105-619: The Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was a revolutionary social justice movement formed to target racial inequalities carried out against indigenous Māori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland , New Zealand. Founded by a group of young Polynesians on 16 June 1971, the Panthers worked to aid in community betterment through activism and protest. Besides peaceful protests, they helped provide education, legal aid, and other social resources, such as ESOL classes and youth community programs. The group
210-487: A "revolutionary internationalist movement ": [The Party] dropped its wholesale attacks against whites and began to emphasize more of a class analysis of society. Its emphasis on Marxist–Leninist doctrine and its repeated espousal of Maoist statements signaled the group's transition from a revolutionary nationalist to a revolutionary internationalist movement. Every Party member had to study Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book" to advance his or her knowledge of peoples' struggle and
315-628: A 1958 rape conviction. They settled in Algeria. By the end of the year, party membership peaked at around 2,000. Party members engaged in criminal activities such as extortion, stealing, violent discipline of BPP members, and robberies. The BPP leadership took one-third of the proceeds from robberies committed by BPP members. No kid should be running around hungry in school. Bobby Seale Inspired by Mao Zedong 's advice to revolutionaries in The Little Red Book , Newton called on
420-434: A 90-minute gun battle with the police. The standoff ended with Cleaver wounded and Hutton voluntarily surrendering. According to Cleaver, although Hutton had stripped down to his underwear and had his hands raised in the air to prove that he was unarmed, Oakland Police shot Hutton more than 12 times, killing him. Two police officers were also shot. He became the first member of the party to be killed by police. Although at
525-452: A California law that permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it was publicly displayed and pointed at no one. Generally this was done while monitoring and observing police behavior in their neighborhoods, with the Panthers arguing that this emphasis on active militancy and openly carrying their weapons was necessary to protect individuals from police violence. For example, chants like "The Revolution has come, it's time to pick up
630-973: A big influence on the White Panther Party , tied to the Detroit/Ann Arbor band MC5 and their manager John Sinclair (author of the book Guitar Army ), which also promulgated a ten-point program. Violent conflict between the Panther chapter in LA and the US Organization , a black nationalist group, resulted in shootings and beatings and led to the murders of at least four Black Panther Party members. On January 17, 1969, Los Angeles Panther Captain Bunchy Carter and Deputy Minister John Huggins were killed in Campbell Hall on
735-656: A book to mark the 35th anniversary of the Polynesian Panther movement. On 12 September 2009 the Polynesian Panthers held a special evening in Auckland to honour American Black Panther revolutionary artist Emory Douglas during his International Artist in Residency at Auckland University 's Elam School of Fine Arts . In 2010 a documentary film made by Nevak 'Ilolahia (niece of Will 'Ilolahia),
840-614: A circulation of 250,000. The group created a Ten-Point Program , a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from conscription for black men, among other demands. With the Ten-Point program, "What We Want, What We Believe," the Black Panther Party expressed its economic and political grievances. Curtis Austin states that by late 1968, Black Panther ideology had evolved from black nationalism to become more
945-527: A fusion of ex-gang members, university students, revolutionaries & radicals with most aged in their 20s. At the time many Pacific Island youth were supporters of Māori political initiatives such as the Bastion Point occupation and Waitangi Day protests, gaining skills in political lobbying and processes which they used to raise the profile of Pacific people in New Zealand. Within a few years
1050-550: A halfway-house accommodation for those released from prison. According to Will 'Ilolahia, the movement's social outreach, especially involving youth, is what led to their increase in female members. By advocating for equity of the sexes, the Panthers were able to promote egalitarianism through multiple sectors for the Polynesian community as a whole. Scholars note that the women in the group challenged systemic racism and sexism by taking on very functional roles in working for
1155-589: A jury took 1 hour and 10 minutes to find 'Ilolahia not guilty. As he was leaving the courthouse, 'Ilolahia states that police threatened him with violence, resulting in him returning to Tonga for his safety. As most of the Panther's duties at the time were organised by 'Ilolahia, his departure from New Zealand effectively resulted in the end of the organisation. Amid controversial tours, the Gleneagles Agreement of 1977 gave international support against apartheid in sport. In 2006 Panther members released
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#17327726930021260-585: A multicultural and urban lifestyle. As these houses were purchased, the available rental stock plummeted, and Pasifika families who tended to rent more began to relocate to suburbs further out from the city centre. The Pasifika populations in Ponsonby and Freemans Bay peaked in 1976. Grey Lynn continued to have a large Pasifika population (particularly Samoan ) until the mid-1980s. The umbrella term Pasifika , meaning "Pacific" in Polynesian languages ,
1365-502: A particular Pacific nation and their descendants – are Samoan New Zealanders (182,721 people), Tongan New Zealanders (82,389), Cook Island Māori (80,532), and Niueans (30,867). In 1993, Samoan-born Taito Phillip Field became the first Pasifika member of parliament (MP), when he won the Otara electorate seat for Labour . Field was joined in 1996 by Samoan politicians Mark Gosche and Arthur Anae (the first Pasifika MP from
