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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:04,008 --> 00:00:05,509 There's an old story, 2 00:00:05,542 --> 00:00:07,846 and it's used in various cultures, where 3 00:00:07,879 --> 00:00:10,181 a group of blind men approach an elephant 4 00:00:10,215 --> 00:00:11,783 and try to describe him. 5 00:00:11,815 --> 00:00:15,419 The first man approaches the elephant, touches its side, 6 00:00:15,453 --> 00:00:17,956 and says, it feels like a wall. 7 00:00:17,989 --> 00:00:21,292 The next man touches a tusk and says, 8 00:00:21,326 --> 00:00:23,629 the elephant must be like a spear. 9 00:00:23,661 --> 00:00:27,331 Another blind man touches the trunk and says, 10 00:00:27,364 --> 00:00:29,800 it feels like a snake. 11 00:00:29,834 --> 00:00:33,504 And that is quite often what happens with our descriptions 12 00:00:33,538 --> 00:00:34,806 of the Black Panther Party. 13 00:00:34,839 --> 00:00:40,112 We know the party we were in and not the entire thing. 14 00:00:40,145 --> 00:00:46,184 We were making history and it wasn't nice and clean. 15 00:00:46,217 --> 00:00:47,953 It wasn't easy. 16 00:00:47,986 --> 00:00:50,821 It was complex. 17 00:00:50,855 --> 00:00:53,392 From Chicago, Illinois, the mighty Chi-Lites. 18 00:00:59,130 --> 00:01:00,732 For God's sake, you 19 00:01:00,764 --> 00:01:04,035 got to give more power to the people. 20 00:01:04,068 --> 00:01:09,007 There's some people up there hogging everything. 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,008 The thing that led to the Panthers 22 00:01:11,041 --> 00:01:14,178 was what we were seeing on television every day... 23 00:01:14,212 --> 00:01:17,148 attack dogs, fire hoses, bombings. 24 00:01:17,181 --> 00:01:21,186 We stand on the eve of a black revolution, brothers. 25 00:01:21,219 --> 00:01:22,821 Now we have the emergence 26 00:01:22,853 --> 00:01:25,923 of voices within the community that were saying, 27 00:01:25,957 --> 00:01:29,528 we're not going to continue to turn the other cheek. 28 00:01:29,561 --> 00:01:31,996 You tell them white folk in Mississippi 29 00:01:32,029 --> 00:01:33,998 that all the scared niggers are dead. 30 00:01:35,032 --> 00:01:37,001 We want black power. 31 00:01:37,034 --> 00:01:38,969 We want black power. 32 00:01:44,376 --> 00:01:46,511 This was a revolutionary time. 33 00:01:46,543 --> 00:01:49,380 50 countries in the world gained their independence 34 00:01:49,413 --> 00:01:53,017 in the decade before the founding of the Black Panther 35 00:01:53,050 --> 00:01:54,219 Party. 36 00:01:54,252 --> 00:01:56,254 This was the time when people are getting drafted 37 00:01:56,287 --> 00:01:59,257 to go and fight in Vietnam. 38 00:01:59,290 --> 00:02:01,093 So if somebody's coming and saying well, 39 00:02:01,126 --> 00:02:02,560 if you're going to fight, why not 40 00:02:02,594 --> 00:02:07,132 fight right here in LA or Oakland, you know? 41 00:02:07,165 --> 00:02:09,900 That made a lot of sense. 42 00:02:09,934 --> 00:02:13,437 You couldn't be absent and see what we saw. 43 00:02:13,470 --> 00:02:15,740 We couldn't unsee it. 44 00:02:15,774 --> 00:02:19,945 I was a cocktail waitress in a white strip club 45 00:02:19,977 --> 00:02:22,913 two years before I joined the Black Panther Party. 46 00:02:22,947 --> 00:02:24,883 How did that happen? 47 00:02:24,916 --> 00:02:26,885 The rage was in the streets. 48 00:02:26,917 --> 00:02:28,018 It was everywhere. 49 00:02:32,891 --> 00:02:34,826 We're not gonna get nothing. 50 00:02:34,858 --> 00:02:36,827 Not by sitting around here and just doing 51 00:02:36,861 --> 00:02:38,630 these sit-in demonstrations and nothing. 52 00:02:38,662 --> 00:02:40,131 People are not going to do anything. 53 00:02:40,165 --> 00:02:41,966 But how are we going to do it? 54 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,635 By violence. 55 00:02:43,667 --> 00:02:45,936 Violence. 56 00:02:45,970 --> 00:02:48,407 By uprising, having a revolution. 57 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:50,041 Just with blood, you know. 58 00:02:50,073 --> 00:02:52,243 Let everybody bleed a little bit. 59 00:03:01,386 --> 00:03:02,721 Relations 60 00:03:02,754 --> 00:03:05,090 between police and Negroes throughout the country 61 00:03:05,123 --> 00:03:05,857 are getting worse. 62 00:03:11,562 --> 00:03:13,999 One of the cities most troubled by animosity 63 00:03:14,031 --> 00:03:16,135 between police and Negroes is Oakland, California. 64 00:03:19,904 --> 00:03:23,942 People always talked about freedom and what that means 65 00:03:23,975 --> 00:03:25,243 during that time period. 66 00:03:25,275 --> 00:03:28,679 Being black in America meant that you didn't walk down 67 00:03:28,713 --> 00:03:31,817 the street with the same sense of safety 68 00:03:31,850 --> 00:03:35,252 and the same sense of privilege as a white person. 69 00:03:35,286 --> 00:03:36,687 There was absolutely no difference 70 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,857 in the way the police treated us in Mississippi than they 71 00:03:39,891 --> 00:03:41,126 did in California. 72 00:03:41,159 --> 00:03:42,994 They may not have called you nigger everyday, 73 00:03:43,026 --> 00:03:45,731 but they treated you the same way they did in Mississippi. 74 00:03:49,132 --> 00:03:50,601 The police jump on you, 75 00:03:50,635 --> 00:03:53,939 beat you up, put the gun at your head. 76 00:03:53,971 --> 00:03:58,476 This is what we were going through on a daily basis. 77 00:03:58,510 --> 00:04:00,411 When I first met Huey and Bobby, 78 00:04:00,445 --> 00:04:05,250 they were in the process of forming an organization 79 00:04:05,282 --> 00:04:06,851 for primarily self-defense. 80 00:04:09,887 --> 00:04:13,924 We didn't plan to have a nationwide organization 81 00:04:13,957 --> 00:04:15,392 or anything like that. 82 00:04:15,425 --> 00:04:20,731 We were organizing, dealing with the problems in Oakland. 83 00:04:20,764 --> 00:04:24,168 We use the Black Panther as our symbol 84 00:04:24,202 --> 00:04:27,906 because the nature of panther, panther doesn't strike anyone, 85 00:04:27,938 --> 00:04:32,309 but when he's assailed upon that he'll back up first. 86 00:04:32,342 --> 00:04:36,614 But if the aggressor continues then he'll strike out. 87 00:04:36,647 --> 00:04:39,618 Huey had studied the law. 88 00:04:39,651 --> 00:04:41,553 In Oakland at that particular time, 89 00:04:41,586 --> 00:04:46,490 anyone could carry a firearm who did not have a felony 90 00:04:46,524 --> 00:04:48,293 conviction at the time. 91 00:04:48,325 --> 00:04:50,127 The firearm could not be concealed. 92 00:04:50,161 --> 00:04:51,663 It had to be in the open. 93 00:04:51,695 --> 00:04:55,900 The California Penal Code, section 12020 through 12027, 94 00:04:55,933 --> 00:04:58,269 and also the Second Amendment of the Constitution, 95 00:04:58,303 --> 00:05:01,540 guarantees the citizen a right to bear arms 96 00:05:01,572 --> 00:05:03,642 on public property. 97 00:05:03,675 --> 00:05:05,911 Huey said we're going to carry our guns 98 00:05:05,944 --> 00:05:07,746 and we're going to follow the police. 99 00:05:07,779 --> 00:05:11,916 And if they stop someone, we're going to stop. 100 00:05:11,950 --> 00:05:14,652 We're going to maintain a legal distance 101 00:05:14,685 --> 00:05:18,789 and we're going to observe the so-called law officers 102 00:05:18,822 --> 00:05:21,058 in performance of their duties. 103 00:05:32,135 --> 00:05:34,305 We were in the car and driving around, 104 00:05:34,339 --> 00:05:35,473 having fun. 105 00:05:35,505 --> 00:05:37,508 We would... we was looking at the pretty women 106 00:05:37,541 --> 00:05:38,643 and chasing the sisters. 107 00:05:47,418 --> 00:05:51,389 Then something might happen, and then all of a sudden the focus 108 00:05:51,421 --> 00:05:52,490 would just become serious. 109 00:05:57,195 --> 00:05:59,096 We're coming around the corner. 110 00:05:59,130 --> 00:06:00,397 Stay facing where you are. 111 00:06:00,430 --> 00:06:01,599 We would stop. 112 00:06:01,632 --> 00:06:04,234 We would get out of the cars. 113 00:06:04,267 --> 00:06:08,906 We would walk up to the scene. 114 00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:12,043 Those who had rifles would carry them 115 00:06:12,075 --> 00:06:14,278 in the open, clearly visible. 116 00:06:14,312 --> 00:06:17,582 We would stand at a, a distance where 117 00:06:17,615 --> 00:06:19,751 the police couldn't say that we were interfering 118 00:06:19,784 --> 00:06:23,822 with their arrest or their detention of the individual 119 00:06:23,854 --> 00:06:26,857 and, make sure that there was no brutality. 120 00:06:30,627 --> 00:06:33,632 We stood back with our weapons, ready to throw down 121 00:06:33,664 --> 00:06:35,032 if necessary. 122 00:06:35,065 --> 00:06:40,204 They would, take the weapon and pass it across like this, 123 00:06:40,238 --> 00:06:44,476 and it would sweep... pass right over the officer. 124 00:06:44,509 --> 00:06:46,745 No one would do anything 125 00:06:46,777 --> 00:06:52,750 until a policeman ejected a round in the chamber. 126 00:06:52,784 --> 00:06:55,986 Then we would all eject rounds in the chamber, 127 00:06:56,019 --> 00:06:58,356 and all up and down the street you 128 00:06:58,389 --> 00:07:00,859 could hear this clackity-clack, clack, clack, clack. 129 00:07:00,892 --> 00:07:05,397 And then when the traffic stop or the incident's over, 130 00:07:05,430 --> 00:07:08,466 they'd bring the weapon down across by you like this 131 00:07:08,498 --> 00:07:11,469 and get back in their car and drive off. 132 00:07:11,502 --> 00:07:14,973 It was pretty intimidating. 133 00:07:15,005 --> 00:07:19,910 We referred to ourselves as the vanguard, 134 00:07:19,944 --> 00:07:24,449 and we were setting, by example, a new course that we wanted 135 00:07:24,481 --> 00:07:25,816 the entire community to follow. 136 00:07:31,221 --> 00:07:33,591 No one wants to touch the legitimate hunter, 137 00:07:33,623 --> 00:07:37,127 but we've got to protect society from nuts with guns. 138 00:07:37,161 --> 00:07:40,398 When bands of armed people with loaded weapons 139 00:07:40,430 --> 00:07:44,168 can move about our streets, intimidating and frightening 140 00:07:44,202 --> 00:07:46,370 citizens, then I think we should act. 141 00:07:46,404 --> 00:07:48,540 And we intend to act. 142 00:07:48,572 --> 00:07:52,710 It's my intention to make it a misdemeanor to have, loaded 143 00:07:52,743 --> 00:07:57,082 rifles and shotguns and weapons in public places. 144 00:07:57,115 --> 00:07:58,516 The police department 145 00:07:58,548 --> 00:08:01,318 had went to a local congressman to get a bill written. 146 00:08:01,351 --> 00:08:03,787 So Huey called me up and says, we have to go to Sacramento. 147 00:08:03,820 --> 00:08:05,690 It was conceived as a media event 148 00:08:05,723 --> 00:08:10,428 that the press is always at the California state capitol. 149 00:08:10,461 --> 00:08:13,865 No one really wanted Huey himself to go, 150 00:08:13,897 --> 00:08:17,701 because Huey was kind of a quick-tempered firebrand. 151 00:08:17,735 --> 00:08:21,639 Bobby was a little more cautious. 152 00:08:21,671 --> 00:08:23,607 And it was like, look. 153 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,510 You know, you've been great so far, 154 00:08:26,544 --> 00:08:31,650 but you might blow it up there, and bad things could happen. 155 00:08:39,690 --> 00:08:43,127 We caravaned to Sacramento. 156 00:08:43,161 --> 00:08:48,399 I think there were about 30 of us altogether, and most of us 157 00:08:48,431 --> 00:08:49,467 had weapon. 158 00:08:52,402 --> 00:08:55,105 We was on the state capitol on the lawn, 159 00:08:55,138 --> 00:08:57,709 and Ronald Reagan... then the governor 160 00:08:57,742 --> 00:09:01,846 of the state of California... was there about 10 feet away 161 00:09:01,878 --> 00:09:04,849 from us holding a press conference 162 00:09:04,882 --> 00:09:10,121 with these young, like, parochial school kids. 163 00:09:10,153 --> 00:09:13,857 And what happened, as soon as the press seen us 164 00:09:13,891 --> 00:09:15,760 they gravitated from Ronald Reagan 165 00:09:15,792 --> 00:09:18,028 over to where the Panthers was. 166 00:09:18,061 --> 00:09:19,797 The Black Panther Party for Self Defense 167 00:09:19,830 --> 00:09:21,765 calls upon the American people in general, 168 00:09:21,799 --> 00:09:23,233 and the black people in particular, 169 00:09:23,267 --> 00:09:26,371 to take careful note of the racist California 170 00:09:26,403 --> 00:09:29,907 legislature which is now considering legislation aimed 171 00:09:29,940 --> 00:09:32,643 at keeping the black people disarmed and powerless 172 00:09:32,676 --> 00:09:34,945 at the very same time racist police 173 00:09:34,978 --> 00:09:38,516 agencies throughout the country are intensifying the terror, 174 00:09:38,549 --> 00:09:41,752 brutality, murder, and repression of black people. 175 00:09:41,786 --> 00:09:43,188 The state assembly was 176 00:09:43,220 --> 00:09:45,722 in the midst of a heated debate when the young Negroes, armed 177 00:09:45,756 --> 00:09:47,892 with loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols, 178 00:09:47,925 --> 00:09:49,359 marched into the capital. 179 00:09:49,392 --> 00:09:51,796 When we got in the halls, you have to imagine, 180 00:09:51,829 --> 00:09:55,333 there's 100 cameras... still cameras, print media people... 181 00:09:55,366 --> 00:09:56,467 backing up. 182 00:09:56,499 --> 00:09:57,901 And I'm saying, where is the spectator section? 183 00:09:57,935 --> 00:10:01,839 And the press says this way, Bobby. 184 00:10:01,873 --> 00:10:04,776 Some party members got ahead of me with shotguns, pistols 185 00:10:04,809 --> 00:10:08,379 and wound up on the actual floor of the California State 186 00:10:08,411 --> 00:10:09,513 legislature. 187 00:10:09,546 --> 00:10:10,915 They're heavily armed. 188 00:10:10,948 --> 00:10:13,351 Whether their weapons are loaded or not, nobody seems to know. 189 00:10:26,730 --> 00:10:28,265 The armed group, who said 190 00:10:28,299 --> 00:10:30,235 they were members of the Black Panther Party, 191 00:10:30,267 --> 00:10:32,202 retreated to a service station several blocks 192 00:10:32,235 --> 00:10:33,403 from the capital. 193 00:10:33,436 --> 00:10:35,505 I remember this one cop came down on a motorcycle, 194 00:10:35,539 --> 00:10:37,075 and he's seen all these guns, and he 195 00:10:37,108 --> 00:10:39,510 got on the... on the thing. 196 00:10:39,542 --> 00:10:41,645 And that's when they started to swoop down 197 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:43,348 on us from everywhere. 198 00:10:43,381 --> 00:10:45,717 You have no right to take my gun away from me. 199 00:10:45,749 --> 00:10:47,684 You don't know the constitutional right? 200 00:10:47,718 --> 00:10:48,786 Sure we do. 201 00:10:48,819 --> 00:10:50,688 We're well aware of the constitutionality. 202 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,291 I would like to have my gun back. 203 00:10:53,324 --> 00:10:55,560 Why do you believe the legislature is racist? 204 00:10:55,593 --> 00:10:57,228 Because, you know, you're a part of it. 205 00:10:57,261 --> 00:10:57,929 Isn't it obvious? 206 00:10:57,961 --> 00:10:59,696 This is a white system. 207 00:10:59,729 --> 00:11:02,099 The news got to everyone 208 00:11:02,132 --> 00:11:05,469 in the black community who had a television, everyone 209 00:11:05,502 --> 00:11:07,504 who had a radio. 210 00:11:07,537 --> 00:11:11,441 It was in every newspaper across the nation. 211 00:11:11,474 --> 00:11:15,479 It put us on center stage. 212 00:11:15,512 --> 00:11:17,916 I don't think that loaded guns is the way 213 00:11:17,949 --> 00:11:19,950 to solve a problem that should be solved 214 00:11:19,983 --> 00:11:21,819 between people of good will. 215 00:11:21,852 --> 00:11:24,389 And anyone who would approve of this kind of demonstration 216 00:11:24,421 --> 00:11:25,389 must be out of their mind. 217 00:11:31,127 --> 00:11:33,397 When I heard about Sacramento, 218 00:11:33,430 --> 00:11:37,502 I was like, damn, these brothers are bad. 219 00:11:37,535 --> 00:11:40,538 They're here up in Sacramento, in the capital, packing? 220 00:11:48,211 --> 00:11:52,015 The boldness, the courageousness about it, 221 00:11:52,049 --> 00:11:56,721 the arrogance of it... that put a whole new face on things. 222 00:11:56,753 --> 00:11:59,423 I said man, I want to be part of this, whatever that is. 223 00:12:04,060 --> 00:12:05,863 Yeah, I walked into the office 224 00:12:05,896 --> 00:12:08,700 and told them I wanted to join the Black Panther Party, 225 00:12:08,733 --> 00:12:11,902 and they kind of laughed. 226 00:12:11,935 --> 00:12:14,705 I didn't know that there were any other women 227 00:12:14,738 --> 00:12:17,675 in the party at that time. 228 00:12:17,708 --> 00:12:19,810 But then I asked them, could I have a gun? 229 00:12:22,246 --> 00:12:24,415 I was a student at Lincoln University 230 00:12:24,448 --> 00:12:27,518 outside Philly when I first heard about the Black Panther 231 00:12:27,550 --> 00:12:28,618 Party. 232 00:12:28,651 --> 00:12:32,690 I found my friend, John Huggins, and I said, 233 00:12:32,723 --> 00:12:35,560 we need to leave this stupid campus. 234 00:12:35,593 --> 00:12:37,027 We have work to do. 235 00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:40,498 We got in John Huggins' little hooptie car 236 00:12:40,531 --> 00:12:44,035 and we drove across the country from New York, 237 00:12:44,068 --> 00:12:45,670 and when we got to the west coast 238 00:12:45,703 --> 00:12:49,607 we joined the Black Panther Party. 239 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,643 What we want, what we believe. 240 00:12:52,675 --> 00:12:55,012 Point number one, we want freedom. 241 00:12:55,046 --> 00:12:57,248 We want decent housing. 242 00:12:57,281 --> 00:12:59,584 We want an an education for our people. 243 00:12:59,617 --> 00:13:01,319 We want an immediate end 244 00:13:01,352 --> 00:13:02,653 to police brutality. 245 00:13:02,685 --> 00:13:04,855 People joined for all kinds of reasons, 246 00:13:04,888 --> 00:13:08,792 but the Panthers have a 10 point platform or program that really 247 00:13:08,825 --> 00:13:12,262 was sort of like the fundamental sort of organizing tool 248 00:13:12,296 --> 00:13:13,464 and orientation tool. 249 00:13:17,334 --> 00:13:19,536 The civil rights movement was basically 250 00:13:19,570 --> 00:13:20,872 a southern movement. 251 00:13:20,905 --> 00:13:23,174 So when you had an organization like the Panthers 252 00:13:23,206 --> 00:13:26,943 who were taking on things like housing and welfare and health, 253 00:13:26,977 --> 00:13:28,579 that was stuff that people in the north 254 00:13:28,612 --> 00:13:31,549 could relate to and rally behind. 255 00:13:31,581 --> 00:13:33,016 Our attack was not 256 00:13:33,050 --> 00:13:35,319 only against white supremacy, but it was also 257 00:13:35,352 --> 00:13:36,687 about capitalism. 258 00:13:36,719 --> 00:13:40,724 We actually thought that the way in which capitalism created 259 00:13:40,757 --> 00:13:44,528 a working class that was kept absolutely destitute... 