zations which could fight for their
special interests. He also wanted the community to gain local control of
its police force.

The black power ideology spread across the nation rapidly, providing the
movement with fresh impetus and a philosophical framework. Many had lost
faith in the effectiveness of marches, demonstrations, appeals to white
consciences and other direct action techniques. Black Americans were also
growing weary and frustrated over the amount of violence which was being
heaped upon nonviolent resisters. In Bogalusa, Louisiana, blacks were
intimidated daily by the local Ku Klux Klan. Law enforcement officials
never provided help either in terms of protection or in prosecuting
wrongdoers. In fact, the law enforcement officials themselves were
increasingly suspected of belonging to the Klan. Bogalusa blacks came to
feel that arming themselves for self-defense was their only solution. In
1966 a number of them armed themselves, and founded the Deacons for
Defense and Justice. Also in 1966, young blacks in Oakland, California,
became extremely angry at what they believed to be police harassment.
This resulted in their forming the Black Panther Party.

Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, both of whom had been raised under ghetto
conditions, felt that there was a need for an organization which could
communicate with poor blacks instead of merely appealing to the black
bourgeoisie. The symbol of the black panther had been used by an
independent, black political party which S.N.C.C. had helped to found in
Lowndes County, Alabama.

The black panther had special appeal as a symbol because, though it
rarely or never attacked another animal, it would defend itself
ferociously whenever it was challenged. In Oakland, the Black Panthers
began by keeping the police under surveillance as a means of limiting
their alleged brutality. Panther members carried registered guns and
displayed them openly as the law permitted. Whenever the police stopped
to question someone, the following Panther car also stopped. Then, the
Panthers would stand nearby displaying their weapons, and someone who had
some legal training, would inform the individual being questioned by the
police what his legal rights were. The police were extremely angry at
this harassment and looked for ways to retaliate. The best-known Panther
recruit was Eldridge Cleaver who, like Malcolm X, had educated himself
while in prison. Cleaver wrote several articles for