On the 18th of November, our group as well as the Police Brutality group saw Black Panthers, Rise of Vanguard. The movie was a documentary about the Black Panther party, and the African American equality movement as a whole. The movie followed the Black Panthers through their many movements, demonstrations, and beliefs. The movie showed that the Black Panthers had a good cause, that was portrayed to many as vicious.

The Freedom Of Speech group focused more specifically on the freedom of speech aspect of the film. We learned that some law enforcement tapped the phone lines of the Black Panthers to stay one step ahead of the movement. Not only was this wrong, but it very well may have been illegal. Some Black Panthers talked about talking more in private because of this disadvantage. Another surprising moment in the film was the description of a Black Panther leader, having his mouth duct taped shut by court officials. This seems to be a huge injustice, hiding behind some limitations of the first amendment that our group has been looking into in the past few weeks.

Over all, this film has taught us a lot about freedom of speech rights and how they incorporate with large movements and demonstrations. The Black Panthers used freedom of speech as a key element to keeping their movement alive, and as a result, changed a significant part of the world. It is things like this that motivate our group to research Freedom of Speech and help enforce education about the first amendment.

Thank you, BAM, for inviting us to watch this film and a spectacular experience in the theatre. It has truly been inspirational.