist and committed to the liberation 1999 01:44:41,475 --> 01:44:42,965 of the black people, and another day he 2000 01:44:43,343 --> 01:44:44,923 could be self-serving and thuggish. 2001 01:44:45,312 --> 01:44:48,412 I was one of the folks who oriented new Panther members, 2002 01:44:49,016 --> 01:44:50,626 and I oriented them by telling them 2003 01:44:51,018 --> 01:44:53,648 about what a wonderful person Huey was 2004 01:44:54,187 --> 01:44:56,737 and about how he was the leader of our party, 2005 01:44:57,257 --> 01:45:00,627 never knowing what the hell he was. 2006 01:45:01,261 --> 01:45:05,101 We had created the cult of the personality around a fucking 2007 01:45:05,799 --> 01:45:06,209 maniac. 2008 01:45:09,136 --> 01:45:10,866 He surrounded himself with former prisoners, 2009 01:45:11,271 --> 01:45:14,051 and they became his inner retinue. 2010 01:45:17,210 --> 01:45:22,100 FLORES FORBES: Around 1973, we created a special unit 2011 01:45:22,949 --> 01:45:25,939 that would protect our leaders and do 2012 01:45:26,520 --> 01:45:29,180 other kinds of activities related 2013 01:45:29,723 --> 01:45:33,503 to what Huey Newton called the sterner stuff of politics. 2014 01:45:34,194 --> 01:45:35,454 We're going to take over the underworld, 2015 01:45:35,796 --> 01:45:39,106 the underground apparatus. of the city of Oakland. 2016 01:45:39,733 --> 01:45:43,513 We were shaking down the drug dealers, pimps. 2017 01:45:44,204 --> 01:45:47,104 Some people were like, stick up men. 2018 01:45:47,674 --> 01:45:49,104 It was bringing in revenue. 2019 01:45:52,746 --> 01:45:55,146 ERICKA HUGGINS: As he became more and more addicted 2020 01:45:55,649 --> 01:45:59,779 to multiple substances, I don't think he wanted to live 2021 01:46:00,520 --> 01:46:03,560 and I don't think he wanted the Party to live anymore. 2022 01:46:04,157 --> 01:46:08,347 From there on, you know, he was less and less the Huey I knew, 2023 01:46:09,096 --> 01:46:14,726 and more and more listening to his demons. 2024 01:46:15,669 --> 01:46:16,979 LANDON WILLIAMS: If Huey wanted to see you 2025 01:46:17,337 --> 01:46:18,447 or you wanted to see Huey, you had 2026 01:46:18,772 --> 01:46:21,082 to come to his penthouse, which meant that you went up 2027 01:46:21,575 --> 01:46:23,625 in his elevator, which meant that you were searched 2028 01:46:24,077 --> 01:46:25,067 before you got up there. 2029 01:46:25,379 --> 01:46:26,309 And when you got up there then you 2030 01:46:26,613 --> 01:46:29,833 were confronted by this. maniac in his penthouse 2031 01:46:30,450 --> 01:46:34,370 who did all kinds of things to people-- physical assault, 2032 01:46:35,088 --> 01:46:38,398 sexual assault, pistol whipping, threatening to kill. 2033 01:46:41,461 --> 01:46:44,501 He also became very abusive to the people around him. 2034 01:46:47,901 --> 01:46:49,101 He abused people like Bobby. 2035 01:46:52,239 --> 01:46:55,139 FLORES FORBES: There were changes in the organization. 2036 01:46:55,709 --> 01:46:56,909 Bobby Seale left. 2037 01:46:57,244 --> 01:46:59,144 There were a lot of people who had been in the organization 2038 01:46:59,579 --> 01:47:02,189 from the beginning, and, and they left. 2039 01:47:04,618 --> 01:47:05,958 ERICKA HUGGINS: Then there was a time 2040 01:47:06,319 --> 01:47:12,439 when he was violent with me, and that was why 2041 01:47:13,460 --> 01:47:16,830 l left the Black Panther Party. 2042 01:47:17,464 --> 01:47:20,094 I said goodbye as left, but ! left. 2043 01:47:23,970 --> 01:47:26,160 ERICKA HUGGINS (VOICEOVER): Dear Huey, I've been in the party 2044 01:47:26,640 --> 01:47:28,810 for 9 and 1/2 years, but I've come 2045 01:47:29,276 --> 01:47:31,026 to a crossroads in my life. 2046 01:47:31,445 --> 01:47:33,695 One path is the Party and the other path 2047 01:47:34,181 --> 01:47:35,141 is my personal happiness. 2048 01:47:35,449 --> 01:47:36,879 ELAINE WOOD (VOICEOVER): I know you're busy, 2049 01:47:37,250 --> 01:47:39,060 but ! see our party falling apart 2050 01:47:39,486 --> 01:47:41,916 and nothing is being done to stop this from happening. 2051 01:47:42,422 --> 01:47:43,762 ELAINE WOOD: It was absolutely devastating 2052 01:47:44,124 --> 01:47:46,964 for me to leave the Black Panther Party. 