1470-488: A plan to send a group of 26 armed Panthers led by Seale from Oakland to Sacramento to protest the bill. The group entered the assembly carrying their weapons, an incident which was widely publicized, and which prompted police to arrest Seale and five others. The group pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disrupting a legislative session. At the time of the protest, the Party had fewer than 100 members in total. In May 1967,
1575-549: A police officer, Party members cited laws proving they had done nothing wrong and threatened to take to court any officer that violated their constitutional rights. Between the end of 1966 to the start of 1967, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense's armed police patrols in Oakland black communities attracted a small handful of members. Numbers grew slightly starting in February 1967, when the party provided an armed escort at
1680-736: A revolutionary anti-imperialist perspective working with more active and militant groups like the Soul Students Advisory Council and the Revolutionary Action Movement . Their paid jobs running youth service programs at the North Oakland Neighborhood Anti-Poverty Center allowed them to develop a revolutionary nationalist approach to community service, later a key element in the Black Panther Party's " community survival programs ." Dissatisfied with
1785-658: A variety of locations throughout the country which focused their curriculum on Black history , writing skills, and political science. The first Liberation School was opened by the Richmond Black Panthers in July 1969 with brunch served and snacks provided to students. Another school was opened in Mt. Vernon New York on July 17 of the subsequent year. These schools were informal in nature and more closely resembled after-school or summer programs. While these campuses were
1890-416: Is noted as saying, "I think that the school's principles came from the socialist principles we tried to live in the Black Panther Party. One of them being critical thinking—that children should learn not what to think but how to think ... the school was an expression of the collective wisdom of the people who envisioned it. And it was ... a living thing [that] changed every year. Joan Kelley oversaw funding for
1995-534: The 2013 census . Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to Statistics New Zealand starting to add ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the census data to reduce the number of non-responses. The median age of Pasifika New Zealanders was 24.9 years, compared to 38.1 years for all New Zealanders; 136,077 people (30.4%) were aged under 15 years, 123,828 (28.0%) were 15 to 29, 156,534 (35.4%) were 30 to 64, and 26,193 (5.9%) were 65 or older. At
2100-464: The Kaikōura district had the lowest concentration at 1.0%, with the neighbouring Hurunui district having the second-lowest concentration at 1.3%. According to responses to the 2018 census, 91.6% of Pacific Peoples spoke English, and 37.8% spoke two languages. At the 2018 census, 59.4% of Pasifika reported belonging to a single ethnic group. The largest Pacific Peoples ethnic groups – immigrants from
2205-663: The Ku Klux Klan . In December 1966, he became the first treasurer and recruit of the Black Panther Party at the age of just 16 years old. On April 6, 1968, two days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , and with riots raging across cities in the United States, the 17-year-old Hutton was traveling with Eldridge Cleaver and other BPP members in a car. The group confronted Oakland Police officers, then fled to an apartment building where they engaged in
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#17327726930022310-665: The Manukau ward since 2010, and Efeso Collins in 2016, replacing Anae's for the Manukau ward. In 2022, Collins unsuccessfully ran for the 2022 Auckland mayoral election . Collins entered parliament in 2023 as a member of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand , serving until his death in February 2024. Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense )
2415-622: The National Party ), and by Winnie Laban in 1999. In 2008, Field left the Labour Party and formed the New Zealand Pacific Party , a short-lived political party aimed at representing conservative Christian Pasifika communities. For the 2008 New Zealand general election , Samoan-born Sam Lotu-Iiga was elected as MP for Maungakiekie , and was joined by Labour list MPs William Sio and Carmel Sepuloni , who
2520-747: The Progressive Labor Party , Bob Avakian of the Community for New Politics, and the Red Guard . For example, the Black Panther Party collaborated with the Peace and Freedom Party , which sought to promote a strong antiwar and antiracist politics in opposition to the establishment Democratic Party . The Black Panther Party provided needed legitimacy to the Peace and Freedom Party's racial politics and in return received invaluable support for
2625-1109: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Nation of Islam , as well as leaders including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. , Stokely Carmichael , H. Rap Brown , Maxwell Stanford and Elijah Muhammad . As assistant FBI Director William Sullivan later testified in front of the Church Committee , the Bureau "did not differentiate" between Soviet spies and suspected Communists in black nationalist movements when deploying surveillance and neutralization tactics. COINTELPRO attempted to create rivalries between black nationalist factions and to exploit existing ones. One such attempt
2730-518: The UCLA campus, in a gun battle with members of the US Organization. Another shootout between the two groups on March 17 led to further injuries. Two more Panthers died. Paramount to their beliefs regarding the need for individual agency to catalyze community change, the Black Panther Party (BPP) strongly supported the education of the masses. As part of their Ten-Point Program which set forth
