The Black Panthers and Ógra Shinn Féin
One from the archives and reflected back on the many years of Ógra activism. This article was originally published on 2008-11-06
Black Panther leaders hosted in Derry
On Tuesday evening (ed: in 2008) myself and a few other comrades from Ógra attended an inspirational public talk given by two founding members of the ‘Black Party for Self Defence’ in Sandinos bar in Derry.
Billy X (Jennings) and Emory Douglas were guest speakers at the event aimed at re-tracing the legacy of the Black Panthers, and was organised by the ‘reclaim the spirit of 68’ group.
I was particularly delighted to have met (Emory Douglas) the person responsible for instigating the word ‘Pig’ as the preferred term to describe law enforcement officers, as I have often used the term when referring to our ‘friends’ in An Garda Siochana and the PSNI!
As I had limited knowledge of the Black Panthers and the American civil rights movement prior to Tuesday’s event, I was fascinated with how they conducted their struggle against the white racist establishment.
Billy X spoke at length about the role the Panthers played in defence of their communities against racist police brutality and in offering alternative ideas and programs to the capitalistic system. He spoke of community led socialism in action, about the social programs the panthers rolled out, and also of the mass of support the party received as a result.
I was also taken back by the panther’s use of artwork to popularise their political message. An exhibition of this excellent artwork was given by the man responsible for it, Emory Douglas. Emory spoke of the need for revolutionary organisations to articulate their message in a popular and creative way, saying that most people could relate the characters and scenes depicted in his pictures to injustices they encountered in everyday life.
At the forefront of my mind the whole night were the similarities between the Black Panther activists and those young Irish Republicans who struggled just as hard on this side of the Atlantic to obtain freedom for their nation and for the working class.
The average age of the average Panther member was between 18-20 years old. These young activists worked long hours both day and night without any pay. They lived collectively and shared almost everything with their fellow Panther members. These young activists functioned for the people and for their communities.
They shouldered the tasks of cooking breakfast for schoolchildren and working in the communities soliciting donations to keep these programs funded. They went door to door gathering signatures for petitions on issues that affected their communities, and educating those communities on those same issues.
Another important task for the young Panther activists was selling the Black Panther newspaper door to door, on college campuses, in bars, clubs, bus stations and on street corners.
This work brought on the harassment of the police including arrests and time in jail. Even while imprisoned they worked to politically educate and recruit inmates to join the Black Panther Party.
In terms of activism and dedication to cause, I think that Ógra Shinn Féin can draw a lot of lessons and inspiration from the example of the Black Panther Party.
As I write this, America has just elected its first African American president and who knows if Obama will live up to the expectations of millions of his followers.
One thing for certain is that the legacy of the ‘Black Panther Party for Self Defence’ (to give it the correct title) will continue to inspire and motivate freedom loving people throughout the world, and Barack Obama would do well to follow their example.
le Seán Gillespie
Fian Tobias Molloy Cumann
Strabane ÓSF