Product Description: The story of the Black Panther Party's Pyrrhic Victory
Curtis J. Austin chronicles how violence brought about the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, dominated its policies, and brought about the party's destruction as one member after another—Eldridge Cleaver, Fred Hampton, Alex Rackley—left the party, was killed, or was imprisoned. Austin shows how the party's early emphasis in the 1960s on self-defense, though sorely needed in black communities at the time, left it open to mischaracterization, infiltration, and devastation by local, state, and federal police forces and government agencies. Austin carefully highlights the internal tension between advocates of a more radical position than the Panthers took, who insisted on military confrontation with the state and those, such as Newton and David Hilliard, who believed in making community organizing and alliance building their first priorities.
Austin interviewed a number of party members who had heretofore remained silent. With the help of these stories, Austin is able to put the violent history of the party in perspective and show that the "survival" programs such as the Free Breakfast for Children program and Free Health Clinics helped the black communities they served to recognize their own bases of power and ability to save themselves.
up against the wall by Curtis Austin Up against the wall by Curtis Austin is a superb achievement. This is the first book in my opinion which brings a long overdue objective perspective to the history of the Black Panther Party. The author highlights historical evidence related to the BPP while carefully placing the facts into context and avoiding sensationalism. It is a crucial contribution to Afro-American history. It is a compelling book and I profoundly appreciate the author's understanding of the party. Luce Masset
Fascinating, Engaging & Provoking... This book provides an important look at the Black Panther Party in all of its complexities. Although the main focus is on violence in the creation and deterioration of the BPP, the book has a wealth of historical information about the time period as a whole. As someone who has only a limited education on the Black Panther Party and the Black Power movement, I found this book to be a major contribution to my knowledge base, understanding and awareness. Austin gives insight into the climate of the nation prior to the founding of the party, so it was easy for me to see why the Black Panther Party was initially needed in the local community and why it later gained national popularity. As the book unfolded, it also became easy to see why the party had failures in some areas... This book has truly been invaluable in my understanding of not just black history, but also of American history. I would not only recommend this book to those who wanted to increase their historical knowledge---I would recommend the book to anybody who is looking for an engaging read. This book is an absolute page-turner! It is filled with story after story detailing the rise and fall of the BPP, which includes anything from day-to-day life as a Panther and armed defense against police attacks to the COINTELPRO operation and government infiltration. Although I started the book slowly because of my busy schedule, I became increasingly engrossed as it went on---the more I read of the book, the less I wanted to put it down!
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