The Black Arts Movement and the Black Panther Party in American Visual Culture by Jo-Ann Morgan

Author:Jo-Ann Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

“The Truth About Sacramento”

Although the Sacramento coverage brought fame to the fledgling Party, there was a downside. Much reporting was overblown and otherwise inaccurate. A San Francisco Chronicle cover story, as an example, read:

Some 40 young Negroes, all armed with loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols, and all members of the militantly anti-white Black Panther party stalked through the Capitol at noon yesterday.73

The overestimated total and report that all carried guns sounded impressive, but, to be fair, some were unarmed, and non-Panthers were there too. And, they would be forever vowing they were not “anti-white.” Above all, there was a tone of disrespect that trivialized their mission. Skelton of the Sacramento Union had asked how many were in Seale’s “‘Black Panther’ club,” and invariably reporters put “Panther” in quotes.74

Seeking to set the record straight and capitalize on the attention, the Panthers rushed to print volume two of The Black Panther—Black Community News Service, with a headline reading, “The Truth About Sacramento.” The article began:

To get a clear picture of the significance of Black Panther day—May 2, 1967—we will quickly run it down, since the mass media has indulged itself in a orgy of distortion, lying and misrepresentation seldom equaled in the history of racist U.S.A.

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