s free breakfast program, you¶

The way people talk about the Black Panthers Party's free breakfast program, you'd think it was some liberal NGO.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. They used intimidation tactics to secure resources. They organized boycotts of local businesses that refused to contribute. They housed the program in churches, so that when the violent arm of the state came to bust them up (which they inevitably did), they could show the masses, "See? Nothing is sacred to these pigs."

They enforced strict discipline in the volunteers--no tardiness, no stealing, etc. The nationwide program wasn't just a bunch of disparate groups imitating each other: it was a centrally-planned rollout, with specific protocols and democratic centralism as the core framework. Each program was tailored to local need, but implemented in concert with the national. It wasn't simply charity either. It formed the backbone of a mass line. Parents and children alike were educated on black liberation and Marxism-Leninism. The party learned from the people about specific community needs, while they taught the people about revolution in general. State oppression kept ramping up, not because they were simply feeding the people, but because of how they were doing it. The Black Panthers came the closest we've ever had in this country to building dual power. And of course they had to bend the rules to do it. They carried guns, made credible threats, organized the masses for collective action, and never compromised on their values.

The state was only able to defeat them back then because they didn't achieve a critical mass. We can certainly improve on their model.