Leadership Disputes
Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, Source: Seale
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Following Huey Newton's release from prison he and Eldridge Cleaver stood on opposing sides of how to run their organization. Cleaver refused to see the negative connotations of using constant violence, how it portrayed the party as radical gang revolutionaries instead of people outraged by the oppression they faced. Newton still believed in the idea that violence was necesarry but it was a backed up against the wall option.
The growing chasm between Newton and Cleaver began to spider its way into cracks of national headquarters and state chapters. Across the board the Black Panther was just that of a wild cat caged too long and lashing out at its own skin. The Party began to slowly but surely dwindle until it trickled down to a mere 27 members by 1980. Eventually the evergrowing fueds on how to run the organization and divided chapters between their leaders, Cleaver and Newton, the Black Panther Party caved in upon itself. |