Black Panther Party - Zinn Education Project

The Rock and the River

Book — Fiction. By Kekla Magoon. 2010. 304 pages.
Coming-of-age story that shows the close connections between the civil rights and Black power movements through an intimate and relatable lens.

Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination

Book — Non-fiction. By Alondra Nelson. 2013.
Drawing on extensive historical research as well as interviews with former members of the Black Panther Party, Alondra Nelson documents the Party’s focus on health care.

Bobby Hutton (Art) | Zinn Education Project

April 6, 1968: Bobby Hutton Killed by Oakland Police

Little Bobby Hutton (age 17) of the Black Panther Party was shot dead by the Oakland police.

What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — but Should

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. Rethinking Schools. 33 pages.
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.

COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. 29 pages.
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.

Teaching Activity by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 115 minutes.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know

Article. By Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson. 2015.
Key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks.

Teaching Activity by Emilye Crosby

Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s

Book — Non-fiction. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer. 1991. 692 pages.
Oral histories of the Civil Rights Movement spanning three decades.

Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt

Book — Non-fiction. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries. 2010. 372 pages.
History of the role that activists in Lowndes County played in spurring Black activists nationwide to fight for civil and human rights in new and more radical ways.

Memories of Huey P. Newton and the Black Panthers

"Thank you for posting the picture of Huey Newton and the children. I am the girl in the picture. I was 11-years-old and volunteering as a typist for the Black Panther Party . . . Today I work on computers, so I am still typing!" -- Annissa Nadirah Karim

The Sky’s the Limit: People v. Newton, The REAL Trial of the 20th Century?

Book — Non-fiction. By Lise Pearlman. 2012. 800 pages.
Brings to life 20th century court cases and protests that played a major role in U.S. history.

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeffrey Haas. 2019. 400 pages.
The life and murder of Fred Hampton as told by Jeffrey Haas, co-founder of the People’s Law Office and attorney for the plaintiffs in the federal suit Hampton v. Hanrahan.

Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1985

Film. Produced by Henry Hampton. Blackside. 1987. 360 minutes.
Comprehensive documentary history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)

Book — Non-fiction. By Stokely Carmichael and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. 2005. 848 pages.
Autobiography of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture).

One Crazy Summer

Book — Fiction. By Rita Williams-Garcia. 2010. 224 pages.
Chapter book for middle school introduces readers to the Black Panthers in 1960s Oakland.

book cover reading "The Eyes on the Prize: Civil Rights Reader"

The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle, 1954–1990

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill, Vincent Harding, and Darlene Clark Hine. 1991. 784 pages
Readings to accompany the film, Eyes on the Prize.

Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America

Book — Non-fiction. By Peniel E. Joseph. 2007. 432 pages.
A narrative history of the Black Power Movement.

Teaching Activity by Peniel E. Joseph

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

Teaching Guide and Website. Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray, and Jenice L. View. 2004.
Provides lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on education, economics, labor, youth, women, and culture.

Teaching Activity by Deborah Menkart

A photograph of Black Panther children in a classroom with their teacher, Evon Carter, widow of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, at the Intercommunal Youth Institute, the Black Panther Party school.

‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ 10-Point Program

Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
How students can use the Black Panther Party's 10-Point Program to assess issues in their own communities and to develop 10-Point Programs of their own. Available in Spanish.

Teaching Activity by Wayne Au

Teaching for Black Lives

Teaching Guide. Edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, Wayne Au. 2018. Rethinking Schools. 368 pages.
Essays, teaching activities, role plays, poems, and artwork, designed to illuminate the movement for Black students' lives, the school-to-prison-pipeline, Black history, gentrification, intersectional Black identities, and more.

Dec. 4, 1969: Black Panther Party Members Assassinated

Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated by police and FBI agents in Chicago, Illinois.

March 10, 1972: National Black Political Convention

Thousands of Black leaders gathered to create a cohesive political strategy at the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana.

book cover showing photo of protesting Black Panthers, along with graphic imagery by BPP artist Emory Douglas.

Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by déqui kioni-sadiki and Matt Meyer. 2017. 648 pages.
The collective autobiography of the New York Panther 21, an infamous conspiracy case that highlighted government repression of Black liberation activists during the 1960s and 1970s.