 Charles Pinderhughes, former Black Panther and GA&S ´06, talked about the history of the Black Panther Party.
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As part of Black History Month, Charles "Cappy" Pinderhughes, a former member of the Black Panther Party and GA&S '06, spoke Monday night regarding the history of the party and its involvement in student protests. A former lieutenant of information in the party's New Haven chapter, he spent much time devoted to periodizing the movement's history from 1966-1982.
"This periodization was developed to show the political lessons we can learn from its existence, when people want to borrow and learn from it," he said.
Pinderhughes opened with a dedication to the fighters of the movement.
"I do these talks in the spirit of support of all those who have gone before," he said. "People have died, and it's important to keep those people foremost in mind. I'm not looking to say we were perfect, and this is the way we ought to be. I want people to learn about the good things we did back then and what should we have done differently."
He began by tracing the history of the Black Panther Party to 1965 and the development of the black panther as a needed symbol to get the movement rolling. One of the first programs was patrolling the police. The Oakland Police Department had a policy which intentionally recruited from the Deep South, he said, so the Black Panthers researched specific laws and then watched the police to ensure the laws were upheld.
Pinderhughes focused on the split of the party in 1970 and the lessons to learn from it.
"The Panthers grew so fast that they didn't pay attention to democracies as much as they should have," he said. "It went from 500 to 5,000 people in two years, and it got so crazy we had to split. The Panther Party was not a unified organization. If you don't have a democratic process then a split is essentially inevitable."
He then transitioned into student protests and campus-led movements, which the audience seemed particularly interested in. Pinderhughes is currently writing his dissertation on black student protests in the 1990s.
Pinderhughes referenced a struggle that occurred on Boston College's campus 10 years ago this month, when a racist slogan was propounded during UGBC elections. The College Republicans leaked their support of the candidate, he said, and a demonstration ensued at the president's house.
Spring Break
Anonymous
posted 7/17/06 @ 3:47 PM EST
is this pinderhughes related to samora pinderhughes a boy who is a jaz musician who has played the piano and drums and that goes to berkeley high that i know?