List of former members of the Black Panther Party
Encyclopedia
This is a list of members of the Black Panther Party
, including those famous for being Panthers as well as former Panthers who became famous for other reasons. This list does not include outside supporters, sympathisers, or allies.
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
, including those famous for being Panthers as well as former Panthers who became famous for other reasons. This list does not include outside supporters, sympathisers, or allies.
- Mumia Abu-JamalMumia Abu-JamalMumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...
, Lieutenant Minister of Information, Philadelphia chapter. - Ashanti AlstonAshanti AlstonAshanti Alston Omowali is an anarchist activist, speaker, and writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party. Even though the party no longer exists, Alston sometimes refers to himself as a Black Panther, and sometimes as "the @narchist Panther", a term he coined in his @narchist Panther Zine...
- Richard AokiRichard AokiRichard Aoki was an American civil rights activist. He was one of the first members of the Black Panther Party and was eventually promoted to the position of "Field Marshall" . Although there were several Asian Americans in the Black Panther Party, Aoki was the only one to have a formal...
, Field Marshal - Veronza Bowers, Jr.
- Charles BarronCharles BarronCharles Barron is a Democratic politician who represents the 42nd District of New York City in the New York City Council...
former member Harlem chapter, community activist and DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
New York City CouncilNew York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
member - William Lee Brant, hijacked a plane to Cuba in 1968, lived in exile there until his death in 2006
- Elaine BrownElaine BrownElaine Brown is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther leader who is based in Oakland, California. She is a former chairperson of the Black Panther Party. Brown briefly ran for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008...
, Chairwoman, Minister of Defense (mid 1970s), for a time was a 2008 Green Party Presidential candidate. - H. Rap BrownH. Rap BrownJamil Abdullah Al-Amin , also known as H. Rap Brown, was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and during a short lived alliance between SNCC , later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party...
, Justice Minister, currently serving life sentence in Georgia for impersonating a police officer and murdering a black Sheriff's Deputy and wounding others with a machine gun. - Safiya Bukhari
- Stokely CarmichaelStokely CarmichaelKwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
, Honorary Prime Minister - Bunchy CarterBunchy CarterAlprentice "Bunchy" Carter was an African American activist who was killed on January 17, 1969. He is celebrated by his supporters as a martyr in the Black Power movement in the United States.- Early history :...
, Deputy Minister of Defense, Southern California chapter - Mark ClarkMark Clark (Black Panther)Mark Clark was a member of the Black Panther Party. He was killed with Fred Hampton in a Chicago police raid on December 4, 1969.-Youth:...
, Defense Captain, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
chapter - Eldridge CleaverEldridge CleaverLeroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
, Minister of Information - Kathleen Neal CleaverKathleen Neal CleaverKathleen Neal Cleaver is an American professor of law, known for her involvement with the Black Panther Party.- Early life :...
- Aaron DixonAaron DixonAaron Dixon is an American activist and a former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party for its initial four years. In 2006, he ran for the United States Senate in Washington state on the Green Party ticket....
, community activist, former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Party. Ran with the Green PartyGreen Party (United States)The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
for U.S. Senate on his opposition to the Iraq War - Lorenzo Komboa Ervin
- Billy Garland, Biological Father of Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
- Steve Green, founder of the Louisiana Chapter
- Fred HamptonFred HamptonFred Hampton was an African-American activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party...
, Deputy Chairman, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
chapter; shot to death in police raid by Chicago police and the FBI. - David HilliardDavid HilliardDavid Hilliard is a member of the Black Panther Party. He was Chief of Staff in the party. He is currently a visiting instructor at the University of New Mexico....
- Bobby HuttonBobby HuttonBobby James Hutton, or "Lil' Bobby," was the treasurer and first recruit to join the Black Panther Party. He was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1950. When he was three years old his family moved to California after they were visited by nightriders intimidating and threatening blacks in the area...
, Treasurer; fatally wounded in shoot-out with Oakland police. - George JacksonGeorge Jackson (Black Panther)George Lester Jackson was an American convict who became a left-wing activist, Marxist, author, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang...
, killed in California prison. - Jamal JosephJamal JosephJamal Joseph is a U.S. writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. While incarcerated for his active participation in the Black Panther Party, Joseph earned two college degrees, and wrote five plays and two volumes of poetry. He is currently a professor and Chair of Columbia...
, Writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. - Chaka KhanChaka KhanChaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Singer. - Robert Hillary KingRobert Hillary KingRobert Hillary King, also known as Robert King Wilkerson, is a former member of the Black Panther Party who spent 32 years, 29 of them in solitary confinement, in Angola Prison, Louisiana. King first entered Angola at the age of 18 as the result of a robbery conviction...
, Author, lecturer and former member of the Angola Prison Chapter - Huey P. NewtonHuey P. NewtonHuey Percy Newton was an American political and urban activist who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.-Early life:...
, Minister of Defense, co-founder - Pete O'NealPete O'NealPete O'Neal was the chairman of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party. On October 30th, 1969, he was arrested for the transporting of a gun across state lines . He fled to Algeria, a year later and then to Tanzania, where he still lives in exile...
, Chairman, Kansas CityKansas City Metropolitan AreaThe Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
chapter - Larry Pinkney
- Geronimo PrattGeronimo PrattGeronimo Ji Jaga , also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga Pratt born: Elmer Pratt, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party...
, Deputy Minister of Defense - Malik RahimMalik RahimMalik Rahim is a former Black Panther, and a long-time housing and prison activist in the U.S. state of Louisiana. He gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina....
, early New Orleans chapter organizer, currently a co-founder of Common Ground CollectiveCommon Ground CollectiveThe Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of non-profit organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. It was formed in the Algiers neighborhood of the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.-History:...
, a post Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
relief organization. - Nile RodgersNile RodgersNile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
, music producer - Bobby SealeBobby SealeRobert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
, Chairman and co-founder of the Black Panthers - Afeni ShakurAfeni ShakurAfeni Shakur Davis is an African American music businesswoman, philanthropist, former political activist and ex-Black Panther. She is the mother of the late Tupac Shakur...
, mother of rapper Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world... - Assata ShakurAssata ShakurAssata Olugbala Shakur is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army...
- Mutulu ShakurMutulu ShakurMutulu Shakur , is a former proponent of the Republic of New Afrika and a close friend of Geronimo Pratt....
, Brother of Assata Shakur and Stepfather of Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
. - Robert TriversRobert TriversRobert L. Trivers is an American evolutionary biologist and sociobiologist and Professor of Anthropology and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University. Trivers is most noted for proposing the theories of reciprocal altruism , parental investment , facultative sex ratio determination , and...
, evolutionary biologist - Tim Hayes, founder Atlanta Chapter