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Jan 24, 2018ba_library rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Excellent documentary on the Black Panther Party. A revolutionary movement in the late 1960s that advocated the liberation of black people during a culturally changing / evolving time period. The movement attracted individuals long repressed by white culture and society, but the party suffered from internal differences, perceptions and understanding. This documentary did an excellent job of interviewing former members, contemporary historians and identifying and exposing governmental interaction which exasperated, encouraged, damaged and destroyed the Black Panther movement. I thought it was interesting to hear from individuals who were active in the party identifying its strength and weaknesses and attractions for the black population. Also interesting to hear their contempt for some of the party leaders - Bobby Seale was insane! states one party member. I went to a speaking engagement at the University of Washington when I was a student in the early 1980s. The speaker was Elridge Cleaver, a Black Panther leader, who spent years in exile for criminal charges. When I heard him speak he was by then a born-again Christian and had joined the Mormon faith. Some of the audience members were rather hostile towards him because he was no longer the political activist. Just proved to me that times change and people change. The Black Panthers advocated violence to achieve their goals, but this seemed to be part of their undoing. They wanted an overthrow of the American government which attracted the police and the FBI and what seemed to become a personal obsession of J. Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI at the time). The FBI recruited Black Panther party members to spy on the organization and report back to the FBI. The FBI in return, provided arms to the Black Panther party through their spies basically armed the Panthers which led to several high profile violent acts. Abetting terrorism or creating terrorism? Sometimes the ideal, passion, purpose of a movement can get overwhelmed by greed, lust for power and fame by its creators/organizers. Great documentary, worth watching (2 hours long).