Today we saw a showing the new Blank Panther documentary with the racial profiling group. It’s premise was about the beginnings of this organization, what and who it effected, and what eventually led to its end. It started out as a small group and as it progressed it accumulated many more African Americans and became an international organization. It started out quite violent. They would ride in cars and intimidate police men. They even brought weapons towards the officers. They were ready for any altercation.  But as more and more people joined, they strayed away from their original facade. They started up free food stations for children. They became more appealing to the public, but, they still maintained their violent acts. In result of this, one of their leaders, Huey, committed murder in a shootout. He left hospitalized and was sentenced to life in prison. Many other Panthers were to follow the same path. One Panther, in his trial, tried to speak for his rights, but the court wouldn’t hear him. They duck taped his mouth shut and told him to refrain from making noise.  But this didn’t stop the Panthers, it made them angrier. This was dangerous for the government. If the Black Panthers actually became successful, they had a chance of sparking the revolution that was beginning to form. The government acted fast and sent the FBI to take down their leaders and spokes people. This resulted in a shoot out, many Black Panthers were killed and many more injured. All but one of their leaders lived though the shoot out. They needed Huey. They started riots, and protests against Huey’s arrest. It worked. Huey was freed from prison and resumed command of the Black Panthers. This was thought to be good, but the future gave a different answer. With two leader now, there were two different ideas of what the Black Panthers should be. This split the Panthers into two factions. With this tension between the Panthers, many left, and as their numbers dwindled, so did their power.