Decades later, a new look at Black Panthers and their legacy

By AARON MORRISON
Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — It once would have been unthinkable for a city to erect a monument to Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party co-founder who was feared and hated by many Americans. Members of the party were dismissed as racist, gun-toting militants. But the unthinkable has happened in Oakland, Calif., a sign that in 2021 some activists and historians are taking another look at the legacy of the Panthers through a less-freighted lens. It’s part of an effort to retell the Panthers story for a new generation and see the Black Power movement take its place in history with other, less confrontational actors of the civil rights movement.