In this WSB newsfilm clip from September 8, 1971, Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, speaks at a press conference where he announces plans to move the party's headquarters from Oakland, California to Atlanta, Georgia.

As the clip begins, Newton and another African American man walk into a room and sit down at a table. Both men wear leather jackets. Elsewhere in the room, reporters and cameramen crowd together to record the press conference. Behind Newton are newspaper clippings and posters advertising the Black Panther Party. Newton declares his intention of looking "to the South for the thrust of Black liberation." He explains the party chose Atlanta as its new headquarters because of the large African American population in the city. According to Newton, the Panther party needs a large African American population "in order to start to control our community." Newton also points to the South as the place where slavery started, citing the first African American arrival in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Newton suggests that one must "return to the original scene of the crime in order to correct the crime."

Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in October 1966 in Oakland, California. The party's philosophy focused on armed resistance to societal oppression, rejecting the nonviolent tradition the Civil Rights movement had developed. The Black Panther Party called for "land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace." Although the party played an important role in the culture of the 1960s and early 1970s, its strength declined through the 1970s.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): color, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, at a press conference announcing the move of the Panther's headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia, 1971 September 8, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1762, 27:57/28:53, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.