2835-540: The proletarian vanguard . In 1969, J. Edgar Hoover , the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), described the party as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." The FBI sabotaged the party with an illegal and covert counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) of surveillance , infiltration , perjury , and police harassment , all designed to undermine and criminalize
2940-643: The "Free Huey" campaign. In 1968 the southern California chapter was founded by Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter in Los Angeles. Carter was the leader of the Slauson Street gang, and many of the L.A. chapter's early recruits were Slausons. Bobby James Hutton was born April 21, 1950, in Jefferson County, Arkansas. At the age of three, he and his family moved to Oakland, California after being harassed by racist vigilante groups associated with
3045-692: The 1950s and 1960s, typically from countries associated with the Commonwealth and the Realm of New Zealand , including Western Samoa (modern-day Samoa), the Cook Islands and Niue . In the 1970s, governments (both Labour and National ), migration officials, and special police squads targeted Pasifika illegal overstayers. Pacific Studies academic Dr Melani Anae describes the Dawn Raids as "the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by
3150-464: The 2018 census, there were 191,391 males and 190,254 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.006 males per female. The majority of Pasifika were born in New Zealand: 66.4% at the 2018 census, up from 62.3% at the 2013 census and 60.0% at the 2006 census. In terms of population distribution as at the 2023 census, 275,079 (62.1%) Pasifika New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 126,678 (28.6%) live in
3255-453: The Black Panther Party and a black nationalist group called the US Organization , allegedly sending a provocative letter to the US Organization to increase existing antagonism. COINTELPRO also aimed to dismantle the Black Panther Party by targeting their social/community programs, including its Free Breakfast for Children program, whose success had served to "shed light on the government's failure to address child poverty and hunger—pointing to
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3360-448: The Black Panther Party and sought to focus directly on political action. Members were encouraged to carry guns and to defend themselves against violence. An influx of college students joined the group, which had consisted chiefly of "brothers off the block". This created some tension in the group. Some members were more interested in supporting the Panthers' social programs, while others wanted to maintain their "street mentality". By 1968,
3465-625: The Black Panther Party emerged. In late October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense). In formulating a new politics, they drew on their work with a variety of Black Power organizations. Newton and Seale first met in 1962 when they were both students at Merritt College . They joined Donald Warden's Afro-American Association , where they read widely, debated, and organized in an emergent black nationalist tradition inspired by Malcolm X and others. Eventually dissatisfied with Warden's accommodationism, they developed
3570-596: The Black Panther symbol. Newton and Seale decided to adopt the Black Panther logo and form their own organization called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Newton and Seale decided on a uniform of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, the latter adopted as an homage to Che Guevara . Sixteen-year-old Bobby Hutton was their first recruit. By January 1967, the BPP opened its first official headquarters in an Oakland storefront and published
3675-588: The Black Panthers and their allies had become primary COINTELPRO targets, singled out in 233 of the 295 authorized " Black Nationalist " COINTELPRO actions. The goals of the program were to prevent the unification of militant black nationalist groups and to weaken their leadership, as well as to discredit them to reduce their support and growth. The initial targets included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ,
3780-442: The New Zealand government for an official apology for the dawn raids that took place in the mid‑1970s. On 15 August 2021, the public broadcaster TVNZ released a television series about the Polynesian Panthers called The Panthers on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ On Demand . The series starred Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Polynesian Panthers leader Will Ilolahia, and was written by Tom Hern and Halaifonua Finau. The series became
3885-666: The New Zealand government in New Zealand's history". Immigrant Pasifika families settled in the inner city suburbs of Auckland and other major cities in the country, when middle-class Pākehā families were tending to move outwards to newer, more distant suburbs. Pasifika immigrants also tended to replace Urban Māori in central suburbs. By the mid-1970s, gentrification became an issue for Pasifika communities in Auckland. The cheap housing found in Ponsonby and other inner city Auckland suburbs were attractive to Pākehā young professionals, especially socially liberal families searching for
3990-621: The North Island outside the Auckland region, and 40,845 (9.2%) live in the South Island. The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area of Auckland had a majority Pasifika population at 60.4%, with the next highest concentrations in the nearby Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board area (48.7%) and Manurewa local board area (39.9%). Porirua City had the highest concentration of Pacific people outside of Auckland at 26.5%. The lowest concentrations of Pasifika New Zealanders are in northern Canterbury :
4095-557: The PIG Patrol monitored police convoys by listening to police frequencies, phoning in their locations, following police vans, warning bar attendees of a potential visit and providing Legal Aid pamphlets. Despite the formations of anti-racist groups ( Halt All Racist Tours , 1969), much of the Rugby Union seemed to turn a blind-eye to the racial discrimination within the league. As one of the most renowned activist events in rugby,
