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Two Statements On The Black Panther Rainbow People's Party

Two Statements On The Black Panther Rainbow People's Party image Two Statements On The Black Panther Rainbow People's Party image
Parent Issue
Day
4
Month
June
Year
1971
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
OCR Text

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the rainbow colony about the recent turmoil within the ranks of the Black Panther Party, and also about the position of the Rainbow People's Party vis a vis this situation. We want to make it clear that the Rainbow People's Party stands in solidarity with the Central Committee of the Black Panther Party, its Chairman Bobby Seale, its Minister of Defense Huey P. Newton, and all dedicated members and cadre of the BPP. We recognize that there is only one Black Panther Party--the organization founded in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale--and that Eldridge Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, Michael Cetaways Tabor, Connie Mathews Tabor, Richard Dharuba Moore, and other former party members have defected from the ranks of the Black Panther Party to pursue their own interests.

We also want to make it clear that the Rainbow People's Party, in adopting our new name and structure, has not abandoned or repudiated the Black Panther Party, which inspired us to organize ourselves in 1968 as the White Panther Party. To the contrary, we feel that with our new name and our new organizational structure we are even better equipped to support and to further the goals of the Black Panther Party, and of the Black liberation struggle as a whole, because we will be better equipped to serve the people of the Rainbow colony and to help organize our people into a powerful united force against fascism and for the liberation of all peoples.

We realize that slogans, rhetoric, and simple statements of support will not bring about the liberation of the people; that the forces of fascism and imperialism which oppress all nonwestern struggling peoples can only be defeated through a protracted struggle waged on all fronts by a united liberation front of all the oppressed peoples, including the people of the Rainbow colony; and that the best way we in the Rainbow colony can contribute to the liberation of our natural brothers and sisters in the black and all oppressed peoples--is by organizing ourselves in our own communities and moving in an organized fashion against our common oppressor, dealing with our own survival needs through community determination programs and constructing an alternative social order within the shell of the old.

We see the recent turmoil in the Black Panther Party, which culminated with the defection from the BPP of Eldridge Cleaver and his followers, basic contradiction between "protracted struggle" and "eve-of-the-revolutionism" which has also developed to a decisive point within the Rainbow colony and within the mother-country revolutionary movement as well. In the Black Panther Party the "eve-of-the-revolution" view was held by Eldridge Cleaver and his followers, who believe that the only task for revolutionaries in this country now is to go out into the streets and begin the armed struggle against the oppressor, even though the masses of the people are not yet ready to participate in or even to support such an advanced form of struggle. They believe that anyone who is not ready to join the armed struggle now is counterrevolutionary and should be treated as the enemy.

The exponents of "protracted struggle," on the other hand, believe that revolutions are made by the broad masses of the people moving together in an organized fashion over a long period of time to determine their own destinies; that the forms of struggle at a certain time and in a certain place are determined by the level of consciousness and support of the people; and that to move to begin an armed struggle against the concentrated military might of the Amerikan Empire without the support and participation of the broad masses of the people is not only suicidal but is also against the interests of the people.

Since this contradiction emerged within the Black Panther Party it has been resolved by the defectuon of Eldridge Cleaver and his followers on the one hand, and by the definitive stand in favor of protracted struggle and "survival pending revolutuon" taken by Huey B Newton and the Central Comittee of the BPP on the other . We are sorry that this contradiction had to be resolved in such a public and antagonistic fashion, but we feel that it was a good thing and not a bad thing that was brought into the open and resolved.

We mentioned that we were originally inspired to form our party by the example of the Black Panther Party; we have learned almost everything we know about political struggle and political organization from the BPP. The most important lesson we learned was that revolutions are not spontaneous upheavals generated by simple anger and oppression, that in order for there to be revolution there must be an organized, disciplined, class-conscious revolutionary party which works with the people to organize the mass struggle and inform it with a revolutionary content. This was a difficult lesson for us to assimilate because our people - the people of the Rainbow have a general, widespread distaste for organizational forms of all kinds and an overwhelming oversion to any kind of discipline and structure, even when they can see that their needs cannot be met otherwise.

When we first started relating to the Black Panther Party, in 1968, we were exponents of the "eve-of-the-revolution" point of view, and we saw no need to organize ourselves and our people in other than spontaneous, emotionally-derived forms. But through observing and absorbing the example of the Black Panther Party and following the course of political study it laid out for us, we learned to organize ourselves along democratic-centralist lines, to give our community service programs an explicit revolutionary content, and to practice the method of criticism which has been the moving force in the development of our party to its new level of being.

