Black Panthers And Anne Moody example essay topic

During the 1960's, many Black Americans drew attention to the inequalities among races in society. Protest groups formed and demonstrations highlighting discrimination towards dark people were a common practice for civil rights activists. Some activists believed non-violence was the only way to overcome, and others, such as Anne Moody and the Black Panthers, had a more aggressive attitude towards gaining freedom. In her autobiography, The Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody describes the hardships of growing up in the heavily racist South, and displays the "price you pay daily for being Black". (p. 361) She grows tired of seeing her Black companions beaten, raped, murdered, and denied their opportunity to prosper in the land of plenty: America. The Black Panthers' assertive mindset was aimed to exemplify the injustices of a prejudiced society that denied Blacks the power to determine their own destiny. At a young age, Anne realizes that there is something that gives Whites privilege over Blacks.

She thinks that there is a secret to why Blacks always have to watch a movie from the balcony while Whites watch from the floor. Both Anne Moody and the Black Panthers discover this secret, and use an assertive approach in their civil rights activism for social and political reform that would finally give Blacks the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are granted to all Americans. The secret was racial discrimination. The Black Panther Party, which was co-founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, was a political party that pushed to overcome social oppression. After the assassination of Black activist Malcom X, the Panthers decided they had enough of seeing their race be denied the freedom they deserved.

Members of the Black Panthers were tired of a society that continued to consider them "niggers". They were tired of not having the chance to get out of poverty and live comfortably. They were tired of not getting a quality education that public schools in America should " ve been providing them. They were tired of being beaten, harassed, and unruly discriminated against by police solely because of the color of their skin. They wanted to live in the beautiful nation that America appeared to be for Whites.

They wanted freedom and equality for African-Americans. The Black Panthers pushed for social revolution in which the government would finally ensure their protection and pursuit of happiness. In general, they felt that African-Americans had been treated as second-class citizens since the end of the Civil War solely because they were Black. The Panthers developed a platform called the "Ten Point Program" that described the changes they demanded to see in American society. They wanted a country in which Black children are provided the same educational opportunities as White children, and thought that Blacks could only progress by being taught the true history of Black oppression in the U.S. They demanded that Black Americans have jobs that paid the same wages as Whites and weren't limited to labor intensive positions.

The party also felt that the police force instigated more conflict and violence than protection, and believed they needed to provide security for Blacks by themselves. Although they were known for using gun power when necessary, the Panthers envisioned a peaceful society under a just government where all races could live together. Simply put, the Black Panthers felt the United States government was not allowing Black Americans to the live in the land of equal opportunity, but rather denying them the freedoms and liberties constitutionally entitled to them. The Black Panthers wanted African-Americans to be able to determine their destiny. Because the Black Panthers felt society and government were withholding African-Americans from social progress, they took some matters into their own hands. They promoted more just police enforcement, a student's ability to learn in the classroom, and more chances to be serviced for health concerns.

The Panthers believed that the police were not abiding by constitutional liberties and rights when dealing with African-Americans. They thought Blacks were being held in poverty, which in turn contributed to poor educational opportunities and health benefits. The Panthers targeted urban youth activists to fuel their social revolution, and often produced Black progress in these areas. Of the ten demands the Panthers published, an end to unnecessary police brutality and murder of Blacks was heavily emphasized.

After seeing their Black friends and family assaulted too many times, the Panthers felt protecting Blacks from the police force was the only way to ensure their safety. The Panthers are notoriously known for using gun power and instituting Malcom X's motto of "By any means necessary" to empower African-Americans. Huey P. Newton, who was very of his right to bear arms because he studied law at Oakland City College, encouraged party members to carry guns with them at all times. The Panthers never instigated violence with police, but monitored them with arms ready to defend Blacks if police were inappropriately interrogating them. The party also contributed to anti-war protests and demanded that all citizens, not just Whites, have fair and impartial trials.

This aggressive attitude concerning Black safety, along with heavy ridicule from F.B.I. head J. Edgar Hoover, has undoubtedly contributed to the insistent reputation the Panthers had in gaining equality. Besides encouraging schools to expose the truths of African-American history, the Black Panthers promoted progress through education by providing free breakfast to needy Black students. The party formed kitchens in Black Panther chapters throughout the nation, and fed over 10,000 needy students before school every morning. The meals provided essential nutrients that could fuel students' mental advancement in preparation to contribute to the social revolution of the party. The Panthers felt that the developing youth of America was the key to the civil rights movement, and believed that young Blacks' education was vital to "surviving the evil government and building a new one fit for the service of all the people". (Marxist / black panther website) Also in an attempt to increase African-Americans' possibility to contribute to the social reform movement, the Black Panthers set up free health services for poor Blacks in several chapters throughout the country.

The Panthers thought that Black families in America were unruly contained to low standards of living and couldn't afford health care. The party therefore established free clinics and encouraged blood tests to diagnose sickle cell anemia patients and begin treatment. By caring for the poor and offering health services, the Black Panthers promoted social equality by providing services that were not typically given to Blacks. Prior to Black Panthers' push to empower Blacks and create social reform during the mid-late 1960's, Anne Moody was being an assertive civil rights activ ist in the South in the early 1960's. In her autobiography, The Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne describes the hardships she endured for being Black in the heavily racist South. Anne hated that she was treated differently because of the color of her skin.