4200-483: The PPP were also intended to inspire community initiative and discourage gang integration. Through their dedication to Polynesian legal aid, the Panthers were advocating for those forcibly evicted in poor communities by private security firms and those who became unemployed, lost their visas due to their tenant conflicts or were under threat of deportation under new policy. Because of the working-class background of its members
4305-413: The Panther , writer Hugh Pearson alleges that Newton was intoxicated in the hours before the incident, and claimed to have willfully killed John Frey. At the time, Newton claimed that he had been falsely accused, leading to the Party's "Free Huey!" campaign. The police killing gained the party even wider recognition by the radical American left and it stimulated the growth of the Party nationwide. Newton
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4410-916: The Panthers In response to the New Zealand police task-force and the Muldoon government's continuation of aggressive policies against Pasifikas, the Panthers initiated their own detail known as the Police Investigation Group Patrol, or PIG Patrol, to monitor and protect the community. Policies of the police at the time included profiling and frequently approaching Pacific Islanders and insisting they provide their passport. Anyone who did not have their passport on their person could be detained immediately and taken to prison. Convoys of police vehicles would routinely approach bars frequented by Pacific Islanders, often looking to provoke any reaction that could result in an arrest. In response,
4515-785: The Panthers Party claimed to have fed twenty thousand children in the 1968–69 school year. The Black Panther Party's free breakfast program is "the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for." FBI director J. Edgar Hoover Other survival programs were free services such as clothing distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics, lessons on self-defense and first aid, transportation to upstate prisons for family members of inmates, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease . The free medical clinics were very significant because they modeled an idea of how
4620-446: The Panthers began their protest. During this time, the PPP continued to provide legal aid to detainees. "If you were brown, you were stopped by the police. If you were brown and had no ID, you went straight to the cell ... I [told a police officer] 'Look, I was born in New Zealand, I don't usually carry my passport around in my back pocket because I'm not travelling anywhere'." Reverend Wayne Toleafoa, former Information Minister for
4725-603: The Panthers invaded the State Assembly Chamber in Sacramento , guns in hand, in what appears to have been a publicity stunt . Still, they scared a lot of important people that day. At the time, the Panthers had almost no following. Now, (a year later) however, their leaders speak on invitation almost anywhere radicals gather, and many whites wear "Honkeys for Huey " buttons, supporting the fight to free Newton, who has been in jail since last Oct. 28 (1967) on
4830-412: The Panthers played a large role in protesting racial selection in the sport by joining rallies against the 1981 Springbok Tour . Because of South African apartheid, New Zealand sports teams were urged to exclude Māori players and select rosters according to racial segregation , said to be in the best interest and safety of the players. In 1970, All Blacks rugby toured its Māori and Islander players under
4935-527: The Panthers to "serve the people" and to make "survival programs" a priority within its branches. The most famous of their programs was the Free Breakfast for Children Program , initially run out of an Oakland church. The Free Breakfast For Children program was especially significant because it served as a space for educating youth about the current condition of the Black community, and the actions that
5040-458: The Panthers' many legal battles. The BPP adopted a "Serve the People" program, which at first involved a free breakfast program for children . By the end of 1968, the BPP had established 38 chapters and branches, claiming more than five thousand members. Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver left the country days before Cleaver was to turn himself in to serve the remainder of a thirteen-year sentence for
5145-439: The Party had expanded into many U.S. cities, including Atlanta , Baltimore , Boston , Chicago, Cleveland , Dallas , Denver , Detroit, Kansas City , Los Angeles, Newark , New Orleans , New York City, Omaha , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , San Diego , San Francisco, Seattle , Toledo , and Washington, D.C. Peak membership was near 5,000 by 1969, and their newspaper , under the editorial leadership of Eldridge Cleaver , had
5250-452: The Party was taking to address that condition. "While the children ate their meal[s], members [of the Party] taught them liberation lessons consisting of Party messages and Black history." Through this program, the Party was able to influence young minds, and strengthen their ties to communities as well as gain widespread support for their ideologies. The breakfast program became so popular that
5355-412: The Sacramento action, in the second issue of The Black Panther newspaper. In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program " COINTELPRO " to "neutralize ... black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups. In September 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country". By 1969,
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#17327726930025460-467: The San Francisco airport for Betty Shabazz , Malcolm X's widow and keynote speaker for a conference held in his honor. The Black Panther Party's focus on militancy was often construed as open hostility, feeding a reputation of violence even though early efforts by the Panthers focused primarily on promoting social issues and the exercise of their legal right to carry arms. The Panthers employed