We see the recent changes in our party as paralleling those in the Black Panther Party, and we feel that we can now move forward to serve the needs at our people in solidarity with the Black Panther Party and all revolutionary organizations which are making the protracted struggle against the Amerikan Empire and its deathly imperialistic culture. We feel that we can best support the struggle of black people, led by the Black Panther Party and other black liberation groups, as well as the struggles of all oppressed peoples, by working in our own communities in the Rainbow Colony to unite our people and help them organize themselves Into a powerful force for revolutionary change. We believe that, as Malcolm X said, there can be no black-white unity until there is first black unity - and Rainbow unity. Once the oppressed colonies in Amerika and throughout the imperialist empire achieve internal unity we can unite with each other in a New World Liberation Front to bring about the end of imperialist exploitation and control and the beginning of a whole new era in human history--the creation of an intercommunal Rainbow culture b based on self-determination for all peoples and total inter-dependence in all matters concerning the various peoples of the earth.

All Power to the People! Rainbow Power to the People of the Future ! Long Live the Black Panther Party and Its Central Committee! Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Central Committee, Rainbow People's Party June 1. 1971

HUEY'S STATEMENT

The Black Panther Party bases its ideology and philosophy on a concrete analysis of concrete conditions, using dialectical materialism as our analytical method. As dialectical materialists we recognize that contradictions can lead to development. The internal struggle of opposites based upon their unity causes matter to have motion as a part of the process of development. We recognize that nothing in nature stands outside of dialectics, even the Black Panther Party. But we welcome these contradictions, because they clarify and advance our struggle. We had a contradiction with our former Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver. But we understand this as necessary to our growth. Out of this contradiction has come new growth and a new return to the original vision of the Party...

For a time the Black Panther Party lost its vision and defected from the community. With the defection of Eldridge Cleaver, however, we can move again to a full scale development of our original vision and come out of the twilight zone which the Party has been in during the recent past.

The only reason that the Party is still in existence at this time, and the only reason that we have been able to survive the repression of the Party and murders of some of our most advanced comrades is because of the Ten Point Program - our survival program. Our programs would be meaningless and insignificant if they were not community programs. This is why it is my opinion that as long as the Black community and oppressed people are found in North America the Black Panther Party will last. The Party will survive as a structured vehicle, because it serves the true interests of oppressed people and administers to their needs-- this was the original vision of the Party. The original vision was not structured by rhetoric nor by ideology. It was structured by the practical needs of the people, and its dreamers were armed with an ideology which provided a systematic method of analysis of how best to meet those needs. . .

When we formed the Party, we did so because we wanted to put theory and practice togehter, in a systematic manner. We did this through our basic Ten Point Program. . . The actions we engaged in at the time were strictly strategic actions, for political purposes.

They were designed to mobilize the community. ANY ACTION WHICH DOES NOT MOBILIZE THE COMMUNITY TOWARD THE GOAL IS NOT A REVOLUTIONARY ACTION. The action might be a marvelous statement ai courage, but if it does not mobilize the people toward the goal of a higher manifestation of freedom, it is not making a political statement and could even be counter-revolutionary. . .

Many times people say that our Ten Point Program is reformist; but they ignore the fact that revolution is a process. We left the program open-ended, so that it could develop and people could identify with it. We did not offer it to them as a conclusion; we offered it as a vehicle to move them to a higher level. In their quest for freedom, and in their attempts to prevent the oppressor from stripping them of all the things they need to exist, the people see things as moving from A to B to C; they do not see things as moving from A to Z. In other words they have to see first some basic accomplishments in order to realize that major successes are possible. Much of the time the revolutionary will have to guide them into this understanding. But he can never take them from A to Z in one jump, because it is too far ahead. Therefore, when the revolutionary begins to indulge in Z, or final conclusions, the people do not relate to him. Therefore he is no longer a revolutionary, if revolution is a process. This makes any action or function which does not promote the process revolutionary.

When the Party went to Sacramento, when the Party faced down the policemen in front of the office of Ramparts magazine, and when the Party patrolled the police with arms, we were acting (in 1966) at a time when the people had given up the philosophy of violent direct action and were beginning to deal with sterner stuff. WE WANTED THEM TO SEE THE VIRTUES OF DISCIPLINED AND ORGANIZED SELF-DEFENSE, RATHER THAN SPONTANEOUS AND DISORGANIZED OUTBREAKS AND RIOTS. There were Police Alert Patrols all over the country, but we were the first armed police patrol. We called ourselves the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. In all of this we had political and revolutionary objectives in mind, but we knew that we could not succeed without the support of the people.

Our strategy was based on a consistent ideology, which helped us to understand the conditions around us. We knew that the law was not prepared for what we were doing.and policemen were so shocked that they didn't know what to do. We saw that the people felt a new pride and strength because of the example we set for them, and they began to look toward the vehicle we were building for answers.

Later we dropped the term "Self Defense" from our name and just became the Black Panther Party. We discouraged actions like Sacramento and police observations because we recognized that these were not the things to do in every situation or on every occasion. We never called these revolutionary actions. THE ONLY TIME AN ACTION IS REVOLUTIONARY IS WHEN THE PEOPLE RELATE TO IT IN A REVOLUTIONARY WAY. If they will not use the example you set, then no matter how many guns you have, your action is not revolutionary. . .

