The New Panther Vanguard Movement (NPVM), originally known as the New African American Vanguard Movement (NAAVM) was created in
South Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
in 1994 as a response to the
Los Angeles riots of 1992
The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, in April ...
. Former members of the
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
and other community
activists
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
came together after the riots and shared their frustration with the lack of
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
in the Black community. After various dialogues, they decided to create a grassroots organization that would reflect the vision and community spirit of the Black Panther Party.
Background and History
In 1989,
Huey P. Newton
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966.
Under Newton's leadershi ...
, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party, was murdered. His death led to renewed interest in the Black Panther Party and sparked a discussion about the legacy of the party. This was particularly true in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, as the birthplace of the party had been in
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and cities such as Oakland and Los Angeles had been key strongholds for the party during its existence. In the early 1990s, racial tensions in America, and particularly in California, were running especially high. Events in 1992 such as the
Death of Latasha Harlins and the
Rodney King beating had put California's racial divide firmly in the spotlight, and directly contributed to the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Later the same year,
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
's biopic of
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
was released, also contributing to a discussion around race in America and the role of African-Americans in American society at this time. Further compounding racial tensions in this period were the
Murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman and the subsequent trial of OJ Simpson, which began in mid-1994.
Emerging out of this came the New African American Vanguard Movement (NAAVM). Formed on October 15, 1994, in South Central Los Angeles, the organisation was founded by local black community organisers, including a number of former LA Chapter members of the Black Panther Party such as
B. Kwaku Duren. The group directly cited the 1992 Riots and perceived lack of organisation with the African-American community in LA as the motivation for their creation. The group drew direct inspiration from the Black Panther Party of the 1960s and mirrored some of its aspects, adopting militant attire, creating their own version of the BPP's
Ten-Point Program Ten Point Program may refer to:
* Ten-Point Program (Black Panther Party), a set of guidelines to the Black Panther Party
* PLO's Ten Point Program, the 1974 plan accepted by the Palestinian National Council for the liberation of Palestinian territ ...
, and producing their own version of
The Black Panther newspaper.
By 1996, the organisation had adopted "
Intercommunalism
Intercommunalism is an ideology which was adopted by the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party after its turn away from revolutionary nationalism in 1970. According to Huey P. Newton the development of intercommunalism was necessary "becaus ...
" as their ideology, the
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
theory formulated by Huey P. Newton, and were campaigning for the payment of
reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from G ...
to African-Americans. Following a summit with members of the
New Black Panther Party
The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) is an American black nationalist organization founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1989. Despite its name, the NBPP is not an official successor to the Black Panther Party. on April 19, 1997, the New African American Vanguard Movement agreed to formally change their name to the New Panther Vanguard Movement. The two groups endeavoured to build towards a national Black Panther movement by working with other "Panther-like" groups and sought to become more uniform in their practices and ideology. Both groups sought to meet with another "Panther-like" group operating in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, calling themselves the
Black Panther Militia
The Black Panther Militia was a militant Black Power organization and militia based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States during the 1990s. The group was created by a former member of the Black Panther Party and sitting alderman Michael M ...
, however that group expressed no interest at the time (although they did, in fact, merge into the New Black Panther Party in 1998).
Instead, the two Panther groups turned towards
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where the "Black Panther Collective" was operating. A formal meeting was held, but attempts to bring them into the coalition never came to fruition as the New York group collapsed and dissolved with 6 months of the original meeting.
New Panther Vanguard Movement was folded in 2002 after a "suspicious" fire broke out in their main headquarters in Los Angeles and destroyed their office. Internal disputes are also cited as leading to their demise.
References
External links
"THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES: The Origins, Platform and Program of the New Panther Vanguard Movement".{{Black Panther Party
Political movements in the United States
African and Black nationalism in the United States
1994 establishments in California
Organizations established in 1994
American reparationists