Read

User menu

Search form

Music, Love and Bar-B-Que: How the Panthers Won the People

Music, Love and Bar-B-Que: How the Panthers Won the People
Mon, 4/9/2012 - by John Lacovelli

Not long ago, our local Occupy Wall Street group Occupy Fort Lauderdale invited General Can Do Victor Houston of the original Black Panther Party to speak about the organizational techniques the Panthers used to achieve success in the 1960s.

Houston relayed how they raised money by selling inexpensive materials, such as buttons, and invested the proceeds into staging rallies, which brought in thousands of people thanks to attractions like food and music. Collecting additional donations at the rallies provided funding for the Panthers to invest in community programs, which proved to the people that the Panthers were there to help them. Each step built upon the previous one to create a secure funding and support operation for the group's activities and growth.

Houston arrived at a fortuitous time for our local occupation: Occupy Fort Lauderdale's marches had been getting smaller, and we wanted to reach out to a fellow traveler with experience. Victor inaugurated the discussion by stating that our talks were not about political philosophy—neither the BPP's philosophy nor OWS's philosophy. This was a seminar on "principles in being more effective."

The Seminar

At the beginning, the Oakland Black Panther movement was a small cadre of very dedicated people, a small office space and no resources. When they needed something, they would "scrape it off the terrain." In other words, the resources were out there; they just had to look harder. If they needed a bus to transport people, for example, they borrowed it from someone. Once the basic needs were met, a little funding was scraped up for items which could raise more funds: They printed a wide variety of buttons, which were cheap to produce, and sold them. They published a newspaper, The Black Panther, and sold it on street corners for 25 cents. Once the movement spread to other cities, they shipped thousands of those newspapers and were raising up to $60,000 per month (over $350,000 in today's dollars) from those sales alone.

With the initial funding from the sale of papers they bought food, got park permits, invited musicians (including Carlos Santana) and held Bar-B-Que rallies that drew thousands of people. Besides the music and food, there were speeches so the audience "got education."

To promote the rallies, the Panthers printed posters and posted them all over town with wheat paste. In the middle of the night, groups of four would run out to post them: one to make an "X" on a wall with the paste, one to slap the poster on, one to smooth it and the other to carry the rest of the materials. As the event drew nearer, they "scraped up" sound trucks to announce the events, only turning off the speakers when they saw police cars.

With the large crowds, it became impossible for the media to ignore the party's events. The core of its message was to "profess the love" for the people. As Victor explained it: "We love the people and we're tired of seeing all the exploitation. We want to do something about it, and we want you to help us do something about it."

The community programs provided the evidence that their message was an honest one. There were schoolchildren's breakfast programs and health clinics, which made the party immensely popular and well known.

The Panthers also sent people into the streets with buckets asking for donations to support the programs. "Support" was a key word in these appeals, featuring prominently in the posters and literature. From all this, the party received a steady flow of money from within the community, and once these programs were in place, they famously went outside the community and raised even more money from Park Avenue fundraisers.

The organization spread to other cities; Houston established the New Orleans chapter. The members of each cadres studied military strategy, took classes and practiced fieldwork. The Panthers had their own "little red book" to educate the masses.

The Black Panther Party may have been an African American movement, but it joined forces with other groups, such as the Native American movement, and participated in the anti-war movement, demonstrating at draft offices.

What the Occupy Movement Can Learn

The Occupy Movement shares only the most general ideas with the Panthers, but it's not too much of a stretch to say that the situation for many people in the U.S. today, regardless of color, is inching closer to the condition of black people in America in the Sixties: nominally granted rights, but with a ruling class wielding power over them.

Translated to today, perhaps an updated program for a local Occupy group would be:

• A message: "Support the movement. Ordinary people are suffering economically, losing homes, dying from inadequate health care. The top have been at the top for decades."

• Promotions: Posters and leaflets put together by two or three good propagandists.

• Events: Bar-B-Que rallies with music would still draw; they require preparation of two to three weeks.

• Community Programs: Our initial thoughts were of the homeless. Alternatives might be food-banks, food-bank programs for veterans in particular, and health clinics. The same needs that existed in the sixties are still out there, even worse in some cases.

• Rallies: These can be more effective than marches to draw people in, and once they're in a single place it offers the opportunity to educate attendees with speeches and written materials. One thing was noted: to date, our group in Fort Lauderdale has not applied for permits, standing on our rights of assembly. For a rally, a permit is not only necessary, but minimizes the chance that the authorities will attack.

• Attacks: The more effective the movement, the more likely the oppression. The Panthers armed themselves in response to lethal attacks. We in the Occupy movement are probably not about to arm ourselves. But as General Can Do pointed out from experience, those who rule us are in it to win. Which is why we must be too.

Listen to Victor Houston speak on the InterOccupy.org conference call happening this Thursday, April 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern.

 

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

Donald Trump, Hitler

Like Hitler, Trump has a unique command of propaganda, a captivating public presence, and he knows how to drive home narratives beneficial to him and harmful to his enemies.

Trump’s brand of hyper-nationalism combined with the intense consolidation of executive power follows the same playbook as fascistic leaders in other countries like India,Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Argentina, among others.

The Florida governor’s humiliating loss has a dark undertone: Most Republicans, and many independents, apparently have a craving for the unchecked lawless vengeance that Trump has promised if he wins a second term.

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

Donald Trump, Hitler

Like Hitler, Trump has a unique command of propaganda, a captivating public presence, and he knows how to drive home narratives beneficial to him and harmful to his enemies.

Trump’s brand of hyper-nationalism combined with the intense consolidation of executive power follows the same playbook as fascistic leaders in other countries like India,Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Argentina, among others.

The Florida governor’s humiliating loss has a dark undertone: Most Republicans, and many independents, apparently have a craving for the unchecked lawless vengeance that Trump has promised if he wins a second term.

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago

Trump’s brand of hyper-nationalism combined with the intense consolidation of executive power follows the same playbook as fascistic leaders in other countries like India,Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Argentina, among others.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago
Donald Trump, Hitler

Like Hitler, Trump has a unique command of propaganda, a captivating public presence, and he knows how to drive home narratives beneficial to him and harmful to his enemies.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Posted 1 week 2 days ago

Based on details that have emerged about Trump’s presidential agenda, the far-right Heritage Foundation plans for the next GOP president to have all the tools necessary to demolish multicultural democracy and establish a white, Christian ethnostate that imposes a gender apartheid not unlike the Taliban’s Afghanistan.