Panther Party Over Here Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense

Their main premise was the need for self-defense at all costs, inspired by the thoughts of Malcolm X. One of the most important parts of being a Panther was knowing the law (especially on bearing arms) and using it against crooked police officers.

Answer: Mao Tse-Tung

They sold copies of Chairman Mao's little "Red Book" for $1 each to anyone who was interested. This was one of Huey P. Newton's first fundraising plans.

Answer: Black turtleneck

The Panthers wore all black, EXCEPT for the turtleneck under their jackets, which was blue.

Answer: Oakland

The Oakland chapter was formed in 1966 by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

Answer: Bail for jailed members

Being a Panther and doing prison bids seemed to go hand in hand, simply because the police looked for any possible excuse to arrest and detain members. Some say it was a deliberate tactic to deplete the Party's financial resources, which reduced their impact on the communities they operated in.

Answer: Greater representation of black people in congress

The BPP was not just about the rights and protection of black people, but of all oppressed people in America. The Ten Point Plan ran as follows: the Panthers wanted 1) freedom (self-determination); 2) full employment for their people; 3) an end to the robbery by the capitalists of black and oppressed communities; 4)decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings; 5) decent education that exposes the true nature of American society, and education that teaches the true history and present role of black people; 6) completely free health care for all black and oppressed people; 7) an immediate end to police brutality and the murder of black and other people of color; 8) an end to all wars of aggression; 9) freedom for black and oppressed people in prison, and re-trial by a jury of peers; 10) land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace and people's community control of technology.

Answer: Act as his own lawyer

The court tried to provide him with a court-appointed lawyer, which he refused on the grounds that this lawyer would act in the interests of the state and not the defendant. When he tried to discharge him and be his own attorney (a basic legal right), he was gagged and restrained in the courtroom, to the point he ended up bound to his chair, barely able to breathe. Obviously, court officials wanted one of their lackeys to be responsible for Seale's defense, which would make it much easier to sabotage his trial.

Answer: Betty Shabazz

Malcolm X's widow was visiting San Francisco for a speech, and the Panthers believed that whoever had assassinated Malcolm might try to do the same to Sister Betty (especially since she became much more politically active after his murder). As such, the Party provided a team of Panthers for her protection from the moment she stepped off her plane.

Answer: Fred Hampton and Mark Clark

At around 4 am on December 4th 1969, the Chicago apartment where Hampton (the head of that chapter) and Clark were sleeping was riddled with gunshots from the police, killing both. It was later found that Hampton had been drugged beforehand by a fellow member on orders from the authorities. Of the 98 or so shots fired, only one was positively identified as being fired from inside the apartment, as it is believed that Clark's gun simply went off once when he was hit in his bed.

Answer: False

As mentioned above, a Black Panther had to know the law. The law on bearing firearms stated that it was illegal to carry a concealed weapon, and so to do that would be to invite more legal problems than they already had to deal with. In fact, a little known provision of American law is that firearms can legally be carried as long as they are kept in plain view. Thus, the Panthers did carry guns for self-defense, but they kept them handy where everybody could see them.

This did nothing to help white America's belief that they were "black militants" intent on "shooting up white neighborhoods", and this image was twisted around to portray them as a violent threat to America as a whole.