5565-600: The United Kingdom and Algeria. Upon its inception, the party's core practice was its open carry patrols ("copwatching") designed to challenge the excessive force and misconduct of the Oakland Police Department . From 1969 onward, the party created social programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children Programs, education programs, and community health clinics. The Black Panther Party advocated for class struggle , claiming to represent
5670-505: The black migration "fled to the suburbs along with white residents", the black population was concentrated in poor "urban ghettos" with high unemployment and substandard housing and was mostly excluded from political representation, top universities, and the middle class. Northern and Western police departments were almost all white. In 1966, only 16 of Oakland's 661 police officers were African American (less than 2.5%). Civil rights tactics proved incapable of redressing these conditions, and
5775-620: The books, make the money, buy the guns, and go on the streets with the guns. We'll protect a mother, protect a brother, and protect the community from the racist cops." On October 29, 1966, Stokely Carmichael – a leader of SNCC – championed the call for " Black Power " and came to Berkeley to keynote a Black Power conference. At the time, he was promoting the armed organizing efforts of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in Alabama and their use of
5880-431: The cause that were generally different from female roles in Polynesian society. Panther member, Miriama Rauhihi Ness (Ama Ness), was hired as a full-time social-worker after she led a Pasifika women's strike for pay and work conditions; she also began organizing gender equality workshops for other Panthers and men in the community to target cultural bias and violence against women . New Zealand's economy had declined in
5985-561: The cause. In an interview with Eddie Conway, current Polynesian Panthers were interviewed about the importance of the BPP in influencing their activism and to bring light to their current work for Pacific Islands Safety & Violence Prevention Program : anti-violence against women and girls. Miriama Rauhihi Ness was interviewed by Te Ao - Māori News in June 2020 where she spoke in support of Black Lives Matter protests. In April 2021, former Polynesian Panther members are among those petitioning
6090-567: The charge that he killed a policeman ... In 1967, the Mulford Act was passed by the California legislature and signed by governor Ronald Reagan . The bill was crafted in response to members of the Black Panther Party who were copwatching . The bill repealed a law that allowed the public carrying of loaded firearms. The Black Panther Party first publicized its original "What We Want Now!" Ten-Point program on May 15, 1967, following
6195-488: The community interested in advocating for Pasifika rights. The Panthers' lead function was to raise consciousness and ensure community wellbeing in response to racial discrimination, prejudice and social inequality faced by indigenous Māori citizens and Pacific Islanders. Amidst racial tension and backlash, the Party sought to protect the Polynesian community from aggressive policies and policing. Soon after establishing headquarters in Ponsonby , their impacts extended to create
6300-503: The country in 1983 after being threatened by police, following his acquittal for helping organise protests of the 1981 Springbok Tour . The name has since been adopted by an activist group continuing to fight for human rights in New Zealand. The Polynesian Panther Movement was founded in inner-city Auckland on 16 June 1971 by six young Pacific Islanders: Fred Schmidt, Nooroa Teavae, Paul Dapp, Vaughan Sanft, Eddie Williams and Will 'Ilolahia . They extended their branch to men and women in
6405-474: The daughter of two Black Panther members, Mary Luana Williams . Fonda and other Hollywood celebrities became involved in the Panthers' leftist programs. The Panthers attracted a wide variety of left-wing revolutionaries and political activists, including writer Jean Genet , former Ramparts magazine editor David Horowitz (who later became a major critic of what he describes as Panther criminality) and left-wing lawyer Charles R. Garry , who acted as counsel in
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#17327726930026510-593: The domestic Black Liberation Struggle and global opponents of American imperialism ". Other scholars have described the party as more criminal than political, characterized by "defiant posturing over substance". During World War II , tens of thousands of black people left the Southern states during the Second Great Migration , moving to Oakland and other cities in the Bay Area to find work in
6615-598: The explosive rebellious anger of the ghetto as a social force and believed that if he could stand up to the police, he could organize that force into political power. Inspired by Robert F. Williams ' armed resistance to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and Williams' book Negroes with Guns , Newton studied gun laws in California extensively. Like the Community Alert Patrol in Los Angeles after the Watts Rebellion , he decided to organize patrols to follow
6720-544: The faculty to student ratio was 1:10. The Panther's goal in opening Liberation Schools, and specifically the Intercommunal Youth Institute, was to provide students with an education that was not being provided in the "white" schools, as the public schools in the district employed a Eurocentric assimilationist curriculum with little to no attention to black history and culture. While students were provided with traditional courses such as English, Math, and Science, they were also exposed to activities focused on class structure and
6825-438: The failure of these organizations to directly challenge police brutality and appeal to the "brothers on the block", Huey and Bobby took matters into their own hands. After the police killed Matthew Johnson, an unarmed young black man in San Francisco, Newton observed the violent insurrection that followed. He had an epiphany that would distinguish the Black Panther Party from the multitude of Black Power organizations. Newton saw