From an early age, she disposed the fact she had to attend poor schools, not eat lunch, and have to use outdoor toilets while all the White people she knew were living comfortably. She wanted her Black brothers and sisters to speak out so that they could live in a comfortable, safe environment. Similar to the Black Panthers, Anne wanted the government to treat all citizens equally under the established laws so that she could decide her own destiny. She wanted to see the police in the South protect Blacks fairly and wanted to see an end to the corrupt system involving Ku Klux Klan influence and power. She wanted all Whites to behave towards Blacks as the Claiborne's and Johnsons did so that their races could live in peace with each other, and even thought that the two races "could learn a lot from each other". (p. 153) Overall, Anne grew up in a racially prejudice and unjust environment, but envisioned a land where the color of a man's skin would be of no more significance than the color of his eye.

Similar to the Black Panthers' initiatives for encouraging social reform, Anne became active in the civil rights movement with hopes to challenge African-Americans' oppression and improve Black's social status. Moody became a part of the African-American civil rights movement while she was still in college, and joined groups such as the NAACP and the SNCC. By participating in sit-ins, marches, and rallies, she worked to highlight the inequalities in society and draw attention for more Blacks to join the movement. Anne would often speak in churches and try to gain public support and raise awareness of the injustices done to African-Americans by the police force and employers. Comparable to the Panthers, Anne denounced unfair wealth distribution in society, felt Blacks were stricken to poverty, and believed police enforcement provided anything but protection. She thought it was "unfair for any one set of people to have so much", and pointed at job opportunity as a primary reason Blacks were constrained to labor-intensive "slavery jobs". (p. 142, p. 166) She acknowledges that even with a college education, the only decent occupation she could get in Mississippi was a low-paying teaching position.

While telling her story, Anne repeatedly describes situation in which that police enforcement fail to provide protection to African-Americans. Racist Klan members, sometimes the cops themselves, continually beat and murder Anne's friends throughout her life, simply because they were Black. Similar to the Black Panthers' ten point program, Anne addresses social inequalities such as job opportunity, poverty, and police enforcement in her autobiography. In order for African-Americans to improve their social status, Anne believed targeting young people, encouraging them to vote, and assisting the poor and needy. Just as the Black Panthers directed their message to urban youth, Anne thought that changing young "minds that were susceptible to change" was the most effective way to increase support for the movement. (p. 331) They often held rallies at college campuses and in cities where young people were more prevalent.

She points out that older Blacks were habituated in oppression for so long that "old plantation Negroes... really thought only Whites were supposed to vote". (p. 253) Voting was the number one priority on the SNCC's agenda in Canton. Along with the Panthers, Anne wanted African-Americans to control their own destiny, and believed the best way, and probably the only way, to do that in 1960's was by convincing Blacks to vote in hopes to elect representatives that support civil rights for all citizens. The groups Anne worked with promoted voter registration at clothing drives for students that couldn't afford them, but often received resistance from the students to vote for fear of White persecution. Although voter registration was not always successful, the clothing drives helped more students attend school, and contributed to educational progress similar to that of Black Panthers' ideals. Although Anne was generally non-violent and was a member of two non-violent movement groups, she possessed an aggressive attitude similar to that of the Black Panther Party. Even though she marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington and supported his non-violent tactics, Anne later claimed that "non-violence is out" and that Martin Luther King, Jr. is "out of his mind if he thinks non-violence will work". (p. 318) This statement by Moody exemplifies the beliefs the Black Panther possessed towards gaining civil rights.

They believed in an aggressive, yet non-initiating, approach to fighting oppression. Both Anne and the Black Panthers were tired of seeing their un-armed friends get shot and murdered by police in altercations. When she heard of the church bombing that killed 4 innocent, little girls, Anne displayed Malcom X's and the Black Panthers' attitude, and proclaimed the Freedom House in which she worked needed to "match fire with fire... to protect the community". (p. 328) Because police enforcement wasn't providing any protection of colored-people in the South, Anne Moody had an aggressive approach when it came to gaining civil rights and ensuring the safety of her fellow African-Americans. Both Anne Moody and the members of the Black Panthers had very similar mindsets in achieving civil rights and equality for all. One major commonality between them is that they both believed that themselves, along with the Black communities around them, have got to be the ones to give meaning to the civil rights that are proclaim equality for all Americans written in the constitution. Both believed that in order to put an end to the b latent racial discrimination that prevents Blacks from eating at certain restaurants or prevents them from attending a good school, they have to "take certain positive actions to work on the problems" the are faced with everyone because of their skin color. (p. 290) These actions can be food drives, clothing drives, voting, health care, providing protection and safety, or anything that gives African-Americans a better chance to finally be considered first-class citizens along with everyone else.

They felt that they needed to be "professional agitators" in order to draw attention to the inequalities Blacks face day to day like not being able to use certain bus stations. During the 1960's, the Black Panthers and Anne Moody fought with all their hearts to gain the unalienable rights granted to them about 100 years prior. Anne fought so hard and dedicated her life so fully to finally be treated like an real American that she got sick. After recovering, Anne came back to fight some more. She knew, along with the Black Panthers, that "the power to change things was in themselves". (p. 371).