260 00:13:44,561 --> 00:13:45,796 was that was wrong. 261 00:13:45,829 --> 00:13:48,833 So we took the position that in order for us to free, 262 00:13:48,866 --> 00:13:50,368 that system had to be dismantled. 263 00:13:50,401 --> 00:13:53,371 We could not be free in a system that had oppressed us 264 00:13:53,403 --> 00:13:54,438 in the first place. 265 00:13:54,472 --> 00:13:55,940 So you have to get rid of that system. 266 00:14:01,112 --> 00:14:03,247 We were not after the church folks. 267 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,049 We were not after the Muslim folks. 268 00:14:05,081 --> 00:14:06,550 We wanted the brother on the corner, 269 00:14:06,584 --> 00:14:09,119 the brother who's getting his head banged in every weekend 270 00:14:09,152 --> 00:14:10,320 by the police. 271 00:14:10,353 --> 00:14:12,623 We wanted the brother who was going to jail... just 272 00:14:12,656 --> 00:14:14,758 snatched out of this car for a traffic ticket 273 00:14:14,791 --> 00:14:15,926 because he was black. 274 00:14:15,959 --> 00:14:16,894 That's who we were after. 275 00:14:19,597 --> 00:14:24,635 We get calls from Atlanta, Nashville, 276 00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:29,606 Raleigh, North Carolina, from Washington, DC, Bridgeport, 277 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,044 Connecticut... every city, small or large, you could think 278 00:14:33,076 --> 00:14:35,745 of wanted a chapter of the Black Panther Party. 279 00:14:47,925 --> 00:14:50,995 We would send members of the organization 280 00:14:51,027 --> 00:14:55,700 to help connect them to us. 281 00:14:55,733 --> 00:14:57,568 But it was destabilizing in the sense 282 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,037 that it was somewhat chaotic, the way the party was growing. 283 00:15:01,070 --> 00:15:05,075 And it was too fast and too big. 284 00:15:05,108 --> 00:15:07,078 There was no screening process. 285 00:15:07,110 --> 00:15:08,578 There was no, why are you here? 286 00:15:08,612 --> 00:15:10,748 What do you expect to have happen while you're here? 287 00:15:10,781 --> 00:15:12,150 What are you trying to accomplish? 288 00:15:12,182 --> 00:15:13,850 There was none of that. 289 00:15:13,883 --> 00:15:16,720 Members came from whoever just came in off the street. 290 00:15:16,753 --> 00:15:19,223 The downside, of course, was we had no idea who 291 00:15:19,256 --> 00:15:22,593 any of these people were. 292 00:15:22,626 --> 00:15:24,862 We didn't have time for a whole lot of, who are you? 293 00:15:24,895 --> 00:15:26,264 What are you doing? 294 00:15:26,296 --> 00:15:27,632 We need... you want to do this? 295 00:15:27,665 --> 00:15:28,065 Fine. 296 00:15:28,098 --> 00:15:28,466 Here. 297 00:15:28,498 --> 00:15:28,899 Go. 298 00:15:33,671 --> 00:15:35,339 This week on "Firing Line", my guest 299 00:15:35,372 --> 00:15:37,642 is Mr. Eldridge Cleaver, the information minister 300 00:15:37,675 --> 00:15:40,611 of the Black Panthers. 301 00:15:40,643 --> 00:15:43,013 Eldridge Cleaver comes out with this book, 302 00:15:43,046 --> 00:15:47,618 "Soul on Ice," a series of his essays from prison, 303 00:15:47,651 --> 00:15:50,353 and the New York Times says that it's brilliant, 304 00:15:50,387 --> 00:15:53,123 it gets on to the best seller list. 305 00:15:53,156 --> 00:15:55,626 So when Eldridge joined the Panthers, 306 00:15:55,658 --> 00:15:57,060 the Panthers had gotten themselves 307 00:15:57,094 --> 00:15:58,963 a star, a literary star. 308 00:15:58,996 --> 00:16:00,364 I've been called 309 00:16:00,397 --> 00:16:03,568 by the National Review, the of the Black 310 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:04,834 Panther Party. 311 00:16:04,868 --> 00:16:07,872 And all of this is an attempt to undermine the party 312 00:16:07,905 --> 00:16:12,843 or to give it a bad presentation to the public. 313 00:16:12,876 --> 00:16:15,613 Huey Newton always had this vision. 314 00:16:15,646 --> 00:16:17,882 He was the visionary of the party. 315 00:16:17,915 --> 00:16:21,084 Bobby Seale, he had the personality. 316 00:16:21,118 --> 00:16:23,353 Eldridge Cleaver was the person who 317 00:16:23,387 --> 00:16:27,291 made the party credible to black intellectuals, 318 00:16:27,324 --> 00:16:30,394 to the white, left intellectuals. 319 00:16:30,426 --> 00:16:34,197 You know, all of them loved Eldridge Cleaver. 320 00:16:34,230 --> 00:16:35,966 They understood what he was talking about, 321 00:16:35,999 --> 00:16:38,802 or at least they thought they did. 322 00:16:38,835 --> 00:16:41,272 Eldridge had this incredible ability 323 00:16:41,305 --> 00:16:43,774 to encapsulate a thought in a few sentences 324 00:16:43,806 --> 00:16:47,677 and form it into an artistic statement that pointed right... 325 00:16:47,710 --> 00:16:49,846 that stabbed right into the heart of the enemy, 326 00:16:49,879 --> 00:16:51,181 and he did that all of the time. 327 00:16:53,383 --> 00:16:54,851 Now, was he always correct? 328 00:16:54,884 --> 00:16:56,253 No. 329 00:16:56,286 --> 00:16:59,390 And I say that Ronald Reagan is a punk, a sissy, and a coward, 330 00:16:59,422 --> 00:17:01,858 and I challenge him to a duel. 331 00:17:01,892 --> 00:17:03,861 I challenge him. 332 00:17:03,893 --> 00:17:08,598 I challenge him to a duel to the death or until he 333 00:17:08,632 --> 00:17:11,102 says Uncle Eldridge. 334 00:17:11,134 --> 00:17:12,769 Was he insane? 335 00:17:12,803 --> 00:17:14,005 Fuck yeah. 336 00:17:14,037 --> 00:17:17,540 That boy was crazy, and he got a lot of people hurt. 337 00:17:17,574 --> 00:17:19,977 And I give him his choice of weapon. 338 00:17:20,009 --> 00:17:23,446 He could use a gun, a knife, a baseball bat or a marshmallow, 339 00:17:23,479 --> 00:17:25,583 and I'll beat him to death with the marshmallow. 340 00:17:25,615 --> 00:17:28,752 That's how I feel about him, see? 341 00:17:28,786 --> 00:17:30,654 Now see, they are not going 342 00:17:30,688 --> 00:17:34,492 to be able to control Eldridge. 343 00:17:34,525 --> 00:17:38,929 Eldridge was a Rottweiler, uncontrollable personality. 344 00:17:38,961 --> 00:17:41,331 Who could be in an organization with Eldridge 345 00:17:41,364 --> 00:17:43,300 and he not be the leader? 346 00:17:43,334 --> 00:17:43,735 Nobody. 347 00:17:46,870 --> 00:17:48,339 And that's basically how it ended up. 348 00:18:01,117 --> 00:18:02,986 A pool of blood marks 349 00:18:03,019 --> 00:18:06,856 the spot where 23-year-old officer John Frey was found 350 00:18:06,890 --> 00:18:09,427 fatally wounded from four gunshots. 351 00:18:09,459 --> 00:18:11,394 The shooting happened at 5:00 AM, 352 00:18:11,428 --> 00:18:14,498 approximately where I'm standing, on 7th Street 353 00:18:14,530 --> 00:18:17,834 in the heart of Oakland's Negro ghetto. 354 00:18:17,867 --> 00:18:20,337 The suspect, charged with murder and attempted murder, 355 00:18:20,371 --> 00:18:23,474 is Huey Newton, 25-year-old leader of the Black 356 00:18:23,507 --> 00:18:25,875 Panthers for Self Defense. 357 00:18:25,909 --> 00:18:28,278 Newton is hospitalized in serious condition 358 00:18:28,312 --> 00:18:31,349 and under heavy guard. 359 00:18:31,382 --> 00:18:33,817 We went up to Highland Hospital and it 360 00:18:33,851 --> 00:18:37,888 looked like every police in America was there. 361 00:18:37,921 --> 00:18:43,827 We didn't know for sure if Huey was dead or alive. 362 00:18:43,861 --> 00:18:45,062 We didn't sleep that night. 363 00:18:45,094 --> 00:18:46,631 Nobody slept that night, I don't think. 364 00:18:50,433 --> 00:18:51,868 As he was handcuffed 365 00:18:51,901 --> 00:18:55,873 to a gurney going into surgery, he was arrested for murder 366 00:18:55,905 --> 00:18:57,642 and expected to face execution. 367 00:19:01,144 --> 00:19:02,747 A lot of the other Panthers were 368 00:19:02,779 --> 00:19:07,117 in jail because of the protests that they'd done in Sacramento, 369 00:19:07,151 --> 00:19:11,689 so Eldridge was the only available spokesperson 370 00:19:11,721 --> 00:19:14,057 for the Black Panther Party. 371 00:19:14,091 --> 00:19:15,760 The Black Panther Party 372 00:19:15,793 --> 00:19:19,296 demands that Huey P. Newton be set free, 373 00:19:19,328 --> 00:19:21,765 and we wish to make it very clear 374 00:19:21,798 --> 00:19:23,933 that if he is not set free, there 375 00:19:23,967 --> 00:19:27,036 is little hope of avoiding open, armed war 376 00:19:27,069 --> 00:19:31,141 on the streets of California and sweeping across this nation. 377 00:19:31,174 --> 00:19:32,942 We said, well, Huey's in jail. 378 00:19:32,976 --> 00:19:34,311 He's facing the death penalty. 379 00:19:34,344 --> 00:19:36,380 What can we do? 380 00:19:36,412 --> 00:19:39,650 I think the initial slogan was Huey must be set free. 381 00:19:39,682 --> 00:19:43,653 Eventually it got shortened to free Huey. 382 00:19:43,687 --> 00:19:46,157 Black is beautiful. 383 00:19:46,190 --> 00:19:47,158 Free Huey! 384 00:19:47,190 --> 00:19:49,626 Set our warrior free. 385 00:19:49,660 --> 00:19:50,628 Free Huey! 386 00:19:50,661 --> 00:19:53,096 Black is beautiful. 387 00:19:53,130 --> 00:19:54,565 Free Huey! 388 00:19:54,597 --> 00:19:56,533 Set our warrior free. 389 00:19:56,566 --> 00:19:58,134 Free Huey! 390 00:19:58,168 --> 00:20:00,405 It became a huge movement. 391 00:20:03,774 --> 00:20:04,909 Free Huey! 392 00:20:04,941 --> 00:20:07,377 Black is beautiful. 393 00:20:07,411 --> 00:20:08,845 Free Huey! 394 00:20:08,879 --> 00:20:11,315 Set our warrior free. 395 00:20:11,347 --> 00:20:12,315 Free Huey! 396 00:20:12,348 --> 00:20:14,784 Black is beautiful. 397 00:20:14,817 --> 00:20:15,752 Free Huey! 398 00:20:15,786 --> 00:20:17,720 Set our warrior free. 399 00:20:17,754 --> 00:20:18,689 Free Huey! 400 00:20:18,721 --> 00:20:19,789 Today there 401 00:20:19,823 --> 00:20:21,358 were a number of free Huey Newton rallies 402 00:20:21,391 --> 00:20:22,726 across the nation. 403 00:20:22,758 --> 00:20:26,363 You did not have to be a member of the Black Panther Party. 404 00:20:26,395 --> 00:20:28,699 All you had to be was a human being. 405 00:20:28,731 --> 00:20:32,235 People of all kinds took up that cry, Free Huey. 406 00:20:41,745 --> 00:20:43,981 The Examiner made a report back here 407 00:20:44,014 --> 00:20:46,817 in the last Sunday's paper that we were anti-white, 408 00:20:46,850 --> 00:20:49,219 that we hold no bones... this is a quote... hold 409 00:20:49,253 --> 00:20:52,223 no, pick no bones about being anti-white. 410 00:20:52,256 --> 00:20:54,859 This is a bold faced lie. 411 00:20:54,892 --> 00:20:57,260 We don't hate nobody because of their color. 412 00:20:57,294 --> 00:20:59,330 We hate oppression. 413 00:20:59,363 --> 00:21:04,067 We hate murder of black people in our communities. 414 00:21:04,101 --> 00:21:05,835 The people just turned out. 415 00:21:05,869 --> 00:21:08,172 They wanted to help us, they wanted to give us money, 416 00:21:08,205 --> 00:21:09,473 they wanted us to come speak. 417 00:21:09,506 --> 00:21:14,378 It was this gathering of connection 418 00:21:14,411 --> 00:21:17,046 to the Black Panthers that was different to before. 419 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,718 We've got to free Huey. 420 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:24,654 We've got to free Huey. 421 00:21:24,688 --> 00:21:28,092 We've got to free Huey. 422 00:21:28,124 --> 00:21:30,527 We've got to free Huey. 423 00:21:30,561 --> 00:21:31,996 Everybody! 424 00:21:32,028 --> 00:21:34,931 We've got to free Huey. 425 00:21:34,965 --> 00:21:36,334 We've got to free Huey. 426 00:21:42,338 --> 00:21:46,576 We were a phenomenon... the way 427 00:21:46,610 --> 00:21:51,048 that we walked and talked and dressed. 428 00:21:51,081 --> 00:21:51,716 We had swagger. 429 00:22:00,123 --> 00:22:02,258 It was a rhythm. 430 00:22:02,292 --> 00:22:04,862 It was a rhythm to how we spoke. 431 00:22:04,894 --> 00:22:06,663 It was a rhythm to how we walked, 432 00:22:06,697 --> 00:22:08,565 and the people recognized it. 433 00:22:08,598 --> 00:22:11,534 We stood out. 434 00:22:11,567 --> 00:22:14,637 Outside of that, on the street, they'd... ooh that's a butt ugly 435 00:22:14,671 --> 00:22:15,205 person. 436 00:22:15,238 --> 00:22:16,440 Ooh, they ugly. 437 00:22:16,472 --> 00:22:20,877 But in the Party it was just something that gave them 438 00:22:20,911 --> 00:22:22,479 this tremendous sex appeal. 439 00:22:28,485 --> 00:22:30,888 The Panthers didn't invent the idea of black 440 00:22:30,921 --> 00:22:32,189 is beautiful. 441 00:22:32,221 --> 00:22:35,491 People had started wearing afros and dashikis... 442 00:22:35,525 --> 00:22:37,061 but one of the things the Panthers did 443 00:22:37,094 --> 00:22:40,930 was that urban black is beautiful, 444 00:22:40,963 --> 00:22:45,068 and that look just blew people away. 445 00:22:45,102 --> 00:22:47,638 If you were a young black man living in the city 446 00:22:47,671 --> 00:22:49,606 anywhere, you wanted to be like this. 447 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,075 You wanted to dress like this, you wanted to act like this, 448 00:22:52,109 --> 00:22:53,344 you wanted to talk like this. 449 00:22:53,376 --> 00:22:54,544 You wanted to be this. 450 00:22:54,577 --> 00:22:56,412 It's a standard of aggressiveness, of militance, 451 00:22:56,446 --> 00:23:00,718 of just forcefulness that's the sort of standard we 452 00:23:00,750 --> 00:23:01,685 haven't had in the past. 453 00:23:09,191 --> 00:23:10,960 But figuratively speaking, you're 454 00:23:10,994 --> 00:23:12,863 not about to become a Panther. 455 00:23:12,895 --> 00:23:13,830 No. 456 00:23:13,863 --> 00:23:15,699 Not today or tomorrow, at any rate. 457 00:23:15,731 --> 00:23:17,000 Maybe the day after. 458 00:23:29,011 --> 00:23:31,381 This brother here, myself, all of us 459 00:23:31,414 --> 00:23:32,915 were born with our hair like this, 460 00:23:32,949 --> 00:23:35,518 and we just wear it like this. 461 00:23:35,552 --> 00:23:37,087 The reason for it, you might say, 462 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,757 is like a new awareness among black people 463 00:23:39,789 --> 00:23:41,892 that their own natural appearance... 464 00:23:41,924 --> 00:23:44,228 physical appearance, is beautiful. 465 00:23:44,260 --> 00:23:46,430 Black people are aware now. 466 00:23:46,462 --> 00:23:47,498 They're proud of it. 467 00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:49,132 It's pleasing to them. 468 00:23:49,165 --> 00:23:49,799 Dig it? 469 00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:51,000 Isn't it beautiful? 470 00:23:51,034 --> 00:23:52,002 All right. 471 00:24:06,917 --> 00:24:08,385 You're 472 00:24:08,418 --> 00:24:12,022 talking about people who are teenagers... 17, 18, 19, 473 00:24:12,055 --> 00:24:15,359 20... that's the bulk of the Panthers are teenagers. 474 00:24:15,392 --> 00:24:17,795 So the fact that we were so young 475 00:24:17,827 --> 00:24:20,129 and the fact that this hadn't happened before... I'm 476 00:24:20,162 --> 00:24:23,666 not certain that we recognized how startling it 477 00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:25,169 looked to other people. 478 00:24:28,671 --> 00:24:30,106 Dear Mr. Newton, 479 00:24:30,140 --> 00:24:33,877 I'm a 13-year-old black girl and I want to be a Black Panther. 480 00:24:33,910 --> 00:24:36,080 I wish you would fill me in. 481 00:24:36,113 --> 00:24:38,782 Does it matter what your religion is? 482 00:24:38,815 --> 00:24:41,919 What are some qualifications to be a Black Panther? 483 00:24:41,951 --> 00:24:45,655 PS... write me back personally. 484 00:24:45,689 --> 00:24:47,091 I was taught 485 00:24:47,123 --> 00:24:50,059 to be proper... behave yourself. 486 00:24:50,093 --> 00:24:52,462 You're going out in public, to always know 487 00:24:52,496 --> 00:24:55,099 that the white man was listening. 488 00:24:55,132 --> 00:24:58,267 With the Black Panthers coming to the scene, 489 00:24:58,301 --> 00:25:02,473 it was just a completely different message. 490 00:25:02,506 --> 00:25:05,809 As a 12-year-old, you know... what? 491 00:25:05,842 --> 00:25:10,280 You had this whole other portrayal of self, 492 00:25:10,313 --> 00:25:11,982 and just digging it. 493 00:25:17,888 --> 00:25:20,324 Photographers took advantage. 494 00:25:20,356 --> 00:25:21,624 I mean, they took our pictures. 495 00:25:21,658 --> 00:25:22,926 They put them on newspapers. 496 00:25:22,959 --> 00:25:24,527 They put them on magazines. 497 00:25:24,561 --> 00:25:27,865 And that look that we projected... you know, 498 00:25:27,898 --> 00:25:30,334 the big Afro, the leather jacket, 499 00:25:30,366 --> 00:25:32,635 the shades... that became a hit. 500 00:25:36,038 --> 00:25:40,610 And obviously, photographers were drawn to the Panthers. 501 00:25:40,643 --> 00:25:43,447 Well, we hear a great deal about the Black Panthers. 502 00:25:43,479 --> 00:25:44,413 Black Panthers. 503 00:25:44,447 --> 00:25:45,114 Black Panthers. 504 00:25:45,148 --> 00:25:46,183 The Black Panthers. 505 00:25:46,216 --> 00:25:49,486 The Black Panthers were absolutely unique. 506 00:25:49,518 --> 00:25:50,586 The Black Panthers. 507 00:25:50,620 --> 00:25:51,588 The Black Panthers. 508 00:25:51,621 --> 00:25:52,723 Black Panthers. 509 00:25:52,756 --> 00:25:53,422 The Black Panther Party. 510 00:25:53,456 --> 00:25:54,525 Black Panther movement. 511 00:25:54,557 --> 00:25:55,526 Black Panther Party. 512 00:25:55,558 --> 00:25:57,094 Black Panthers. 513 00:25:57,126 --> 00:26:00,563 I think the Black Panthers really understood the media. 514 00:26:00,596 --> 00:26:01,764 They knew what we were after. 515 00:26:01,797 --> 00:26:06,536 They knew what we were focusing on. 516 00:26:06,569 --> 00:26:08,004 The Panthers has amounted to... 517 00:26:08,037 --> 00:26:09,238 The Black Panther Party. 518 00:26:09,271 --> 00:26:10,640 Many people know of the Panthers. 519 00:26:10,673 --> 00:26:13,876 You might say that we exploited the Black 520 00:26:13,910 --> 00:26:14,911 Panthers. 521 00:26:14,944 --> 00:26:16,646 But I think there's a lot of evidence 522 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,683 that they used us to their advantage. 523 00:26:20,717 --> 00:26:24,755 They were able to establish their legitimacy 524 00:26:24,787 --> 00:26:25,955 as a voice of protest. 525 00:26:25,988 --> 00:26:27,857 The Chairman of the Black Panther Party. 526 00:26:27,891 --> 00:26:29,293 And here he is. 527 00:26:35,798 --> 00:26:37,934 We have a film of your breakfast program. 528 00:26:37,968 --> 00:26:39,670 Is this without sound also? 529 00:26:39,702 --> 00:26:40,937 Yeah. 530 00:26:40,970 --> 00:26:41,438 I think so. 531 00:26:41,470 --> 00:26:42,471 All right. 532 00:26:42,505 --> 00:26:43,473 Would you... would you comment on this? 533 00:26:43,506 --> 00:26:43,908 Yes. 534 00:26:50,447 --> 00:26:51,882 Yeah, this 535 00:26:51,914 --> 00:26:54,851 is a free breakfast for children program, 536 00:26:54,884 --> 00:26:57,253 and they're preparing the food there early in the morning. 537 00:26:57,286 --> 00:26:59,488 It's about two hours work in the morning. 