White Panther Party

Last updated

White Panther Party
FoundedNovember 1, 1968
Dissolvedc. 1980s
Ideology Anti-racism
Anti-capitalism
Political position Far-left
National affiliation Rainbow Coalition

The White Panthers were an anti-racist political collective founded in November 1968 by Pun Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. [1] It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was asked what white people could do to support the Black Panthers. Newton replied that they could form a White Panther Party. The counterculture era group took the name and dedicated its energies to "cultural revolution.” John Sinclair made every effort to ensure that the White Panthers were not mistaken for a white supremacist group, responding to such claims with "quite the contrary." The party worked with many ethnic minority rights groups in the Rainbow Coalition.

Contents

Michigan years

The group was most active in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and included the proto-punk band MC5, which John Sinclair managed for several years before he was incarcerated. From a general ideological perspective, Plamondon and Sinclair[ which? ] defined the White Panthers as "fighting for a clean planet and the freeing of political prisoners." The White Panthers added other elements such as advocating "rock 'n roll, dope, sex in the streets and the abolishing of capitalism." Yippie co-founder Abbie Hoffman praised the WPP in Steal This Book and Woodstock Nation, and John Sinclair often referred to himself as a Yippie as well. [2] [3]

The group emerged from the Detroit Artists Workshop, a radical arts collective founded in 1964 near Wayne State University. Among its concerns was the legalization of marijuana; John Sinclair had several arrests for possession. It aligned itself with radical politics, claiming the 12th Street Riot was justifiable under political and economic conditions in Detroit.

Plamondon was indicted with John Sinclair in connection to the bombing of a Central Intelligence Agency office in Ann Arbor on September 29, 1968, [4] [5] a year after the founding of the group. Upon hearing on the left-wing alternative radio station WABX that he had been indicted, he fled the U.S. for Europe and Africa, spending time in Algeria with exiled Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. After secretly re-entering the country, and on his way to a safe house in northern Michigan, he was arrested in a routine traffic stop, joining John Sinclair, who had been sentenced to nine and a half years in jail for violating Michigan's marijuana possession laws, in prison. Plamondon was convicted and was in prison when Sinclair was released on bond in 1971 while appeals were being heard on his case. Sinclair's unexpected release came two days after a large "Free John" benefit concert, with performances from John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Bob Seger, and Stevie Wonder, was held at the University of Michigan's Crisler Arena.

The group had a direct role in two important legal decisions. A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1972 quashed Plamondon's conviction and destroyed the case against John Sinclair. The court ruled warrantless wiretapping was unlawful under the U.S. Constitution, even in the case where national security, as defined by the executive branch, was in danger. The White Panthers had been charged with conspiring to destroy government property and evidence used to convict Plamondon was acquired through wiretaps not submitted to judicial approval. The case U.S. vs. U.S. District Court (Plamondon et al.), 407 U.S. 297, commonly known as the Keith Case, held that the Fourth Amendment shielded private speech from surveillance unless a warrant had been granted, and that the "warrant procedure would not frustrate the legitimate purposes of domestic security searches." The judgment freed Plamondon, yet John Sinclair was free only on bond fighting his possession conviction. In 1972, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in the People v. Sinclair, 387 Mich. 91, 194 N.W.2d 878 (1972) that Michigan's classification of marijuana was unconstitutional, in effect decriminalizing possession until a new law conforming to the ruling was passed by the Michigan Legislature a week later. Sinclair was freed but the cumulative effects of the imprisonment had marked the end of the White Panther Party in Michigan, which renamed itself the Rainbow People's Party while John Sinclair and Plamondon were in prison. The Rainbow People's Party, headquartered in Ann Arbor, disbanded in 1973.

Portland

The headquarters of the White Panthers in Portland, Oregon were raided by the FBI on December 5, 1970. Two members of the group were arrested and accused of throwing a molotov cocktail through the window of a local Selective Service office.

