COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

"I think it is. I think that it is possible for the capitalist system to have a program of full employment, but we have a spiritual and moral problem in America. Our problem is not economic or political, it is that we do not care about each other because we say hey look, my people, my group, we're first class and you guys, you're second class and you guys over there, you third class and you guys in the back right there, no ain't got no class."

–Eldridge Cleaver: Minister of Information

The Party's leaders shifted their focus towards community service programs to help impoverished black communities, which were still underfunded and lacked basic resources compared to white communities.

These programs included the free breakfast program for children, the Sickle-Cell Anemia Research Foundation, the Intercommunal Youth Institute, and the Intercommunal News Service.

“A Panther serving breakfast to a group of youngers”
[Source: Great-wall-institute]

“All these programs satisfy the deep needs of the community but are not solutions to our problems. That is why we call them survival programs, meaning survival pending revolution. We say that the survival program of the Black Panther Party is like the survival kit of a sailor stranded on a raft. It helps him sustain himself until he can get completely out of that situation. So the programs are not answers or solutions, but they will help us to organize the community around a true analysis and understanding of their situation.”

–Huey P. Newton: Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party