2053 01:47:47,527 --> 01:47:50,017 I felt guilty that 1 hadn't, um, you know, 2054 01:47:50,530 --> 01:47:52,370 stayed to do something-- I wasn't sure what. 2055 01:47:55,836 --> 01:47:56,736 There was no other life. 2056 01:47:57,037 --> 01:47:59,057 There was no other thing greater. 2057 01:48:03,210 --> 01:48:04,290 Then I learned to live in a world 2058 01:48:04,611 --> 01:48:09,001 where there was no Black Panther Party. 2059 01:48:09,783 --> 01:48:11,333 WOMAN (VOICEOVER): Our children are growing up. 2060 01:48:11,718 --> 01:48:13,738 Half the children don't know their parents, 2061 01:48:14,187 --> 01:48:16,997 or their parents don't know their children. 2062 01:48:17,557 --> 01:48:19,287 I want to spend more time with my son. 2063 01:48:19,693 --> 01:48:22,003 MAN (VOICEOVER): So many are on the verge of leaving because we 2064 01:48:22,496 --> 01:48:24,716 suffer from loneliness, lack of personal lives 2065 01:48:25,198 --> 01:48:27,188 and extreme poverty. 2066 01:48:27,634 --> 01:48:29,244 Everybody wanted this gun toting 2067 01:48:29,636 --> 01:48:33,886 image of the big black-- big bad black Shaft guy 2068 01:48:34,641 --> 01:48:35,871 Jumping through the window and then, you 2069 01:48:36,209 --> 01:48:37,959 know, beating everybody up. 2070 01:48:38,378 --> 01:48:44,528 I refute that as the image that was put upon us. 2071 01:48:45,552 --> 01:48:47,302 I'm not Shaft. 2072 01:48:47,721 --> 01:48:50,381 You know, as a black man, that's all am. 2073 01:48:50,924 --> 01:48:54,204 I'm just a black man. 2074 01:48:54,828 --> 01:48:56,198 MAN (VOICEOVER): Dear Huey, you know 2075 01:48:56,563 --> 01:48:59,633 I trust that I have felt a virtually infinite respect for, 2076 01:49:00,233 --> 01:49:03,713 belief in, support of the Black Panther Party. 2077 01:49:04,371 --> 01:49:08,941 I meant well-- Gad knows I meant well and tried-- them too. 2078 01:49:09,743 --> 01:49:12,493 Haven't we all, one way or another? 2079 01:49:13,046 --> 01:49:15,296 The great strength of the Black Panther Party 2080 01:49:15,782 --> 01:49:19,882 was its ideals and its youthful vigor and enthusiasm. 2081 01:49:20,620 --> 01:49:21,990 The great weakness of the Party was 2082 01:49:22,355 --> 01:49:25,815 its ideals and its youthful vigor and its enthusiasm. 2083 01:49:26,459 --> 01:49:27,889 That sometimes can be very dangerous, 2084 01:49:28,261 --> 01:49:30,011 especially when you're up against the United States 2085 01:49:30,430 --> 01:49:31,420 government. 2086 01:49:31,731 --> 01:49:34,861 MUSIC GIL SCOTT HERON "WINTER IN AMERICA") 2087 01:49:55,722 --> 01:49:56,982 MAN (VOICEOVER): If there's anything 2088 01:49:57,324 --> 01:49:59,284 I can do that would truly progress the people, 2089 01:49:59,726 --> 01:50:01,396 let me know. 2090 01:50:01,795 --> 01:50:03,785 I may not be a member of the Black Panther Party, 2091 01:50:04,230 --> 01:50:07,100 but I will always be a Black Panther. 2092 01:50:07,667 --> 01:50:09,247 All power to the people. 2093 01:50:09,636 --> 01:50:11,536 Peace and freedom to the world. 2094 01:50:16,509 --> 01:50:18,349 JAMAL JOSEPH: We made mistakes. 2095 01:50:18,778 --> 01:50:22,318 We charged ahead too fast and were too arrogant sometimes. 2096 01:50:22,983 --> 01:50:28,053 We certainly underestimated the police and the government 2097 01:50:28,922 --> 01:50:32,582 in terms of their response to the Black Panther Party. 2098 01:50:33,259 --> 01:50:36,189 But I think what remains true, the central guiding principle, 2099 01:50:36,763 --> 01:50:39,573 was an undying love for the people. 2100 01:50:47,040 --> 01:50:50,910 MUSIC GIL SCOTT HERON "WINTER IN AMERICA") 2101 01:51:17,037 --> 01:51:18,677 MAN (VOICEOVER): The Black Panther Party platform 2102 01:51:19,072 --> 01:51:23,322 and program-- what we want, what we believe. 2103 01:51:24,077 --> 01:51:27,857 We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings. 2104 01:51:32,419 --> 01:51:33,969 We want education for our people. 2105 01:51:37,357 --> 01:51:39,137 JAMAL JOSEPH: We want an immediate end 2106 01:51:39,559 --> 01:51:42,219 to police brutality and murder of black people. 2107 01:51:45,832 --> 01:51:50,552 We what land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, 2108 01:51:51,371 --> 01:51:52,301 peace. 2109 01:51:52,605 --> 01:51:53,595 MUSIC GIL SCOTT HERON "WINTER IN AMERICA") 2110 01:52:48,895 --> 01:52:52,765 {music playing}