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9 Geo. J. Gender & L. 403 (2008)
Whose Revolution Is This? Gender's Divisive Role in the Black Panther Party

handle is hein.journals/grggenl9 and id is 407 raw text is: WHOSE REVOLUTION Is THIS? GENDER'S DivIsivE ROLE LN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY SAMUEL JOSEPHS* I. CALLING ALL MEN: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF GENDER'S ROLE EARLY ON ..................................... 404 A. EARLY RECRUITMENT .............................. 408 B. WOMEN GAIN INTEREST ............................ 410 C. WOMEN JOIN THE PARTY ............................ 412 II. THE FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL ATACK ON THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY ..................................... 413 III. GENDER'S DIVIDE .................................... 416 A. THE VISIBILITY OF PANTHER WOMEN: GENDER DISCUSSED ON THE FRONT PAGES ................................ 416 B. GENDER AS AN INCREASING SOURCE OF TENSION ........... 423 INTRODUCTION The gender ideology of the Black Panther Party (the BPP or the Party) was a critical component of the Party's formation, its membership, and its day-to-day activities. Founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale consciously set out to challenge alleged deficiencies concerning the role of black men as providers and defenders of the black community. Early recruitment efforts, directed in large part by the Party's Minster of Information, Eldridge Cleaver, focused on men, and early rhetoric asserted the Party's hyper-masculine ideal. As time passed, women became interested in the Party. Some women perceived the Party's platform as gender neutral, while others were attracted to the Party's unique gendered message. Whatever the reason, women would soon become a dominant presence within the Party. As male members were forced into exile, were sent to prison, or in some cases, were killed, women's roles became increasingly important. Women's membership reached sixty percent and eventu- ally women were responsible for running the daily activities of the Party. The increased presence of women in an organization that had quite deliberately organized around black men, raised questions about women's role in the Black Panther revolution. The gender question was thoroughly debated, playing itself out on the front pages of the Party's primary communications vehicle-the Party's official newspaper The Black Panther. The nature of articles published in The Black Panther demonstrated the loaded * J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2008. V 2008, Samuel Josephs.

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