538 00:26:59,521 --> 00:27:01,891 These party members primarily set this whole program up, 539 00:27:01,924 --> 00:27:04,193 and then we get involved as many of the community people 540 00:27:04,227 --> 00:27:07,064 as we can. 541 00:27:07,096 --> 00:27:09,565 Who all wants tea? 542 00:27:09,598 --> 00:27:11,067 Put more tea in, little brother. 543 00:27:11,101 --> 00:27:12,202 Come on it, little sister. 544 00:27:12,235 --> 00:27:15,171 Y'all can sit down and get something to eat. 545 00:27:15,205 --> 00:27:16,740 Studies came out saying 546 00:27:16,773 --> 00:27:19,343 that children that didn't have a good breakfast in the morning 547 00:27:19,375 --> 00:27:22,144 were less attentive at school and less inclined to do well 548 00:27:22,178 --> 00:27:23,814 and suffered from fatigue. 549 00:27:23,846 --> 00:27:27,283 I mean, there was all sorts of scientific reasons 550 00:27:27,316 --> 00:27:30,887 to have a good breakfast in the morning. 551 00:27:30,921 --> 00:27:34,423 And we just simply took that information, 552 00:27:34,457 --> 00:27:37,428 and a program was developed serving breakfast to children. 553 00:27:40,796 --> 00:27:43,633 After my father came home from Vietnam 554 00:27:43,667 --> 00:27:46,403 and was discharged from the army and couldn't get work, 555 00:27:46,436 --> 00:27:48,705 we were going through a very hard time. 556 00:27:48,738 --> 00:27:52,609 Food was kind of... you know, just the everyday necessities 557 00:27:52,642 --> 00:27:54,143 were hard. 558 00:27:54,177 --> 00:27:56,947 I was embarrassed to go, but when you went, 559 00:27:56,979 --> 00:28:00,750 you know, kids are all laughing, and then all of a sudden 560 00:28:00,784 --> 00:28:03,085 the stigma... or whatever you thought 561 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,055 was the stigma... went away, and you really 562 00:28:06,088 --> 00:28:09,792 got to see that yes, this is what the Black Panthers are. 563 00:28:15,765 --> 00:28:18,134 We were showing love for our people. 564 00:28:18,168 --> 00:28:20,671 You know, if you have a child, if you'd know that hey, 565 00:28:20,703 --> 00:28:23,906 these men and women are going to feed my child in the morning, 566 00:28:23,940 --> 00:28:24,807 that's a big deal. 567 00:28:31,715 --> 00:28:34,117 The breakfast program actually really caught 568 00:28:34,150 --> 00:28:35,084 on. 569 00:28:35,117 --> 00:28:37,653 It served about 20,000 meals a week 570 00:28:37,687 --> 00:28:40,958 to young people in 19 different communities. 571 00:28:40,990 --> 00:28:43,359 So it wasn't a fly by night thing. 572 00:28:43,392 --> 00:28:45,796 It really, actually was making a difference. 573 00:28:55,171 --> 00:28:57,708 Just at the moment that the Panthers are turning 574 00:28:57,740 --> 00:29:00,509 toward survival programs... towards free breakfast 575 00:29:00,543 --> 00:29:03,046 programs, free clinics, and free food programs that 576 00:29:03,078 --> 00:29:05,081 will help them reconnect with the black community 577 00:29:05,114 --> 00:29:08,919 and build their membership, and repudiating this earlier 578 00:29:08,951 --> 00:29:12,055 advocacy of armed self defense and police patrols... 579 00:29:12,087 --> 00:29:14,223 J Edgar Hoover attacks the Panthers. 580 00:29:19,328 --> 00:29:23,599 Hoover saw any form of black organizing as a threat 581 00:29:23,632 --> 00:29:26,402 to the status quo as he saw it. 582 00:29:26,436 --> 00:29:28,605 Change that would have involved equality, 583 00:29:28,638 --> 00:29:30,707 that would have put power in black people's hands, 584 00:29:30,739 --> 00:29:34,643 was very much a threat to Hoover. 585 00:29:34,677 --> 00:29:37,781 He started something called COINTELPRO, 586 00:29:37,814 --> 00:29:41,517 directed against what he called black nationalist hate groups. 587 00:29:41,551 --> 00:29:45,255 COINTELPRO was the abbreviation of Counter 588 00:29:45,287 --> 00:29:47,591 Intelligence Program. 589 00:29:47,623 --> 00:29:49,759 The purpose of this new 590 00:29:49,793 --> 00:29:54,598 counterintelligence endeavour is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, 591 00:29:54,631 --> 00:29:57,934 discredit or otherwise neutralize the activities 592 00:29:57,967 --> 00:30:00,504 of black nationalists. 593 00:30:00,536 --> 00:30:02,104 Neutralize could 594 00:30:02,138 --> 00:30:05,042 mean making somebody an informant 595 00:30:05,075 --> 00:30:08,644 or putting somebody in jail or having somebody killed. 596 00:30:13,048 --> 00:30:18,055 Hoover was sending letters to various offices 597 00:30:18,087 --> 00:30:21,257 almost on a weekly basis to come up with new ideas 598 00:30:21,290 --> 00:30:24,594 to go after members of the Black Panther Party. 599 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:34,304 245 of the 290 COINTELPRO actions 600 00:30:34,336 --> 00:30:37,306 were against the Black Panthers. 601 00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:40,677 One of the mandates was do not make this program public. 602 00:30:40,709 --> 00:30:44,847 Do not tell anybody that it exists. 603 00:30:44,881 --> 00:30:47,584 FBI has a memo that states 604 00:30:47,616 --> 00:30:52,555 the objectives of counterintelligence operations. 605 00:30:52,588 --> 00:30:55,124 One is to prevent the rise of what 606 00:30:55,158 --> 00:30:58,328 they call the black messiah... a single charismatic leader that 607 00:30:58,361 --> 00:31:00,497 could unify the movement. 608 00:31:00,529 --> 00:31:05,201 They want to prevent the appeal of radical political movement 609 00:31:05,235 --> 00:31:09,473 to black youth, and they wanted to isolate 610 00:31:09,506 --> 00:31:12,476 these groups to prevent them from gaining respectability 611 00:31:12,508 --> 00:31:13,876 in the black community. 612 00:31:13,910 --> 00:31:18,648 And they were very explicit in stating these goals. 613 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:20,584 We were followed every day. 614 00:31:20,616 --> 00:31:21,784 We were harassed. 615 00:31:21,817 --> 00:31:24,386 Our phones were tapped. 616 00:31:24,420 --> 00:31:27,224 Our families were harassed. 617 00:31:27,257 --> 00:31:30,927 My parents were both visited by the FBI. 618 00:31:30,959 --> 00:31:33,130 We must create suspicion 619 00:31:33,162 --> 00:31:35,664 with respect to their respective spouses, 620 00:31:35,698 --> 00:31:37,934 and your imagination and resourcefulness 621 00:31:37,967 --> 00:31:41,104 must be employed in order for the Bureau to be successful. 622 00:31:43,805 --> 00:31:46,977 They would send letters to my wife, 623 00:31:47,009 --> 00:31:49,145 and the letters would say that Landon 624 00:31:49,179 --> 00:31:51,648 is sleeping with this woman or sleeping with that woman 625 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,183 or sleeping with the other women. 626 00:31:54,217 --> 00:31:57,153 Then when I got arrested, the FBI came to me and said, 627 00:31:57,187 --> 00:31:57,954 ha, look. 628 00:31:57,987 --> 00:31:59,156 We've got all this evidence. 629 00:31:59,189 --> 00:32:01,925 All these people are gonna flip and turn on you. 630 00:32:01,958 --> 00:32:04,527 We're gonna execute you, because we got you now. 631 00:32:04,561 --> 00:32:05,929 We're going to execute you. 632 00:32:05,961 --> 00:32:14,270 But if you will be an informant for us, then we'll let you go. 633 00:32:14,304 --> 00:32:16,006 My recruitment by the FBI 634 00:32:16,038 --> 00:32:19,408 was very efficient... very simple, really. 635 00:32:19,441 --> 00:32:23,613 I'd stolen a car and went joyriding over the state limit, 636 00:32:23,645 --> 00:32:27,082 and they had a potential case against me, 637 00:32:27,115 --> 00:32:30,886 and I was looking for an opportunity to work it out. 638 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,757 And a couple of months later that opportunity 639 00:32:33,789 --> 00:32:38,027 came when the FBI agent Roy Mitchell asked me to, 640 00:32:38,061 --> 00:32:41,531 go down to the local office of the Black Panther Party 641 00:32:41,564 --> 00:32:45,134 and try to, gain membership. 642 00:32:45,168 --> 00:32:47,737 The FBI wanted to destroy the Panthers. 643 00:32:47,769 --> 00:32:52,575 They absolutely saw the Panthers as the vanguard 644 00:32:52,609 --> 00:32:58,915 of a very, very threatening and violent revolutionary movement. 645 00:32:58,948 --> 00:33:02,686 They absolutely wanted this organization to be destroyed. 646 00:33:05,455 --> 00:33:10,327 The FBI was coming around my mother-in-law and my wife, 647 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,798 and for me to stop that kind of activity, 648 00:33:14,831 --> 00:33:17,901 I stopped going home, and a lot of other people 649 00:33:17,933 --> 00:33:21,805 did also, to protect their families. 650 00:33:21,837 --> 00:33:24,840 You could kind of in a sense say that we abandoned our families 651 00:33:24,873 --> 00:33:25,709 for the Panther Party. 652 00:33:28,311 --> 00:33:30,247 You might have a three bedroom apartment 653 00:33:30,279 --> 00:33:32,449 that might have 10 Panthers staying there and sharing 654 00:33:32,481 --> 00:33:33,616 bedrooms. 655 00:33:33,650 --> 00:33:36,419 The living room was basically also a bedroom. 656 00:33:36,451 --> 00:33:38,387 We called them Panther pads. 657 00:33:38,421 --> 00:33:41,056 Somebody would be on 24 hour security. 658 00:33:41,090 --> 00:33:43,893 Somebody was responsible for cleaning the place. 659 00:33:43,926 --> 00:33:48,598 Often it was a rotating list of responsibilities. 660 00:33:48,631 --> 00:33:50,867 It was a sense of community that we created. 661 00:34:11,087 --> 00:34:13,456 The rank and file was the every day members 662 00:34:13,489 --> 00:34:16,726 that did the daily work of the Party. 663 00:34:16,759 --> 00:34:18,527 They the ones that made the Party, 664 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,997 the back breakers, the ones you put all the work on. 665 00:34:30,038 --> 00:34:32,341 Panthers realized we have to live together 666 00:34:32,375 --> 00:34:34,244 to protect one another, and we have 667 00:34:34,277 --> 00:34:38,348 to also be committed to this thing, to this cause, 668 00:34:38,381 --> 00:34:42,085 to this movement, 24 hours a day. 669 00:34:42,118 --> 00:34:43,820 The rank and file... 670 00:34:43,852 --> 00:34:46,121 whatever orders that came down from our captains 671 00:34:46,154 --> 00:34:49,625 and lieutenants, we did that, because that spirit was 672 00:34:49,658 --> 00:34:53,562 in us to stay in this movement to our death, 673 00:34:53,596 --> 00:34:55,332 or if it meant going to jail. 674 00:34:55,364 --> 00:34:57,600 So whatever they told us to do, we did it. 675 00:35:13,582 --> 00:35:15,517 I was in labor, cooking breakfast 676 00:35:15,551 --> 00:35:19,288 for the breakfast program. 677 00:35:19,321 --> 00:35:23,425 So I was between contractions flipping pancakes. 678 00:35:23,459 --> 00:35:25,194 I would spend all the day 679 00:35:25,227 --> 00:35:28,597 answering the phones, even after I had my son, when I came back 680 00:35:28,631 --> 00:35:29,866 to work. 681 00:35:29,899 --> 00:35:31,634 I used to have to jump him up and down really heavy, 682 00:35:31,667 --> 00:35:33,136 because it just wouldn't stop crying 683 00:35:33,169 --> 00:35:34,270 as I'm answering the phone. 684 00:35:34,303 --> 00:35:35,270 You name it. 685 00:35:35,303 --> 00:35:37,840 I cleaned freezers with a toothpick. 686 00:35:37,873 --> 00:35:40,009 And that's how I'd answer the phone... Black Panther 687 00:35:40,042 --> 00:35:41,310 Party national headquarters. 688 00:35:41,343 --> 00:35:42,311 Black Panther Party central headquarters. 689 00:35:42,344 --> 00:35:42,879 Can I help you? 690 00:36:00,096 --> 00:36:01,464 Dear Huey, when 691 00:36:01,497 --> 00:36:04,167 I joined the party I was thrilled about becoming part 692 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,803 of an organization that believes in the quality of men 693 00:36:06,835 --> 00:36:08,538 and women. 694 00:36:08,571 --> 00:36:11,940 It bothers me that there are brothers who still view women 695 00:36:11,973 --> 00:36:14,309 as sexual objects. 696 00:36:14,343 --> 00:36:16,578 We should have no men in the Black Panther Party 697 00:36:16,611 --> 00:36:19,482 who feel this way... or women, for that matter. 698 00:36:22,151 --> 00:36:24,486 One of the ironies of the Black Panther 699 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,792 Party is that the image is the black male with the jacket 700 00:36:28,825 --> 00:36:32,227 and the gun, but the reality is the majority of the rank 701 00:36:32,261 --> 00:36:35,665 and file at, by the end of the '60s are women. 702 00:36:35,698 --> 00:36:38,368 Everybody knows that all the people don't have liberties, 703 00:36:38,401 --> 00:36:40,437 all the people don't have freedom, 704 00:36:40,469 --> 00:36:42,305 all the people don't have justice, 705 00:36:42,337 --> 00:36:44,973 and all the people don't have power, so that means none of us 706 00:36:45,006 --> 00:36:47,042 do. 707 00:36:47,076 --> 00:36:48,978 The Black Panther Party certainly 708 00:36:49,011 --> 00:36:52,181 had a chauvinist tone, and so we tried 709 00:36:52,214 --> 00:36:55,919 to change some of the clear gender roles 710 00:36:55,951 --> 00:37:02,191 so that women had guns and men cooked breakfast for children. 711 00:37:02,225 --> 00:37:03,125 Did we overcome it? 712 00:37:03,158 --> 00:37:04,294 Of course we didn't. 713 00:37:04,326 --> 00:37:06,094 As I like to say, we didn't get these brothers 714 00:37:06,127 --> 00:37:08,230 from revolutionary heaven. 715 00:37:08,263 --> 00:37:10,165 "Black Panther Newspaper"? 716 00:37:10,198 --> 00:37:11,066 Panther paper! 717 00:37:21,277 --> 00:37:23,546 The paper was the lifeblood of the Party. 718 00:37:23,578 --> 00:37:24,847 That's why we survived. 719 00:37:24,881 --> 00:37:27,917 We sold the papers at $0.25 back then. 720 00:37:27,950 --> 00:37:30,018 It cost maybe $0.12 to print it. 721 00:37:30,051 --> 00:37:32,321 The other 12 and 1/2 cent went to the various chapters 722 00:37:32,355 --> 00:37:33,756 and branches. 723 00:37:33,788 --> 00:37:35,658 That's how we basically survived. 724 00:37:35,690 --> 00:37:37,192 The Party paper went 725 00:37:37,225 --> 00:37:40,762 places Party members would never get to go to, and be reaching 726 00:37:40,796 --> 00:37:42,431 people we would never see. 727 00:37:42,464 --> 00:37:44,867 But the paper get there some kind of way or other. 728 00:37:44,901 --> 00:37:47,370 So it was very important to get the paper out. 729 00:37:47,402 --> 00:37:50,006 Los Angeles, 2,850. 730 00:37:50,038 --> 00:37:51,306 New Haven, 3,000. 731 00:37:51,339 --> 00:37:53,609 When we were loading boxes or bundling 732 00:37:53,643 --> 00:37:54,777 papers or whatever we were doing, 733 00:37:54,810 --> 00:37:56,446 we did it in an assembly line fashion, 734 00:37:56,478 --> 00:37:58,747 and we would just start singing, you know it. 735 00:37:58,781 --> 00:38:01,784 Ain't no mountain high enough. 736 00:38:01,817 --> 00:38:05,555 Ain't no valley low enough to keep me 737 00:38:05,587 --> 00:38:10,125 from getting this paper to you... or whatever we would do. 738 00:38:10,158 --> 00:38:11,994 We would change the lyric just a little bit. 739 00:38:12,027 --> 00:38:13,663 You know... It's your thing. 740 00:38:13,696 --> 00:38:15,297 Do what you want to do. 741 00:38:15,330 --> 00:38:18,267 Why do you keep tell me what the... and then 742 00:38:18,301 --> 00:38:20,636 we'd say what to do. 743 00:38:20,669 --> 00:38:21,904 Panther paper! 744 00:38:21,937 --> 00:38:26,508 This man needs some help with human beings. 745 00:38:26,542 --> 00:38:30,145 In the paper everything came together. 746 00:38:30,178 --> 00:38:32,648 We had the platform... the ten point platform was in there. 747 00:38:32,681 --> 00:38:34,149 You know, it was the first thing you 748 00:38:34,183 --> 00:38:35,451 see when you open up the paper. 749 00:38:35,484 --> 00:38:37,719 We want an end to the robbery by the white man 750 00:38:37,752 --> 00:38:38,921 of our black community. 751 00:38:38,955 --> 00:38:40,757 That's what we talking about, like number 3. 752 00:38:40,790 --> 00:38:43,426 Number 4, we want decent housing fit to shelter human beings. 753 00:38:43,459 --> 00:38:43,993 You dig? 754 00:38:44,026 --> 00:38:46,094 I can dig that. 755 00:38:46,127 --> 00:38:49,031 And it explained who we were and what... what we were about, 756 00:38:49,064 --> 00:38:50,065 what our goals were. 757 00:38:50,098 --> 00:38:51,200 Tell me, ma'am. 758 00:38:51,232 --> 00:38:53,001 Do you read the Black Panther Party newspaper? 759 00:38:53,035 --> 00:38:53,803 Yes I do. 760 00:38:53,835 --> 00:38:54,736 Why? 761 00:38:54,770 --> 00:38:57,040 Because I'm black and I'm proud. 762 00:38:57,073 --> 00:38:59,042 What do you like best about the paper? 763 00:38:59,075 --> 00:39:01,243 Because they're a proud people and I love them. 764 00:39:12,288 --> 00:39:14,257 For me there was only one reason 765 00:39:14,290 --> 00:39:16,392 to read the Panther newspaper, and that was 766 00:39:16,424 --> 00:39:19,027 to see Emory's illustrations. 767 00:39:19,060 --> 00:39:22,497 His paintings, his caricatures, his illustrations 768 00:39:22,531 --> 00:39:24,500 literally gave us the story. 769 00:39:33,676 --> 00:39:36,578 Well to me, you would respond to the artwork 770 00:39:36,611 --> 00:39:40,916 because it was a reflection of them in the artwork itself, 771 00:39:40,950 --> 00:39:43,419 because you were putting them on the stage as the characters 772 00:39:43,451 --> 00:39:46,089 and the heroes in the images. 773 00:39:46,122 --> 00:39:48,558 They could see their brother, or they could see their uncle 774 00:39:48,591 --> 00:39:49,392 in the images. 775 00:39:58,500 --> 00:40:00,937 Through the breakfast programs, through the other programs 776 00:40:00,969 --> 00:40:02,738 that we had, the health clinics, people 777 00:40:02,772 --> 00:40:05,308 come in and talk about how they can't pay their bills 778 00:40:05,341 --> 00:40:11,513 or they need child care... that teardrop symbolized that pain 779 00:40:11,547 --> 00:40:13,983 that I observed. 780 00:40:14,015 --> 00:40:15,350 Even through their pain there was 781 00:40:15,384 --> 00:40:18,154 this strength and determination and conviction 782 00:40:18,187 --> 00:40:20,323 to still battle on. 783 00:40:20,355 --> 00:40:24,093 So we're trying to put that into the artwork itself. 784 00:40:29,799 --> 00:40:32,001 Emory was our social realism. 785 00:40:32,033 --> 00:40:36,471 He gave you a sense of bravery, resilience, courage, 786 00:40:36,504 --> 00:40:38,407 and most of all, beauty. 787 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,009 That was what I loved about Emory. 788 00:40:50,518 --> 00:40:55,123 It was Huey and Bobby's idea to draw a pig drawing that 789 00:40:55,156 --> 00:40:58,527 would symbolize the police. 790 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:03,865 So the first pig I did was one on the four hoofs. 791 00:41:03,899 --> 00:41:05,567 It just came to me one night, why don't I 792 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,803 stand it up on two hoofs? 