The Black Panthers

• Documentary

Episode overview

The first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther party, its culture and political awakening for black people. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson weaves a treasure of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there - police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. An essential history, it is a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America. Change was coming to America and the faultlines were no longer ignorable - cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of a revolutionary culture that sought to drastically transform the system. This fascinating documentary tracks its rise and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

85 minutes