July 15, 2002
This is the first collection of writings by the founder of the Black Panther Party since his death in 1989. Ten of the 36 selections were published in To Die for the People, an earlier collection released in 1972; the remainder were written after that publication. The book represents the many transformations of Newton's and the party's political ideologies and motivations, including support of the feminist and gay rights movements. Between the opening coverage of how and why Newton and Bobby Seale mobilized the black community to support a program of armed self-defense to the closing excerpts from Newton's Ph.D. dissertation outlining the FBI's COINTELPRO activities to dismantle the Black Panther Party are passionate and captivating writings that reveal a widely read political theorist committed to putting theory into practice to make a better world. This book is essential reading and primary-source research material for understanding the Black Panther Party, grass-roots organizing at its best, and the black power movement. Suitable for public and academic libraries. Sherri Barnes, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara Libs.
Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.