All the answers are correct. For those of you who responded within the first hour, we apologize for messing up the checkboxes! Ok, now back to the explainer: The free school breakfast program was such an innovative and important initiative. In schools, Black children were often called lazy and unintelligent for things like falling asleep in class or not performing well on tests. When the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense began providing this volunteer-driven breakfast program, the positive outcomes were undeniable: better grades, less conflict, and happier children. Local and federal officials couldn’t stand the thought of the Panthers successfully mobilizing in the community, so they tried everything they could to sabotage the program, including lying to parents about the food containing “venereal diseases” and confiscating, poisoning, and urinating in the food.
Learn more about the positive impact the Panthers had around the country through this 51-minute audio program: “The Real Black Panthers.” Here’s a salient quote from the program: “But why did Hoover's FBI target the Black Panther Party more severely than any other Black power organization? Historian Donna Murch says the answer lies in the Panthers' political agenda: not their brash, gun-toting public image, but in their capacity to organize across racial and class lines.”
