Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Black Panthers are back -- and never really went away!

CNN ^ | February 17, 2016 | John Blake 

Beyonce didn't bring back the Black Panthers when she and an Afro-frizzed dance team donned black leather jackets and berets during Super Bowl 50's halftime show.

That's because the Black Panthers never actually left.

The Panthers were more than militants; they were pioneers in American pop and political culture. The Black Lives Matter movement, the rise of social media, music and sports, even Donald Trump -- all were shaped by the Panthers in some way, historians and ex-Panthers say.
On the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party, people are taking a second look at the group. A mesmerizing new film, "Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution," airs on PBS throughout this month and appears online. And Beyonce's tribute caused people to post vintage photos of the Panthers on social media sites and debate the group's purpose.
"They're always going to be a potent symbol because we live in a visual age," says Komozi Woodard, a history and Africana studies professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York....
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...

T-Shirt