The Black Panthers Motivate Social Justice Work
By: Tina Gersdorf
AHTC Summer Institute 2010 - Civil Rights
Movement
A young African-American boy stood up and asked
Julian Bond what he, as an 11 year-old, could do to change the world and help
people. This child had the rare
opportunity to hear legends speak this week and was inspired, as were most of
us present. Mr. Bond looked at that
young boy and made a point we should all carry with us. To summarize, he said that we couldn’t save
everyone at once. We should not expect
to set out and change the world in one swift motion, even if that was our true
intention. Mr. Bond told that boy to be
good to others and to begin making a difference in one person’s life. Find someone around you, he advised, and ask
what kind of help he or she may need.
Mr. Bond claims that one act of kindness will feel so good; you’d want
to do it again.
As teachers we are always reminding ourselves,
and fellow teachers in need of an uplift, that we cannot change every student
and that if we can truly make a difference in the life of one child, we have accomplished
more than many. I think it is our
responsibility to pass that outlook onto our students. As we go through a unit, such as the Civil
Rights Movement, we must remember that while we often feel overwhelmed by the
magnitude of change needed around us; these students feel it more. We need to empower our students to with
knowledge and reasonability. We need to
supply them with the tools necessary for them to go out and make a difference
in one person’s life today; because that just may transform into a revolution.
This week was more than inspirational to
me. It was a wake-up call. Remember the reasons. Remember true purpose. Remember why we are here. If I had to choose, I would say that Bobby
Seale made the biggest impression on me.
Not only did he clarify misconceptions that I had about much of the
Black Panthers; he provided evidence of the power behind knowledge and
purpose. I want students to see what
their own misconceptions are. I want
students to understand the struggle for civil rights that occurred in this
country for so long. I want students to
watch this powerful role model and see themselves.
My ideas could be a quick mini-unit or a larger
one, but I’ll explain the big picture of how the Black Panther Party can be
used to teach all of the above. It would
be necessary, of course, for students to have a base knowledge of Reconstruction,
the Jim Crow era, and the age of segregation.
At that point I would ask the student what they think they know about
the Black Panther Party. I assume
answers would vary greatly from no knowledge at all, to major misconceptions of
violence and hate, to a basic knowledge of true history of the Party. Next, I would hand out two different
photographs, one photo to one side of the room and the other photo to the
opposite side of the room. The first
photo is that of armed Black Panthers on the steps of the state capital
building in 1969. This shows Black
Panther members standing with rifles and there is no sign of anyone else really
around (except an officer a bit off in the background). This picture could easily be taken out of
context, if someone didn’t know anything about the Black Panthers, and used to
show that they were violent and hateful.
The other is that of the free breakfast program put forth by the Black
Panthers. This shows a member of the
Black Panthers leaning over a young boy smiling while he pours him a
drink. There are two other kids in the
picture looking hopeful. This photo is
accompanied by a caption describing the picture as well as a small article
about the program itself. The caption
could be left in for students but I recommend taking out the article for now
simply because the objective is to have the students analyze the photo and not
the written document. Students would
write a brief description of what they think the Black Panthers are based on
the image they were given. After this,
of course, there would be a class discussion around the different pictures and
the different ideas students had after looking at them. Our discussion would conclude with a
clarification of some misunderstandings that would likely arise from this
discussion.
My goal with the above activity is to have the
students begin to think about how images guide our thinking. I would engage the students in conversations
about how each of these photos might have been used during the 60s. Who would have used each of the pictures and
why would different groups of people even use different pictures? I want students to realize that many people
have a false view of the Black Panther Party due to the misuse of
photographs. I want the students to
begin discussing why these photos might have been misused in the first place.
At this point I want to show clips of a YouTube
video on which Bobby Seale is speaking.
I want the students to begin to recognize some of the true history
behind the Black Panther Party and to see the man who began this powerful
organization. The clip is long, so I
would select various points to show in the classroom if time was a
constraint. Minutes 4:40 to about 17:00
is a good starting place because Mr. Seale describes his compelling background
and begins to explain the real history behind the ways of the Black Panther
Party. The Declaration of Independence
would be an essential document to use for this lesson because it was a main
inspiration behind the mission of the Black Panthers. Mr. Seale mentions the first two paragraphs
and seems to specifically highlight the following sections:
When, in
the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws
of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.
We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That
whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the
right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not
be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience
hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government,
and to provide new guards for their future security. –Such has been the
patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which
constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the
present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid
world.
- The Declaration of
Independence, 1776
As an extension to this lesson on the Black
Panther Party, I want to tie in the aspect of social change and what students
can do. I want to spread the message
that Julian Bond spoke to that 11 year-old boy at our conference. My Fellowship project was built around the
theme of Social Movements and I think a very important part of that unit should
be Mr. Bond’s reminder that we should not expect big things to happen without
starting small. Either following a
lesson on the Black Panthers, or as an interjection to my unit on Social
Movements, I envision focusing on one of Bobby Seale’s first steps toward
justice. He told me a story about how he
first began the free breakfast program.
He said that he went to a local grocery store and told them of his plan
and asked for a donation of food. The
store refused; and he and some others boycotted and blocked the store. After a few days, another local grocery store
called him and said they had heard about the program and wanted to donate. He said he had no idea what he was about to
get, but it turned out to be a LOT of food.
Soon, another store came to him with a donation, and his program was off
the ground. Before he knew it there were
free breakfast programs across the country.
He began with the vision of feeding the children of a small community.
Students can look at these big movements and
become overwhelmed. We, however, can provide
stories, such as Mr. Seale’s, and give them hope for change. I would like to see this lesson, or my
fellowship unit, turn into a social project where the students create a small
goal to help out one or two individuals.
This might be a relative, friend, or neighbor. They would write a plan for how they will make a difference in someone’s
life and then they will follow through with that plan. The objective? ‘Students will begin to understand the true
meaning of social justice and reflect upon the notion of coming together to
work for a common goal under peace and love.
They will begin to recognize that hate gets us nowhere. They will see the power behind starting
small. Students will work for justice.’
Armed Black Panthers on the
steps of the state capital building on February 29, 1969. http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/images/bpp/wsa/black%20panthers_1968.jpg
Black
Panther Party’s free breakfast program, 1969. Baltimore City Paper.
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=11450
Bobby
Seale speaking at CSU Sonoma in 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOQJnvMSk7o
Declaration
of Independence, 1776. http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.html
**Additional Resource: http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BPP.htm)
