Black Panther Party Breakfast Program
Poster advertising the free breakfast program, Courtesy of The New York Public Library
The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP) started a free breakfast program for school children in January 1969 in Oakland, California. BPP cofounder Huey P. Newton came up with the strategy while serving time in prison for a conviction that the state later overturned. He envisioned the breakfast program as a way to feed the hungry and mobilize oppressed people to demand basic necessities of life such as food. The program expanded to the parties 30 chapters across United States feeding 10,000 children every school day. BPP members solicited donations in the form of money and food from local business owners; Newton hoped the breakfast program would stir the consciousness of the entrepreneurs whose businesses profited from their lower caste customers. The BPP boycotted businesses that refused to make donations; some store owners accused the BPP of practicing extortion if they didn’t support the program. When joined a BPP chapter, you made a commitment to work full-time on party business. Members worked, lived, and, and socialized together. BPP members sold party newspapers earned speaking honorariums, organized fundraising events, and solicited donations from people particularly from celebrities to pay for programs and cover their living expenses. BPP member lived and served similar to church sponsored missionaries.