Oral History Investigation – Black Panthers

Objective: You will use primary source documents and oral histories to explain why the Black Panther Party described black communities as “colonies” within the United States and how they attempted to empower those communities in response.

Materials

Background information:

Worksheets (in downloadable Word format):

Articles:

Step 1: Review the background material to answer the following question:

            Please describe the goals of the Black Panther party, the methods they used to achieve their goals, and the reasons they espoused these particular methods.

Background information:

Step 2:

Time to establish the frustration of the BPP that resulted from a long history of racial discrimination and led to their desire for empowerment.  We will then use the concept of empowerment as a springboard for exploring the duality of the BPP.  Through an exploration of online oral histories and a BPP Bulletin, you should finish Step 2 with a richer understanding of concepts of colonization and empowerment.

Vocabulary:

  • BSU: Black Student Union
  • BPP: Black Panther Party
  • Administration: The people in charge of the school
  • Clout: Ability to get people to do what you want
  • “Black Power:” Slogan for BPP and other Civil Rights organizations who did not agree with non-violence as an effective form of protest.

Review Colonization Worksheet one.  There are two sides to the Colonization Worksheet; the first is for your thoughts, the second is for the thoughts of the BPP as expressed in the oral histories.  Discuss with your group what are the meanings of the two terms, “empowerment” and “colonization.”  You may use examples from your own lives to get them started.

On the worksheet, fill the boxes with definitions, examples, and means of fighting colonization and achieving empowerment.

Objective: Students will use primary source documents and oral histories in order to explain why the Black Panther party described black communities as “colonies” within the United States and how they attempted to empower those communities in response.

Step 3:

Review slides 1-10 of the “Black Panthers Tell Their Stories” You will see that African Americans were concentrated around the Central Area and what is now termed the International District. 

*many neighborhoods in Seattle were off-limits to non-white people (See the Restrictive Covenants database for more information).

Step 4: View Oral History Set 1: Mike Tagawa and Gary Owens in “Black Panthers Tell Their Stories”

  • View Mike Tagawa: Growing up in Seattle’s Central District: “All the races mixed without any problem at all, and I guess I kind of thought it was like every place.”
  • View Gary Owens: “The Public Health hospital that we now call Harborview was not a very nice place to end up.” Owens remembers how his experiences in the South while in the Army allowed him to see Seattle with new eyes. He became very encouraged by the Black Panther Party’s efforts at creating community programs that addressed the limited access that Seattle Blacks to health care.”
  • As a group, discuss the following: How would laws restricting where non-white people live lead to feelings of colonization by “Racist AmeriKKKa?”  How would feelings of colonization lead to the desire for empowerment?

Step 5: Read pages three and eight of “Ministry of Information”: BPP Document 4 “Ministry of Information Bulletin”(pdf) which includes “10 Point Program of the Black Panther Party: “10 Point” on p. 8.

  • Review the language in #10, and identify its source. 
  • Begin to fill out side Colonization Worksheet two. Be sure to leave room for further information.

Step 5: View Oral History Set #2: Elmer Dixon in “Black Panthers Tell Their Stories”

  • Fill out the Anticipation Guide One based on prior knowledge, group discussion, and your own opinions.
  • View 2 BPP Oral Histories of Elmer Dixon in “Black Panthers Tell Their Stories”:
    • “We thought we’d be dead in 5 years,”
    • “Businesses that occupied our community should give back to our community or they needed to leave”: Panthers help push two Safeway stores out of the Central District.
  • Discuss the answers to your Anticipation Guides with your group, as well as your reactions to      Dixon’s description of the goals and tactics of the BPP.
  • Add to your Colonization Worksheet with reasons the BPP members felt colonized, as well as the Panther’s definitions, goals, and methods of achieving empowerment. 

Step 6: Read BPP Document 4 “Ministry of Information Bulletin”(pdf) pages two and seven. 

