COINTELPRO

and due process chasing the Weathermen. (Jacobs, 1997) COINTELPRO While their open militancy and violent protest colors much of the Weather Underground’s history, the Weathermen also revealed still-startling facts about classified FBI operations. In 1971, as part of the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI, several Weathermen broke into FBI offices in Pennsylvania and stole documents detailing the FBI’s ongoing program COINTELPRO. (Jacobs, 1997) COINTELPRO had been rumored to exist for some time, but was staunchly denied by the US government and the FBI themselves. It was series of secret, organized projects seeking to discredit, defame, infiltrate, and eliminate high-profile political organizations and individuals the FBI deemed “subversive” around the country. The papers detailed these activities—from threatening letters intended to push Martin Luther King Jr. to suicide (Churchill & Vander Wall 2002), to the assassination of Fred Hampton, to the covert surveillance of Albert Einstein and Robert Kennedy, to the degradation and misinformation spread about the Black Panthers and the New Left, including the SDS itself. The FBI’s actions under COINTELPRO are exhaustive and extensive, and seemingly every political group and notable individuals with beliefs considered outside of the mainstream was targeted at one time or another. The full known extent of COINTELPRO is detailed by Churchill and Vander Wall in The COINTELPRO Papers, and summarized as such: “The inescapable…

political freedoms (Black Panther Party). In response to the Black Panthers carrying weapons, they proposed gun control legislation, which banned the carrying of loaded weapons in public (Black Panther Party). Black Panther Party members outraged by the California legislation to call for gun control to keep African Americans powerless against police brutality and white aggression they entered the capital in a militant formation and those who protested were arrested (Black Panther Party). They…

The black panthers used the media to their advantage and rapidly began to grow capturing the attention of thousands of Americans. As a result of the party's growth, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan began to make their way into the federal law enforcement advocating racist and violent abuse towards people of color. The leader at the time, President Hoover began to notice the advancement of the movement and feared "the rise of the black messiah", and the white allies who united to support the…

"Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale's insistence that they be allowed to patrol black neighborhoods with firearms immediately involved them in violent confrontations with the police." (Conlin). The F.B.I soon began planning extreme measures to shut the Black Panther Party down, as well as all of its members. On June 5th James Meredith started a March Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson to protest against racism. After police shot him down, the revolution took a turning point. Blacks became more…

A Lesson Before dying is a book by Earnest Gains that was first published in 1993, it is set in post second world war Louisiana; this book follows the narrator Grant Wiggins as he tries to convince a man on death roll of not dying as a hog, but as a man. There are many factors that play into this book 's success (for example: its written style) but the main reason is how well its setting ties into the central theme of facing racial injustice. The author 's use of events that can only be possible…

Life within itself is not fair it, many view it as a curveball not only in the United States but internationally as well. Moreover, discrimination is prevalent in 2016 despite the fact that many assume that all employers enforce federal laws. For many, Blacks, the law was merely a political act to cover the guilt of southern folk who felt indifferent towards a race of people because of their color. The writing is this paper presents a summary of the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964;…

The years from 1954 to 1974 in the Americas were part of an era of change and action in many parts of American society. These years would go down in history as the one of the most dynamic in American history. It was a time of empowerment, breaking down of social barriers, and many more topics, which authors such as Alice Walker discussed as major parts of their works. In her novel Meridian, Walker criticizes society’s expectations of woman’s roles, showing support of individuality and…

The Black Panther was founded in October of 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Sedle .Black Panther Party for self defense of minority communities against the U.S Government ,they also fought for establishing revolutionary socialism mass organizing and community based programs. This program was the first organization of the military struggle for ethnic and class emancipation a party who had classified real economic, social and political equality across gender and color lines.…

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” In 2016, Black people feel as if their lives do not matter and they refuse to remain silent about that any longer. With bad media portrayal to police brutality, Blacks feel as if their lives have been diminished to less than human. Blacks do not feel safe in their own country; they do not feel protected by their law enforcement. Therefore, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was…

Shirley Chisholm: Race for Equality Today, women and minorities have a wide variety of professions they can pursue; but it was not always that way. Before the Civil Rights Movement, they, especially black people, were bound to a stereotypical or subservient role in society without the right to voice their opinions. Some, however, did take a stand to fight for equal rights against all odds. These people were called Civil Rights activists and many became leaders. Among the many famous pioneers…