6930-402: The first New Zealand television series to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival . Pasifika New Zealanders Pasifika New Zealanders (also called Pacific Peoples ) are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (also known as Pacific Islanders ) outside of New Zealand itself. They form
7035-523: The first issue of The Black Panther: Black Community News Service . The newspaper would be in continuous circulation, though varying in length, format, title, and frequency until the party dissolved. At its height, it sold one hundred thousand copies a week. The initial tactic of the party used contemporary open-carry gun laws to protect Party members when policing the police. This act was done to record incidents of police brutality by distantly following police cars around neighborhoods. When confronted by
7140-445: The first to open, the first full-time and longest-running Liberation School was opened in January 1971 in Oakland in response to the inequitable conditions in the Oakland Unified School District which was ranked one of the lowest-scoring districts in California. Named the Intercommunal Youth Institute (IYI), this school, under the directorship of Brenda Bay, and later Ericka Huggins , enrolled twenty-eight students in its first year, with
7245-504: The following titles (listed in order): Number 5 of the "What We Want Now!" section of the Ten-Point Program reads: "We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society." To ensure that this occurred, the Black Panther Party took the education of their youth into their own hands by first establishing after-school programs and then opening up Liberation Schools in
7350-418: The fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after European descendants , indigenous Māori , and Asian New Zealanders . Over 380,000 people identify as being of Pacific origin, representing 8% of the country's population, with the majority residing in Auckland . Prior to the Second World War Pasifika in New Zealand numbered only a few hundred. Wide-scale Pasifika migration to New Zealand began in
7455-409: The gun, they can recapture their dreams and bring them into reality. On October 28, 1967, Oakland police officer John Frey was shot to death in an altercation with Huey P. Newton during a traffic stop in which Newton and backup officer Herbert Heanes also sustained gunshot wounds. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter at trial, but the conviction was later overturned. In his book Shadow of
7560-425: The gun. Off the pigs!", helped create the Panthers' reputation as a violent organization. The black community of Richmond, California wanted protection against police brutality. With only three main streets for entering and exiting the neighborhood, it was easy for police to control, contain, and suppress the population. On April 1, 1967, a black unarmed twenty-two-year-old construction worker named Denzil Dowell
7665-567: The ideals and goals of the party, they demanded an equitable education for all black people. Study and reading was important for all would-be candidates of the Party, which included studying the Ten-Point Program, reading the Black Panther newspaper , and attending a series of political education classes as well as weapons training. A 1968 "Panther Party Book List" was circulated in the party newspaper, recommending Panthers read
7770-455: The intensified promotion of police raids under his administration. The raids involved police storming the homes of those suspected of overstaying temporary working visas, typically at dawn. Though the majority of people overstaying such visas were from the UK, Australia and South Africa, the dawn raids disproportionately targeted over-stayers of Pacific Islander heritage. "A study carried out in 1985–86
7875-605: The largest cohort of Pasifika MPs entering parliament: Terisa Ngobi , Barbara Edmonds , Tangi Utikere , Neru Leavasa for the Labour Party, and the first Pasifika MP from the Green Party , Teanau Tuiono . 2023 saw Efeso Collins , formerly a member of the Auckland Council , joining as a member of the Green Party. The Auckland Council has had three Pasifika councillors since its founding in 2010: Alf Filipaina and former National MP Arthur Anae representing
7980-582: The late 1960s due to their reliance on international developments, including wool prices, dairy products and oil. Many Pacific Islanders were encouraged to migrate in-land and fill the labour shortage for low-experience jobs. Norman Kirk assembled a police task force in 1973 to deal with overstayers in Auckland, which lead to a number of " Dawn Raids " and the racial profiling of Pacific Islanders. The Polynesian Panthers greatly increased in profile by continued protesting and advocacy for Polynesian rights during Robert Muldoon 's immigration scare campaign in 1975, and
8085-458: The limits of the nation's War on Poverty". According to Bloom & Martin, the FBI denounced the Party's efforts as a means of indoctrination because the Party taught and provided for children more effectively than the government. "Police and Federal Agents regularly harassed and intimidated program participants, supporters, and Party workers and sought to scare away donors and organizations that housed
8190-486: The majority being the children of Black Panther parents. This number grew to fifty by the 1973–1974 school year. To provide full support for Black Panther parents whose time was spent organizing, some of the students and faculty members lived together year around. The school itself was dissimilar to traditional schools in a variety of ways including the fact that students were separated by academic performance rather than age, and students were often provided one-on-one support as
8295-592: The movement had expanded nationally with over 500 members and supporters, and 13 chapters including South Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin , as well as several chapters in prisons. The Polynesian Panthers began to organize activities, workshops and group initiatives in place of lacking social resources available to Polynesians at the time. Among these were homework centres and tutoring for Pacific children, running programs educating Māori and Pacific Islanders on their rights as New Zealand citizens, free meal programs and food banks for roughly 600 families. Youth programs by
