Freedom! The Story of the Black Panther Party

Ages 12 to 18, Grades 7 to 12

There is a saying: knowledge is power. The secret is this. Knowledge, applied at the right time and place, is more than power. It's magic.

That's what the Black Panther Party did. They called up this magic and launched a revolution.

In the beginning, it was a story like any other. It could have been yours and it could have been mine. But once it got going, it became more than any one person could have imagined.

This is the story of Huey and Bobby. Eldridge and Kathleen. Elaine and Fred and Ericka.

The committed party members. Their supporters and allies. The Free Breakfast Program and the Ten Point Program. It's about Black nationalism, Black radicalism, about Black people in America.

From the authors of the acclaimed book, Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, and introducing new talent Jetta Grace Martin, comes the story of the Panthers for younger readers—meticulously researched, thrillingly told, and filled with incredible photographs throughout. Freedom! The Story of the Black Panther Party.

About the Author

Joshua Bloom is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the coeditor of Working for Justice: The L.A. Model of Organizing and Advocacy. His articles have been published in American Sociological Review and other venues.

Waldo E. Martin, Jr., is Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of History and Citizenship at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of No Coward Soldiers: Black Cultural Politics in Postwar America, Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History with Documents, and The Mind of Frederick Douglass.