The Color of Water & The BPP essays

The Color of Water & The BPP essays Throughout the book, The Color of Water, James McBride made many references to different organizations bent on black power. He explained in minor detail how they walked through the streets and intimidated others, especially him. The best known, and probably the most powerful, of the organizations was the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966, immediately after the death of Malcolm X. Huey P. Newton gathered together 5 of his long-time friends and started The Party. These inseparable started the real fight of black power, but in a different way than that of the other groups. The majority of these black supremacists, at the time, simply walked around their area of town, equipped with a shotgun over their shoulder, which was surprisingly legal at the time. The Panthers were different. They attacked racism with people. The original six men made the Ten-Point Program, a code for the panthers to live by. This list helped the panthers to sustain communities as their life style dwindled. They developed many other programs to do so as well. These programs were built on connections that one of two panthers had made to support the common good. They employed storekeeper panthers to start up a free breakfast program. This allowed young boys and girls to come into a cafeteria and eat a hot, nutritious meal every morning at 7:30. This program increased not only community togetherness, but also health of their children. The next free service that the panthers provided was the medical clinics. Any black person could come into the clinic with an illness and get proper medical treatment from a trained doctor, and get good medicine too. Next in line came the Clothing and Shoe Programs. This also helped the people keep warm, therefore healthy, while at the same time keeping their image high with others. The final service that was provided was the Buses to Prison Program. This program al...