Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party

557 Pages·2013·5.95 MB·English

by  Joshua Bloom

Praise for Black against Empire
“ This is the book we’ve all been waiting for: the first complete history of the
Black Panther Party, devoid of the hype, the nonsense, the one-dimensional
heroes and villains, the myths, or the tunnel vision that has limited
scholarly and popular treatments across the ideological spectrum. Bloom
and Martin’s riveting, nuanced, and highly original account revises our
understanding of the Party’s size, scope, ideology, and political complexity
and offers the most compelling explanations for its ebbs and flows and
ultimate demise. Moreover, they reveal with spectacular clarity that the
Party’s primary target was not just police brutality or urban poverty or
white supremacy but U.S. empire in all of its manifestations.”
— Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical
Imagination
“A s important as the Black Panthers were to the evolution of black power,
the African American freedom struggle, and, indeed, the sixties as a whole,
scholarship on the group has been surprisingly thin and all too often
polemical. Certainly no definitive scholarly account of the Panthers has
been produced to date or rather had been produced to date. Bloom and
Martin can now lay claim to that honor. This is, by a wide margin, the most
detailed, analytically sophisticated, and balanced account of the organiza-
tion yet written. Anyone who hopes to understand the group and its impact
on American culture and politics will need to read this book.”
— Doug McAdam, author of Political Process and the Development of
Black Insurgency, 1930–1970
“ Bloom and Martin bring to light an important chapter in American history.
They carefully mine the archival data to give us an account of the rise of the
Black Panther Party, of its successes, and the shoals of American politics on
which it fractured. In the process they give full credit to the strategic agency
of the remarkable revolutionaries at the center of the story.”
—Frances Fox Piven, President, American Sociological Association
“A n essential, deeply researched, and insightful study—the best so far—of
the complex history, inner workings, and conflicted legacy of the Black
Panther Party as it waged its relentless battle for human rights and racial
dignity in the streets of urban America.”
—Leon F. Litwack, President, Organization of American Historians
“ Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr., have written the first compre-
hensive political history of the Black Panther Party. They present an
unvarnished, judicious treatment of a much-revered, much-maligned, and
widely misunderstood revolutionary organization leading the charge for
‘Black Power’ in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They provide persuasive
answers to questions about the Party’s rise and fall that others have failed to
fully address. All other scholars will henceforth have to grapple with their
substantial findings. General readers will find it compelling too.”
— Tera Hunter, Professor of History and African American Studies,
Princeton University
“ Black against Empire puts the Black Panthers in dialogue with the varieties
of political unrest across the country. Through a fresh analytical framework
that helps us understand the revolutionary fervor of the 1960s, Bloom and
Martin make clear that the Panthers were not an aberration or figment
of the popular imaginary. They were the vanguard among black people
seeking a way out of nowhere.”
— Jane Rhodes, author of Framing the Black Panthers: The Spectacular Rise
of a Black Power Icon
“ In a stunning historical account, Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin map the
complex trajectory of the ideology and practice of the Black Panther Party.
Going beyond merely chronicling ‘what happened,’ the authors situate the
rise and fall of the Panthers within the prevailing, and constantly shifting,
political climate at home and abroad. Much has been written about the
Party, but Black against Empire is the definitive history of the Panthers—
one that helps us rethink the very meaning of a revolutionary movement.”
—Michael Omi, coauthor of Racial Formation in the United States

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
the African American Studies Endowment Fund of the University
of California Press Foundation, which was established by a
major gift from the George Gund Foundation.
Black against Empire
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Black against Empire
The History and Politics
of the Black Panther Party
Joshua Bloom
and Waldo E. Martin, Jr.
University of California Press
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished
university presses in the United States, enriches lives around
the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social
sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by
the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions
from individuals and institutions. For more information,
visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2013 by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bloom, Joshua.
Black against empire : the history and politics of
the Black Panther Party / Joshua Bloom and Waldo E.
Martin, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-27185-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Black Panther Party—History. 2. African

Americans—Politics and government—20th century.

3. African Americans—Civil rights—History—20th

century. 4. Civil rights movements—United States—

History—20th century. 5. United States—Race

relations—History—20th century. 6. United States—

Race relations—Political aspects—History—20th

century. I. Martin, Waldo E., 1951–. II. Title.

e185.615.b5574 2013
322.4'20973—dc23 2012021279

Manufactured in the United States of America
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally
responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press
has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100%
postconsumer fiber paper that is FSC certified, deinked,
processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable
biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.
To
Hana, Mikhayla, Julius, Theodore, Eva, Emila, and Kian;
Jetta, Coral, and Kayla
and
Che Patrice Lumumba, Darryl, Dassine, Dorian, Ericka,
Fred Jr., Jaime, Joju Younghi, Maceo, Mai, Malik Nkrumah
Stagolee, Patrice, Romaine, Tupac, and all the cubs (here
and gone)
and
young revolutionaries everywhere.