793 00:41:07,837 --> 00:41:10,206 I'll put a bandolier... a gun bandolier 794 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:14,277 on with the holster and a badge and the flies around it, 795 00:41:14,310 --> 00:41:16,978 and that became the symbol... icon of the pig. 796 00:41:17,011 --> 00:41:18,647 It took on a life of its own. 797 00:41:18,681 --> 00:41:21,050 Revolution has come. 798 00:41:21,082 --> 00:41:22,050 Off the pigs! 799 00:41:22,084 --> 00:41:24,953 Time to pick up the guns. 800 00:41:24,986 --> 00:41:27,355 Off the pigs! 801 00:41:27,388 --> 00:41:29,825 That rhetoric didn't bother us when 802 00:41:29,859 --> 00:41:33,328 it was spoken by the Panthers. 803 00:41:33,361 --> 00:41:36,298 Power to the people. 804 00:41:36,332 --> 00:41:36,966 Off the pigs! 805 00:41:36,998 --> 00:41:39,301 Power to the people. 806 00:41:39,335 --> 00:41:40,436 Off the pigs! 807 00:41:40,468 --> 00:41:44,673 But when it was picked up by college students, 808 00:41:44,707 --> 00:41:49,212 them saying it, that definitely bothered us. 809 00:41:49,245 --> 00:41:53,149 Power to the people Off the pigs! 810 00:41:53,181 --> 00:41:55,618 Power to the people. 811 00:41:55,651 --> 00:41:57,687 Off the pigs! 812 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,457 I was a sergeant patrolling in the projects, 813 00:42:01,489 --> 00:42:05,026 and there was the cutest little girl. 814 00:42:05,060 --> 00:42:07,797 So I stopped to say hello, and I said hi, honey. 815 00:42:07,830 --> 00:42:08,931 How are you doing today. 816 00:42:08,964 --> 00:42:12,301 And she looked at me and she said, fuck you, pig. 817 00:42:12,334 --> 00:42:14,770 And I thought, we have lost it, man. 818 00:42:14,803 --> 00:42:16,305 We have flat lost it. 819 00:42:19,375 --> 00:42:20,977 Anybody that criticized 820 00:42:21,009 --> 00:42:24,613 the police, especially that didn't have fear of saying it, 821 00:42:24,647 --> 00:42:26,982 probably made the police angry. 822 00:42:34,857 --> 00:42:36,526 It was us against them. 823 00:42:36,558 --> 00:42:37,493 That became the theme. 824 00:42:40,962 --> 00:42:43,064 We have seen the pig on the scene. 825 00:42:43,098 --> 00:42:44,366 We know what he's like. 826 00:42:44,399 --> 00:42:46,835 We know what he's capable of... just being a damn pig, 827 00:42:46,868 --> 00:42:50,672 oinking and beating and walking the street. 828 00:42:50,705 --> 00:42:53,108 The police must be brought under control 829 00:42:53,142 --> 00:42:54,910 by any means necessary, including 830 00:42:54,944 --> 00:42:56,078 through force of arms. 831 00:42:56,111 --> 00:42:59,047 These racist, gestapo pigs have to stop 832 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,483 brutalizing our community or we're going to take up guns, 833 00:43:01,517 --> 00:43:03,152 we're going to drive them out. 834 00:43:03,185 --> 00:43:05,121 That tendency to keep 835 00:43:05,154 --> 00:43:07,757 escalating the rhetoric... that was 836 00:43:07,790 --> 00:43:09,525 a major part of the growth of the party, 837 00:43:09,558 --> 00:43:11,794 but it was also a destructive force, 838 00:43:11,826 --> 00:43:13,796 because you were always upping the ante. 839 00:43:13,828 --> 00:43:16,765 I say guns, pick up the guns, 840 00:43:16,799 --> 00:43:20,268 pick up the guns and put the pigs on the run. 841 00:43:20,301 --> 00:43:21,770 Pick up the guns. 842 00:43:21,803 --> 00:43:24,239 Boom, boom, 843 00:43:24,272 --> 00:43:26,776 It brought all the repression down on them 844 00:43:26,808 --> 00:43:29,812 before they were prepared to handle it. 845 00:43:29,844 --> 00:43:32,781 I just want to deal with black, and black liberation. 846 00:43:32,814 --> 00:43:34,950 My sin is picking up my damn gun... 847 00:43:34,984 --> 00:43:38,120 and I'm a mother... having my baby 848 00:43:38,152 --> 00:43:40,156 in one hand, my gun in the other, 849 00:43:40,189 --> 00:43:42,959 and then I'm here motherfuckers to get what's mine. 850 00:43:51,033 --> 00:43:52,401 The voice that called 851 00:43:52,433 --> 00:43:55,337 for justice and brotherhood has been stilled. 852 00:43:55,370 --> 00:44:00,408 Men of all races now must join together in this hour 853 00:44:00,442 --> 00:44:03,012 to deny violence its victory and to fulfill 854 00:44:03,044 --> 00:44:04,012 the vision of brotherhood. 855 00:44:10,785 --> 00:44:12,854 The effect of the death of Martin Luther 856 00:44:12,888 --> 00:44:15,625 King on the Panthers was overwhelming in the sense 857 00:44:15,658 --> 00:44:22,064 that once King was assassinated, and the way 858 00:44:22,096 --> 00:44:28,370 he was assassinated so publicly, it shattered many, many people. 859 00:44:30,739 --> 00:44:33,009 They'd killed their last chance for me 860 00:44:33,042 --> 00:44:35,011 to be peaceful with them. 861 00:44:35,044 --> 00:44:38,547 They'd killed their last chance for negotiation. 862 00:44:38,580 --> 00:44:40,783 They killed the man who walked through hell 863 00:44:40,815 --> 00:44:45,087 to try to get along with you, and you kill him? 864 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:47,489 That was our champion. 865 00:44:47,522 --> 00:44:50,825 You killed whatever hope I had in you, 866 00:44:50,859 --> 00:44:53,596 and I have no more use for you... none. 867 00:45:07,076 --> 00:45:08,611 I believe that there 868 00:45:08,643 --> 00:45:12,480 was a decision made that some response on the part 869 00:45:12,513 --> 00:45:14,216 of the Black Panther Party has to be 870 00:45:14,248 --> 00:45:17,085 made to what happened to King. 871 00:45:17,118 --> 00:45:18,453 Eldridge Cleaver was 872 00:45:18,486 --> 00:45:21,589 worried that if the Panthers didn't take decisive action 873 00:45:21,622 --> 00:45:23,425 they would cease to be the vanguard. 874 00:45:23,459 --> 00:45:27,330 So we had this idea of actually actively attacking the police. 875 00:45:30,098 --> 00:45:32,167 He goes and he approaches members of the Party 876 00:45:32,201 --> 00:45:35,771 in Oakland, and all of the older people refused to participate. 877 00:45:35,803 --> 00:45:37,706 They knew that this would be suicide. 878 00:45:37,739 --> 00:45:40,241 But the youngest member of the party, little Bobby Hutton, 879 00:45:40,274 --> 00:45:44,180 decides to follow Eldridge into battle. 880 00:45:44,212 --> 00:45:46,614 Little Bobby called me... Big Man, 881 00:45:46,647 --> 00:45:47,983 I need a weapon. 882 00:45:50,752 --> 00:45:55,725 I gave him a Winchester 12-gauge pump shotgun that I had, 883 00:45:55,757 --> 00:46:01,029 and I told him, well, be careful out there, you know. 884 00:46:01,062 --> 00:46:02,664 Watch yourself. 885 00:46:02,698 --> 00:46:07,268 And he said OK, I will, and he left. 886 00:46:07,301 --> 00:46:11,439 And then first thing in the morning, I, 887 00:46:11,473 --> 00:46:12,708 have the radio on. 888 00:46:12,741 --> 00:46:14,110 The Oakland police stated 889 00:46:14,143 --> 00:46:16,445 that they were fired upon during a routine investigation 890 00:46:16,477 --> 00:46:20,382 into a suspicious person, and after a short search cornered 891 00:46:20,415 --> 00:46:24,586 Hutton and Eldridge Cleaver in the basement of a nearby house. 892 00:46:24,620 --> 00:46:26,989 A tear gas canister blew up, 893 00:46:27,022 --> 00:46:30,326 and the basement they were hiding in caught on fire. 894 00:46:30,359 --> 00:46:32,361 They decided they didn't want to burn to death. 895 00:46:32,393 --> 00:46:34,629 They would rather surrender. 896 00:46:34,663 --> 00:46:37,700 Eldridge told Bobby Hutton to take off all your clothes 897 00:46:37,732 --> 00:46:39,968 so they can't see you're concealing a weapon. 898 00:46:40,002 --> 00:46:42,538 When you surrender, take off everything. 899 00:46:42,571 --> 00:46:47,009 But Bobby was embarrassed, and he just took off his shirt 900 00:46:47,042 --> 00:46:48,011 and he kept on his pants. 901 00:46:50,645 --> 00:46:52,348 Bobby Hutton came out with his hands 902 00:46:52,381 --> 00:46:56,685 in the air... first member who walked out of the house 903 00:46:56,718 --> 00:46:57,719 and was gunned down. 904 00:47:03,192 --> 00:47:05,161 My heart sank. 905 00:47:05,194 --> 00:47:10,933 He was only 17 years old, and one of the first people 906 00:47:10,966 --> 00:47:13,368 to get killed in the party, and so young. 907 00:47:16,672 --> 00:47:19,975 In essence, I felt that I went out and got 908 00:47:20,007 --> 00:47:22,911 my little brother killed. 909 00:47:22,944 --> 00:47:27,315 What if I'd not given him the weapon? 910 00:47:27,348 --> 00:47:32,521 Those are some of the demons that, were in my closet. 911 00:47:36,692 --> 00:47:40,463 Shot down like a common animal, he died a warrior 912 00:47:40,495 --> 00:47:43,331 for black liberation. 913 00:47:43,364 --> 00:47:47,002 In the name of brotherhood and survival, remember Bobby. 914 00:47:47,035 --> 00:47:51,940 That could have been my son lying there, 915 00:47:51,973 --> 00:47:55,743 and I'm going to do as much as I can. 916 00:47:55,777 --> 00:48:01,617 I'm going to start right now to inform white people of what 917 00:48:01,649 --> 00:48:03,651 they don't know. 918 00:48:03,685 --> 00:48:07,288 For the Black Panther Party, it was crisis and chaos, 919 00:48:07,321 --> 00:48:12,794 because this was the first time that this had ever happened. 920 00:48:12,828 --> 00:48:18,634 There had been no Panther murdered by police. 921 00:48:18,667 --> 00:48:20,201 We want non-violence, 922 00:48:20,234 --> 00:48:23,305 just like Martin Luther King... but non-violence on the part 923 00:48:23,337 --> 00:48:24,707 of who? 924 00:48:24,739 --> 00:48:30,011 To sit and watch ourselves to be slaughtered like our brother? 925 00:48:30,044 --> 00:48:33,581 We must defend ourselves, as Malcolm X said, 926 00:48:33,614 --> 00:48:34,450 by any means necessary. 927 00:48:41,189 --> 00:48:43,424 After the loss of Bobby Hutton, 928 00:48:43,457 --> 00:48:46,728 Eldridge was ordered to surrender to San Francisco 929 00:48:46,761 --> 00:48:51,700 police to go back to prison, but on November 28, 1968, 930 00:48:51,732 --> 00:48:57,172 he didn't turn himself in, and he was not to be found. 931 00:48:57,205 --> 00:48:59,607 Mrs. Cleaver, do you know where your husband is? 932 00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:00,742 No. 933 00:49:00,776 --> 00:49:01,977 When was the last time you saw him? 934 00:49:02,009 --> 00:49:03,344 Sunday night. 935 00:49:03,377 --> 00:49:05,046 It's rumored that Eldridge is out of the country. 936 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:06,315 Do you think this is possible? 937 00:49:06,348 --> 00:49:08,384 No, I don't think so. 938 00:49:08,417 --> 00:49:10,052 And so the mystery remains... 939 00:49:10,085 --> 00:49:12,254 where is Eldridge Cleaver? 940 00:49:12,286 --> 00:49:14,522 It's entirely possible that his wife and lawyer really 941 00:49:14,556 --> 00:49:15,658 do not know. 942 00:49:15,690 --> 00:49:18,361 To the law, he is simply a fugitive from justice. 943 00:49:24,933 --> 00:49:26,536 He had gone to Algeria. 944 00:49:34,076 --> 00:49:35,978 There's nothing the United States government 945 00:49:36,011 --> 00:49:37,513 can do to us in Algeria. 946 00:49:37,546 --> 00:49:40,748 They don't have diplomatic relations with Algeria. 947 00:49:40,781 --> 00:49:44,786 We could function openly, politically, in Algeria, 948 00:49:44,819 --> 00:49:47,522 so we opened our international section of the Black Panther 949 00:49:47,556 --> 00:49:47,957 Party. 950 00:49:51,627 --> 00:49:53,094 The Black Panthers 951 00:49:53,127 --> 00:49:58,366 were welcomed by all sorts of liberation movements. 952 00:49:58,399 --> 00:50:01,736 The North Vietnamese, who were moving into a newer embassy, 953 00:50:01,770 --> 00:50:04,406 gave their old embassy to the Panthers. 954 00:50:04,439 --> 00:50:07,442 And the Black Panthers, of course, 955 00:50:07,475 --> 00:50:09,010 loved being accepted like this. 956 00:50:12,614 --> 00:50:14,950 In Eldridge Cleaver's successful attempt 957 00:50:14,982 --> 00:50:16,618 to establish an international wing, 958 00:50:16,652 --> 00:50:19,321 he's able to do some things that are very important. 959 00:50:19,353 --> 00:50:21,156 Malcolm X and other black nationalists 960 00:50:21,189 --> 00:50:24,158 had talked about forging those types of alliances. 961 00:50:24,192 --> 00:50:26,594 The Panthers actually did it. 962 00:50:29,830 --> 00:50:32,066 We wish you victory in your struggle. 963 00:50:32,100 --> 00:50:32,901 Thank you. 964 00:50:36,238 --> 00:50:37,839 And we hope to receive you 965 00:50:37,872 --> 00:50:39,207 in liberated Saigon. 966 00:50:39,241 --> 00:50:42,111 And tell them that I hope to receive them in Washington, DC. 967 00:50:42,143 --> 00:50:43,779 At that time America 968 00:50:43,812 --> 00:50:47,882 was being demonized considerably because of the war in Vietnam. 969 00:50:47,915 --> 00:50:52,553 So here we are, black Americans who are opposed to all of this. 970 00:50:52,587 --> 00:50:55,858 We're the counter to the United States. 971 00:50:55,890 --> 00:50:59,127 We were able to connect with North Koreans, 972 00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:01,796 with Vietnamese, with the Chinese, 973 00:51:01,830 --> 00:51:04,500 and with also many African liberation movements. 974 00:51:04,533 --> 00:51:07,469 And many people came to see us there. 975 00:51:07,502 --> 00:51:08,937 We came over here 976 00:51:08,969 --> 00:51:12,440 to do what we can to communicate to you 977 00:51:12,473 --> 00:51:15,477 what's happening in our struggle in the United States. 978 00:51:15,509 --> 00:51:18,046 I think a lot of what draws these groups together 979 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,348 is a kind of anti-American sentiment. 980 00:51:20,381 --> 00:51:23,418 If you want to really shake the American establishment, 981 00:51:23,451 --> 00:51:26,120 you want them to think that they are in danger, 982 00:51:26,154 --> 00:51:29,325 that a revolutionary new world is on its way. 983 00:51:29,357 --> 00:51:31,026 The Panthers are certainly the people 984 00:51:31,058 --> 00:51:32,761 you're going to support. 985 00:51:32,794 --> 00:51:34,596 Since the United States of America 986 00:51:34,629 --> 00:51:36,998 is the backbone of oppression in the world, 987 00:51:37,031 --> 00:51:41,336 the blows that we strike against the empire there will also 988 00:51:41,370 --> 00:51:44,707 aid the liberation struggles in Africa, Asia, and Latin 989 00:51:44,739 --> 00:51:46,408 America as we aid ourselves. 990 00:51:49,745 --> 00:51:52,647 Face the Nation... a spontaneous and unrehearsed 991 00:51:52,681 --> 00:51:55,451 news interview with the chief of staff of the Black Panther 992 00:51:55,484 --> 00:51:57,553 Party, David Hilliard. 993 00:51:57,585 --> 00:51:59,421 Your minister of information is now 994 00:51:59,453 --> 00:52:01,589 in exile... Eldridge Cleaver. 995 00:52:01,622 --> 00:52:03,157 You speak with him often on the phone. 996 00:52:03,190 --> 00:52:03,826 Is that correct? 997 00:52:03,859 --> 00:52:05,027 Well, you know I do. 998 00:52:05,060 --> 00:52:06,362 They tap the phones. 999 00:52:06,395 --> 00:52:08,697 The phone is probably hooked up through the White House. 1000 00:52:08,730 --> 00:52:11,400 The leaders of the party, its national leadership, 1001 00:52:11,433 --> 00:52:14,570 sits with David Hilliard. 1002 00:52:14,602 --> 00:52:17,105 Bobby Seale is in and out of prison, 1003 00:52:17,138 --> 00:52:21,109 Huey Newton is in jail... at this point for a number of years... 1004 00:52:21,143 --> 00:52:25,247 and Eldridge Cleaver is in Algeria. 1005 00:52:25,279 --> 00:52:29,917 David was someone who was considered 1006 00:52:29,951 --> 00:52:35,724 a... you can say he was a sound storekeeper. 1007 00:52:35,756 --> 00:52:38,393 He kept the shop in order. 1008 00:52:38,426 --> 00:52:39,928 Richard Nixon is the chief spokesman 1009 00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:43,031 of the American people, and if the man is not 1010 00:52:43,064 --> 00:52:45,401 responsible for the people in government 1011 00:52:45,433 --> 00:52:48,069 like the FBI agencies or the local police, 1012 00:52:48,102 --> 00:52:51,506 then he should stand up and, let the American people know 1013 00:52:51,540 --> 00:52:54,209 that they do not endorse the kind of campaigns that's been 1014 00:52:54,241 --> 00:52:55,377 waged against black America. 1015 00:53:01,783 --> 00:53:05,788 Nixon is elected with a sense of a mandate 1016 00:53:05,821 --> 00:53:08,924 to crack down, and he feels that it 1017 00:53:08,957 --> 00:53:15,397 is his personal charge after the '68 election to repress. 1018 00:53:15,430 --> 00:53:19,868 This is a nation of laws, and as Abraham Lincoln has said, 1019 00:53:19,901 --> 00:53:23,238 no one is above the law, no one is below the law, 1020 00:53:23,270 --> 00:53:25,140 and we're going to enforce the law. 1021 00:53:25,172 --> 00:53:27,008 And Americans should remember that if we're 1022 00:53:27,042 --> 00:53:28,243 going to have law and order. 1023 00:53:28,276 --> 00:53:29,844 The Nixon administration 1024 00:53:29,877 --> 00:53:35,017 gives J. Edgar Hoover even more of a sense that he can 1025 00:53:35,049 --> 00:53:38,286 repress without restriction. 1026 00:53:38,319 --> 00:53:40,922 Do you feel the nation is in trouble? 1027 00:53:40,955 --> 00:53:42,591 I think very definitely it is. 1028 00:53:42,623 --> 00:53:43,792 But what is the answer? 1029 00:53:43,825 --> 00:53:47,261 The answer is vigorous law enforcement. 1030 00:53:47,294 --> 00:53:48,262 That's the only answer. 1031 00:53:48,296 --> 00:53:49,431 That's the only answer. 1032 00:53:49,464 --> 00:53:50,666 How about justice? 1033 00:53:50,698 --> 00:53:53,468 You hear a lot about justice with law enforcement. 1034 00:53:53,502 --> 00:53:57,306 Justice is merely incidental to law and order. 1035 00:54:00,308 --> 00:54:02,411 FBI director J. Edgar Hoover today 1036 00:54:02,444 --> 00:54:04,846 asserted that the Black Panthers represent the greatest 1037 00:54:04,879 --> 00:54:06,547 internal threat to the nation. 1038 00:54:06,580 --> 00:54:09,084 Hoover said the Panthers have perpetrated numerous assaults 1039 00:54:09,116 --> 00:54:11,719 on police and have engaged in violent confrontations 1040 00:54:11,752 --> 00:54:13,087 throughout the country. 1041 00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:15,356 When Hoover identified the Black Panther 1042 00:54:15,390 --> 00:54:18,759 Party as the number one threat to the national security 1043 00:54:18,792 --> 00:54:20,194 of the United States at a time when 1044 00:54:20,227 --> 00:54:25,233 they're fighting in Vietnam, you know, of course that was crazy. 1045 00:54:25,267 --> 00:54:28,870 But it was politically very effective, 1046 00:54:28,904 --> 00:54:32,841 and it says to law enforcement at the local level, 1047 00:54:32,873 --> 00:54:34,375 we can take the gloves off now. 1048 00:54:34,408 --> 00:54:37,645 We don't have to respect the civil liberties 1049 00:54:37,678 --> 00:54:39,581 and we can go after them with everything we got. 1050 00:54:50,558 --> 00:54:52,928 One of the executive orders of the Panther 1051 00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:55,897 Party was that we was to defend ourselves 1052 00:54:55,931 --> 00:55:00,068 from unwanted attacks, and not allow the police 1053 00:55:00,100 --> 00:55:02,303 to just forcibly come in. 1054 00:55:02,337 --> 00:55:05,140 If the tear gas is thrown, here's 1055 00:55:05,172 --> 00:55:06,575 your water and your eye mask. 1056 00:55:06,607 --> 00:55:08,109 Keep this on you. 1057 00:55:08,143 --> 00:55:09,211 OK. 1058 00:55:09,243 --> 00:55:11,145 Nobody's coming in the front door... nobody. 