The New Black Panther Party is A Fraud

Shout out and hat tip to fellow Howard University alum Bro. Kofi Khalfani!

On August 13, 2015, the New Afrikan Press International issued the following press release:

Movement Activists Violently Attacked at Atlanta Conference

On Saturday, August 8, 2015, a group of six Black Liberation Movement activists were violently attacked at a downtown Atlanta hotel. The group included members of the Free The People Movement, including their Coordinator, Kalonji Jama Changa, members of the Nation of Gods and Earths and Dhoruba Bin Wahad, the internationally recognized former Black Panther Party leader and political prisoner of 19 years. The group was jumped by 25 to 30 members of The New Black Panther Party at “The Power Belongs to the People 2015 Summit” in Atlanta, Georgia, an event hosted by the New Black Panther Party.

According to eyewitnesses, 71 year-old Dhoruba Bin Wahad and the others approached the side of the stage where attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz was speaking. While standing there, Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panther Party asked, “Who is that?” Bin Wahad replied, “You know who I am!” Shabazz responded “WAHAD! We’ll deal with you later!” Bin Wahad countered with “You can deal with me now…” Knowing that Dhoruba Bin Wahad was there with information that would publicly expose Shabazz’s government affiliations that contradict his stance as a Nationalist and activist for Black liberation, Shabazz immediately ordered the NBPP members in attendance to “Get his b*tch ass out of here!” At that point the whole group was mobbed and violently attacked by at least 25 members of the audience. As they defended themselves, the men were struck with chairs and other objects. Bin Wahad’s jaw was broken in three places, one of his associates was choked unconscious and others received head gashes that required staples.

As of this release, Bin Wahad is undergoing a 6-hour surgery to reconstruct his jaw and the others have been treated and released. More details will follow as information is gathered.

Dhoruba Bin Wahad was a real Black Panther Party leader. When the F.B.I. declared war on the real Black Panther Party, the brother joined the Black Liberation Army. As a result of the F.B.I.'s Cointelpro Program, Mr. Wahad spend 19 years in prison. He is a veteran of the Black Liberation Movement. His love for the people and the movement cannot be questioned.  He deserves our respect for his commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

The people who attacked Mr. Wahad are a fraud. They claim to be committed to movement.  Yet, they brutalize a veteran of the movement.  Not only that, they stole the real Black Panther Party's name, imagery, logos and trademarks. Anyone who has studied the history of the real Black Panther Party knows that the New Black Panther Party("NBPP") is a cheap, rip-off, bootlegged organization. The NBPP opposes the very principles and ideals that the real Black Party stood for. As noted on Huey Newton Foundation website,

In response from numerous requests from individual’s seeking information on the “New Black Panthers,” the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation issues this public statement to correct the distorted record being made in the media by a small band of African Americans calling themselves the New Black Panthers. As guardian of the true history of the Black Panther Party, the Foundation, which includes former leading members of the Party, denounces this group’s exploitation of the Party’s name and history. Failing to find its own legitimacy in the black community, this band would graft the Party’s name upon itself, which we condemn...

Secondly, they denigrate the Party’s name by promoting concepts absolutely counter to the revolutionary principles on which the Party was founded. Their alleged media assault on the Ku Klux Klan serves to incite hatred rather than resolve it. The Party’s fundamental principle, as best articulated by the great revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, was: “A true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” The Black Panthers were never a group of angry young militants full of fury toward the “white establishment.” The Party operated on love for black people, not hatred of white people.

Instead of being a true movement for black liberation, the NBPP is a creature and tool of Fox News. The Right exploits the NBPP to stoke White America's fears. The Right manipulates that fear to drive reactionary anti-black positions and policies.

For the vicious and senseless attack on our dear brother Wahad, the NBPP and Malik Zulu Shabazz must be condemned, rejected, isolated and held fully accountable.  Through their sickening and violent actions, they have exposed and discredited themselves.