The murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have reverberated loudly worldwide. From New York to Palestine to Mexico, young people are fed up with this racist system that sanctions the death penalty for stealing a piece of candy, and are connecting their struggle across borders. In London, too, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in solidarity, with Marxist students showing their support at the demonstrations taking place.

We publish here an analysis of the history and programme of the Black Panther Party – the militant organisation that was at the forefront of the Black Power movement in the USA in the 1960s and 70s – by John Peterson of Socialist Appeal USA. In the wake of the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, now is an important time to ask: which way forward for the fight against racism and oppression?

An overwhelming 95 percent of black voters cast their ballots for
Barack Obama.  The scenes on the streets in Chicago and around the
country were full of jubilation, as many working people, both Black and
white, fervently believe that change is now on the horizon.

Many
commentators from the mainstream media share this exuberance, and have
even compared Obama to Moses. Spike Lee, the famous director of such
films as Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled, Malcolm X, and others, has
gone so far as to say that America has moved beyond race…Has the U.S.
truly moved beyond racism? We don’t think so.