Black Panthers

The second paper is intended to build upon the foundation laid in the first, in that it will ask students to explore the broader issue of intersectionality between different “social movements”, by exploring how a particular organization or set of organizations bridges different interests (political, racial, economic, urban/rural, etc.) in the pursuit of its goals. The goal will be to complicate, in some way, the analysis in your first paper, by examining more deeply the array of organizations, groups, leaders, etc. that interact with, conflict with, and/or inform the topic of your first paper. Professor Notes from Paper #1: Very good look at the Black Panthers which suggests some fruitful avenues for your second paper. For instance, you could look at analogues to the Black Panthers in related movements, such as the Brown Berets in the Chicano Movement. Another interesting angle would be to look at organizations that are typically considered “radical” by the mainstream (whatever that is) but that often have a highly progressive and grassroots means of reaching people, such as the Breakfast program you describe. Hamas in Palestine is an organization which many have accused of promoting violence but which actually delivers basic services to Palestinians in the absence of any other option. You could also examine the attitude towards the Second Amendment in other movements — for instance how does the gun rights movement (which is largely subsumed in many people’s eyes in the NRA) view the pro-Second Amendment activities of the Black Panthers. Does the NRA reach out to communities of color, or is their focus necessarily allied with white conservative gun owners? In any case, pick a tangent and follow it. Strong work here.