Distinctive books show how the struggle for rights and recognition rests on new generations.
The 40th anniversaries this year of the death of Martin Luther King Jr., of the urban riots in reaction to that event and of the death of Bobby Kennedy bring many opportunities to look back on the turbulent events of 1968. It is no surprise that many new books on related events have appeared on publishers’ lists. Among offerings from university and commercial presses are these fascinating and well-done books that focus on how young people across several decades struggled to have a voice in the quest for equality and justice. Together or separately, they give new perspective on history.
The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, 1967-1980, by David Hilliard (Editor) $25, Atria Books, (November 2007), ISBN: 9781416532590, pp. 192. David Hilliard, a founder and former chief of staff of the Black Panther Party, edits a collection of reproductions from the party’s news journal, beginning with Volume 1, No. 1 on April 25, 1967, a fourpage mimeog r a p h e d edition with hand-drawn headlines and crudely typewritten articles under the n a m e p l a t e , “The Black Panther: Black Community News Service.” Its main headline was “Why was Denzil Dowell Killed … ,” over an account and analysis of a killing of a young man in Richmond, Calif., that was attributed to sheriff’s deputies.
Essays (by Hilliard, Elaine Brown, Joshua Bloom and others) describe how and why the publication, later under the name The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, endured as the voice and diary of radical resistance for 13 years, despite vigilant FBI sabotage of the printing and distribution operations.
The book traces the publication’s evolution into an increasingly sophisticated and comprehensive medium. The opportunity to see the history through contemporary accounts lends an immediacy and authenticity rarely available to readers of history.
The Black Panther DVD accompanying the text amplifies the story with historic news clips, a contemporary interview with Hilliard, still images and soundtracks that add context to this politically polarized and tragically violent era.