1059 00:55:11,178 --> 00:55:12,146 No gas. 1060 00:55:12,180 --> 00:55:14,515 Nobody gets on the roof,. 1061 00:55:14,549 --> 00:55:16,285 Well, I just wish they would come tonight. 1062 00:55:16,317 --> 00:55:17,652 Yeah, well, I want them to come. 1063 00:55:24,359 --> 00:55:27,462 The Panthers were a criminal organization, 1064 00:55:27,495 --> 00:55:30,565 were violent, and they wanted to kill cops. 1065 00:55:30,598 --> 00:55:32,567 That's all I needed to know. 1066 00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:34,635 About 40 policemen arrived on the scene 1067 00:55:34,669 --> 00:55:37,239 and began surrounding the Black Panther headquarters. 1068 00:55:37,272 --> 00:55:41,109 They were trying to change government as we know it 1069 00:55:41,142 --> 00:55:44,078 to terrorist activity. 1070 00:55:44,111 --> 00:55:48,649 We took a very proactive stance in combating what we considered 1071 00:55:48,683 --> 00:55:52,087 a terrorist organization. 1072 00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:56,391 I think the FBI manipulated the police, 1073 00:55:56,424 --> 00:55:58,727 and the FBI arranged for the Black Panthers 1074 00:55:58,759 --> 00:56:02,763 to get guns through informants. 1075 00:56:02,797 --> 00:56:08,236 They would convince the police that the Panthers had weapons. 1076 00:56:08,268 --> 00:56:10,205 They had to go in and be ready to be shot at, 1077 00:56:10,238 --> 00:56:12,575 so the police went in and shot at them first. 1078 00:56:15,643 --> 00:56:18,613 You'd hear about raids taking place 1079 00:56:18,647 --> 00:56:21,248 against Black Panther offices. 1080 00:56:21,281 --> 00:56:22,683 They were coming to kill us. 1081 00:56:22,716 --> 00:56:24,285 Police say there 1082 00:56:24,319 --> 00:56:26,922 was sniper fire throughout the early morning hours, 1083 00:56:26,955 --> 00:56:29,157 so they moved in cautiously and then began shooting. 1084 00:56:29,189 --> 00:56:31,459 The Black Panther police shootout 1085 00:56:31,493 --> 00:56:33,594 lasted 30 minutes. 1086 00:56:33,627 --> 00:56:35,062 It was obvious that the government 1087 00:56:35,096 --> 00:56:39,735 had made a decision that this was all-out attack on the Black 1088 00:56:39,768 --> 00:56:40,869 Panther Party. 1089 00:56:40,902 --> 00:56:42,537 Every significant office is going to be raided. 1090 00:56:42,569 --> 00:56:43,638 It's going to be bombed. 1091 00:56:43,672 --> 00:56:45,140 It's going to be shot. 1092 00:56:45,172 --> 00:56:47,008 They're going to be mass arrests. 1093 00:56:47,042 --> 00:56:49,611 In the pre-dawn hours in Chicago 1094 00:56:49,643 --> 00:56:51,613 today, police and Negroes fought a... 1095 00:56:51,645 --> 00:56:53,814 Police and Black Panthers clash 1096 00:56:53,848 --> 00:56:55,616 in Houston, New Orleans, and other cities. 1097 00:56:55,649 --> 00:56:58,285 For the Black Panther Party it was a crisis situation, 1098 00:56:58,319 --> 00:57:00,956 because we didn't have the resources to handle 1099 00:57:00,989 --> 00:57:02,825 all these arrests and all these trials. 1100 00:57:17,105 --> 00:57:19,208 Contributions to Panther Defense Fund? 1101 00:57:23,044 --> 00:57:26,381 Contributions to the Panther Defense Fund? 1102 00:57:26,413 --> 00:57:29,017 They're trying to either wipe out the Panther Party 1103 00:57:29,049 --> 00:57:33,522 by jailing all the members and wiping them out economically, 1104 00:57:33,555 --> 00:57:36,325 financially, or violently, through killing them. 1105 00:57:39,259 --> 00:57:43,864 After all, they're just... they're just Negroes, you know. 1106 00:57:43,897 --> 00:57:48,135 In other cities the Panthers were under physical attack 1107 00:57:48,169 --> 00:57:50,471 from police departments. 1108 00:57:50,504 --> 00:57:54,408 But New York City, it was going to handle its Panther problem 1109 00:57:54,442 --> 00:57:56,044 differently. 1110 00:57:56,076 --> 00:57:58,814 They created a conspiracy case that 1111 00:57:58,846 --> 00:58:03,484 allowed them to arrest the entire leadership of the New 1112 00:58:03,518 --> 00:58:06,154 York City Black Panther Party. 1113 00:58:06,187 --> 00:58:09,725 A New York grand jury has indicted 21 alleged Black 1114 00:58:09,757 --> 00:58:13,261 Panthers on charges of plotting several bombings in the city 1115 00:58:13,294 --> 00:58:14,429 tomorrow. 1116 00:58:14,462 --> 00:58:16,565 On April 2, 1969, 1117 00:58:16,598 --> 00:58:20,134 in, pre-dawn raids, 21 Black Panthers 1118 00:58:20,167 --> 00:58:24,105 were charged with all kinds of terrorist activity. 1119 00:58:24,138 --> 00:58:26,540 These are some of the men the police are accusing 1120 00:58:26,573 --> 00:58:28,042 of being involved in the plot, which 1121 00:58:28,076 --> 00:58:30,978 could have wounded or killed scores of busy New Yorkers. 1122 00:58:31,011 --> 00:58:33,848 12 men were arrested today, two are already in jail, 1123 00:58:33,881 --> 00:58:35,716 and seven more are still at large. 1124 00:58:35,750 --> 00:58:38,920 And so the Panther 21 started. 1125 00:58:38,953 --> 00:58:41,156 I had just turned 16 years old, 1126 00:58:41,189 --> 00:58:43,924 but I had already become a section leader. 1127 00:58:43,957 --> 00:58:46,427 When they first kicked in the door of my grandmother's house 1128 00:58:46,460 --> 00:58:48,462 at 4 o'clock in the morning, I thought wow, 1129 00:58:48,495 --> 00:58:49,964 I'm important enough to be arrested. 1130 00:58:49,997 --> 00:58:52,900 I'm a real Panther now. 1131 00:58:52,933 --> 00:58:56,171 There was a feeling that it was a badge of honor. 1132 00:58:56,203 --> 00:58:57,571 This 1133 00:58:57,605 --> 00:59:00,375 was the most important place in the nation 1134 00:59:00,408 --> 00:59:02,777 at that time for the Party. 1135 00:59:02,810 --> 00:59:05,814 It was spreading all over the east coast... 1136 00:59:05,846 --> 00:59:10,685 from New Haven, Baltimore, everywhere, it was spreading. 1137 00:59:10,718 --> 00:59:14,790 This group, 21 people, was the leadership 1138 00:59:14,823 --> 00:59:20,395 of the New York area, all tied up in court with $100,000 bails 1139 00:59:20,428 --> 00:59:23,765 which none of them could make. 1140 00:59:23,797 --> 00:59:28,335 We were facing 360 plus years in prison, 1141 00:59:28,368 --> 00:59:33,207 and I began to feel and accept the fact 1142 00:59:33,241 --> 00:59:35,643 that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. 1143 00:59:35,676 --> 00:59:37,011 The Black Panther Party 1144 00:59:37,044 --> 00:59:39,313 is riddled with informers who are 1145 00:59:39,346 --> 00:59:42,484 intent on creating situations in order 1146 00:59:42,517 --> 00:59:46,154 to bring forth such indictments in an attempt to destroy... 1147 00:59:46,187 --> 00:59:48,924 Are you saying that they try to frame them? 1148 00:59:48,957 --> 00:59:50,424 No question about it. 1149 00:59:50,457 --> 00:59:53,327 I mean, I told the jury that maybe the police 1150 00:59:53,361 --> 00:59:54,096 started the Party. 1151 00:59:58,265 --> 01:00:00,034 People who've come back to New York 1152 01:00:00,067 --> 01:00:03,337 are going to work full time until the Panther 21 1153 01:00:03,370 --> 01:00:07,541 and the people accused are allowed to get a fair trial. 1154 01:00:07,575 --> 01:00:10,178 We spent a lot of time building awareness 1155 01:00:10,210 --> 01:00:11,379 and doing fundraisers. 1156 01:00:11,411 --> 01:00:14,281 And then we had to have high profile fundraisers, 1157 01:00:14,314 --> 01:00:16,183 because this kind of money that we needed 1158 01:00:16,216 --> 01:00:17,752 couldn't come from the black community. 1159 01:00:24,826 --> 01:00:26,895 We would wind up doing fundraisers 1160 01:00:26,928 --> 01:00:29,598 at places like Jane Fonda's townhouse 1161 01:00:29,631 --> 01:00:34,201 so that we could raise money for the Legal Defense Fund. 1162 01:00:34,234 --> 01:00:35,736 We'd all be in our leather jackets. 1163 01:00:35,770 --> 01:00:37,505 We all would have our berets. 1164 01:00:37,538 --> 01:00:38,907 Some of us would be packing. 1165 01:00:38,939 --> 01:00:42,042 Some of us wouldn't. 1166 01:00:42,076 --> 01:00:44,446 The only people that would speak would be the two people 1167 01:00:44,478 --> 01:00:45,846 that was designated to speak. 1168 01:00:45,879 --> 01:00:47,181 They would speak. 1169 01:00:47,214 --> 01:00:49,950 The rest of us would just line the walls, fold our arms, 1170 01:00:49,984 --> 01:00:52,754 and look like Black Panthers... like, you know, 1171 01:00:52,786 --> 01:00:54,622 we was ready to kill somebody. 1172 01:00:54,656 --> 01:00:57,459 And them stars, they loved that shit. 1173 01:00:57,491 --> 01:00:59,894 They just ate that shit up, you know. 1174 01:01:06,134 --> 01:01:09,304 After a 13-month trial 1175 01:01:09,337 --> 01:01:11,239 where New York state spent millions of dollars 1176 01:01:11,272 --> 01:01:15,277 and put dozens of witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, 1177 01:01:15,310 --> 01:01:19,614 a jury deliberated for three hours. 1178 01:01:19,647 --> 01:01:23,652 The jury have considered all the counts 1179 01:01:23,685 --> 01:01:26,688 and charges against the defendants 1180 01:01:26,721 --> 01:01:29,324 and have found them not guilty. 1181 01:01:34,761 --> 01:01:38,533 There were 156 not guilty verdicts. 1182 01:01:42,002 --> 01:01:44,405 It was astonishing. 1183 01:01:44,439 --> 01:01:46,707 Courtroom erupted. 1184 01:01:46,741 --> 01:01:48,610 The city erupted. 1185 01:01:48,643 --> 01:01:53,148 There were people dancing in the streets as word spread. 1186 01:01:53,181 --> 01:01:54,582 Come on over. 1187 01:01:54,614 --> 01:01:59,453 Jury, defendants, everybody, we're all here... 640 Broadway. 1188 01:01:59,486 --> 01:02:01,555 Most of the defendants have been in jail 1189 01:02:01,589 --> 01:02:03,692 for more than two years, unable to raise 1190 01:02:03,725 --> 01:02:05,160 the high bail set for them. 1191 01:02:05,192 --> 01:02:07,161 The trial lasted eight months. 1192 01:02:07,194 --> 01:02:08,729 The jury reached its verdict 1193 01:02:08,763 --> 01:02:11,433 of innocent on all counts in less than four hours, 1194 01:02:11,466 --> 01:02:14,102 concluding the longest criminal proceeding in New York state 1195 01:02:14,134 --> 01:02:15,169 history. 1196 01:02:15,203 --> 01:02:16,771 What it was on the part of the jury to me... 1197 01:02:16,803 --> 01:02:20,040 I don't know how each individual juror feels... but together they 1198 01:02:20,073 --> 01:02:23,744 have rejected, once and for all, a society which 1199 01:02:23,777 --> 01:02:25,613 refuses to allow change. 1200 01:02:25,645 --> 01:02:28,749 They said, you must allow people to get together and think 1201 01:02:28,783 --> 01:02:31,518 about changing life and the way they live. 1202 01:02:31,551 --> 01:02:33,921 And it's a beautiful victory. 1203 01:02:39,826 --> 01:02:42,529 Even as the New York 21 are being acquitted, 1204 01:02:42,562 --> 01:02:46,567 you're seeing smaller trials, other trials pop up really 1205 01:02:46,600 --> 01:02:48,502 all over the country. 1206 01:02:48,535 --> 01:02:50,871 Some of them result in acquittals, some of them 1207 01:02:50,904 --> 01:02:53,274 result in convictions, but this really 1208 01:02:53,306 --> 01:02:55,676 consumes most of the Party's energy. 1209 01:02:55,710 --> 01:02:58,179 People were afraid to join. 1210 01:02:58,212 --> 01:03:00,281 They knew that it was infiltrated. 1211 01:03:00,314 --> 01:03:03,785 They knew that they would be watched immediately. 1212 01:03:03,817 --> 01:03:07,756 They were afraid of being prosecuted unjustly. 1213 01:03:07,788 --> 01:03:11,158 Nobody wants to go near such an organization that's so hot. 1214 01:03:28,176 --> 01:03:29,576 I was part of planning 1215 01:03:29,609 --> 01:03:32,546 a demonstration against Vietnam at the 1968 1216 01:03:32,580 --> 01:03:36,183 Democratic Convention in Chicago. 1217 01:03:36,216 --> 01:03:39,653 Bobby Seale was invited to speak. 1218 01:03:39,687 --> 01:03:44,826 The revolution in this country at the time 1219 01:03:44,859 --> 01:03:50,031 is in fact people coming forth to demand freedom. 1220 01:03:53,634 --> 01:03:55,637 He then left and didn't have anything 1221 01:03:55,669 --> 01:03:59,807 to do with the demonstrations or riots or confrontations 1222 01:03:59,841 --> 01:04:05,212 in Chicago, but he was arrested on the advice of the FBI, 1223 01:04:05,245 --> 01:04:10,017 and he was later indicted for that speech. 1224 01:04:10,051 --> 01:04:11,518 Bobby Seale asked to have 1225 01:04:11,551 --> 01:04:14,955 his... to postpone the trial until his lawyer, Charles Gary, 1226 01:04:14,989 --> 01:04:16,458 could come to Chicago. 1227 01:04:16,491 --> 01:04:18,726 The judge refused, and then Bobby said well, 1228 01:04:18,759 --> 01:04:20,361 I'll represent myself. 1229 01:04:20,393 --> 01:04:22,029 It started when Seale demanded 1230 01:04:22,062 --> 01:04:24,364 to cross examine a prosecution witness, 1231 01:04:24,397 --> 01:04:27,434 accusing the judge of denying his constitutional rights 1232 01:04:27,468 --> 01:04:29,337 to defend himself. 1233 01:04:29,370 --> 01:04:32,040 The judge ordered him to sit down and be quiet, 1234 01:04:32,073 --> 01:04:35,310 but the fiery Black Panther leader continued to cry out. 1235 01:04:51,359 --> 01:04:54,696 The judge told the marshals to hold him down, 1236 01:04:54,728 --> 01:04:57,799 and that started several days of insanity. 1237 01:04:57,832 --> 01:04:59,634 This stuff is a lie. 1238 01:04:59,667 --> 01:05:01,603 We have a right to. 1239 01:05:01,636 --> 01:05:04,005 I'll represent myeslf. 1240 01:05:04,038 --> 01:05:06,774 He kept insisting on his right to represent himself, 1241 01:05:06,806 --> 01:05:08,942 and the judge's response to that was 1242 01:05:08,975 --> 01:05:13,147 to order the bailiffs to put gaffer tape over his mouth 1243 01:05:13,181 --> 01:05:16,751 and tie him to his chair. 1244 01:05:16,783 --> 01:05:20,387 I mean, it couldn't have been more definitive if they had 1245 01:05:20,421 --> 01:05:23,223 put a sign on him saying slave. 1246 01:05:23,256 --> 01:05:25,626 You know. 1247 01:05:29,830 --> 01:05:32,634 But it turned out Bobby could make noise and say 1248 01:05:32,667 --> 01:05:35,036 things through the gag. 1249 01:05:53,154 --> 01:05:54,055 Stop the trial. 1250 01:05:54,087 --> 01:05:55,323 Stop the trial. 1251 01:05:55,355 --> 01:05:56,491 Stop the trial. 1252 01:05:56,524 --> 01:05:57,458 Stop the trial. 1253 01:05:57,491 --> 01:05:58,893 Stop the trial. 1254 01:05:58,926 --> 01:05:59,861 Stop the trial. 1255 01:05:59,893 --> 01:06:00,828 Stop the trial. 1256 01:06:00,861 --> 01:06:01,796 Stop the trial. 1257 01:06:01,828 --> 01:06:03,230 Stop the trial. 1258 01:06:03,263 --> 01:06:05,866 One of the most amazing phenomena of that time 1259 01:06:05,899 --> 01:06:10,872 was outside the federal court building there was a plaza. 1260 01:06:10,904 --> 01:06:13,408 It was right in the heart of town, 1261 01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:15,542 right in the middle of the loop. 1262 01:06:15,576 --> 01:06:20,281 And these kids were coming down from the courtroom, and they... 1263 01:06:20,314 --> 01:06:22,317 with fire in their eyes, having just 1264 01:06:22,350 --> 01:06:24,419 seen that madness up there. 1265 01:06:24,451 --> 01:06:31,426 And all of a sudden, one day this black orator... 1266 01:06:31,459 --> 01:06:33,995 who at that time was 20 years old... 1267 01:06:34,027 --> 01:06:36,930 starts talking to these people, and all of a sudden 1268 01:06:36,964 --> 01:06:38,466 it's like a magnet. 1269 01:06:38,498 --> 01:06:43,705 The deputy chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, 1270 01:06:43,738 --> 01:06:44,672 Fred Hampton. 1271 01:06:52,046 --> 01:06:56,417 And I just want to tell you that the chairman of the Black 1272 01:06:56,450 --> 01:06:59,386 Panther Party is going to be ungagged 1273 01:06:59,419 --> 01:07:04,625 and they're going to have to take those chains off him. 1274 01:07:04,658 --> 01:07:06,160 Bobby Seale's going through all types 1275 01:07:06,192 --> 01:07:10,198 of physical and mental torture, but that's all right, 1276 01:07:10,230 --> 01:07:13,433 because we said even before this happened and we're 1277 01:07:13,466 --> 01:07:16,203 going to say it after this, and after I'm locked up 1278 01:07:16,236 --> 01:07:17,939 and after everyone's locked up, that you 1279 01:07:17,971 --> 01:07:22,676 can jail a revolutionary, but you can't jail a revolution. 1280 01:07:22,710 --> 01:07:25,546 Right. 1281 01:07:25,578 --> 01:07:28,216 You may run a liberator like Eldridge out the country, 1282 01:07:28,248 --> 01:07:31,319 but you can't run a liberation out the country. 1283 01:07:31,352 --> 01:07:34,321 You might murder a freedom fighter like Bobby Hutton, 1284 01:07:34,355 --> 01:07:36,257 but you can't murder freedom fighting. 1285 01:07:36,290 --> 01:07:40,228 Whatever It was, Fred had it. 1286 01:07:40,261 --> 01:07:42,830 When he got up in front of a group of people, 1287 01:07:42,863 --> 01:07:46,067 the words just flowed. 1288 01:07:46,100 --> 01:07:49,170 You were awash in the words, OK? 1289 01:07:49,203 --> 01:07:50,371 It was like that. 1290 01:07:50,404 --> 01:07:52,573 And I don't care how many people were there... it's 1291 01:07:52,605 --> 01:07:54,609 like he was talking to you. 1292 01:07:54,642 --> 01:07:58,111 That's a dangerous person. 1293 01:07:58,145 --> 01:08:00,614 He wasn't above us. 1294 01:08:00,647 --> 01:08:02,283 He was one of us. 1295 01:08:02,315 --> 01:08:04,986 I'm the deputy chairman of the State of Illinois Black Panther 1296 01:08:05,018 --> 01:08:06,286 Party, Fred Hampton. 1297 01:08:06,319 --> 01:08:07,988 By the time he was 17, 1298 01:08:08,022 --> 01:08:12,727 he was the head of the NAACP youth branch. 1299 01:08:12,760 --> 01:08:17,498 He was already experienced by the time the Illinois 1300 01:08:17,531 --> 01:08:20,134 chapter of the Panther Party was formed, 1301 01:08:20,166 --> 01:08:24,771 so he was a natural choice to lead it. 1302 01:08:24,804 --> 01:08:28,209 We say all power to all people. 1303 01:08:28,242 --> 01:08:30,044 Fred spoke in the People's Church 1304 01:08:30,077 --> 01:08:33,815 in August of 1969, and I was in the crowd. 1305 01:08:33,848 --> 01:08:37,118 Toward the end of his speech, he said, everybody stand up, 1306 01:08:37,151 --> 01:08:38,118 and we did. 1307 01:08:38,152 --> 01:08:39,754 And he says, now raise your right hand. 1308 01:08:39,787 --> 01:08:41,622 Say this... I am a revolutionary. 1309 01:08:41,654 --> 01:08:43,925 I am a revolutionary. 1310 01:08:43,957 --> 01:08:46,294 And I couldn't say it, because I thought to myself, 1311 01:08:46,327 --> 01:08:47,528 I'm a lawyer for the movement. 1312 01:08:47,560 --> 01:08:48,763 I'm not a revolutionary. 1313 01:08:48,795 --> 01:08:52,399 And then he said it again... I am a revolutionary. 