Rhetoric
The use of rhetoric proved to be an essential strategy for the Black Panther Party. Great literary minds populated the membership and literary devices were recognized as tools in a revolution potentially even more powerful than weaponry and menace:
“…the Panthers referred to police officers as `pigs.’ The purpose of the label was to undercut the authority of police and to dehumanize them in the same way white people had been dehumanizing Black people for centuries. They used many variations of this them, like `capitalist pigs’ and `racist swing’ when referring to wealthy businesspeople and politicians, too.”
The Police
Interestingly enough, the imagery utilized to describe the violations of systemic law enforcement in America today does not sound much different from the language used to describe the problem in the 1960’s. In fact, one of the lessons gained from reading the book is that the full-scale defeat of systemic racism in America glorified by some is, well, to put it politely, a sick joke:
“Police officers—nearly all of whom were white—would often frighten, harass, beat up, and sometimes even kill Black people whom they suspected of committing crimes. Often the Black citizens hadn’t even done anything wrong…Police officers could beat a Black man by the side of the road, accusing him of being in the process of stealing a car, when he was simply trying to retrieve the keys he had locked in his own vehicle.”
The Ten Point Platform
Arguably, the most illustrative imagery in the entire book is that outlined in the Party’s Ten-Point Platform. This foundational element of the Panthers was conceived jointly by leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in the Party’s seminal era or earliest origin. Point number ten includes language which may ring familiar to some:
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation.”
Black History for More Than a Month
The book is a valuable resource during February because it offers stories of Black history well beyond the standard hit list served up in a lazy curriculum. These snapshots of little-known history are often conveyed through at least in party through the strength of imagery which makes the lesson more visceral. One such example is the story of Queen Nzinga.
“In 1624, Nzinga Mbande was elected ruler of the Mbundu Kingdom of Ndongo...Nzinga negotiated an alliance with the Portuguese to protect her kingdom from slave raiders…led armed resistance against the Portuguese within Ndongo for over a decade…provided a safe refuge for those who escaped capture and were willing to fight for their freedom.”