San Francisco

White Panther Party [6] [7] [8] chapters [9] in San Francisco, [10] [11] [12] [13] Marin [14] [15] and Berkeley [16] [17] remained active into the 1980s. [18] [19] The WPP ran a successful 'Food Conspiracy' [11] that provided groceries to about 5,000 Bay Area residents at low cost, due to bulk buying and minimum markup. [20] The White Panthers held People's Ballroom in the Park concerts in Golden Gate Park. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] In 1983, angry [27] [28] because then-Mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein proposed to ban handguns in the city, the San Francisco White Panthers mounted a successful petition drive that forced Feinstein [29] [30] into a recall election, [31] which she won with about 82% of the vote. [32]

United Kingdom

Author and anarchist Mick Farren, a leader of the United Kingdom Underground, later founded the White Panthers UK, which was one of the organizations involved in the tearing down of the outer walls surrounding Isle of Wight Festival 1970. [33]

White Panther Statement

In November 1968, Fifth Estate published the "White Panther State/meant". This manifesto, emulating the Black Panthers, ended with a ten-point program:

  1. We want freedom. We want the power for all people to determine our own destinies.
  2. We want justice. We want an immediate and total end to all cultural and political repression of the people by the vicious pig power structure and their mad dog lackies the police, courts and military. We want the end of all police and military violence against the people all over the world right now!
  3. We want a free world economy based on the free exchange of energy and materials and the end of money.
  4. We want free access to all information media and to all technology for all the people.
  5. We want a free educational system, utilizing the best procedures and machinery our modern technology can produce, that will teach each man, woman and child on earth exactly what each needs to know to survive and grow into his or her full human potential.
  6. We want to free all structures from corporate rule and turn the buildings over to the people at once!
  7. We want free time and space for all humans—dissolve all unnatural boundaries!
  8. We want the freedom of all prisoners held in federal, state, county or city jails and prisons since the so-called legal system in America makes it impossible for any man to obtain a fair and impartial trial by a jury of his peers.
  9. We want the freedom of all people who are held against their will in the conscripted armies of the oppressors throughout the world.
  10. We want free land, free food, free shelter, free clothing, free music, free medical care, free education, free media, EVERYTHING FREE FOR EVERYBODY! [34]

The ten-point program and "White Panther State/meant" were also published in the Ann Arbor Sun, which was a newspaper founded by John Sinclair in November 1968. The newspaper was originally called the Detroit Warren-Forrest Sun before it was changed to the Ann Arbor Sun when Trans-Love Energies moved to Ann Arbor in 1968. [35] The organization, founded by John Sinclair, his wife Leni Arndt Sinclair and artist Gary Grimshaw in 1967, set up shop at 1510 and 1520 Hill St, where the Ann Arbor Sun was produced and edited by the members of the group. [36] On July 28, 1969, the Ann Arbor Sun printed a revised copy of the White Panther's ten-point program. [34]

