Free a Political Prisoner
Holly Shiver
Issue date: 5/7/04 Section: Campus Life
For the first time since 1977, Morgan State University has appealed to the struggle of the Black Panther Party as the Philosophy Club brought two advocates for Marshall Eddie Conway, an imprisoned member of the Black Panther Party, to MSU on April 23.
The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966, by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, and was based on a foundation of self-defense, community empowerment, political achievement and honor. The Panthers practiced and taught militant self-defense efforts of minority communities against the United States government, and fought to launch revolutionary socialism through collective organizing and community based programs. The party was one of the first organizations in United States history to aggressively struggle for minority and working class freedom.
The Black Panther Party operated off of a ten-point system that demanded such rights as proper housing, equal employment, an Afro-centric education, justice, and peace.
During the time of its inception these rights appealed to many Blacks who were disillusioned with protests and civil disobedience and sought a more direct and effective approach to achieving equality and first-class citizenship.
In Baltimore, Maryland there too was a branch of the Black Panther Party and among its members was the young Eddie Conway. Conway was a former member of the United States Army, and it was during his stint in Germany that he became "political" after reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Upon his discharge from the army, Conway became a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). One of COREs primary endeavors was to integrate the Sparrows Point Fire Department. Once in the Department Conway experienced a different kind of racial apathy, which came in the form of organized and guarded racism. This drove Conway to seek a different form of action and in April of 1969, Conway joined the Baltimore Chapter of the Black Panther Party.
Another driving force behind the Black Panther Party was the determination to end police brutality and injustice, the Panthers embittered relationship with various Police Departments through the country led to an all out war between the two organizations, which ended in the false imprisonment of many members of the Black Panther Party including Eddie Conway.
The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966, by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, and was based on a foundation of self-defense, community empowerment, political achievement and honor. The Panthers practiced and taught militant self-defense efforts of minority communities against the United States government, and fought to launch revolutionary socialism through collective organizing and community based programs. The party was one of the first organizations in United States history to aggressively struggle for minority and working class freedom.
The Black Panther Party operated off of a ten-point system that demanded such rights as proper housing, equal employment, an Afro-centric education, justice, and peace.
During the time of its inception these rights appealed to many Blacks who were disillusioned with protests and civil disobedience and sought a more direct and effective approach to achieving equality and first-class citizenship.
In Baltimore, Maryland there too was a branch of the Black Panther Party and among its members was the young Eddie Conway. Conway was a former member of the United States Army, and it was during his stint in Germany that he became "political" after reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Upon his discharge from the army, Conway became a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). One of COREs primary endeavors was to integrate the Sparrows Point Fire Department. Once in the Department Conway experienced a different kind of racial apathy, which came in the form of organized and guarded racism. This drove Conway to seek a different form of action and in April of 1969, Conway joined the Baltimore Chapter of the Black Panther Party.
Another driving force behind the Black Panther Party was the determination to end police brutality and injustice, the Panthers embittered relationship with various Police Departments through the country led to an all out war between the two organizations, which ended in the false imprisonment of many members of the Black Panther Party including Eddie Conway.