Quote

I think most people, when they think about the Black Panther Party, they think in very abstract, caricatured terms. They think about black fists in the air, but they don't think about the actual people, and the families, and the relationships.

There is an entire generation of young people who know nothing about how viciously the FBI attacked The Black Panther Party, and why.

The Black Panther Party was not a gang. They grew out of a young black intelligentsia on college campuses.

The Black Panther party of Self-Defense is a revolutionary party.

When young people see movies like 'Gandhi 'or 'JFK,' there is an element of romanticization of these powerful people, and young people often feel a huge distance between their own lives and the lives of these social-change heroes. But the Panthers were flawed-up people from the streets, so it's easier to identify with them.

The Black Panther Party stood up and said that we don't care what anybody says. We don't think fighting fire with fire is best; we think you fight fire with water best.

If you look at the true essence of the Black Panthers, they were more of a community protection group.

I'm appalled that when I talk about the neo-conservatives it's somehow twisted, some sort of a racist comment.

I know it is very hard to rise above the influences of party prejudice. Often, it almost drowns the sentiment of patriotism. Party rancor and party hatred are the last serpents which the genius of patriotism can crush.

The problem of the Panthers is that they scared people. The music of N.W.A didn't scare people; it taught people what it was like to grow up in our inner cities.