8400-485: The movement heavily concerned itself with issues relating to unequal pay and unsatisfactory working and living conditions. The Panthers also provided many in the community with ‘people’s loans’ in times of need. With the help of David Lange , who served as their legal advisor from 1971 to 1976 before becoming the country's Prime Minister, they were able to release their Legal Aid book to ensure that Polynesian migrants and citizens were best equipped to defend themselves against
8505-421: The next decade, due to vilification by the mainstream press and infighting largely fomented by COINTELPRO. Support further declined over reports of the party's alleged criminal activities, such as drug dealing and extortion . The party's history is controversial. Scholars have characterized the Black Panther Party as the most influential black power organization of the late 1960s, and "the strongest link between
8610-612: The next rallies. Awareness of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense grew rapidly after their May 2, 1967, protest at the California State Capitol . On May 2, 1967, the California State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure was scheduled to convene to discuss what was known as the " Mulford Act ," which would make the public carrying of loaded firearms illegal. Newton, with Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver , put together
8715-642: The organizations that had "led much of the nonviolent civil disobedience ", such as SNCC and CORE , went into decline. By 1966 a "Black Power ferment" emerged, consisting largely of young urban black people, posing a question the Civil Rights Movement could not answer: "How would black people in America win not only formal citizenship rights, but actual economic and political power?" Young black people in Oakland and other cities developed study groups and political organizations, and from this ferment
8820-548: The party. The FBI was involved in the 1969 assassinations of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark , who were killed in a raid by the Chicago Police Department . Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Huey Newton allegedly killed officer John Frey in 1967, and Eldridge Cleaver (Minister of Information) led an ambush in 1968 of Oakland police officers, in which two officers were wounded and Panther treasurer Bobby Hutton
8925-459: The police around to monitor for incidents of brutality. But with a crucial difference: his patrols would carry loaded guns. Huey and Bobby raised enough money to buy two shotguns by buying bulk quantities of the recently publicized Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and reselling them to leftists and liberals on the Berkeley campus at three times the price. According to Bobby Seale, they would "sell
9030-404: The prevalence of institutional racism . The overall goal of the school was to instill a sense of revolutionary consciousness in the students. With a strong belief in experiential learning, students had the opportunity to participate in community service projects as well as practice their writing skills by drafting letters to political prisoners associated with the Black Panther Party. Huggins
9135-430: The privileged status of ' honorary whites ', although many were not satisfied with this gesture of tolerance. Being the last major activism undertaken by the Panthers, this was also the most physically involved protest with police counter-charge and game spectator violence. Panther member Tigilau Ness was imprisoned for his role in the protests. Founding panther member Will 'Ilolahia was also arrested for helping organise
9240-440: The programs like churches and community centers". Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Newton declared: Malcolm , implacable to the ultimate degree, held out to the Black masses ... liberation from the chains of the oppressor and the treacherous embrace of the endorsed [Black] spokesmen. Only with the gun were the black masses denied this victory. But they learned from Malcolm that with
9345-406: The protests, and was facing 10 years in prison if convicted. Following a two-year trial, he was found not guilty, a verdict that was partially attributed to Desmond Tutu flying from South Africa specifically to act as a character witness for the Panthers. After describing the Panthers as liberators and defenders of human rights, and attributing their actions as playing a role in the end of apartheid,
9450-504: The revolutionary process. Panther slogans and iconography spread. At the 1968 Summer Olympics , Tommie Smith and John Carlos , two American medalists, gave the black power salute during the American national anthem. The International Olympic Committee banned them from all future Olympic Games. Film star Jane Fonda publicly supported Huey Newton and the Black Panthers during the early 1970s. She actually ended up informally adopting
9555-651: The southern racial regime, only to be confronted with new forms of segregation and repression". In the early 1960s, the Civil rights movement had dismantled the Jim Crow system of racial subordination in the South with tactics of non-violent civil disobedience , and demanding full citizenship rights for black people. However, not much changed in the cities of the North and West. As the wartime and post-war jobs which drew much of
9660-456: The system. As part of the efforts to restore prosperity to Pasifika communities, the Polynesian Panthers organized a prison-visit program, mimicking that of the Black Panther Party . This program gave families access to bus transport, and recognized the need for socialization for those behind bars. The Panthers frequently spoke with Polynesians who did not have other visitors organized sporting events and debate teams for inmates, and often offered
