On the Ideology of the Black Panther Party
Humanities
FMST 194V Marxism & Feminism
In a 1970 text entitled “On the Ideology of the Black Panther Party,” Black Panther Party Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver writes, “the ideology of the Black Panther Party is the historical experience of Black people and the wisdom gained by Black people in their 400 year long struggle against the system of racist oppression and economic exploitation in Babylon, interpreted through the prism of the Marxist- Leninist analysis by our Minister of Defense, Huey P. Newton.” In this essay, I engage in a twofold critique, first articulating the basic assumptions, motivating questions, and functions of this ideology and then examining the historical conditions out of which it emerged and its effects on them. Finally, I point to areas for further inquiry and theorization.
