Most of racial struggle only makes sense in context and what a context this book provides.

Some may critique the treatment of Newton and Cleaver with kid gloves--there's certainly a lot there still be explored--but this is no hagiography of Black Panther leadership or the party itself. The rise and fall of the party is just stunning. Maybe three years of prominence and then a spectacular fall off the national stage. Bloom and Martin tell a detailed history of not just the events but the mindset and--most importantly-- the mindset behind each of the major events in the party's movement.

In a sense, you're constantly boggled by how a militant, socialist and anti-racist activism of any kind could grow to such prominence when you consider the horror directed toward contemporary movements like BLM. Black Against Empire is a hell of an eye opener. ( )

I wrote my high school senior research paper on the Black Panthers so this is a subject that has interested me for 40 years. Although I cannot find it, I am virtually certain that this comprehensive, well-researched profile of the Black Panther party is better than mine.

The meteoric rise of the BPP in the aftermath of MLK's assassination in 1968 was matched by its equally stellar collapse in the early 1970s, occasioned by three or four developments: the Panthers' establishment enemies (particularly the FBI, and law enforcement generally), the shrinking U.S. engagement in Vietnam under Richard Nixon (breaking up anti-establishment support), and bitter divisiveness among party leaders and criminal activities in the rank and file. Many people forget about all of the positive things that the BPP did for black communities: protecting them from police brutality, social programs, especially food and medical, promoting black studies, etc. and that they did not reject non-black support.

There were a couple of things about the book, which I did not like: (1) the author's need to list dozens upon dozens of people, who were at an event or had minor roles and (2) the book was organized topically, rather than chronologically, so there was significant repetition of seminal events, challenges, etc. ( )

I have never before read on the black power and violent movements of the 60s, more acquainted with the hippy side of the period history. This book gives a very good overview of the Black panther party for self-defense, which started as an attempt to control police in its brutal treatment of non-whites, the roots of the movement, its goals, its social programs (free breakfasts), its view on racial issues, male chauvinism, imperial wars oversees and the like. The authors are clearly biased toward the oppressed blacks and while they try to stay impartial, they if not outright support than at least favor socialist leanings of the party. I guess if they were writing about KKK in the same terms they would be deemed reactionary.
Just an example. One of the important happenings is killing of Lil’ Bobby Hutton:
“On the evening of April 6, two days after King’s death, at a little after 9:00 P.M., three carloads of armed Black Panthers pulled over to the curb on Union and 28th Streets in largely black west Oakland. Eldridge Cleaver was driving the lead car, an old white Ford with a Florida license plate that a member of the Peace and Freedom Party had donated to the Panthers. The entourage included David Hilliard, seventeen-year-old Lil’ Bobby Hutton, and six other rank-and-file Panthers. Cleaver opened the door and walked around to the passenger side of the Ford, reportedly to urinate. A moment later, several police cars pulled up and shined a spotlight on Cleaver. Words were exchanged, then gunfire. The Panthers ran for cover, the police quickly cordoned off a two-block area, and neighbors gathered in the streets. An hour and a half later, Cleaver, having been shot in the foot and rear, his lungs burning from tear gas and firebomb smoke, emerged stark naked from a burning basement, surrendered, and was taken into custody. Lil’ Bobby Hutton emerged from the basement unarmed. Police shot him dead.”
From the text as well as from the later Panthers’ propaganda, the cops started the skirmish – see as they arrived, see that impartial “Words were exchanged, then gunfire”. This may lead the reader to believe that no one knows what has happened this day, there are two equally valid versions. At the same time, if you check Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hutton), there is an interview with Cleaver, who openly states that they ambushed the police, in order to spark rebellion (caused by Martin Luther King murder). ‘Forgetting’ this testimony the authors may as well forgot many other facts in their narrative. That actually made me dislike panthers and their methods, which was unlikely the goal of the authors.
Other thing the book doesn’t describe in detail is how the supposed separation of black colony from the mother state could have possibly worked, which was one of the clearly stated goals of the party.
It is a very thought-provoking read for anyone, who is interested in radical movements and I found some analogues with the current situation in my country.
( )

The history of the rise and, more briefly, fall of the Black Panther Party. The book's thesis is that the party's method of armed self-defense and radical language placed it at the center of the Black Power movement, which the authors claim is largely independent of the civil rights movement.

I had no idea that the BPP had such influence outside of the Bay Area nor that the coalition of party members and allies was so fragile. The revolutionary rhetoric was both a blessing and a curse: a powerful recruiting tool during the height of the Vietnam war, it became liability when the political establishment made concessions on some of the party's core demands.

One of the more relevant connections to our own time was the Party's use of weapons as a means of empowerment. Legally owned rifles and guns were used to "police the police" and gave rise to gun control laws that were quickly passed by Reagan Republicans to disarm the Panthers. That gun control is now a progressive demand is an example of how slippery the distinctions between Right and Left can be. ( )

"Black Against Empire" is an incredibly well researched and detailed history of the the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Black Power movement in the US.

As the author's note, much of what has been written on black nationalism and liberation covers the struggle in the South, struggles which often, but not always,(see SNCC as a counter-example) advocated peaceful resistance and not armed insurrection.

The fact that the cities all over the Northern US exploded instead of becoming pacified in the wake of the oft touted success of the civil rights movement provides the context for looking in depth at this organization's history during this time period.

This book is enlightening even to someone who might consider themselves knowledgeable about the subject matter. As the later decline of the BPP helped to create a number of persistent negative views of the organization, less known facts surrounding their internationalism and broader appeal to nonwhite and white activists alike will certainly shed new light on what types of people would have considered themselves Panther supporters when they were at their height.

In fact, the incredibly rapid growth, popularity and success of the organization is truly astonishing, despite their equally rapid decline. More than simply being "in the right place at the right time", the BPP captured the imagination of not only young black people, but those who considered themselves anti-imperialists all around the world.

This is a very important book for any student of black politics or US social movements. The only surprise is that such and excellent and long overdue history of an organization that changed US politics forever was not written sooner. ( )