1314 01:08:52,433 --> 01:08:54,167 And by the third or fourth time, I 1315 01:08:54,201 --> 01:08:56,270 was saying a revolutionary as loud 1316 01:08:56,303 --> 01:09:00,541 as anybody else in the room. 1317 01:09:00,573 --> 01:09:02,977 We say white power to white people. 1318 01:09:03,010 --> 01:09:04,445 White power to white people. 1319 01:09:04,478 --> 01:09:05,880 Brown power to brown people. 1320 01:09:05,912 --> 01:09:07,348 Brown power to brown people. 1321 01:09:07,380 --> 01:09:08,615 Yellow power to yellow people. 1322 01:09:08,648 --> 01:09:10,117 Yellow power to yellow people. 1323 01:09:10,151 --> 01:09:11,352 Black power to black people. 1324 01:09:11,385 --> 01:09:13,187 Black power to black people. 1325 01:09:13,220 --> 01:09:16,257 We say Panther power to defend our Party. 1326 01:09:16,290 --> 01:09:17,625 A lot of us thought 1327 01:09:17,657 --> 01:09:20,861 that we were on the eve of a revolutionary situation 1328 01:09:20,894 --> 01:09:23,230 here in the United States. 1329 01:09:23,264 --> 01:09:24,899 We used to call, the Panther Party 1330 01:09:24,931 --> 01:09:27,734 the vanguard of the movement, because they were out 1331 01:09:27,768 --> 01:09:28,770 in the forefront. 1332 01:09:28,803 --> 01:09:32,239 They were kind of setting the pathway. 1333 01:09:32,273 --> 01:09:35,042 The things that that we would 1334 01:09:35,075 --> 01:09:37,478 face some repression for, they would face it 1335 01:09:37,510 --> 01:09:39,246 10 times as great. 1336 01:09:39,279 --> 01:09:42,916 They were, sacrificing their... oftentimes 1337 01:09:42,950 --> 01:09:44,251 their lives in the struggle. 1338 01:09:44,285 --> 01:09:46,019 And these people, this class 1339 01:09:46,053 --> 01:09:47,121 have divided themselves. 1340 01:09:47,153 --> 01:09:48,488 They say I'm black and I hate white people. 1341 01:09:48,522 --> 01:09:50,224 I'm white and I hate black people. 1342 01:09:50,256 --> 01:09:52,225 I'm Latin American and I hate hillbillies. 1343 01:09:52,259 --> 01:09:54,629 I'm a hillbilly and I hate Indians. 1344 01:09:54,662 --> 01:09:56,531 So we're fighting amongst each other. 1345 01:09:56,563 --> 01:09:58,365 Fred Hampton, here in Chicago, 1346 01:09:58,398 --> 01:10:00,434 was the main voice for racial unity. 1347 01:10:00,468 --> 01:10:01,969 The Black Panther Party 1348 01:10:02,001 --> 01:10:04,906 stood up and said that we don't care what anybody said. 1349 01:10:04,938 --> 01:10:06,506 We don't need to fight fire with fire. 1350 01:10:06,540 --> 01:10:08,009 Yes, we better fight fire with water. 1351 01:10:08,041 --> 01:10:09,477 Yes, we're going to fight racisim not with racism, 1352 01:10:09,510 --> 01:10:11,312 but we're going to fight with solidarity. 1353 01:10:11,345 --> 01:10:14,715 We worked with organizations such as the Young Lords... 1354 01:10:14,747 --> 01:10:18,185 a Puerto Rican street gang that had become political... 1355 01:10:18,219 --> 01:10:21,589 and the Young Patriots, hillbillies, 1356 01:10:21,621 --> 01:10:23,023 Appalachian white boys. 1357 01:10:36,437 --> 01:10:39,806 Bob Lee, who was our deputy field marshal, 1358 01:10:39,840 --> 01:10:41,776 had a meeting with them, and he was explaining 1359 01:10:41,809 --> 01:10:43,111 why we should work together. 1360 01:10:59,126 --> 01:11:00,761 The coalition that Fred 1361 01:11:00,794 --> 01:11:03,264 was building in Chicago represented 1362 01:11:03,296 --> 01:11:06,399 the Latinos, the poor whites and poor blacks. 1363 01:11:06,433 --> 01:11:08,836 But also, because he had been in the NAACP, 1364 01:11:08,868 --> 01:11:11,605 he had linkages with folks who in the congregations, or church 1365 01:11:11,639 --> 01:11:14,075 folks, and with working class folks. 1366 01:11:14,108 --> 01:11:16,777 So Fred was building a broad-based coalition 1367 01:11:16,809 --> 01:11:18,479 in Chicago, and that was the threat. 1368 01:11:27,187 --> 01:11:30,424 J. Edgar Hoover most feared young whites uniting 1369 01:11:30,456 --> 01:11:32,325 with the blacks' struggle. 1370 01:11:32,358 --> 01:11:35,062 And he was most afraid of, what 1371 01:11:35,095 --> 01:11:40,301 he called a black messiah, rising up out of this movement. 1372 01:11:43,571 --> 01:11:46,040 Fred Hampton was very good at running 1373 01:11:46,072 --> 01:11:46,973 an organization. 1374 01:11:47,006 --> 01:11:48,942 He could delegate responsibility. 1375 01:11:48,975 --> 01:11:50,510 He could spot talent. 1376 01:11:50,544 --> 01:11:52,446 The one thing that he failed to spot, 1377 01:11:52,479 --> 01:11:57,351 however, was the FBI plant... who was, of course, 1378 01:11:57,384 --> 01:11:58,219 his personal bodyguard. 1379 01:12:04,491 --> 01:12:05,960 I routinely supplied 1380 01:12:05,992 --> 01:12:11,431 whatever floor plans or diagrams I could, to the FBI. 1381 01:12:11,465 --> 01:12:14,068 I... that started in June, 1969. 1382 01:12:14,100 --> 01:12:17,138 I mean, they had a floor plan and keys to the Black Panther 1383 01:12:17,170 --> 01:12:17,604 headquarters. 1384 01:12:22,509 --> 01:12:26,613 December 3, 1969, there was a rally at the People's Church 1385 01:12:26,647 --> 01:12:28,215 on the west side of Chicago. 1386 01:12:28,247 --> 01:12:30,084 And it was one of those rallies where Fred 1387 01:12:30,117 --> 01:12:32,353 gave one of those speeches. 1388 01:12:32,385 --> 01:12:33,720 I don't believe I'm 1389 01:12:33,754 --> 01:12:35,189 going to die in a car wreck. 1390 01:12:35,221 --> 01:12:37,123 I don't believe I'm going to die from slipping 1391 01:12:37,157 --> 01:12:38,092 on a piece of ice. 1392 01:12:38,125 --> 01:12:39,460 I don't believe that I'm going to die 1393 01:12:39,492 --> 01:12:41,795 because I've got a bad heart. 1394 01:12:41,828 --> 01:12:43,598 Why don't you heal for the people? 1395 01:12:43,630 --> 01:12:45,165 Why don't you struggle for the people? 1396 01:12:45,198 --> 01:12:46,567 Why don't you die for the people? 1397 01:12:50,069 --> 01:12:53,006 Close to 12 midnight, William O'Neal 1398 01:12:53,040 --> 01:12:56,077 came and picked me up and brought me back 1399 01:12:56,109 --> 01:12:58,912 to our apartment. 1400 01:12:58,946 --> 01:13:03,050 Chairman Fred had been running 24/7 trying to organize, 1401 01:13:03,082 --> 01:13:04,285 so he fell asleep. 1402 01:13:07,287 --> 01:13:12,393 I was 8 and 1/2 months pregnant with our son, 1403 01:13:12,425 --> 01:13:14,394 so I fell asleep too. 1404 01:13:17,398 --> 01:13:19,634 Police attached to the Cook County State's 1405 01:13:19,666 --> 01:13:22,469 Attorney's office raided a Chicago apartment 1406 01:13:22,502 --> 01:13:25,038 shared by two high ranking members of the Black Panther 1407 01:13:25,072 --> 01:13:27,308 Party before dawn today. 1408 01:13:27,340 --> 01:13:29,910 The police were acting on a tip that a supply of weapons 1409 01:13:29,943 --> 01:13:33,147 was in the apartment. 1410 01:13:33,179 --> 01:13:35,982 The state's attorney recreated 1411 01:13:36,015 --> 01:13:39,219 the layout of the Panther apartment 1412 01:13:39,252 --> 01:13:41,589 and, made arrangements for them 1413 01:13:41,621 --> 01:13:44,691 to produce his version of what happened. 1414 01:13:44,724 --> 01:13:45,725 He stands up. 1415 01:13:45,759 --> 01:13:48,562 I stepped over and I put the machine... 1416 01:13:48,595 --> 01:13:49,897 In short bursts. 1417 01:13:49,929 --> 01:13:52,700 We realized that there are still some people remaining... 1418 01:13:52,733 --> 01:13:54,669 And before I could get past the threshold, 1419 01:13:54,702 --> 01:13:58,005 there were three shots fired from the rear bedroom. 1420 01:13:58,037 --> 01:14:00,907 The immediate, violent, criminal reaction 1421 01:14:00,940 --> 01:14:04,679 of the occupants in shooting at announced police officers 1422 01:14:04,711 --> 01:14:06,946 emphasizes the extreme viciousness 1423 01:14:06,979 --> 01:14:09,183 of the Black Panther Party. 1424 01:14:09,215 --> 01:14:12,652 So does their refusal to cease firing at the police officers 1425 01:14:12,685 --> 01:14:15,422 when urged to do so several times. 1426 01:14:15,456 --> 01:14:17,958 When the 15-minute gun battle was over, 1427 01:14:17,991 --> 01:14:19,827 two Black Panthers were dead. 1428 01:14:19,859 --> 01:14:22,796 Police and Panthers differ about what happened. 1429 01:14:27,100 --> 01:14:30,304 In the apartment, we received no warning, 1430 01:14:30,336 --> 01:14:37,745 no tear gas... nothing to offer us to surrender or come out. 1431 01:14:37,778 --> 01:14:42,382 Bullets start coming through the walls... plaster flying. 1432 01:14:42,416 --> 01:14:44,051 Saw bullets coming, I mean, looked 1433 01:14:44,084 --> 01:14:48,555 like the front of the apartment, from the kitchen area. 1434 01:14:48,589 --> 01:14:52,727 They were... the police were just shooting. 1435 01:14:52,760 --> 01:14:56,263 This cop stepped to the door with a sub-machine gun 1436 01:14:56,295 --> 01:14:59,666 and you could see was a silhouette. 1437 01:14:59,700 --> 01:15:05,473 And the muzzle flash as he fired, you know, 1438 01:15:05,505 --> 01:15:09,276 a fully automatic weapon into, a room 1439 01:15:09,309 --> 01:15:10,878 that was barely six feet wide. 1440 01:15:14,081 --> 01:15:16,050 I laid on top of Chairman Fred, 1441 01:15:16,082 --> 01:15:20,254 and I could feel even through him the mattress vibrating. 1442 01:15:20,287 --> 01:15:22,857 You could feel the bullets gong into you. 1443 01:15:22,889 --> 01:15:26,893 I just knew we'd be dead, everybody in there. 1444 01:15:26,926 --> 01:15:31,564 Cop stepped back in and, fired off another round, hit me 1445 01:15:31,598 --> 01:15:33,000 in the hips. 1446 01:15:33,032 --> 01:15:37,036 Everything was like this, it was just going so fast. 1447 01:15:37,069 --> 01:15:38,872 We told them we were wounded, and they said 1448 01:15:38,906 --> 01:15:40,373 come out with your hands up. 1449 01:15:40,407 --> 01:15:44,211 One of them grabbed my robe and they swung it open and say 1450 01:15:44,243 --> 01:15:44,879 what do you? 1451 01:15:44,912 --> 01:15:46,814 We got a broad here. 1452 01:15:46,846 --> 01:15:48,549 And then another one grabbed my hair 1453 01:15:48,581 --> 01:15:52,385 and slung me into the kitchen area. 1454 01:15:52,419 --> 01:15:56,157 I heard a voice say, he's barely alive. 1455 01:15:56,189 --> 01:15:57,991 He's... he'll barely make it. 1456 01:15:58,024 --> 01:16:00,527 They started shooting again. 1457 01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:04,364 I heard a sister scream and they stopped shooting. 1458 01:16:04,398 --> 01:16:07,135 Police said he's good and dead now. 1459 01:16:20,913 --> 01:16:25,152 The police made what must be a historic type of blunder 1460 01:16:25,184 --> 01:16:27,287 in leaving the apartment open. 1461 01:16:27,321 --> 01:16:31,625 So right away people went in there. 1462 01:16:31,657 --> 01:16:38,865 I stepped into the living room and there 1463 01:16:38,898 --> 01:16:42,535 was blood, Fred's blood, pouring from... all the way 1464 01:16:42,568 --> 01:16:45,138 from the bedroom in the very back of house, 1465 01:16:45,171 --> 01:16:49,910 out into... from the kitchen into the living room. 1466 01:16:52,078 --> 01:16:53,647 It was like a slaughterhouse 1467 01:16:53,679 --> 01:16:56,983 and there was blood all over the place. 1468 01:16:57,017 --> 01:17:01,855 When we lifted the mattress up to look underneath, 1469 01:17:01,889 --> 01:17:05,560 three 45-caliber machine gun slugs fell out of the mattress. 1470 01:17:09,028 --> 01:17:12,131 Only one shot came from a Panther weapon, 1471 01:17:12,165 --> 01:17:14,535 because Mark Clark, a young kid who 1472 01:17:14,568 --> 01:17:17,538 answered the door was shot in the heart 1473 01:17:17,571 --> 01:17:20,440 as he answered the door and the gun 1474 01:17:20,474 --> 01:17:24,511 dropped and went off through the ceiling. 1475 01:17:24,544 --> 01:17:27,948 All of the splinters were coming into the apartment. 1476 01:17:27,980 --> 01:17:30,384 So we said, this was a shoot-in. 1477 01:17:30,416 --> 01:17:31,718 It wasn't a shootout. 1478 01:17:31,751 --> 01:17:33,319 There's gas that the police department 1479 01:17:33,353 --> 01:17:35,489 uses as standard equipment that nobody can stand 1480 01:17:35,522 --> 01:17:36,924 to stay in the room with it. 1481 01:17:36,956 --> 01:17:38,758 They could have shot four canisters of gas 1482 01:17:38,791 --> 01:17:41,094 and then waited outside for everybody to come out. 1483 01:17:41,127 --> 01:17:43,363 Then this was, this was planned? 1484 01:17:43,397 --> 01:17:46,834 This was a plan to get Fred Hampton? 1485 01:17:46,867 --> 01:17:49,203 All indications to me personally 1486 01:17:49,236 --> 01:17:52,773 that this was, obviously a political assassination. 1487 01:17:52,805 --> 01:17:56,477 I don't think anybody would have expected the police 1488 01:17:56,510 --> 01:17:59,647 to commit just murder. 1489 01:17:59,679 --> 01:18:01,615 It takes a certain kind of guy to carry that out. 1490 01:18:05,585 --> 01:18:08,255 They lied about what happened that night. 1491 01:18:08,287 --> 01:18:10,223 Much of what they said happened couldn't 1492 01:18:10,256 --> 01:18:12,826 have happened the way they say that it happened. 1493 01:18:12,858 --> 01:18:14,694 Today many blacks came to the house 1494 01:18:14,728 --> 01:18:17,364 where Fred Hampton was killed to see for themselves. 1495 01:18:17,397 --> 01:18:18,832 Don't touch nothing. 1496 01:18:18,864 --> 01:18:21,868 Don't move nothing because we want to keep everything 1497 01:18:21,902 --> 01:18:23,604 just the way it is. 1498 01:18:23,636 --> 01:18:25,672 They fired through the door and hit the brother 1499 01:18:25,706 --> 01:18:26,739 through the door. 1500 01:18:26,773 --> 01:18:29,310 The brother was shot four or five times, 1501 01:18:29,343 --> 01:18:31,345 though after they came through the door, 1502 01:18:31,377 --> 01:18:33,647 they shot him again to make sure he was dead. 1503 01:18:33,679 --> 01:18:37,050 This is where our chairman had his brains blown out as he, 1504 01:18:37,084 --> 01:18:41,322 laying in bed sleeping at 4:30 in the morning. 1505 01:18:41,354 --> 01:18:44,625 I do not intend to quibble about that account. 1506 01:18:44,657 --> 01:18:46,393 Do you know that it's the truth? 1507 01:18:50,229 --> 01:18:54,801 The account that we gave of the events is the truth. 1508 01:18:54,835 --> 01:18:57,938 It was a death squad that did this raid. 1509 01:18:57,970 --> 01:19:01,741 It was a police death squad, and the whole thing 1510 01:19:01,774 --> 01:19:05,446 was set up by the FBI. 1511 01:19:05,479 --> 01:19:09,450 The FBI gave William O'Neal a $300 bonus 1512 01:19:09,483 --> 01:19:13,453 because of his information being so valuable and not available 1513 01:19:13,487 --> 01:19:15,489 for any other source. 1514 01:19:15,522 --> 01:19:19,559 Internally, the FBI was bragging and taking credit for the raid. 1515 01:19:19,593 --> 01:19:22,162 Publicly they were denying any knowledge or participation. 1516 01:19:39,679 --> 01:19:41,815 The funeral of the slain Panther leader 1517 01:19:41,848 --> 01:19:44,451 was marked by angry eulogies, including 1518 01:19:44,483 --> 01:19:47,520 one from Ralph Abernathy, head of the non-violent Southern 1519 01:19:47,554 --> 01:19:49,590 Christian Leadership Conference. 1520 01:19:49,622 --> 01:19:52,558 Enjoy your peace, Freddie, because there 1521 01:19:52,591 --> 01:20:00,000 will be no peace in this land until freedom comes to all. 1522 01:20:00,032 --> 01:20:07,673 We are going to trample these streets with our feet. 1523 01:20:15,381 --> 01:20:20,420 The last message that I think that Fred would've, 1524 01:20:20,453 --> 01:20:24,157 wanted everybody to hear... and that is I am... 1525 01:20:24,190 --> 01:20:25,559 I am. 1526 01:20:25,591 --> 01:20:26,759 A revolutionary. 1527 01:20:26,792 --> 01:20:28,694 A revolutionary. 1528 01:20:28,728 --> 01:20:29,395 I am. 1529 01:20:29,429 --> 01:20:34,568 I am a revolutionary. 1530 01:20:34,600 --> 01:20:40,907 I am a revolutionary. 1531 01:20:40,940 --> 01:20:44,745 I am... 1532 01:20:48,514 --> 01:20:51,084 We didn't know when it was going to happen, 1533 01:20:51,117 --> 01:20:55,354 but we felt there was something about to happen. 1534 01:20:55,388 --> 01:21:00,394 We were filling up sandbags, fortifying the headquarters, 1535 01:21:00,426 --> 01:21:03,996 putting sand in the walls, putting sandbags 1536 01:21:04,029 --> 01:21:08,000 around the entrance to the office. 1537 01:21:08,033 --> 01:21:11,205 Well, we were actually trying to build a tunnel to the sewer 1538 01:21:11,237 --> 01:21:13,506 line. 1539 01:21:13,540 --> 01:21:16,609 If the police attacked us, we were 1540 01:21:16,643 --> 01:21:18,679 going to escape into the sewers, and you know, 1541 01:21:18,711 --> 01:21:20,880 we were going to set charges on the building 1542 01:21:20,913 --> 01:21:24,384 and blow the building after we left. 1543 01:21:24,416 --> 01:21:26,586 It seemed like it was more... it was more, 1544 01:21:26,620 --> 01:21:28,755 police presence around. 1545 01:21:28,787 --> 01:21:30,424 We were getting stopped more. 1546 01:21:30,456 --> 01:21:33,026 We were getting harassed more. 1547 01:21:33,059 --> 01:21:34,495 I think they found out 1548 01:21:34,528 --> 01:21:37,531 that it was a different climate for them here. 1549 01:21:37,563 --> 01:21:41,167 We'd stop them, we'd search them, we'd shake them down. 1550 01:21:41,201 --> 01:21:43,036 And I think we did establish that we 1551 01:21:43,068 --> 01:21:44,404 were the dominating force. 1552 01:21:47,706 --> 01:21:50,143 The Special Weapons and Tactics concept 1553 01:21:50,176 --> 01:21:52,712 was formed in 1966. 1554 01:21:52,746 --> 01:21:56,116 The original SWAT team in the United States... or anywhere, 1555 01:21:56,148 --> 01:21:58,684 for that matter... was the LAPD SWAT team. 1556 01:21:58,718 --> 01:22:03,556 And in, this particular case, this was the first time, 1557 01:22:03,590 --> 01:22:08,929 the SWAT team was activated to serve a high risk warrant. 1558 01:22:16,036 --> 01:22:19,306 It was decided that a no-knock warrant would be utilized, 1559 01:22:19,339 --> 01:22:23,376 and surprise would be the element that you would use. 1560 01:22:23,410 --> 01:22:27,814 A very close friend was working intelligence, and he told me, 1561 01:22:27,846 --> 01:22:29,916 he said, Pat, these guys think they're going up 1562 01:22:29,950 --> 01:22:31,617 against some street hoodlums. 1563 01:22:31,651 --> 01:22:32,653 He said, they're not. 1564 01:22:32,685 --> 01:22:34,453 They're fighters and they're shooters. 1565 01:22:34,487 --> 01:22:37,724 Don't be at the door. 1566 01:22:37,756 --> 01:22:42,028 I am on watch on the roof, and it's a real quiet night. 1567 01:22:42,062 --> 01:22:43,430 Everything is just still. 1568 01:22:43,462 --> 01:22:46,233 You don't hear anything. 1569 01:22:46,265 --> 01:22:48,734 The access to that roof on the other side... pow! 1570 01:22:48,768 --> 01:22:49,736 It breaks open. 1571 01:22:49,769 --> 01:22:51,104 By the time I was swinging around 1572 01:22:51,136 --> 01:22:52,438 I'm seeing the lights on me. 1573 01:22:52,471 --> 01:22:54,440 They had a big light, and I'm hearing 1574 01:22:54,474 --> 01:22:56,243 the whole... freeze, freeze! 