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They created social and community programs for low-income and Black communities, providing free breakfast for children, free food for families, liberation schools, local transportation, free healthcare clinics with affordable testing for sickle-cell anemia (a blood disease that is common in the Black community), and legal aid.ĭue to this perceived threat, the federal government launched their plan to discredit the Panthers and the Free Breakfast Program. Ruth Beckford, Free Breakfast Program volunteerĪfter all, the BPP threatened the white dominant status quo by demanding decent housing, full employment, education that included African-American history, and an end to police brutality for the Black community. They weren’t falling asleep in class, they weren’t crying with stomach cramps.” “The school principal came down and told us how different the children were. Edgar Hoover named the BPP as “one of the greatest threats to the nation’s internal security.” However, despite these successes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) felt threatened by the BPP, referring to it as “a communist organization and an enemy of the United States government.” FBI director J. With food in their bellies, the kids were able to focus on their schoolwork. Ruth Beckford, who helped with the program, later said “the school principal came down and told us how different the children were. The program was successful in increasing students’ academic successes, with school officials reporting huge improvements with kids who were served free breakfast before school. National Lunch Program confessed that the Panthers were feeding more low-income children than the State of California. After the start of their first breakfast served in Oakland in 1969, the Panthers expanded the program to Black Panther Party chapters in 36 cities feeding 20,000 low-income children. The Panthers realized that low-income and Black children in their communities could not do as well in school because of constant hunger that interfered with their concentration and schoolwork. Many in BPP were inspired by research showing that eating breakfast in the morning improves students’ academic performance and raises test scores through increased concentration and energy levels. One way the Panthers served their community was their Free Breakfast Program. Though the media showed the Panthers as extremists, the main goal of the BPP was to uplift and serve the Black community by any means necessary. Pictured in the media donning their iconic black berets and leather jackets, armed to patrol their communities, the Panther party was reviled as a dangerous, extremist organization largely feared by those intimidated by their message and tactics. The Panthers called for an immediate end to police brutality, prison reform, and equal employment and housing opportunities for the Black community. The breakfast was provided by The Black Panther Party (BPP), a political organization founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. By the end of that year, over 20,000 children were served breakfast in similar settings across the country. By the end of the week, there were 135 children there for breakfast. Augustine’s Church in Oakland, California sharing in a breakfast of grits, fruit, toast, eggs, and milk. In January 1969, 11 school children gathered around a table at St.
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