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![The Power of the Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Black Power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale (Chairman) and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California.
Merritt Community College was the meeting place for prominent leaders of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale, and Huey Newton. The two met in September 1962 and shortly after began organizing the Black Panther Party. There were many public displays of unrest on the campus during this time, speaking to the Cuban blockade, the black experience, and other political topics.
The two leaders also attended many politically charged classes at the school such as experimental sociology, Black History, and Negro History. This occurred in September 1966 and started as Huey and Bobby brainstorming a ten-point platform. As the two grew closer, they first became involved in local organizations in Oakland only to eventually create their own.
Black Panther Party membership reached a peak in 1970, with offices in 68 cities and thousands of members, but it began to decline over the following decade. After its leaders and members were vilified by the mainstream press, public support for the party waned, and the group became more isolated. In-fighting among Party leadership, fomented largely by the FBIs COINTELPRO operation, led to expulsions and defections that decimated the membership.
Popular support for the Party declined further after reports of the groups alleged criminal activities, such as drug dealing and extortion of Oakland merchants.[26] By 1972 most Panther activity centered on the national headquarters and a school in Oakland, where the party continued to influence local politics.
Though under constant police surveillance, the Chicago chapter also remained active and maintained its community programs until 1974. The Seattle chapter persisted longer than most, with a breakfast program and medical clinics that continued even after the chapter disbanded in 1977. The Party continued to dwindle throughout the 1970s, and by 1980 had just 27 members The Power of the Black Panthers](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kABiMN6FzN0/mqdefault.jpg)
