New book honors Black Panther Party
By Sue Harris
"We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party," by
Mumia Abu-Jamal (South End Press, 2004, 264 pages, $18)
Mumia Abu-Jamal joined the Black Panther
Party's Philadelphia chapter in 1969 at age 15. His recent book
"We Want Freedom" gives a firsthand description of the party,
written with the revolutionary movement in mind. His book
should be viewed within the context of the ongoing Black
liberation struggle inside the United States and also the
struggle for national liberation worldwide.
Abu-Jamal recounts the slavery of African peoples in the
Americas. He includes Olaudah Equiano's excruciating narrative
of the Middle Passage, revolts on the slave ships, Little
George and William and the "massive armed rebellions that echo
down the corridors of time for their sheer boldness in attempt
and execution of their will to be once and forever free." (p.
19) He writes eloquently of those who fought against U.S.
slavery, including Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, Gabriel Prosser
and Denmark Vesey.
Abu-Jamal traces the BPP's development through the
burgeoning social awareness of its founders, Huey Newton and
Bobby Seale, and other Panther leaders in the early 1960s. He
includes their Southern roots, blended with urban experiences,
and their discovery of not only Malcolm X but Frantz Fanon, an
anti-colonialist writer in Algeria, and the worldwide
anti-imperialist revolutions.
Abu-Jamal explains the significance of community survival
programs like the Free Breakfast for Children Program, People's
Free Medical Research Health Clinic, Free Clothing Program and
many more, showing the deep ties that the Panthers had in the
Black community. He quotes Huey Newton on the survival
programs: "They were designed to help the people survive until
their consciousness is raised, which is only the first step in
the revolution to produce a new America ... ." (Huey Newton:
"To Die for the People")
The Panthers believed in armed self-defense to counter the
state-sanctioned police terror Black people were subjected
to.
Abu-Jamal discusses the Revolutionary People's
Constitutional Convention hosted by the Panthers in 1970 in
Philadel phia as an attempt to build a multi-national,
multi-gender party recognizing the leadership of the most
oppressed, which most of the so-called white left were not yet
willing to accept. He stresses the importance of the Panthers'
international section in Algeria, led by Eldridge Cleaver,
establishing the BPP as "a bona fide revolutionary organization
of global import." (page 115)
At the same time, he describes the Panther organization from
the "bottom up." He writes vividly about the daily life of the
average Panther, using his own experiences as well as that of
others. He gives a hilarious accounting of himself as a
16-year-old getting arrested for selling the Panther newspaper,
and calling home to tell his mother he was in California. He
also describes falling asleep on guard duty at the Panther
office.
Abu-Jamal gives special attention to the significance of
women in the BPP lead ership. He deconstructs the myth about
the "misogynistic" Panthers by using the writings of many
Panther women including the late Safiya Bukhari, Afeni Shakur
and the now exiled Assata Shakur to make his point without
denying the problems of sexism that existed within the
organization.
Abu-Jamal, who has been in prison since 1981, exposes the
impact that the FBI's COINTELPRO--short for
counter-intelligence programs--had on the BPP. Panther martyrs
like Fred Hampton, Bunchy Carter and Jon Huggins are mentioned.
He documents how COINTELPRO carried out assassinations, using
infiltrators recruited and directed by the FBI along with their
counterparts in the local and state police.
Abu-Jamal describes the role that COINTELPRO played in the
split between the East Coast and West Coast branches of the
Black Panther Party. He offers a brilliant, dispassionate
analysis of the leader ship of both sides, without rancor but
with revolutionary objectivity and under standing. He provides
a blueprint of how the split was arranged and also a roadmap
that should be helpful to future generations to avoid the traps
that were set.
Last, he offers commentary on the later offshoots of the
BPP, including the Black Liberation Army, the New Black Panther
Party and many more. He ends with a listing of former BPP
members today, always in the context of the ongoing
struggle.
"We Want Freedom" is an inspiration. It is an incredible
revolutionary document, brilliantly researched and written.
This book is further proof that Mumia Abu-Jamal, although
isolated in a cell on Pennsylvania's death row for more than 22
years, has not let the repressive, racist state silence his
defiant voice on the need for struggle and revolution. It is a
must read for every revolutionary of all ages.
Reprinted from the July 15, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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