1575 01:22:56,276 --> 01:22:57,443 Still, drop it! 1576 01:22:57,477 --> 01:23:02,181 And the front door blew open... went boom! 1577 01:23:02,215 --> 01:23:04,718 Well, Pat had went in the gun room. 1578 01:23:04,751 --> 01:23:06,853 We had a Thompson sub-machine gun, 1579 01:23:06,885 --> 01:23:09,723 put it down with that Thompson... wa wa wa wa wa wa wa. 1580 01:23:09,755 --> 01:23:15,061 And he sprays across the... across 1581 01:23:15,095 --> 01:23:16,196 the roof. 1582 01:23:16,229 --> 01:23:17,297 You could see it in the light from the street. 1583 01:23:17,330 --> 01:23:18,966 And I was seeing, it was like... at the time, 1584 01:23:18,998 --> 01:23:20,701 man, I'm going to tell you, that instance, 1585 01:23:20,733 --> 01:23:22,768 it was the best music I ever heard. 1586 01:23:22,801 --> 01:23:25,171 And then all of a sudden my gun just went off. 1587 01:23:25,205 --> 01:23:26,406 I don't know what happened. 1588 01:23:26,438 --> 01:23:28,341 The gun just went off, you know, so we had them 1589 01:23:28,375 --> 01:23:30,109 in flank in front. 1590 01:23:30,143 --> 01:23:32,312 And then Paul Redd got down. 1591 01:23:32,345 --> 01:23:36,216 He got busy, and we drove them out the front door. 1592 01:23:36,248 --> 01:23:42,788 Three officers were down and the gun fight 1593 01:23:42,822 --> 01:23:45,192 continued as the officers were drug out of the way 1594 01:23:45,224 --> 01:23:48,562 by other officers. 1595 01:23:48,595 --> 01:23:52,499 Peaches and Tommy were two sisters that were there. 1596 01:23:52,532 --> 01:23:54,501 They went into the communication, 1597 01:23:54,533 --> 01:23:57,203 which is, you know, start calling the news media 1598 01:23:57,237 --> 01:23:59,172 and calling national headquarters 1599 01:23:59,205 --> 01:24:02,776 and calling everybody they could call. 1600 01:24:02,809 --> 01:24:04,745 Five minutes after 10, 1601 01:24:04,778 --> 01:24:09,116 about four and 1/2 hours after the original raid this morning. 1602 01:24:09,148 --> 01:24:10,249 All right. 1603 01:24:10,282 --> 01:24:13,319 Running down the street now toward the building. 1604 01:24:13,353 --> 01:24:15,322 Going to see what's going on. 1605 01:24:15,354 --> 01:24:21,060 There are police officers, look like Vietnam combat uniforms, 1606 01:24:21,094 --> 01:24:25,431 with automatic weapons, calling us back. 1607 01:24:25,465 --> 01:24:27,467 Shotguns everywhere you can look. 1608 01:24:27,500 --> 01:24:29,036 I looked at the TV. 1609 01:24:29,068 --> 01:24:33,105 Channel 5 had it on live. 1610 01:24:33,139 --> 01:24:35,809 So I'm feeling like I can sneak in the back 1611 01:24:35,841 --> 01:24:40,080 and join them some kind of way... it's crazy as I'm thinking. 1612 01:24:40,112 --> 01:24:43,049 There's a large group of people right now. 1613 01:24:43,082 --> 01:24:44,817 They're putting the pressure on the police 1614 01:24:44,850 --> 01:24:47,121 to allow us to stay so we can witness this. 1615 01:24:50,122 --> 01:24:51,558 When the police was 1616 01:24:51,590 --> 01:24:53,259 trying to creep up on the side, you 1617 01:24:53,292 --> 01:24:56,330 could see them, their reflection, through the windows 1618 01:24:56,362 --> 01:24:57,096 across the street. 1619 01:24:59,733 --> 01:25:02,469 When they got close enough, they would tell me, 1620 01:25:02,501 --> 01:25:03,870 OK, throw it now, throw it now. 1621 01:25:03,903 --> 01:25:06,440 Then they'd throw the damn bomb out the window and the police, 1622 01:25:06,473 --> 01:25:08,207 they'd blow up and they'd run back and shit. 1623 01:25:11,478 --> 01:25:16,049 We see this little cloud of smoke come, and it just moved. 1624 01:25:16,081 --> 01:25:16,983 And that's the tear gas. 1625 01:25:20,153 --> 01:25:23,123 Back in those days everybody smoked all the time. 1626 01:25:23,156 --> 01:25:27,728 So what we did was we put the cigarette butts in our nose 1627 01:25:27,760 --> 01:25:31,197 to filter out the fumes. 1628 01:25:31,230 --> 01:25:34,166 We're looking right at the Panther headquarters. 1629 01:25:34,200 --> 01:25:35,836 The devastation is astounding. 1630 01:25:35,868 --> 01:25:38,471 The whole front of the building has been shot up... bullet holes 1631 01:25:38,505 --> 01:25:40,607 all over the place, front door smashed down, 1632 01:25:40,639 --> 01:25:42,575 screens ripped out. 1633 01:25:42,608 --> 01:25:45,010 I got shot here, got shot in the arm, 1634 01:25:45,044 --> 01:25:46,846 missed... they missed my head here. 1635 01:25:46,880 --> 01:25:48,547 I got buckshot all in me. 1636 01:25:48,581 --> 01:25:50,183 They shot that room up, you know. 1637 01:25:50,215 --> 01:25:51,484 So this arm was dead. 1638 01:25:51,518 --> 01:25:53,920 So now I'm up there with just one arm, 1639 01:25:53,952 --> 01:25:55,522 bleeding all down the face and stuff. 1640 01:25:58,390 --> 01:25:59,625 But I'm alive. 1641 01:25:59,658 --> 01:26:02,562 I felt free. 1642 01:26:02,595 --> 01:26:05,599 I felt absolutely free. 1643 01:26:05,631 --> 01:26:09,068 And I was a free Negro, you know. 1644 01:26:09,102 --> 01:26:12,238 I was making my own rules. 1645 01:26:12,272 --> 01:26:13,172 You couldn't get in. 1646 01:26:13,206 --> 01:26:14,241 I couldn't get out. 1647 01:26:14,273 --> 01:26:18,444 But in my space, I was the king. 1648 01:26:18,478 --> 01:26:24,283 In that little space I had, I was the king. 1649 01:26:24,317 --> 01:26:30,857 And that's what I felt. You understand? 1650 01:26:30,889 --> 01:26:32,024 That's what I felt. 1651 01:26:37,397 --> 01:26:41,334 We had riflemen across the street... on the roofs 1652 01:26:41,367 --> 01:26:42,669 across the street. 1653 01:26:42,702 --> 01:26:45,005 They were shooting into the... well, 1654 01:26:45,037 --> 01:26:47,674 the shooting ports of the building 1655 01:26:47,706 --> 01:26:49,108 that the Panthers had created. 1656 01:26:49,142 --> 01:26:52,211 Panthers, on the other hand, were shooting back out. 1657 01:26:55,547 --> 01:27:00,719 Tommy had come downstairs and she was laying behind me, 1658 01:27:00,752 --> 01:27:02,087 like in a T. 1659 01:27:02,121 --> 01:27:06,526 You could see, a sunbeam went across her legs like that. 1660 01:27:06,559 --> 01:27:08,395 So like, you need to move. 1661 01:27:08,428 --> 01:27:11,096 And she... you know, she didn't, she just kept talking and shit. 1662 01:27:11,130 --> 01:27:13,333 Next thing, you hear a shot go off. 1663 01:27:13,366 --> 01:27:15,702 The bullet went through both her legs, like that. 1664 01:27:15,734 --> 01:27:20,540 So you know, at this time we had pretty much got shot out. 1665 01:27:20,572 --> 01:27:22,209 You know, we were saving enough bullets 1666 01:27:22,242 --> 01:27:23,944 that when they came in the door that we 1667 01:27:23,977 --> 01:27:27,046 would have some bullets to shoot back with, you know. 1668 01:27:27,080 --> 01:27:28,582 And I mean, it was like... it wasn't 1669 01:27:28,614 --> 01:27:31,184 like it took no brain scientist to figure out, 1670 01:27:31,216 --> 01:27:32,919 well, this shit is over with. 1671 01:27:32,952 --> 01:27:37,324 We were talking about giving up, and, you know, 1672 01:27:37,357 --> 01:27:39,158 all the brothers saying well, man, I'm ain't 1673 01:27:39,192 --> 01:27:40,393 going out there, man. 1674 01:27:40,425 --> 01:27:41,495 I'm not giving up. 1675 01:27:41,528 --> 01:27:43,597 And for like 30 minutes, it just want around. 1676 01:27:43,630 --> 01:27:44,998 I'm not going out first. 1677 01:27:45,031 --> 01:27:46,500 And I'm not going out first. 1678 01:27:46,532 --> 01:27:47,800 We'll die in this motherfucker. 1679 01:27:47,834 --> 01:27:49,669 I'm not going out first. 1680 01:27:49,702 --> 01:27:51,071 Peaches said I'll go out there. 1681 01:27:51,104 --> 01:27:52,405 And I said, Peaches. 1682 01:27:52,438 --> 01:27:54,174 She said, no, I'll go. 1683 01:27:54,206 --> 01:27:56,308 There's a white flag coming out the door. 1684 01:27:56,341 --> 01:27:57,176 It's a woman. 1685 01:27:57,210 --> 01:27:58,979 She's holding her hands up. 1686 01:28:01,813 --> 01:28:05,985 And she went outside and Peaches gave up. 1687 01:28:06,019 --> 01:28:08,355 And when they didn't shoot Peaches there, 1688 01:28:08,388 --> 01:28:10,524 we came out one at a time. 1689 01:28:10,556 --> 01:28:11,992 That's how that went. 1690 01:28:17,863 --> 01:28:22,268 It was a big glorious shootout, but after they raided us 1691 01:28:22,301 --> 01:28:25,671 they had all the players locked up. 1692 01:28:25,705 --> 01:28:27,107 All of the main players was in jail. 1693 01:28:33,078 --> 01:28:35,982 We want Huey out today. 1694 01:28:36,014 --> 01:28:38,919 We want Huey out today. 1695 01:28:38,952 --> 01:28:40,387 For about three years, 1696 01:28:40,420 --> 01:28:42,822 the Black Panthers have used Huey Newton's name 1697 01:28:42,854 --> 01:28:45,257 for a rallying cry, demanding that he 1698 01:28:45,291 --> 01:28:48,628 be freed from jail, where he is held on a charge of killing 1699 01:28:48,661 --> 01:28:49,828 a police officer. 1700 01:28:49,862 --> 01:28:52,933 The words "free Huey Newton" have been chalked 1701 01:28:52,965 --> 01:28:56,268 and spray painted on a thousand fences and walls. 1702 01:28:56,301 --> 01:28:58,537 This spring, the California Supreme Court 1703 01:28:58,571 --> 01:29:01,741 found some errors in his trial and ordered a new trial. 1704 01:29:08,413 --> 01:29:10,817 When the case was given to the jury, 1705 01:29:10,849 --> 01:29:13,786 they were sequestered for four days to deliberate. 1706 01:29:24,229 --> 01:29:26,465 It was extremely tense. 1707 01:29:26,498 --> 01:29:30,870 You could feel the energy and the tension in the air. 1708 01:29:30,903 --> 01:29:33,473 People were talking about doing all types of things, you know. 1709 01:29:33,505 --> 01:29:36,209 And Oakland could explode, you know. 1710 01:29:36,242 --> 01:29:39,279 Matter of fact, every city across America 1711 01:29:39,312 --> 01:29:42,448 could explode that day. 1712 01:29:42,482 --> 01:29:46,019 The Panthers had been getting ready for guerrilla warfare, 1713 01:29:46,051 --> 01:29:48,220 and they said the sky's the limit 1714 01:29:48,254 --> 01:29:50,055 if the jury convicted him. 1715 01:29:50,089 --> 01:29:51,491 We want Huey! 1716 01:29:51,523 --> 01:29:52,959 We want Huey! 1717 01:29:52,992 --> 01:29:54,427 We want Huey! 1718 01:29:54,460 --> 01:29:55,862 We want Huey! 1719 01:29:55,894 --> 01:29:57,796 We want Huey! 1720 01:29:57,830 --> 01:30:00,033 Shouting we want Huey now, 1721 01:30:00,065 --> 01:30:01,934 the crowd got their wish. 1722 01:30:01,968 --> 01:30:04,437 At this hour Huey Newton is a free man. 1723 01:30:12,111 --> 01:30:16,015 Everybody was just jubilant that day. 1724 01:30:16,049 --> 01:30:21,287 Finally he gets to walk out of that jail a free man. 1725 01:30:21,319 --> 01:30:24,890 The sky was the limit and the sky turned blue. 1726 01:30:35,367 --> 01:30:38,404 The image that was mobilized to create the Free Huey movement 1727 01:30:38,438 --> 01:30:41,174 gave Huey almost mythic status in the Party. 1728 01:30:41,206 --> 01:30:43,575 He had become an image and not a man, 1729 01:30:43,608 --> 01:30:47,846 and that gave him power that ultimately proved dangerous. 1730 01:30:47,880 --> 01:30:49,349 Come to the clinic 1731 01:30:49,381 --> 01:30:50,750 tomorrow for an appointment. 1732 01:30:56,288 --> 01:30:57,724 He came out focusing 1733 01:30:57,756 --> 01:31:00,826 on returning to the survival program, the breakfast 1734 01:31:00,859 --> 01:31:04,063 program, the free health clinics, free food 1735 01:31:04,096 --> 01:31:07,000 program, and the sickle cell anemia research program. 1736 01:31:10,135 --> 01:31:13,540 I remember Huey P. Newton saying the Black Panther Party 1737 01:31:13,572 --> 01:31:15,507 was not going to last. 1738 01:31:15,541 --> 01:31:17,677 He said the organization was going to get destroyed, 1739 01:31:17,710 --> 01:31:19,112 based on the way we were. 1740 01:31:19,144 --> 01:31:21,380 We were very aggressive, and we kind of 1741 01:31:21,413 --> 01:31:23,349 realized that this wasn't going to last long. 1742 01:31:26,452 --> 01:31:29,622 We know those are not revolutionary programs. 1743 01:31:29,654 --> 01:31:32,091 They are, at best, survival programs. 1744 01:31:32,125 --> 01:31:36,162 We know that the people are in jeopardy of genocide, 1745 01:31:36,194 --> 01:31:38,965 and that if they do not survive then 1746 01:31:38,997 --> 01:31:41,468 it won't be possible to bring about revolution. 1747 01:31:41,501 --> 01:31:45,438 We were really trying to connect more 1748 01:31:45,470 --> 01:31:48,273 with the people in the community. 1749 01:31:48,306 --> 01:31:50,977 And this was, this was a big push. 1750 01:31:51,010 --> 01:31:57,550 And there was probably some people who were not happy. 1751 01:31:57,582 --> 01:32:00,319 We have a breakfast for children program here. 1752 01:32:00,353 --> 01:32:02,922 But that's not what the Black Panther Party is all about, 1753 01:32:02,955 --> 01:32:04,290 you see. 1754 01:32:04,322 --> 01:32:07,760 I don't agree with saying that the Black Panther Party, 1755 01:32:07,794 --> 01:32:09,496 supports breakfast for children and that's 1756 01:32:09,528 --> 01:32:10,796 all that we're about, you know. 1757 01:32:10,830 --> 01:32:12,498 Don't talk about this other thing. 1758 01:32:12,532 --> 01:32:15,034 The Black Panther Party is for overthrowing the United States 1759 01:32:15,067 --> 01:32:16,269 government. 1760 01:32:16,301 --> 01:32:18,772 Those people who were on the other side of this issue 1761 01:32:18,804 --> 01:32:21,607 politically did not see the Black Panther Party 1762 01:32:21,640 --> 01:32:23,742 as a vehicle for social service. 1763 01:32:23,776 --> 01:32:26,746 We saw it as a vehicle for political transformation, 1764 01:32:26,778 --> 01:32:29,181 radical change... for revolution. 1765 01:32:29,215 --> 01:32:31,384 So we couldn't get excited about survival. 1766 01:32:37,189 --> 01:32:38,791 Eldridge Cleaver, who... 1767 01:32:38,825 --> 01:32:40,693 while sitting comfortably in Algeria... 1768 01:32:40,725 --> 01:32:42,862 was assailing the Black Panther Party as being weak, 1769 01:32:42,894 --> 01:32:45,031 and it didn't have any more muscle, 1770 01:32:45,063 --> 01:32:48,834 and it was a reform organization, a breakfast 1771 01:32:48,867 --> 01:32:51,804 for children club, and he denounced the Party 1772 01:32:51,837 --> 01:32:54,006 and he denounced the administrator... chief 1773 01:32:54,040 --> 01:32:55,841 administrator of the Party at that time, who 1774 01:32:55,875 --> 01:32:57,176 was David Hilliard. 1775 01:32:57,210 --> 01:33:00,580 He wanted to have even more blood shed, which was not 1776 01:33:00,612 --> 01:33:03,582 endearing us to the community. 1777 01:33:03,616 --> 01:33:06,019 There were also problems with the Panther 21 1778 01:33:06,051 --> 01:33:06,719 case. 1779 01:33:06,751 --> 01:33:08,254 There were legal fees. 1780 01:33:08,287 --> 01:33:10,523 And there became questions about how much of the money 1781 01:33:10,555 --> 01:33:12,591 that was raised for the Panther 21 1782 01:33:12,625 --> 01:33:16,328 was actually getting back to defend the Panther 21. 1783 01:33:16,362 --> 01:33:20,600 We wrote an open letter really criticizing national leadership 1784 01:33:20,632 --> 01:33:23,236 and Huey P. Newton. 1785 01:33:23,269 --> 01:33:24,938 And the response of national leadership... 1786 01:33:24,970 --> 01:33:26,538 and in particular Huey P. Newton... 1787 01:33:26,572 --> 01:33:28,775 was to kick out the Panther 21. 1788 01:33:28,808 --> 01:33:32,212 They were expelled from the Panther Party. 1789 01:33:32,245 --> 01:33:36,748 Eldridge came to the defense of the Panther 21. 1790 01:33:36,782 --> 01:33:38,651 The Black Panther 1791 01:33:38,684 --> 01:33:42,154 Party has split it into two factions, namely the Cleaver 1792 01:33:42,188 --> 01:33:44,924 and Newton supporters. 1793 01:33:44,956 --> 01:33:48,026 This dissension offers an exceptional opportunity 1794 01:33:48,059 --> 01:33:50,696 to aggravate and possibly neutralize 1795 01:33:50,729 --> 01:33:53,131 through counterintelligence. 1796 01:33:53,165 --> 01:33:56,836 The FBI was picking at Huey and picking at Eldridge. 1797 01:33:56,868 --> 01:33:58,770 And I don't know who else they were picking at 1798 01:33:58,804 --> 01:34:01,241 to create this sense of distrust. 1799 01:34:01,273 --> 01:34:03,041 In the future, 1800 01:34:03,075 --> 01:34:06,312 submit counterintelligence proposals against the Cleaver 1801 01:34:06,345 --> 01:34:09,315 faction in the Black Panther Party designed 1802 01:34:09,348 --> 01:34:12,252 to widen the existing rift, effectively 1803 01:34:12,285 --> 01:34:17,724 driving a wedge between Newton and Eldridge Cleaver. 1804 01:34:17,756 --> 01:34:21,727 Ensure this mailing cannot be traced to the Bureau. 1805 01:34:21,760 --> 01:34:23,962 What we thought the FBI wanted to do 1806 01:34:23,996 --> 01:34:28,067 was kill us, blow up our offices, shoot us. 1807 01:34:28,099 --> 01:34:31,169 I don't think we understood exactly how 1808 01:34:31,202 --> 01:34:34,673 insidious their project was. 1809 01:34:34,706 --> 01:34:36,875 They created a culture of paranoia 1810 01:34:36,908 --> 01:34:38,577 which was incredibly destructive. 1811 01:34:38,611 --> 01:34:41,447 In this sense, it was the ultimate intelligence success, 1812 01:34:41,479 --> 01:34:43,950 being able to pit the Party against itself. 1813 01:34:43,983 --> 01:34:45,685 And the Panthers internal conflict 1814 01:34:45,718 --> 01:34:48,654 would soon erupt in the mainstream media. 1815 01:34:48,688 --> 01:34:50,290 Good morning. 1816 01:34:50,322 --> 01:34:52,925 Yes, it's AM all right, and this is 1817 01:34:52,959 --> 01:34:55,295 Jim Dunbar with Nancy Fleming and Gary Bentley. 1818 01:34:55,327 --> 01:34:58,096 We had become aware of some sort 1819 01:34:58,130 --> 01:35:06,205 of a rift that had come to pass between Huey and Eldridge. 1820 01:35:06,237 --> 01:35:10,542 We had booked Huey and arranged the call from Eldridge 1821 01:35:10,576 --> 01:35:15,113 in Algeria to take advantage of that. 1822 01:35:15,147 --> 01:35:18,251 We've got lots of things coming up here on AM this morning... 1823 01:35:18,283 --> 01:35:19,852 lots of things that you'll like to see, 1824 01:35:19,885 --> 01:35:22,388 and we're looking forward to them too, right here on AM. 1825 01:35:22,420 --> 01:35:24,589 I'll not try to sugarcoat this. 1826 01:35:24,622 --> 01:35:28,126 We thought this is a wonderful opportunity to build audience, 1827 01:35:28,160 --> 01:35:30,863 and so we decided to go ahead and put the two of them 1828 01:35:30,895 --> 01:35:31,297 together. 1829 01:35:59,925 --> 01:36:02,795 Huey's goal in having Eldridge on the show 1830 01:36:02,827 --> 01:36:06,398 was to show people that he and Eldridge were on the same page. 1831 01:36:06,431 --> 01:36:09,769 And Eldridge sabotaged that, so Huey was livid. 1832 01:36:09,801 --> 01:36:11,536 He was embarrassed. 1833 01:36:11,569 --> 01:36:13,305 He was furious. 1834 01:36:13,339 --> 01:36:16,743 And so within 10 minutes or so he called back. 1835 01:37:01,153 --> 01:37:03,990 It was a split in the party, and within days we 1836 01:37:04,023 --> 01:37:06,225 began to feel just how bad it was. 1837 01:37:06,257 --> 01:37:09,694 Someone has to be disciplined, and my recommendation 1838 01:37:09,728 --> 01:37:12,698 is to discipline Eldridge Cleaver... 