Southern Injustice and Radical Discontent: The Black Panther Party in the Post-Civil Rights South

Abstract

This paper looks at the efforts, obstacles, and outcomes of attempts to organize Black Panther Party chapters in four southern states - Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas - using a variety of sources, including the The Black Panther and Southern Patriot newspapers. Organized in 1966, the BPP mobilized against police brutality and injustices inflicted upon African Americans throughout American history. While successfully establishing various popular community survival programs to help uplift local communities, the BPP's revolutionary rhetoric and imagery instantly attracted state-sponsored repression that exacted a heavy toll on the organization on local and national levels.