New Black Panther Party | |
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Chairperson | Krystal Muhammad[1] |
Founder | Aaron Michaels |
Founded | 1989 |
Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Ideology | |
Colors | Red Black and Green |
Slogan | "Freedom or Death" |
Party flag | |
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Website | |
www |
This article is part of a series about |
Black power |
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The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) is an American black nationalist organization founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1989.[3] Despite its name, the NBPP is not an official successor to the Black Panther Party.[4] Members of the original Black Panther Party have insisted that the new party has no legitimacy and "there is no new Black Panther Party".[4]
The Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights consider the NBPP to be a hate group,[5][6][7] accusing the organization and its leaders of racism, antisemitism[8][9][10][2] and anti-Zionism.[11][2]
The NBPP traces its origins to the Black Panther Militia created in 1990 by original Panther Michael McGee in Milwaukee. However, as McGee expanded his organization, it later came under the control of Aaron Michaels in Dallas. In turn, Aaron Michaels lost control of the leadership of the group to Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a former leading member of the Nation of Islam, who proceeded to fill the ranks of the New Panthers with ex-Nation of Islam members and other Black Muslims. Under Muhammad and his successors' leadership, the New Panthers shifted radically from the ideology of the original Black Panther Party towards an extremist form of Black nationalism.[12]
The NBPP is currently led by Krystal Muhammad.[1] Malik Zulu Shabazz announced on an October 14, 2013 online radio broadcast that he was stepping down and that Hashim Nzinga, then national chief of staff, would replace him.[13] This move created a schism within the group. A vote was held and Krystal Muhammad was elected leader of the group. However, those loyal to Nzinga left and formed a splinter group called the "New Black Panther Party for Self Defence" or "NBPP SD".[14]
Major conflict arose in October 2013 when Shabazz announced he was stepping down from the group to pursue his law career. His second in command, Hashim Nzinga, was named as chairperson, and longtime NBPP group member Chawn Kweli became chief of staff. A portion of NBPP's membership had not been previously apprised of his decision nor did they approve. In reaction, this faction attended an NBPP summit and appointed all new leadership, voting in Krystal Muhammad as their chair.
Despite the name, however, there is no direct connection between the NBPP and the original BPP.
The NBPP's bigotry is further evident in its positions on Jews and Zionists. It accuses them of exerting undue influence over national and world affairs to the detriment of minorities in the U.S. and around the world. In promoting this position, the group often evokes classic anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jewish power.
Malik Shabazz and Hashim Nzinga started a new group with longtime NBPP members Chawn Kweli and King Samir Shabazz. They called it the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, but their antics were regularly mistaken by the media as those of the New Black Panther Party, a mistake the new group did not bother to correct.