Black Panther Party Malcolm X

Illustration of Malcolm X and black text inside a white cirlce in the center of the button.  White text on black outer border.

The Black Panther Party, originally called the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, was founded in Oakland, California, in 1966 following the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. Party co-founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale based much of the organization’s philosophies on Malcolm X’s ideas including black nationalism and armed self-defense. In 1967 armed party members marched into the California state legislature to protest a gun control bill. Party activities slowed in the mid-1970s into the 1980s as President Herbert Hoover devoted Federal Bureau of Investigations resources to its end and leadership dissolved.