In
The Revolution Has
Come Robyn
C. Spencer traces the Black Panther Party's organizational evolution
in Oakland, California, where hundreds of young people came to
political awareness and journeyed to adulthood as members.
Challenging the belief that the Panthers were a projection of the
leadership, Spencer draws on interviews with rank-and-file members,
FBI files, and archival materials to examine the impact the
organization's internal politics and COINTELPRO's political
repression had on its evolution and dissolution. She shows how the
Panthers' members interpreted, implemented, and influenced party
ideology and programs; initiated dialogues about gender politics;
highlighted ambiguities in the Panthers' armed stance; and criticized
organizational priorities. Spencer also centers gender politics and
the experiences of women and their contributions to the Panthers and
the Black Power movement as a whole. Providing a panoramic view of
the party's organization over its sixteen-year history, The
Revolution Has Come shows
how the Black Panthers embodied Black Power through the party's
international activism, interracial alliances, commitment to address
state violence, and desire to foster self-determination in Oakland's
black communities.