Tracking down the empirical legacy of the Black Panther party (or notes on the perils of pursuing the panthers)

Abstract

Abstract

This essay documents the challenges of field/archival research confronted during our investigation of the Black Panther Party, from 1967 to 1973. The lack of comprehensive analysis on the Party within the literature on social movements makes the contributions of our research effort important for understanding of black social movements, particularly for the larger political science discipline, which tends to ignore social movements and African Americans. Through our investigation, we confronted many challenges which at times threatened the project: (1) obtaining public records from law enforcement and judicial institutions, (2) questionable confidential sources who possessed information—for an undisclosed price, (3) the substantial costs involved in hiring, training, and keeping research assistants, and (4) tracking down sources at libraries throughout the US. Our conclusion puts forward a call for documenting the lives and experiences of highly contentious dissident organizations, like the Black Panther Party—especially from sources that will not otherwise be considered. Without these efforts the legacies and the lessons will be lost or, worse, distorted.