Because the Black Panther Party grows out of the conditions and needs of oppressed people, WE ARE INTERESTED IN EVERYTHING THE FEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN, EVEN THOUGH WE MAY NOT SEE THESE PARTICULAR CONCERNS AS THE FINAL ANSWERS TO OUR PROBLEMS. We will never run for political office, but we will endorse and support those candidates who are acting in the true interests of the people. We may even provide campaign workers for them and do voter registration and basic precinct work. This would not be out of a commitment to electoral politics, however. It would be our way of bringing the will of the people to bear on situations in which they are interested. We will also hold such candidates responsible to the community, no matter how far removed their offices may be from the community. So we lead the people by following their interests, with a view toward raising their consciousness to see beyond particular goals.

When Eldridge Cleaver joined the Party it was after the police confrontation, which left him fixated with the "either-or" attitude. This was that either the community picked up the gun with the Party, or else they were cowards and there was no place for them. HE DID NOT REALIZE THAT IF THE PEOPLE DID NOT RELATE TO THE PARTY, THEN THERE WAS NO WAY THAT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY COULD MAKE ANY REVOLUTION, BECAUSE THE RECORD SHOWS THAT THE PEOPLE ARS THE MAKERS DF THE REVOLUTION AND OF WORLD HISTORY.

Sometimes there are those who express personal problems in political terms, and if they are eloquent, then these personal problems can sound very political. We charge Eldridge Cleaver with this. Mach of it is probably beyond his control, because it is so personal. But we did not know that when he joined the Party, he was doing so only because of that act in front of Ramparts. We were 't trying to prove anything to ourselves, all we were ing to do, at that particular point, was defend Betty Shabazz. But we were . praised by the people.

Under the influence of Eldridge Cleaver the Party gave the community no alternative for dealing with us, except by picking up the gun. This move was reactionary simply because the community was not at that point. Instead of being a cultural cult group, we became by that act a revolutionary cult group. But this is a basic contradiction, because revolution is a process, and if the acts you commit do not fall within the scope of the process then they are non-revolutionary.

WHAT THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT AND THS BLACK COMMUNITY NEEDS IS A VERY STRONG STRUCTURE. THE STRUCTURE CAN ONLY EXIST WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE.AND IT CAN ONLY GET ITS SUPPORT THROUGH SERVING THEM. This is why we have the service to the people program -- the most important thing in the Party. We will serve their needs, so that they can survive through this oppression. Then when they are ready to pick up the gun, serious business will happen. Eldridge Cleaver influenced us to isolate ourselves from the Black community, so that it was war between the oppressor and the Black Panther Party, not war between the oppressor and the oppressed community.

The Black Panther Party defected from the community long before Eldridge defected from the Party. Our hook-up with white radicals dld nat give us access to the white community, because they do not guide the white community. The Black community does not relate to them, so we were left in a twilight zone, where we could not enter the community with any real political education programs; yet we were not doing anything to mobilize whites. we had no influence in raising the consciousness of the Black community and that is the point where we defected. . .

Eldridge was never fully in the leadership of the Party. Even after Bobby was snatched away from us, I did not place Eldridge in a position of leadership, because he was not interested in that. I made David Hilliard administrator of programs. I knew that Eldridge would not do anything to lift the consciousness of the comrades in the Party. But I knew that he could make a contribution; and I pressed him to do so. I pressed him to write and edit the paper, but he wouldn't do it. The paper did not even come out every week until after Eldridge went to jail. But Eldridge Cleaver did make great contributions to the Black Panther Party with his writing and speaking. We want to keep this in mind, because there is a positive and negative side to everything.

THE CORRECT HANDLING OF A REVOLUTION IS NOT TO OFFER THE PEOPLE AN "EITHER-OR" ULTIMATUM. WE MUST INSTEAD GAIN THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOFLE THROUGH SERVING THEIR NEEDS. Then when the police or any other agency of repression tries to destroy the program, the people will move to a higher level cf consciousness and action. Then the organized structure can guide the people to the point where they are prepared to deal in many ways. This was the strategy we used in 1966 when we were related to in a positive way.

So the Black Panther Party has reached a contradiction with Eldridge Cleaver and he has defected from the Party, because we would not order everyone into the streets tomorrow to make a revolution. We recognize that this is impossible because our dialectics or ideology, our concrete analysis of concrete conditions say that it is a fantasy, because the people are not at that point now. This contradiction and conflict may seem unfortunate to some, but it is a part of the dialectical process. The resolution of this contradiction has freed us from incorrect analyses and emphases.

We are now free to move toward the building of a community structure which will become a true voice of the people, promoting their interests in many ways. We can continue to push our basic curvival program. We can continue to serve the people as advocates of their true interests. We can truely become a political revolutionary vehicle which will lead the people to a higher level of consciousness, so that they will know what they must really do in their quest for freedom, and they will have the courage to adopt any means necessary to seize the time and obtain that freedom.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

HUEY P. NEWTON

MINISTER OF DEFENSE

BLACK PANTHER PARTY

SERVANT TO THE PEOPLE