1839 01:37:12,730 --> 01:37:15,134 not for the criticism itself, but, 1840 01:37:15,166 --> 01:37:18,571 the way in which it was presented. 1841 01:37:18,604 --> 01:37:20,239 The word got back to us 1842 01:37:20,272 --> 01:37:22,774 that Eldridge had put out the edict that the streets were not 1843 01:37:22,808 --> 01:37:24,777 supposed to safe for Panthers. 1844 01:37:24,809 --> 01:37:28,947 Whether he said that or not... he was in Algeria, we were here. 1845 01:37:28,980 --> 01:37:29,881 Who knows? 1846 01:37:29,915 --> 01:37:30,783 It was chaos. 1847 01:37:36,554 --> 01:37:40,559 It was certain chapters that stayed with Huey. 1848 01:37:40,593 --> 01:37:43,528 Many of the people who followed Eldridge leave the party 1849 01:37:43,562 --> 01:37:45,631 and go underground. 1850 01:37:45,663 --> 01:37:47,966 And then some people just were confused and frustrated 1851 01:37:48,000 --> 01:37:49,301 and walked away. 1852 01:37:49,335 --> 01:37:51,636 They don't know which faction of the Black Panther Party 1853 01:37:51,670 --> 01:37:55,207 to follow or if they should deal with Panthers at all. 1854 01:37:58,510 --> 01:38:01,813 The Party had leaders who at that point 1855 01:38:01,846 --> 01:38:05,151 were not worthy of the dedication of their followers. 1856 01:38:05,184 --> 01:38:08,020 And I think that that was probably 1857 01:38:08,053 --> 01:38:10,489 the worst aspect of the Party, is 1858 01:38:10,523 --> 01:38:12,058 that I think some of the followers 1859 01:38:12,090 --> 01:38:14,160 felt betrayed by their leaders. 1860 01:38:17,162 --> 01:38:22,501 And the split becomes so deep that it erupts, in some cases, 1861 01:38:22,535 --> 01:38:25,770 into violence, into fights and into shootings, 1862 01:38:25,804 --> 01:38:26,639 between Panthers. 1863 01:38:30,509 --> 01:38:32,778 This is exactly what the Bureau, in fact, 1864 01:38:32,810 --> 01:38:35,413 wanted to see happen in the first place. 1865 01:38:35,447 --> 01:38:38,751 This was part of what the COINTELPRO operations were 1866 01:38:38,783 --> 01:38:39,751 really all about. 1867 01:38:42,388 --> 01:38:44,724 J. Edgar Hoover, in particular, says 1868 01:38:44,756 --> 01:38:47,026 we've been pitting people against each other. 1869 01:38:47,059 --> 01:38:48,728 That's all worked out really well. 1870 01:38:48,760 --> 01:38:51,863 But you know, now we don't even have to worry about it anymore. 1871 01:38:51,897 --> 01:38:54,500 Now they're just going to keep it going on their own 1872 01:38:54,532 --> 01:38:56,535 and we can step back a little bit 1873 01:38:56,568 --> 01:38:59,371 and just let them play it out. 1874 01:39:03,341 --> 01:39:04,844 In the midst of all of this turmoil, 1875 01:39:04,876 --> 01:39:07,714 the Panthers decide to go in a really radically new direction. 1876 01:39:10,582 --> 01:39:12,417 Bobby Seale, the Black Panther leader, 1877 01:39:12,451 --> 01:39:14,921 has been in trouble with the law for many years. 1878 01:39:14,953 --> 01:39:18,323 He's been in prison on some charges, acquitted on others. 1879 01:39:18,357 --> 01:39:21,260 And now he's trying to make a new career for himself. 1880 01:39:21,292 --> 01:39:23,528 He wants to be mayor of Oakland, California, 1881 01:39:23,562 --> 01:39:25,898 where the Black Panther movement began. 1882 01:39:25,930 --> 01:39:26,933 It was nice meeting you. 1883 01:39:26,965 --> 01:39:28,133 OK, nice meeting you. 1884 01:39:28,166 --> 01:39:28,767 All right, then. 1885 01:39:28,800 --> 01:39:29,102 How you all doing? 1886 01:39:36,207 --> 01:39:37,643 The Panthers decide 1887 01:39:37,675 --> 01:39:40,712 to call members to Oakland in an effort 1888 01:39:40,746 --> 01:39:43,716 to run Bobby Seale for mayor of Oakland and Elaine Brown 1889 01:39:43,748 --> 01:39:45,885 for city council. 1890 01:39:45,917 --> 01:39:48,353 Don Seale, member of the central committee 1891 01:39:48,386 --> 01:39:50,723 of the Black Panther Party, called me 1892 01:39:50,755 --> 01:39:53,725 at the Baltimore chapter office and told 1893 01:39:53,759 --> 01:39:58,163 me to begin closing down all of our programs. 1894 01:39:58,197 --> 01:40:04,270 So we were instructed to cease and desist all Party operations 1895 01:40:04,303 --> 01:40:06,639 and to bring as many Party members 1896 01:40:06,671 --> 01:40:08,808 from Baltimore out to Oakland as possible. 1897 01:40:11,809 --> 01:40:13,446 Ultimately they roll the die. 1898 01:40:13,479 --> 01:40:17,416 They assume that if they're successful in this campaign, 1899 01:40:17,448 --> 01:40:19,484 this might help to transform one American city. 1900 01:40:19,518 --> 01:40:22,622 This might be the blueprint for the future. 1901 01:40:22,654 --> 01:40:23,989 But they do roll the die. 1902 01:40:24,023 --> 01:40:26,792 The numbers were dwindling, and therefore 1903 01:40:26,825 --> 01:40:29,428 the force of the Party was dwindling. 1904 01:40:29,461 --> 01:40:33,199 So it only made sense to consolidate everything 1905 01:40:33,232 --> 01:40:36,935 and to say, what can we do with what we have? 1906 01:40:36,969 --> 01:40:38,571 We laid down the guns two years ago. 1907 01:40:38,604 --> 01:40:40,206 We don't need guns, we said, because we 1908 01:40:40,238 --> 01:40:42,707 knew we had the ability to really organize and educate 1909 01:40:42,741 --> 01:40:44,977 the people and show them, really, 1910 01:40:45,010 --> 01:40:48,080 some of the concrete things we can do in the community. 1911 01:40:48,112 --> 01:40:49,848 Initially, the idea of Bobby running for mayor 1912 01:40:49,881 --> 01:40:50,515 seemed ridiculous. 1913 01:40:53,152 --> 01:40:54,953 Black Panther leader Bobby Seale 1914 01:40:54,987 --> 01:40:58,724 ran second in his race for mayor of Oakland, California, 1915 01:40:58,756 --> 01:41:00,225 but Seale polled just enough votes 1916 01:41:00,259 --> 01:41:03,129 to force a runoff with the conservative incumbent John 1917 01:41:03,162 --> 01:41:04,196 Reading. 1918 01:41:04,229 --> 01:41:05,031 I think we were shocked 1919 01:41:05,063 --> 01:41:06,398 when he ended up in a runoff. 1920 01:41:06,431 --> 01:41:09,301 But as we got into the campaign and as he 1921 01:41:09,335 --> 01:41:11,770 started doing his campaign runs, as Elaine started 1922 01:41:11,804 --> 01:41:14,340 doing her campaign speeches, as people started getting... 1923 01:41:14,372 --> 01:41:17,609 we started galvanizing people's enthusiasm, 1924 01:41:17,643 --> 01:41:19,078 it started looking like he might win. 1925 01:41:34,393 --> 01:41:36,962 Part of the strategy for the campaign 1926 01:41:36,995 --> 01:41:39,864 was to increase the number of black voters 1927 01:41:39,898 --> 01:41:42,368 on the rolls in Oakland. 1928 01:41:42,401 --> 01:41:45,037 We sent people out into the community going door to door, 1929 01:41:45,069 --> 01:41:48,741 walking the streets, registering people to vote en masse. 1930 01:41:48,773 --> 01:41:50,475 And we went to the churches, 1931 01:41:50,509 --> 01:41:53,446 and we went to the dope houses, and we went to the streets, 1932 01:41:53,479 --> 01:41:55,548 and we went everywhere where the people were, 1933 01:41:55,581 --> 01:42:00,653 trying to organize people to vote for Bobby and Elaine. 1934 01:42:04,555 --> 01:42:06,658 They run an amazing campaign. 1935 01:42:06,692 --> 01:42:08,894 Bobby Seale used to ride buses in Oakland 1936 01:42:08,926 --> 01:42:10,629 and do stump speaking on the bus. 1937 01:42:10,662 --> 01:42:12,999 And they really took it to the streets in a different way. 1938 01:42:15,968 --> 01:42:17,635 Bobby had made a promise 1939 01:42:17,669 --> 01:42:20,372 that he was going to give away 10,000 bags of groceries 1940 01:42:20,406 --> 01:42:22,375 with a chicken in every bag. 1941 01:42:22,407 --> 01:42:25,377 And that was a takeoff on FDR's a chicken in every pot. 1942 01:42:27,612 --> 01:42:29,381 We counted up and we found out 1943 01:42:29,415 --> 01:42:33,786 last night it was 6,882 bags we actually gave away last night. 1944 01:42:33,818 --> 01:42:36,621 And I think that the voter registration is 1945 01:42:36,654 --> 01:42:38,491 running neck and neck with it. 1946 01:42:38,523 --> 01:42:41,059 I'm sure of that, because of a lot of... it blew our minds, 1947 01:42:41,093 --> 01:42:42,928 so many black people in the black community's 1948 01:42:42,961 --> 01:42:43,796 unregistered to vote. 1949 01:42:46,497 --> 01:42:48,166 It was amazing, because they 1950 01:42:48,200 --> 01:42:50,635 were able to register between 20,000 and 50,000 people 1951 01:42:50,669 --> 01:42:51,770 to vote. 1952 01:42:51,804 --> 01:42:54,273 They basically turned their survival programs 1953 01:42:54,305 --> 01:42:55,907 into a get out the vote apparatus. 1954 01:43:07,085 --> 01:43:10,022 But in the end, it wasn't enough. 1955 01:43:10,054 --> 01:43:12,657 Mayor John Reading of Oakland, California 1956 01:43:12,690 --> 01:43:16,261 was reelected yesterday in a runoff against Bobby Seale, 1957 01:43:16,295 --> 01:43:17,696 the Black Panther leader. 1958 01:43:17,729 --> 01:43:19,031 Don Oliver has that story. 1959 01:43:21,733 --> 01:43:23,769 Looking at the mood in Bobby Seale's 1960 01:43:23,801 --> 01:43:25,837 headquarters, you would have thought he won. 1961 01:43:25,871 --> 01:43:27,206 You know what somebody told me? 1962 01:43:27,238 --> 01:43:28,573 What did they tell us, Bobby? 1963 01:43:28,607 --> 01:43:31,243 They say, we don't care how the election goes. 1964 01:43:31,276 --> 01:43:32,611 Bobby Seale is for. 1965 01:43:32,644 --> 01:43:34,246 And they told me this, it blew my mind. 1966 01:43:34,278 --> 01:43:37,081 You're still our mayor, and we're going to. 1967 01:43:40,085 --> 01:43:41,453 Power to the people. 1968 01:43:44,523 --> 01:43:47,393 Plan A was for Bobby to win, Elaine to win, 1969 01:43:47,425 --> 01:43:49,727 and our slate to win. 1970 01:43:49,760 --> 01:43:55,033 There wasn't... as far as I could remember... a plan B. 1971 01:43:55,067 --> 01:44:01,439 Once we lost the campaign there was kind of a... 1972 01:44:01,473 --> 01:44:02,073 there was a void. 1973 01:44:05,210 --> 01:44:07,846 It was in theory a great idea 1974 01:44:07,880 --> 01:44:10,583 that you could marshal this army of organizers 1975 01:44:10,616 --> 01:44:11,884 to come to Oakland. 1976 01:44:11,916 --> 01:44:14,853 But for the most part, when all the chapters come back 1977 01:44:14,886 --> 01:44:17,790 to Oakland, the Panthers as a national phenomena 1978 01:44:17,822 --> 01:44:19,691 really, cease. 1979 01:44:24,929 --> 01:44:26,831 After the elections in Oakland, 1980 01:44:26,864 --> 01:44:30,736 Huey Newton is known to have some erratic behavior. 1981 01:44:30,769 --> 01:44:32,104 People who were very close to him 1982 01:44:32,136 --> 01:44:35,474 would say that it depends on the day you meet him. 1983 01:44:35,506 --> 01:44:39,143 Some days Huey Newton could be a brilliant, thoughtful 1984 01:44:39,176 --> 01:44:41,412 political strategist and committed to the liberation 1985 01:44:41,446 --> 01:44:43,515 of the black people, and another day he 1986 01:44:43,549 --> 01:44:45,283 could be self-serving and thuggish. 1987 01:44:45,317 --> 01:44:49,054 I was one of the folks who oriented new Panther members, 1988 01:44:49,086 --> 01:44:51,055 and I oriented them by telling them 1989 01:44:51,089 --> 01:44:54,193 about what a wonderful person Huey was 1990 01:44:54,225 --> 01:44:57,228 and about how he was the leader of our party, 1991 01:44:57,261 --> 01:45:01,232 never knowing what the hell he was. 1992 01:45:01,265 --> 01:45:05,870 We had created the cult of the personality around a fucking 1993 01:45:05,903 --> 01:45:06,304 maniac. 1994 01:45:09,174 --> 01:45:11,243 He surrounded himself with former prisoners, 1995 01:45:11,276 --> 01:45:14,647 and they became his inner retinue. 1996 01:45:17,248 --> 01:45:22,987 Around 1973, we created a special unit 1997 01:45:23,020 --> 01:45:26,457 that would protect our leaders and do 1998 01:45:26,491 --> 01:45:29,828 other kinds of activities related 1999 01:45:29,861 --> 01:45:34,198 to what Huey Newton called the sterner stuff of politics. 2000 01:45:34,232 --> 01:45:35,868 We're going to take over the underworld, 2001 01:45:35,901 --> 01:45:39,837 the underground apparatus of the city of Oakland. 2002 01:45:39,871 --> 01:45:44,209 We were shaking down the drug dealers, pimps. 2003 01:45:44,242 --> 01:45:47,779 Some people were like, stick up men. 2004 01:45:47,813 --> 01:45:49,549 It was bringing in revenue. 2005 01:45:52,884 --> 01:45:55,554 As he became more and more addicted 2006 01:45:55,586 --> 01:46:00,658 to multiple substances, I don't think he wanted to live 2007 01:46:00,692 --> 01:46:04,162 and I don't think he wanted the Party to live anymore. 2008 01:46:04,196 --> 01:46:09,134 From there on, you know, he was less and less the Huey I knew, 2009 01:46:09,166 --> 01:46:15,573 and more and more listening to his demons. 2010 01:46:15,607 --> 01:46:17,309 If Huey wanted to see you 2011 01:46:17,341 --> 01:46:18,743 or you wanted to see Huey, you had 2012 01:46:18,777 --> 01:46:21,714 to come to his penthouse, which meant that you went up 2013 01:46:21,746 --> 01:46:24,115 in his elevator, which meant that you were searched 2014 01:46:24,148 --> 01:46:25,350 before you got up there. 2015 01:46:25,384 --> 01:46:26,752 And when you got up there then you 2016 01:46:26,785 --> 01:46:30,421 were confronted by this maniac in his penthouse 2017 01:46:30,455 --> 01:46:35,126 who did all kinds of things to people... physical assault, 2018 01:46:35,160 --> 01:46:38,997 sexual assault, pistol whipping, threatening to kill. 2019 01:46:41,666 --> 01:46:45,071 He also became very abusive to the people around him. 2020 01:46:48,005 --> 01:46:49,341 He abused people like Bobby. 2021 01:46:52,277 --> 01:46:55,814 There were changes in the organization. 2022 01:46:55,846 --> 01:46:57,248 Bobby Seale left. 2023 01:46:57,282 --> 01:46:59,718 There were a lot of people who had been in the organization 2024 01:46:59,751 --> 01:47:02,755 from the beginning, and, and they left. 2025 01:47:04,790 --> 01:47:06,325 Then there was a time 2026 01:47:06,358 --> 01:47:13,431 when he was violent with me, and that was why 2027 01:47:13,465 --> 01:47:17,435 I left the Black Panther Party. 2028 01:47:17,469 --> 01:47:20,706 I said goodbye as I left, but I left. 2029 01:47:24,076 --> 01:47:26,578 Dear Huey, I've been in the party 2030 01:47:26,611 --> 01:47:29,281 for 9 and 1/2 years, but I've come 2031 01:47:29,313 --> 01:47:31,416 to a crossroads in my life. 2032 01:47:31,450 --> 01:47:34,219 One path is the Party and the other path 2033 01:47:34,251 --> 01:47:35,420 is my personal happiness. 2034 01:47:35,453 --> 01:47:37,255 I know you're busy, 2035 01:47:37,288 --> 01:47:39,457 but I see our party falling apart 2036 01:47:39,491 --> 01:47:42,394 and nothing is being done to stop this from happening. 2037 01:47:42,426 --> 01:47:44,162 It was absolutely devastating 2038 01:47:44,196 --> 01:47:47,700 for me to leave the Black Panther Party. 2039 01:47:47,733 --> 01:47:50,502 I felt guilty that I hadn't, you know, 2040 01:47:50,535 --> 01:47:52,638 stayed to do something... I wasn't sure what. 2041 01:47:55,974 --> 01:47:57,109 There was no other life. 2042 01:47:57,142 --> 01:47:59,412 There was no other thing greater. 2043 01:48:03,281 --> 01:48:04,750 Then I learned to live in a world 2044 01:48:04,782 --> 01:48:09,887 where there was no Black Panther Party. 2045 01:48:09,920 --> 01:48:11,856 Our children are growing up. 2046 01:48:11,889 --> 01:48:14,225 Half the children don't know their parents, 2047 01:48:14,259 --> 01:48:17,529 or their parents don't know their children. 2048 01:48:17,562 --> 01:48:19,832 I want to spend more time with my son. 2049 01:48:19,864 --> 01:48:22,468 So many are on the verge of leaving because we 2050 01:48:22,501 --> 01:48:25,237 suffer from loneliness, lack of personal lives 2051 01:48:25,269 --> 01:48:27,572 and extreme poverty. 2052 01:48:27,605 --> 01:48:29,575 Everybody wanted this gun toting 2053 01:48:29,608 --> 01:48:34,580 image of the big black... big bad black Shaft guy 2054 01:48:34,612 --> 01:48:36,247 jumping through the window and then, you 2055 01:48:36,281 --> 01:48:38,382 know, beating everybody up. 2056 01:48:38,416 --> 01:48:45,524 I refute that as the image that was put upon us. 2057 01:48:45,556 --> 01:48:47,658 I'm not Shaft. 2058 01:48:47,692 --> 01:48:51,029 You know, as a black man, that's all I am. 2059 01:48:51,062 --> 01:48:54,733 I'm just a black man. 2060 01:48:54,765 --> 01:48:56,535 Dear Huey, you know 2061 01:48:56,568 --> 01:49:00,272 I trust that I have felt a virtually infinite respect for, 2062 01:49:00,304 --> 01:49:04,375 belief in, support of the Black Panther Party. 2063 01:49:04,408 --> 01:49:09,680 I meant well... God knows I meant well and tried... them too. 2064 01:49:09,714 --> 01:49:13,118 Haven't we all, one way or another? 2065 01:49:13,151 --> 01:49:15,720 The great strength of the Black Panther Party 2066 01:49:15,754 --> 01:49:20,792 was its ideals and its youthful vigor and enthusiasm. 2067 01:49:20,826 --> 01:49:22,361 The great weakness of the Party was 2068 01:49:22,394 --> 01:49:26,465 its ideals and its youthful vigor and its enthusiasm. 2069 01:49:26,497 --> 01:49:28,299 That sometimes can be very dangerous, 2070 01:49:28,332 --> 01:49:30,434 especially when you're up against the United States 2071 01:49:30,468 --> 01:49:31,870 government. 2072 01:49:55,894 --> 01:49:57,362 If there's anything 2073 01:49:57,394 --> 01:49:59,864 I can do that would truly progress the people, 2074 01:49:59,898 --> 01:50:01,733 let me know. 2075 01:50:01,765 --> 01:50:04,268 I may not be a member of the Black Panther Party, 2076 01:50:04,301 --> 01:50:07,839 but I will always be a Black Panther. 2077 01:50:07,872 --> 01:50:09,607 All power to the people. 2078 01:50:09,640 --> 01:50:12,010 Peace and freedom to the world. 2079 01:50:16,547 --> 01:50:18,916 We made mistakes. 2080 01:50:18,950 --> 01:50:23,087 We charged ahead too fast and were too arrogant sometimes. 2081 01:50:23,121 --> 01:50:29,027 We certainly underestimated the police and the government 2082 01:50:29,059 --> 01:50:33,297 in terms of their response to the Black Panther Party. 2083 01:50:33,331 --> 01:50:36,702 But I think what remains true, the central guiding principle, 2084 01:50:36,734 --> 01:50:40,139 was an undying love for the people. 2085 01:51:17,175 --> 01:51:19,177 The Black Panther Party platform 2086 01:51:19,210 --> 01:51:24,181 and program... what we want, what we believe. 2087 01:51:24,215 --> 01:51:28,487 We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings. 2088 01:51:32,489 --> 01:51:34,326 We want education for our people. 2089 01:51:37,429 --> 01:51:39,564 We want an immediate end 2090 01:51:39,596 --> 01:51:42,667 to police brutality and murder of black people. 2091 01:51:46,004 --> 01:51:51,410 We what land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, 2092 01:51:51,443 --> 01:51:52,544 peace. 164150

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