The Black Panther (newspaper)

The Black Panther Party maintained a commitment to community service, including various "survival programs" developed by individual chapters that, by 1969, became part of the national party's "serve the people program" to connect their commitments to basic social services with community organizing and consciousness raising. The Black Panther Party Newspaper was a critical part of the Party's consciousness-raising program. The first issue was published on April 25, 1967 in response to the killing of 22-year old Denzil Dowell by police in North Richmond, California. Like many stories that would be published by The Black Panther Party Newspaper, the Dowell homicide wasn't covered by the mainstream media, and inspired Newton and Seale to start their own paper. The newspaper was most popular from 1968 to 1972, and during this time, sold a hundred thousand copies a week. Its final editor until the dissolution of the Party was JoNina Abron. An undergraduate student at San Francisco State, Judy Juanita, served as editor of The Black Panther Party Newspaper during the later 1960s. In 1969, two-thirds of Black Panther Party members were women and women were heavily represented among the paper's staff and leadership. In its later years, the newspaper was used to rally support for members of the party who became political prisoners. The newspaper is archived at California State University, Dominguez Hills. == Format ==

"The BPP newspaper grew from a four-page newsletter to a full newspaper in about a year and [537] issues were printed." The 10 point program was revised in 1972, which was followed by a change in the number of images showcased in the issues. From 1967 to 1971, the average was of six per issue and from March of 1972 to 1980, the average was of 2.4 images per issue. After 1972, there was also a decrease in the number of contributing artists. == Circulation ==

Circulation was national and international. From 1968 to 1971, The Black Panther Party Newspaper was the most widely read Black newspaper in the United States, with a weekly circulation of more than 300,000. It sold for 25 cents, with the party’s national headquarters receiving about “about 12.5 cents for each copy sold.” The newspaper became the party’s most sable income source, and by 1970, it was making a net of $40,000 a month for the party. ==50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue==

In October, 2016, the Oakland Museum of California, in cooperation with about 100 former members of the Black Panther Party, organized an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the party. The exhibit ran through February, 2017 and was called " All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50". As part of the commemoration, a 20 page issue of The Black Panther was published. ==See also==