Submission Date

7-24-2026

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

History

Faculty Mentor

Edward Onaci

Comments

Presented during the 28th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2026 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party (BPP) on October 15, 1966, in Oakland, California. The Black revolutionary organization was dedicated to confronting systemic racism and resisting police brutality with armed self-defense. A crucial aspect of the BPP’s work was to communicate their program and platform, as well as their analysis of local and global events, to their communities and potential allies. They did so through their official newspaper, The Black Panther.

“Ink as a Weapon” examines The Black Panther during some of the most eventful moments of the BPP’s existence. It highlights how and why the Panthers used their newspapers to document police brutality and state repression as evidence of systemic racism. It analyzes the paper’s methods for delivering political education and raising the consciousness to their target audience, working class African Americans. And this study identifies how the paper strategically called African Americans to action by highlighting the ways BPP members challenged systemic racism through both militant activity and community survival programming. “Ink as a Weapon” argues that The Black Panther was the best way for the party to express their political ideology as it relates to these three themes. Understanding this is important because it sheds light on how influential the Panthers continue to be fifty years after The Black Panther’s prime. In doing so, we better understand the art of journalism along with the power of artwork.

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