The Black Panthers in the Midwest: The Community Programs and Services of the Black Panther Party in Milwaukee, 1966-1977. By Andrew Witt. (New York: Routledge, 2007. x, 152 pp. $95.00, ISBN 978-0-415-98148-4.)

Abstract

Andrew Witt's The Black Panthers in the Midwest is a good history of the Black Panther party (bpp) in Milwaukee. It does a superb job of detailing the party's origins (in 1969 and again in 1973) and provides a good explanation of how and why it ended. Witt is careful to point out the contemporary political culture of the bpp as well the rights groups that preceded and led to the formation of the party. The Milwaukee chapter represents a good example of the party outside the Midwest headquarters in Chicago. If most readers have never heard of the bpp in Milwaukee, Witt's history provides good reasons for why this is the case. In January 1969, the bpp established a chapter in Milwaukee. Concentrating on issues of police brutality, self-defense, and feeding hungry children, the party drew numerous recruits. It was the police brutality, however, that nipped these efforts in the bud. According to Witt, Police Chief Harold Breier showed total disregard for the dignity and humanity of blacks and cared even less for members of the bpp. As a result, the bpp was immediately neutralized by police officers who harassed, arrested, and brutally beat bpp members and their supporters. This harassment and officially sanctioned violence led to a reduction in numbers of the Panthers in Milwaukee; the party eventually faded from the scene, though it did enjoy a second incarnation three years later. Witt also notes that internal differences and inadequate leadership might have played a role in the party's short life.