The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) reshaped the political battleground of the 1960s, forcing America to confront its racism, its policing, and its abandonment of Black communities. Led by young organizers from Oakland, the revolutionaries challenged the state so directly that the government, COINTELPRO in particular, declared them a threat to national security— raids, imprisonments, and deliberate infiltration included. Nearly 60 years later, the question lingers: what became of the people who once stood at the front lines of Black revolution?
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Let’s dive into who the Panthers were, their position in the national movement, and where the revolutionary activists are today.
Huey P. Newton
Co-founder and Minister of Defense of the BPP, Huey P. Newton— who grabbed international attention during the “Free Huey” movement— was a central figure in shaping the party’s revolutionary ideology and community programs. Newton earned a Ph.D. in social philosophy from the University of California in 1980, before being shot and killed in Oakland in 1989 by drug dealer Tyrone Robinson — a member of the Black Guerrilla Family.
Bobby Seale
Co-founder and chairman Bobby Seale helped build the Panthers into a national force and remains a vocal advocate for civil rights and political justice through today. The 89-year-old continues to hold speaking events, and was recently honored by the city of Oakland with a street naming ceremony, “Bobby Seale Way” in October.
Fred Hampton
Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter, Fred Hampton, was a charismatic Panther who founded the anti-racist, anti-classist Rainbow Coalition, earning recognition for uniting diverse marginalized groups. His life was tragically cut short during a 1969 police raid on his Chicago apartment, a raid widely criticized as an assassination by the FBI and local authorities, orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO.
Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver served as the Black Panther Party’s Minister of Information, shaping much of its public messaging and radical reputation. In 1998, the high-ranking Panther died in Pomona, California, after suffering a heart attack, and complications with diabetes and prostate cancer, per Campus Times.
Kathleen Cleaver
Communications Secretary and key strategist, Kathleen Cleaver— who married Eldridge in 1967 before divorcing in 1987— played a major role in the party’s messaging and later became a law professor and activist. Today, Cleaver has earned a law degree from Yale and taught at Emory University, per Yale Daily News. She continues her legacy through academia, mentorship, and the archiving of her personal papers for future generations.
Elaine Brown
Chairwoman of the party in the mid-1970s, Brown led the organization through some of its most challenging years and later became an author and activist. Today, Brown is still based in Oakland where she’s developing “The Black Panther,” a 100% affordable housing complex for low-income and formerly incarcerated residents, per the Oaklandside.
Assata Shakur
Panther member and later Black Liberation Army activist Assata Shakur fled to Cuba after a 1973 confrontation with New Jersey State Troopers, sparking national headlines. In 1979, she was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list and was considered a terrorist with a two million bounty for her head. She escaped from a U.S. prison in 1979 and was granted political asylum by Cuba in 1984. On September 25, Shakur died in the tropics of Havana. She was 78.
Emory Douglas
As Minister of Culture, Emory Douglas created much of the iconic imagery that defined the Panthers’ visual identity and radical message. He moved to San Francisco in 1951, where he still lives today, and continues to produce freelance artwork in his retirement.
Geronimo Pratt
Field Marshal of the BPP, high-ranking Panther Geronimo Pratt spent 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit before being exonerated, highlighting the state’s reported relentless efforts to dismantle the Panthers. In June 2011, Pratt died from a heart attack in his adopted home of Tanzania. He was 63.
Angela Davis
Although Angela Davis wasn’t a member of the BPP, she was very closely associated. Today, Davis remains a key figure in the prison‑abolition movement, and lectures on race, gender, and class. According to Bring Me the News, the activist recently took leave after being diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer.
Bobby Rush
An early Panther, Bobby Rush continued his journey as a community organizer straight into the U.S. Congress, where he spent decades representing Chicago. He declined to run again after his term in January 2023, and argued that he wasn’t retiring, he was just “entering into a new level” of his life, per Politico.
Community Impact
The Panther Party built programs that directly served Black communities, including free breakfast for children, health clinics, and educational initiatives. These efforts provided tangible support while demonstrating a vision of self-determination and collective care that challenged the system.
Panthers’ Beliefs and Demands for Equality
The Party’s beliefs were rooted in Black self-determination, community empowerment, and resistance to police brutality and systemic oppression. Their Ten-Point Program outlined demands for justice, equality, and basic human rights, including decent housing, education, employment, and an end to police violence against Black people.
COINTELPRO Takes Down the Black Panther Party, 1982
The Black Panther Party’s growing influence drew the full attention of the U.S. government, which launched COINTELPRO to surveil, infiltrate, and destabilize the organization. While thousands of Black folks have been positively impacted by the BPP— which spanned an estimated 40 to 60 chapters across America— their efforts were systematically crippled, and the organization formally disbanded in the early 1980s.
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