The Life and Work of the Philadelphia Black Panthers: The Curricular and Pedagogical Implications of their Social Transformation Efforts

This dissertation utilizes the social relief efforts of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Branch of the Black Panther Party as a framework for social transformation. By applying post-colonial theory, this study constructs a story on the lived resistances, socio-historical context, and discourse of former members of the Black Panther Party and local Philadelphia residents from 1968-1974. This study is imperative for four reasons. First, in order to get a complete picture of the Black Panther Party, one has to extend foci beyond the deeply studied Oakland, California Chapter (i.e., Panther Headquarters), and examine differences/similarities across the local Branches. Second, literature in the field of curriculum studies has only dealt with the Black Panther Party in passing. Thus, there is little attempt to detail this historical moment in the Black Power Movement, and apply it to Black liberation struggles in American education. Third, prior research on the Black Panthers has been overly romantic, Marxist, and reductionist, therefore offering a limited perspective on the complexity of the group, their lived resistances, and how the Panthers modeled social transformation as a step-by-step process. Fourth, this study challenges many mis-representations and mis-interpretations of the Black Panther Party that have circulated in contemporary society as common truths. Resultantly, this dissertation provides insight from a multiplicity of sources to better capture the identity(-ies) of the organization. In sum, this dissertation will not only resolve a dearth in the literature that highlights the multiple facets of the Black Panther Party, but will serve as a template on effective strategies for social and educational transformation