Who Influenced Your Political Consciousness?
As a child my parents refused to let their children join our local Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops. They viewed both in part as organizations dedicated raising a pro-military and pro conservative political consciousness of US children. Instead, our parents raised our consciousness about freedom fighters throughout history. They denounced the US governments support of anti-democratic regimes abroad and the COINTELPRO program at home. One of the goals of the Black Panther Party (BPP) breakfast program had been to raise the political and cultural consciousness of the children and their families that benefited from it. Panthers working at a breakfast sang popular party songs that included phrases such as I am a revolutionary and power to the people! They also engaged children in discussions about freedom fighters like Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker, and Angela Davis and they distributed copies of the party’s newspaper to the children which included attractive illustrations about BPP goals and philosophy.
