revolutionary action movement (ram) - Michael Schwartz Library

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one hundred cities protesting the April 4th assassination of Dr . Martin
Luther King, Jr .
The Oakland, California branch of the Black Panther Party began to
grow . From January to June, 1968, a dozen new Panther chapters were
established throughout the nation . In the month of June, alone a thousand
new members were recruited into the Party .
During the summer of 1967, the Party had drafted Carmichael to
serve as Panther Field Marshall for the eastern half of the
United States . Early in January, 1968, Cleaver and Seale, who
were now out of prison, flew to Washington, 01 . C . to talk with
Carmichael and to invite him to speak at the, upcoming rally
for Newton in Oakland . The talks with Carmichael were expanded
to include other members of the SNCC hierarchy . The
upshot was the establishment of an alliance with SNCC .
Carmichael was made Honorary Prime Minister of the Panthers,
James Foreman, Minister of Foreign affairs, and H . Rap Brown,
Minister of Justice . 22
The SNCC-Panther alliance did not last long . By mid-July, H . Rap
Brown and James Foreman resigned their posts in the Party . Stokely Carmichael
retained him and was eventually expelled from SNCC . The Panther
leadership feared Foreman as a tactician :
Thus in late July when the Party high command got word that
Foreman was "bad-mouthing them" up and down the country, it
decided to do something about it . Led by Cleaver and Seale
a squad of sixteen Panthers burst into the SNCC office at
100 Fifth Avenue in New York City and ordered the panic
stricken staff "up against the wall ." Cleaver, Seale, and
Hillard then herded James Foreman into a side room . One of
the members of the Panther squad reports : "I could hear some
one telling Foreman they would end his actions right there .
The muffled sound of what app ared to be pleading was followed
by the dashing of furniture ." 3
A few weeks after the incident the SNCC central committee voted to terminate
their alliance with the Panthers . Carmichael and his faction within
22 Robert H . Brisbane, Black Activism (Valley Forge : Judson Press,
1974), p . 209 .
23 Ibid ., p . 211 .