(En)Gendering Revolution: Home, Family, and the Black Panther Movement

Kiran Garcha
History
UC Santa Cruz

This project explored the role of children and the family unit for members of the Black Panther Party in California from 1966 to 1982. By investigating how members with children negotiated their parental and political responsibilities, and by examining the role of the Party’s legacy in the coming of age story of the children of Party members (during the 1980s and 90s), this study engaged with questions that complicate our understanding of California’s social history, social movements more broadly, and intergenerational relations. While focusing on the “home” as an important political space for members in the Bay Area, the grantee contributed to the existing literature on the Party, particularly studies dealing with the organization’s gender politics. Further, this study expanded upon general histories of the Party, and literature on social movements of the 1960s and 70s more broadly, by highlighting the role of children as historical agents.