Classical Black Nationalism

Since the beginning of colonialism, the goal of black nationalism has been to liberate black people from oppression. However, the ways in which this goal should be achieved has varied throughout the history. This change in the goals of black nationalism can be narrowed down to two periods, Classical Black Nationalism and Contemporary Black Nationalism (Harris 2001). The era of Classical Black Nationalism can be characterized between the 1800s until 1930s. The goal during this era was to create separate nation-state or to establish a national homeland in Africa, “throughout the period of slavery and even after its ending, returning to Africa had been one of the major thrusts of the nationalism movement” (Harris 2001:410). However, with the beginning
It was established by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California during the fall of 1966 (Harris 2001). The BPP was initially founded as a grassroot organization to address local concerns (Tyner 2006), one of which being was police brutality. Thus, it was originally established as Black Panther Party for Self-defense. From the name alone, one can see that Newton and Seale were heavily influenced by Malcom X and Franz Fanon as both advocated for revolutionary violence as a necessary force in gaining equality, “It was the multiple impact of Malcom X and Frantz Fanon which many movement activist feel freed them out from the cul-de-sac in which the nonviolence strategies of the established Civil Rights organizations had imprisoned them, during a decade of rising violence, White backlash and official repression” (Sales 1994:
The goal of this program was to confront police brutality and repression of black community though law books and rifles. In this program, the members of BPP would openly carry guns with them to defend their community. If the members saw any community member being interrogated or arrested by a police officer, they would inform the community member of their constitutional rights during their confrontation with the police. Thus, they initiated community patrol and this “armed self-defence was the most practical way the Black community could exercise power over abusive police officers and reclaim control of their neighbourhoods—a necessary precondition for both Black liberation and effective community activism” (Kirkby