Why the Black Panther’s vision for education still matters

The Black Panther Party for Self Defense turned 58 this October. Its Ten-Point Platform and Program, written by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, is as vital as ever.   

As a Black man who grew up as one of the Children of the Struggle—with parents and cousins in the Black Panther Party (BPP), attended schools founded by our people, and was raised by Panthers—I feel deeply the connection to each of the demands in the list of 10. 

As a Black male educator, however, I naturally gravitate to #5:  

“We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society. We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in society and the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.” 

This demand for truth in education and knowledge of self directly informs my work at the Center for Black Educator Development. It is foundational as my team, and I work not just to get more Black folks into teaching, but also to equip them with the skills and abilities they need to build a positive racial identity. 

We continue to live in a nation of radical failure, epic injustice, and stubborn disparity for Black and brown people.

But we cannot let that slow us down or dissuade us from our continued pursuit of educational opportunity, the Ten-Point Platform articulates.  

Through history, we have seen how authentic grassroots solutions can be co-opted and toxified when they are “taken to scale”—or, more accurately, when the powers that be pull them from the hands of those who created them. Take for example, the Black Panthers’ remarkably successful Free Breakfast for School Children Program, which first attracted my mother to join the BPP.  

So let us reflect on all that is right, all that is left to make right, and all that cannot be left as it is for Black people here in the U.S. and beyond. Our forebears knew the transformative power of an education that affirms the racial identity of Black children and tells the truth about the world around them. As a Black man and as a Black educator, that remains my North Star.  

We will continue to do the work, emboldened and empowered. The BPP gave us much to learn from and build on.  

Sharif El-Mekki is the founder and chief executive officer of the Center for Black Educator Development, a nationally recognized principal and U.S. Department of Education Principal Ambassador Fellow.