Community Movement Builders

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ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY MUTUAL AID FUNDOver 50 years ago The Black Panther Party was formed. The organization represented the model for revolutionary Black politics and organizations for multiple generations. Today, social justice movements, organizers and activists continue to study and model their activities, identity and ideology after the Panthers. The political and cultural impact of The Black Panther Party has even inspired Hollywood and pop culture icons to appropriate their image and style for profit.The Panthers are more popular now than at any point in their history. Yet many of the individuals who formed the Black Panther Party are now struggling to take care of their most basic needs. From medical care and paying rent to groceries and just enjoying everyday life pleasures, it is a struggle for all but a prominent few. As others hold up the image and style of the Black Panther Party and benefit financially, many of the Panthers who defended our right to “food, clothes and shelter” are now unable to provide that for themselves.The Panthers were dedicated freedom fighters of the Black liberation struggle. Their reward for their dedication was prison, government surveillance, exile and frequently death. In their most active period, the Panthers were vilified by the media as part of the US government’s FBI led COINTELPRO operations. Today those that remain both in and out of prison need our support. The cooptation of the Panther image cannot be ignored as the very people who sacrificed so much are forgotten by us. That should not be part of our liberation struggle.“There is a disconnect between how entertainment culture portrays the Panthers and their fight to win political, social and economic self-determination and power for the Black community.”Albert Howard lecturing on the Black Panther Party movement.1970, Dutch National Archives