The newspaper was considered to be the mouthpiece for the White Panther Party for quite some time before the newspaper transitioned to an independent publication spreading views on local issues, left-wing politics, music, and arts. [35] Finally in 1976, the publication of the Ann Arbor Sun was suspended indefinitely.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Kaya Burgess (January 21, 2009). "Obama's inauguration hailed by White Panther founder John Sinclair". The Times . London. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  2. ↑ O'Hagan, Sean (March 3, 2014). "John Sinclair: 'We wanted to kick ass – and raise consciousness'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  3. ↑ Tracey, Patrick (March 31, 2000). "Yippie Yi Yay". Washington City Paper. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  4. ↑ Zbrozek, C (October 24, 2006). "The bombing of the A2 CIA office". Michigan Daily. Archived from the original on April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ Salpukas, Agis (January 17, 1971). "DETROIT RADICALS FACE BOMB TRIAL; Defense Challenges Jury System and Wiretapping". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Tom Miller papers, 1852-2003 (Bulk 1950-2003)". azarchivesonline.org. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ bibliopolis.com. "Touch, White Panther Intercommunal News Service, issue V. by White Panther Party". Bolerium Books. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Jackson sun". Worldcat.org. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Freedom Archives". freedomarchives.org. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Touch" (PDF). Itsabouttimebpp.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Curl, John (January 1, 2012). For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America. PM Press. ISBN   9781604865820 . Retrieved April 10, 2017– via Google Books.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ Johnson, Art (April 3–16, 1969). "MC-5 in San Francisco - 1969". Fifth Estate. No. 76. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  13. ↑ Hartman, Chester (October 1, 2002). City for Sale: The Transformation of San Francisco. University of California Press. ISBN   9780520914902. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2017– via Google Books.
  14. ↑ White Panthers of Marin, who run one of Marin's food conspiracies from the big, rambling old house they occupy in Corte Madera
  15. ↑ "Daily Independent Journal from San Rafael, California on July 16, 1971 · Page 23". newspapers.com. July 16, 1971. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ "San Francisco Crusader" (PDF). Digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Berkeley Barb November 13-19, 1970 — Independent Voices". revealdigital.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Chapter 21 – June 1980, Measure D, Rent Control Round 4". berkeleycitizensaction.org. October 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  19. ↑ "The June 1980 Election - Rent Control on the Brink of Extinction or Expansion". Berkeleyinthe70s.homestead.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  20. ↑ Curl, John. "S.F.Collectivity". Red-coral.net. Archived from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  21. ↑ "2010.54.17304 | OMCA COLLECTIONS". Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ "2010.54.17307 | OMCA COLLECTIONS". Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  23. ↑ "San Francisco Examiner - Aug 1, 1974 - Communication from People's Ballroom in the Park, requesting hearings to consider revision of the noise ordinance. File No. 413-74. FILED". July 26, 1974. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Paul Kantner - A memory". Djpreskool.com. January 29, 2016. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  25. ↑ Jgmf (July 26, 2015). "Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger: JGMS Marx Meadows video". Jgmf.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Berkeley Barb Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 1974 — Independent Voices". Revealdigital.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  27. ↑ "STEVENS v. RIFKIN - 608 F.Supp. 710 (1984) - upp71011212". Leagle.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  28. ↑ "White Panthers discuss threats against them - San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive". sfsu.edu. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  29. ↑ Macdonald, Katharine (April 27, 1983). "Mayor Feinstein Easily Defeats Recall Attempt". Washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  30. ↑ DeNike, Max. "Dump Dianne: Revisiting the 1983 Mayoral Recall". sfweekly.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  31. ↑ San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet: Special Recall Election April 26, 1983 (PDF). City of San Francisco. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2022– via sfpl4.sfpl.org.
  32. ↑ "MAYOR FEINSTEIN, BY WIDE MARGIN, DEFEATS SAN FRANCISCO RECALL BID". The New York Times. April 27, 1983. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  33. ↑ Williams, Richard (July 19, 2013). "Mick Farren obituary". The Guardian . Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  34. 1 2 "White Panthers Ten-Point Program" (PDF). Ann Arbor Sun. July 28, 1969. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  35. 1 2 "Ann Arbor Sun - Freeing John Sinclair". Freeingjohnsinclair.aadl.org. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Introduction". The John and Leni Sinclair Papers, 1957–1999 at the Bentley Historical Library. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2014.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MC5</span> American rock band

MC5 was an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson. MC5 were listed by Parade as one of the best rock bands of all time and by VH1 as one of the greatest hard rock artists of all time. The band's first three albums are regarded by many as staples of rock music, and their 1969 song "Kick Out the Jams" is widely covered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth International Party</span> 1960s American youth-oriented counter-cultural political party

The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on December 31, 1967. They employed theatrical gestures to mock the social status quo, such as advancing a pig called "Pigasus the Immortal" as a candidate for President of the United States in 1968. They have been described as a highly theatrical, anti-authoritarian, and anarchist youth movement of "symbolic politics".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pun Plamondon</span> American activist (born 1945)

Lawrence Robert "Pun" Plamondon was an American activist, known for being a 1960s left-wing activist who helped found the White Panther Party. He was the first hippie to be listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list due to his alleged participation in a bombing, though charges were ultimately dropped due to high-level governmental agency misconduct — rejecting warrantless interception of phone calls based on a claim of "national security" — an issue finally decided on appeal by the Supreme Court of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black power movement</span> African-American social, political & cultural movement in the United States

