ABOUT THIS BOOK

In The Revolution Has Come Robyn C. Spencer traces the Black Panther Party's organizational evolution in Oakland, California, where hundreds of young people came to political awareness and journeyed to adulthood as members. Challenging the belief that the Panthers were a projection of the leadership, Spencer draws on interviews with rank-and-file members, FBI files, and archival materials to examine the impact the organization's internal politics and COINTELPRO's political repression had on its evolution and dissolution. She shows how the Panthers' members interpreted, implemented, and influenced party ideology and programs; initiated dialogues about gender politics; highlighted ambiguities in the Panthers' armed stance; and criticized organizational priorities. Spencer also centers gender politics and the experiences of women and their contributions to the Panthers and the Black Power movement as a whole. Providing a panoramic view of the party's organization over its sixteen-year history, The Revolution Has Come shows how the Black Panthers embodied Black Power through the party's international activism, interracial alliances, commitment to address state violence, and desire to foster self-determination in Oakland's black communities.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Robyn C. Spencer is Associate Professor of History at Lehman College, City University of New York.

REVIEWS

"In The Revolution Has Come, her detailed organizational history of the party, the historian Robyn C. Spencer reminds us that for the party’s leaders, it was critical that their platform be accessible, as [Huey P.] Newton put it, to 'the brothers on the block.'"

-- James Ryerson New York Times Book Review

"Unlike other scholarship that has foregrounded a handful of primarily male leaders, Spencer’s account is a well-rounded organizational history. . . . The author deftly weaves together an impressive source base to present a cohesive and accessible narrative of the evolution of the Black Panther Party. Highly recommended."

-- A. Ribeiro Choice

"This book is an outstanding contribution to the growing literature on the history of the struggle of African Americans to liberate themselves. Spencer’s attention to historical details, with respect to the critical stages and features that marked the short lifespan . . . of the BPP, is breathtaking."

-- Kwesi Tsri Ethnic and Racial Studies

"The author’s crisp, clean, incisive prose proved an eye-opening reading experience that at times left me dumbfounded as to how many myths and assumptions have come to dominate latter-day perceptions of the Panthers."

-- Michael Ezra Black Perspectives

"Spencer’s attention to women and gender provides a much-needed intervention in the historiography of the [Black Panther] Party and of Black Power more broadly. ... Ultimately, her book reveals how the Party and its dynamic women members and gender frameworks offer a roadmap for a new generation of historians, activists, and revolution."

-- Ashley Farmer Black Perspectives

"Robyn C. Spencer’s politically timely and eminently engaging history of the Black Panther Party (BPP) is a must read for anyone interested in Black Power and the history of the African American freedom struggle more broadly. Published on the fiftieth anniversary of the BPP’s founding, The Revolution Has Come breaks new ground by presenting a wealth of original source material that sheds new light on the organizational development and the ideological outlook of the Panthers in Oakland."

-- Nicholas Grant Radical Americas

“[Spencer’s] crisp, clean, incisive prose proved an eye-opening reading experience that at times left me dumbfounded as to how many myths and assumptions have come to dominate latter-day perceptions of the Panthers. . . . The Revolution Has Come is a very strong book that I would recommend for high school, undergraduate, and graduate school students as well as general readers. Even seasoned experts on the BPP will likely learn much from this wonderful, new account.”

-- Michael Ezra Journal of Civil and Human Rights

"One of the strengths of Spencer’s book, and what allows it to stand out from the explosion of books on the BPP in the past 10 years, is that she documents with clarity the ideological changes within the party that shaped it in the 1960s and 1970s. . . . Perhaps Spencer’s greatest contribution to Black Panther historiography is her thorough examination of the BPP’s political and ideological changes after 1972."

-- Robert Greene II Public Books

"A much-needed organizational history. . . . Provides greater depth to scholarship on the Black Panther Party."

-- Marcia Walker-McWilliams American Historical Review

"Spencer’s book provides an excellent overview of the birth of the movement, its impact, and importantly the role of women, who comprised more than 60% of the party membership."

-- Kehinde Andrews The Guardian

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1. Seize the Time: The Roots of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California 7

2. In Defense of Self-Defense 35

3. Moving on Many Fronts: The Black Panther Party's Transformation from Local Organization to Mass Movement 61

4. Inside Political Repression, 1969–1971 88

5. "Revolution Is a Process Rather Than a Conclusion": Rebuilding the Party, 1971–1974 114

6. The Politics of Survival: Electoral Politics and Organizational Transformation 143

7. "I Am We": The Demise of the Black Panther Party, 1977–1982 177

Conclusion 202

Notes 205

Bibliography 241

Index 253

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