9765-404: The time the BPP claimed that the police had ambushed them, several party members later admitted that Cleaver had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, provoking the shoot-out. Seven other Panthers, including Chief of Staff David Hilliard, were also arrested. Hutton's death became a rallying issue for Panther supporters. In 1968, the group shortened its name to
9870-612: The war industries such as Kaiser Shipyards . The sweeping migration transformed the Bay Area as well as cities throughout the West and North , altering the once white-dominated demographics. A new generation of young black people growing up in these cities faced new forms of poverty and racism unfamiliar to their parents, and they sought to develop new forms of politics to address them. Black Panther Party membership "consisted of recent migrants whose families traveled north and west to escape
9975-503: The world might work with free medical care , eventually being established in 13 places across the country. These clinics were involved in community-based health care that had roots connected to the Civil Rights Movement, which made it possible to establish the Medical Committee for Human Rights. In 1968, BPP Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver ran for presidential office on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. They were
10080-558: Was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California . The party was active in the United States between 1966 and 1982, with chapters in many major American cities, including San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle , and Philadelphia . They were also active in many prisons and had international chapters in
10185-778: Was explicitly influenced by the American Black Panther Party , particularly Huey Newton ’s policy of black unity through his global call-to-action, as well as his ideology of intercommunalism . The movement galvanised widespread support during the Dawn Raids of the 1970s, and greatly helped contribute to the modern pan-Polynesian ethnic identity in New Zealand called Pasifika . The Polynesian Panthers operated to bring awareness and combat exploitative social relations of Pasifika people, including redlining , racial profiling , disproportionate incarceration, and segregation in sport. The PPP effectively ceased when founding member and main organiser, Will 'Ilolahia, fled
10290-547: Was first used by government agencies in New Zealand in the 1980s to describe all migrants from the Pacific islands and their descendants. There were 442,632 people identifying as being part of the Pacific Peoples ethnic group at the 2023 New Zealand census , making up 8.9% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 60,990 people (16.0%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 146,691 people (49.6%) since
10395-512: Was killed. The party suffered many internal conflicts, resulting in the murder of Alex Rackley . Government persecution initially contributed to the party's growth among African Americans and the political left, who both valued the party as a powerful force against de facto segregation and the US military draft during the Vietnam War. Party membership peaked in 1970 and gradually declined over
10500-455: Was released after three years, when his conviction was reversed on appeal. As Newton awaited trial, the "Free Huey" campaign developed alliances with numerous students and anti-war activists, "advancing an anti-imperialist political ideology that linked the oppression of antiwar protestors to the oppression of blacks and Vietnamese". The "Free Huey" campaign attracted black power organizations, New Left groups , and other activist groups such as
10605-446: Was released telling the story of the Polynesian Panthers. It was shown on Māori Television 's New Zealand documentary slot. In 2016, activists still operating under the name of The Polynesian Black Panther Party attended the (United States) Black Panther Party's 50th Anniversary Reunion in Oakland, California. This event was held to honour the ideologies brought forth by the Party, as well as commemorate those who are still organizing for
10710-490: Was revealing: it showed that whereas Pacific Island people comprised only a third of overstayers, they made up 86% of all prosecutions for overstaying."(Beaglehole, 2015) In protest, Polynesian Panther members would organise "counter raids" on the homes of several prominent cabinet members, including Bill Birch and Frank Gill , who were in favour of the policy, by surrounding them with light and chanting with megaphones. The government's dawn raids ended less than three weeks after
10815-612: Was shot dead by police in North Richmond. Dowell's family contacted the Black Panther Party for assistance after county officials refused to investigate the case. The Party held rallies in North Richmond that educated the community on armed self-defense and the Denzil Dowell incident. Police seldom interfered at these rallies because every Panther was armed and no laws were broken. The Party's ideals resonated with several community members, who then brought their own guns to
10920-612: Was the first MP of Tongan heritage. In 2010, Kris Faafoi entered parliament by winning the 2010 Mana by-election , becoming the first MP of Tokelauan descent. In 2011, Alfred Ngaro became the first MP of Cook Island descent by winning the Maungakiekie electorate. Further Pasifika MPs entered parliament in the 2010s: Asenati Taylor for New Zealand First (2011), Christchurch East MP Poto Williams (2013), Manukau East MP Jenny Salesa (2014) and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki (2017). The 2020 New Zealand general election saw
11025-535: Was to "intensify the degree of animosity" between the Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers , a Chicago street gang. The FBI sent an anonymous letter to the Rangers' gang leader claiming that the Panthers were threatening his life, a letter whose intent was to provoke "preemptive" violence against Panther leadership. In Southern California, the FBI made similar efforts to exacerbate a "gang war" between
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