The Black Panther Party Establishes a Model for Civic Change
The Illinois Black Panther Party implemented the Survival Program, an initiative to fill the void in services left by the municipal government. Members often sought financial donations and assistance from the local community and from Black business leaders to fund the Survival Program projects, which included:
- free breakfasts for over 400 children in community centers and churches
- free health clinics to assist the Black population, which suffered an infant mortality rate double that of Whites
- “liberation classes,” which taught Black history, politics, and economics to address Black children’s second-rate education
Young boys at a children’s breakfast sponsored by the Black Panther Party, 1969.
