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teokajlibroj's review against another edition
3.0
The Black Panthers are a fascinating historical group and this book succeeds in telling their story in an interesting and readable way. However, the book is let down by the bias of the authors. They clearly have deep admiration for the Black Panthers and always present them in the best possible light. While they do mention their flaws, they generally down play them and move on as quick as possible.
I have the feeling the authors exaggerated the level of support for the Panthers, as they give the impression that most black people were sympathetic and their only opponents were racist white police. If any black people ever disagreed with the Panthers, they don't appear in the book. Yet the book never says how many members the group had and is often vague about how many people showed up to their rallies. I read elsewhere that the Panthers had a peak membership of only 5,000 people which is a lot less than this book implies.
There is a complete absence of critical questioning in the book, instead the authors take the Black Panthers statements at face value. There is no examination of the Panthers policies and if they were realistically achievable. The Panthers were excellent at getting publicity but was this style over substance? They claimed they wanted an insurrection against the state yet the book presents them as peaceful, so was this just empty rhetoric? The Panthers traveled abroad to denounce repressive regimes, yet they praised North Korea, a contradiction that receives no comment in the book.
I have the feeling the authors exaggerated the level of support for the Panthers, as they give the impression that most black people were sympathetic and their only opponents were racist white police. If any black people ever disagreed with the Panthers, they don't appear in the book. Yet the book never says how many members the group had and is often vague about how many people showed up to their rallies. I read elsewhere that the Panthers had a peak membership of only 5,000 people which is a lot less than this book implies.
There is a complete absence of critical questioning in the book, instead the authors take the Black Panthers statements at face value. There is no examination of the Panthers policies and if they were realistically achievable. The Panthers were excellent at getting publicity but was this style over substance? They claimed they wanted an insurrection against the state yet the book presents them as peaceful, so was this just empty rhetoric? The Panthers traveled abroad to denounce repressive regimes, yet they praised North Korea, a contradiction that receives no comment in the book.
nathalienadamas's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This book is very informative and provides a lot of insight into the BPP. In comparison to other history books it was written well enough for it to be digestible for the average reader.
omg__gigi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
or10n's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
This book was so educational and an excellent choice for a Black History Month read. It really felt like I was finally getting the rest of the story. The main critique I've seen of this book is that it doesn't touch on the war on drugs in the way that it should, and while this is true, it didn't feel like there was an obvious hole in the narrative. I think the omission was intentional. A whole book can (and has) been written on the war on drugs alone. There are much better reviews for this book here, so I'll keep mine brief, but if you don't read this book, your education of American History is incomplete.
Content Warnings
Minor: War, Gun violence, and Racism