The term “Black Panthers” was used first in Lowndes County Alabama, during SNCC’s registration drives of 1963. Influenced by Malcolm X and SNCC’s shift to Black Power, many former civil-rights activists began to move away from the non-violent message associated with Martin Luther King, Jr. In a society where, according to H. Rap Brown (1969), “Violence is as American as apple pie,” non-violence seemed inappropriate.

Instead, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale followed the admonition of Mao Tse Tung that “political power comes through the barrel of a gun.” In many respects, these were rhetorical stances. In cities like Oakland and Philadelphia the Black Panthers were noted more for their community organizing (around demands for better jobs and housing, truly integrated schools and increased political power), than any actual use of military fire power. Law enforcement agencies, led by the FBI, endeavored to crush the movement leading to stand-offs and the arrest of many Black Panther leaders.

Debates about the impact of nationalist organizations like the Panthers continue. White liberals and some former civil-rights leaders tend to blame the Panthers and nationalism for destroying the civil-rights coalition. Those more sympathetic to the Panthers focus on the community organizing, and on the fact that the fear that the Panthers instilled in white Americans made the latter more willing to negotiate with civil-rights leaders.