The black power movement or black liberation movement was a branch or counterculture within the civil rights movement of the United States, reacting against its more moderate, mainstream, or incremental tendencies and motivated by a desire for safety and self-sufficiency that was not available inside redlined African American neighborhoods. Black power activists founded black-owned bookstores, food cooperatives, farms, media, printing presses, schools, clinics and ambulance services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sinclair (poet)</span> American poet and activist (1941–2024)

John Sinclair was an American poet, writer, and political activist from Flint, Michigan. Sinclair's defining style is jazz poetry, and he released most of his works in audio formats. Most of his pieces include musical accompaniment, usually by a varying group of collaborators dubbed Blues Scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis laws in Ann Arbor, Michigan</span>

Since the 1970s, the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has enacted some of the most lenient laws on marijuana possession in the United States. These include measures approved in a 1971 city-council ordinance, a 1974 voter referendum making possession of small amounts of the substance merely a civil infraction subject to a small fine, and a 2004 referendum on the use of medical marijuana. The passage of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act in November 2018 has made recreational marijuana legal not only in Ann Arbor but throughout the entire state.

The recorded history of Ann Arbor, Michigan, began with settlers from various eastern states in early 1824.

Youth Liberation of Ann Arbor was an organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It existed from 1970 to 1979, and is often cited in more recent academic literature as one of the leading forerunners of several youth movements in the United States, including the youth rights movement, youth voice movement, and the youth media movement.

Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 2006, it was restarted in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Grimshaw</span>

Gary Grimshaw was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and related organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grande Ballroom</span> Live music venue in Detroit, Michigan, US

The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large dance hall upstairs. During this period the Grande was renowned for its outstanding hardwood dance floor which took up most of the second floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Michigan Wolverines football team</span> American college football season

The 1989 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its 21st and final season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the team compiled a 10–2 record, won the Big Ten championship, lost to USC in the 1990 Rose Bowl, outscored opponents by a total of 335 to 184, and was ranked No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in the final AP and UPI polls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sinclair Freedom Rally</span>

The John Sinclair Freedom Rally was a protest and concert in response to the imprisonment of John Sinclair for possession of marijuana held on December 10, 1971, in the Crisler Arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The event was filmed and released as Ten For Two.

The Up was an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in early 1967. Along with fellow proto-punk bands the MC5 and The Stooges, The Up served as a "house band" for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.

Trans-Love Energies is a medical marijuana compassion center in Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Omameh</span> American football player (born 1989)

Patrick Chuba Omameh Jr. is a former American football offensive guard. The son of Nigerian immigrants to the United States, he played college football for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 2009 to 2012. He progressed from being the program's lowest-ranked prospect to starting 41 consecutive games for the team.

Magdalene "Leni" Sinclair is an American photographer and radical political activist. She has photographed rock and jazz musicians since the early 1960s. She was the co-founder of the White Panther Party along with John Sinclair and Pun Plamondon. She was also Minister of Education of the party. She lives in Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Metro Detroit</span>

The LGBT community in Metro Detroit is centered in Ferndale, Michigan, as of 2007. As of 1997, many LGBT people live in Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, and Royal Oak. Model D stated in 2007 that there are populations of gays and lesbians in some Detroit neighborhoods such as East English Village, Indian Village, Lafayette Park, and Woodbridge and that the concentration of gay bars in Detroit is "decentralized".

<i>Ann Arbor Sun</i>

The Ann Arbor Sun was a biweekly underground newspaper founded by John Sinclair in April 1967. The newspaper was originally called the Warren-Forest Sun before it was changed to the Ann Arbor Sun in 1968 when Trans-Love Energies moved to Ann Arbor. The organization, founded by John Sinclair, his wife Leni Sinclair and artist Gary Grimshaw in 1967, set up shop in two big communal houses at 1510 and 1520 Hill St, where the Ann Arbor Sun was produced and edited by the members of the group. Early issues of the paper were printed with the silk screen and mimeograph equipment of the Artists Workshop Press, which Sinclair brought with him from Detroit to Ann Arbor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Kelley (journalist)</span> American journalist

Ken Kelley was an American journalist and publisher, active in the underground press movement. He founded and edited the underground magazines the Ann Arbor Argus and SunDance, and was a notable interviewer for Playboy magazine.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.