Miklós Ligeti, Csók, 1902

Sapovnela (Otar Iosseliani, 1959)

The Black Panthers fed more hungry kids than the state of California

It wasn’t all young men and guns: the Black Panther Party’s programs fed more hungry kids than the state of California

The Black Panther’s Free Breakfast for Children Program is probably their best-known initiative, the press finding an intriguing story juxtaposing the Panther’s tough-guy-in-leather-jacket image with the act of serving small children plates of hot food. Importantly, it was mostly women who led these survival programmes, and women made up a majority of the Panther membership. They served in leadership roles from ‘Officer of the Day’ (essentially the office – and people – manager for each branch), to organising the many details of a location’s breakfast programme to initiating and leading food justice, healthcare and housing programmes within neighbourhoods.

So why does the image of the Panthers as a masculinist and violent organisation persist? The answer lies in part with media distortion, influenced both by the sexism and racism that misrepresented the Panthers. There was also a misinformation campaign by the FBI, led by J Edgar Hoover, waged against the increasingly popular Panthers, which had an enduring impact on how people saw them.

Jean Cocteau by Germaine Krull

Zaire, 1987

Chris Steele-Perkins

maja bajevic, en attendant, 2001

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Happy 88th, Otar Iosseliani.

With Michel Piccoli in 2012. Photo by Fabio Lovino.

Andrei Tarkovsky, “Nostalghia”. 1983.

Pamela Singh, Chipko Women Hug Tree to Protect it from Being Cut in Northern Uttar Pradesh, 1994

Otto Piene (German, 1928-2014), Black Yang, 1985. Oil, traces of fire and smoke on canvas, 80 x 100 cm.