Opening Lines
The opening lines of the book use metaphor to make clear that a history is at work in this story. Not just a written history, but a secret history. In this example, a simile is used as imagery to convey the sense of paranoia associated with revolutionary movements deemed dangerous by the powers that be: “When people talk about the Black Panthers, sometimes they speak in hushed tones, as if history it could overhear. As if the Panthers are a secret no one should talk about.”
Violence
The chapter which directly confronts that history of violence associated with the Black Panthers begins with an assertive reminder that violence is rarely an organic motivation without context. Violence is almost always reactive rather than preemptive, and, if the Panthers engaged in violence as part of their revolution, it is because there was already a long history of violence being used preemptively against them. The metaphorical imagery here is all about the context of what happens at that moment when the mainstream finally becomes aware of what had been mostly undetected seismic activity taking place deep underground: “When the earthquake hits, and the world is shaking, it is easy to forget the eons of shifting plates.”
Fear Leads to Anger
A wise puppet once warned from the silver screen that fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate. Unwise slaveholders failed to understand this dynamic, and that failure led directly to great suffering by many including, ultimately, even themselves. That suffering is still being felt even today and as a result is widely understood to be a defining metaphor describing the African American experience: “Fear is a powerful motivator. The entire story of Black people in America is one that is built on fear.”
The Name Itself
The very name of the Party itself is metaphor in action. The name was chosen both for its literal association with Black skin and its metaphorical association with Black History: “The black panther hides in the shadows and does not bother passerby, but if it is attacked it will not back down, instead, it lashes out.”
Racism
Racism is, obviously, a central component in the story of the Black Panther Party. It is the motivating factor for its very existence. Racism is situated through metaphorical imagery in different ways throughout the text, but the single most defining example sums it all up with sublime perfection. Racism is symbolically identified as “the ground foundation and bedrock of the United States.”
