1969 Black Panther Newspaper Covering the 1969 SWAT Raid on the LA Black Panther Party Headquarters

Black Panther, African American

Newspaper

The Black Panther. Vol. IV No. 3. San Francisco, 20 December 1969. (Misprint on cover reads 1967). Between the years of 1968-1972, this Black Panther-affiliated publication sold a hundred thousand copies a week, making it the most widely circulated Black newspaper. 20 pages. 17.5" x 11.5." Published one week after a SWAT raid on the Southern California Headquarters of the Black Panther Party, this particular issue carries a great deal of information regarding the four-hour shootout and its aftermath. The exchange of gunfire occurred on December 8, 1969 between six Panthers and what would ultimately grow to a force of 200 LAPD officers. The 2-page center contains photos and descriptions of Panthers who were present during the ordeal, including Geronimo Pratt, who writes from jail: "Tell everyone I love them and will SEIZE THE TIME." There are photographs of ransacked meeting-rooms "after pig attack," with the windows shot out. Also included in this issue is a press release from Eldridge Cleaver on his recent passport denial, a reprinting of North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung's "On Intensifying Anti-Imperialists Anti-US Struggle to Crush US Imperialism, Unify the Father and Defend World Peace," and a transcript of Bobby Seale's appeal during the New Haven Nine case, in which several Black Panthers were placed on trial for the torture and killing of 19-year-old Panther and suspected FBI informant Alex Rackley. On the back is an illustration by Emory Douglas of an injured pig leaning on crutches, labeled Battle Fatigue. Caption reads: "What is a Pig? A low natured beast that has no regard for law, justice, or the rights of people; a creature that bites the hand that feeds it; a foul, depraved traducer, usually found masquerading as the victim of an unprovoked attack." In very good condition.

Item #18810

Price: $450.00