Skim the bulletin, reading pages two and seven closely.  Fill out Militant Activities and Attitudes/Survival Programs and Attitudes T-Chart. The line does not extend all of the way down the page to allow you to put in activities and attitudes which they are not comfortable separating.

Step 7: Continue to examine the duality of the BPP, adding emphasis on the conflict between the Panthers and Seattle police, and complicated by Mayor Wes Uhlman’s refusal to allow a dangerous FBI raid on their headquarters.

Objective for Step 7: You will explain why the Panthers felt the need to defend themselves against the police and assess the veracity of this feeling given Mayor Wes Uhlman’s intervention in the planned FBI raid.

Step 8: Bell Ringer

  • Pull out your T-charts and discuss with your group the multiple faces of the BPP and how you all think people in Seattle reacted to them.

Step 9: View Oral History Set #3 – Aaron Dixon

  • From BSU to SNCC to BPP,”
  •  “We were smaller and few.”
  • Between each segment, discuss the following questions:
    • Segment 1: Why did Aaron Dixon form Seattle’s BPP?
    • Segment 2: Why did the Panthers start offering survival programs? How did the survival programs contribute to empowerment? How did they combat colonization?

Step 10: Anticipation Guide

Fill out the Anticipation Guide Two, including explanations for their answers.

Step 11: Oral History Set 4 – Ron Johnson

  • Watch Ron Johnson:
    • The young people identified with our lifestyle because we didn’t do things all formal and starchy”: The summer youth employment programs.
    • Survival Programs: “If we saw a problem that existed… even if sometimes our methods was primitive, our methods was course, we got the problem solved.”
  • Using Questions to Ponder, jot down notes, and discuss your answers with your group.
    • Using Johnson as an example, explain the correlation with poverty and feeling colonized. 

Step 12: Oral History Set 5 – Bobby White, Mike Tagawa

  • Add to their T-Charts as they watch the following oral histories:
    • Bobby White: I enjoyed paying the police back.” 
    • Mike Tagawa:
      • Confronting the Rainier Beach High School administration, September, 1968, and 
      • “I would like to say that if we did things that were questionable in the eyes of the law… what we did was always a reaction to what the police did.”

Step 13: Oral History Set 6 – Elmer Dixon, Wes Uhlman

  • Discuss the relationship between the Black Panthers and the Seattle Police.
  • Watch the following:
    • Elmer Dixon: The raid that never came
    • Wes Uhlman: Black Panthers: Uhlman explains why he intervened
  • Answer Questions to Ponder 3: How do you think most Panthers reacted to the news that Seattle’s mayor had stopped a raid on their headquarters? How do you think it impacted their feelings of colonization by the city and by the police?

Answer the following question using your Colonization Worksheet and T-chart:

  • Explain how the survival programs and the militancy of the Black Panthers were both necessary, in their minds, to achieve their goal of empowerment.

Step 14: Enhancement

1) Look at the History Matter’s “Making Sense of Oral History” website: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/

a) Assess the oral histories using the questions from the website (see the website for further explanation for each question):

            Who is talking?

            Who is the interviewer?

                        What are they talking about?

                        Why are they talking?

                        What is the circumstance of the interview?

b) Discuss the pros and cons of using oral histories to learn about a particular topic.  Students may consider the perspective of the speakers, the time that has elapsed, and their own tendency as historians to apply today’s standards, ideas, and beliefs to the past.

Step 15: Interview an adult who lived in the US in the 1960’s.  You can create your own questions or use the following:

            -The basics: How old were you? Where did you live? Who did you live with?

            -Context: Did the socio-economic, age, and racial composition of your community and school (if in school) affect your life growing up? Were you aware of these factors and how (if at all) they influenced the way people interacted with you?

            -Civil Rights: How did the Civil Rights movement effect your community, school, or family?  In what ways were you aware of the Civil Rights movement? In what ways did you ignore it or did it not impact you?

Submission: Post all your responses on your WordPress website with the title: Oral History Investigation – Black Panthers

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