All Power to the People! (The Black Panther Party and Beyond)

Most effective documentaries allow the viewer to see beyond the headlines and sensationalized issues of the era they are covering. This film is no different. If you have questions about the history of the Black Panther Party and what this movement meant to the struggle for equality of African Americans then this film is a must see.

Director Lee allows for the viewer to become familiar with the main goals and accomplishments of the party, political landscape, and leading figures of the era thru personalized interviews with surviving members and powerful archived footage.

The importance of community-centered programs such as literacy, education, soup kitchens, and self-defense classes lay the groundwork for the coming grass-roots movements of Native Americans among others.

Lee also presents a stinging account of the reasons for the decline and fall of the citizen based movement. Questions surrounding the FBI's use of informants, infiltrators, illegal wire taps, unfounded criminal charges, and assassinations are confronted with disturbing conclusions.

As the notorious public image of militant blacks becomes etched as reality defining the Black Panther Party, it is important to have some record from the perspective of those who won't write history and sacrificed their lives for an ideal of equality and justice. This film serves that purpose. Recommended.

I was interested in seeing this film because I know very little about the black panther party. The film is an oral history of the party from its beginnings to what everyone is up to in the late `90's. This being a controversial organization, a lot of accusations are made toward the government orchestrating the downfall of the party. The problem is that there is no opposing viewpoints to rebut any accusation. So-called experts (what are their qualifications?), quick glimpses of documents (which could be anything) and former FBI officials (disgruntled, perhaps?) are used to help bolster the arguments. One huge mistake is that when this was made, the news story broken by the San Jose Mercury News about the CIA working with drug smugglers to funnel cocaine into poor black neighborhoods was used to end the documentary, the intention being, I guess, to show that things still haven't gotten better. The only problem was that since then, the news article has been proved to be false. Another thing, is that a few people are interviewed in prison, including Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. I know why they are in prison, but with the exception of Peltier, the film never says why they are in prison. The mentioning of A.I.M. was curious because, it seemed like a minor point in the history of the black panthers. Some of the accusations are a little wild - one of the wives of the party leadership was a FBI plant and that a FBI official was most likely murdered by the FBI are just two of them, of course no one is asked to disprove this, which would have made this film a little more believable. As it is, it is hard to swallow. Which is a shame because I feel there is a lot here to believe.

I think this film got some bad ratings because people couldn't really handle the truth...

Possibly the best documentary on the sixties or civil rights I have ever seen.

Well documented, incredible interviews and footage. A real eye opener for a very misrepresented period of American history. many stories of the Panther often leave of in 69. This dose a good job of covering the government attacks on Black Radicals and looks at what actually became of these people and the organization. The interviews and reflections of former members still in prison, some who will soon die there, really closes the story on a powerful note.

I once watched this with a former civil rights activist and current Caribbean community organizer and he was left speechless.

This is one of the most important documentaries that I have ever seen. I left this movie with the distinct impression that the US government had a hand in assassinating every political leader in the US that I admired. The interviews are great. I show this film to every young person that I meet. A lot of them don't understand that the US has been infiltrating activist groups since well before they were born.

It would be great if there were a sequel that emcompassed the MOVE bombings, Mumia Abu Jamal and the extension of COINTELPRO like activities into the radical environmental movement (Judi Bari, EF!, etc).

Great movie! I highly recommend it!