“Brilliant, painful, enlightening, tearful, tragic, sad, and funny, this photo-essay book is at its core about healing, and about the social justice work that still needs to be done in the era of hip-hop, Black Lives Matter, and the historic presidency of Barack Obama.” — Kevin Powell, author of The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood

“A brilliantly conceived volume. Bryan Shih and Yohuru Williams demonstrate why the Panthers’ story-its lessons and failures-even fifty years after its founding remains key to understanding national and international struggles for freedom and justice today.” — Cheryl Finley, professor and director of visual studies, Cornell University

Even fifty years after it was founded, the Black Panther Party remains one of the most misunderstood political organizations of the twentieth century. But beyond the labels of “extremist” and “violent” that have marked the party, and beyond charismatic leaders like Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver, were the ordinary men and women who made up the Panther rank and file.

In The Black Panthers, photojournalist Bryan Shih and historian Yohuru Williams offer a reappraisal of the party’s history and legacy. Through stunning portraits and interviews with surviving Panthers, as well as illuminating essays by leading scholars, The Black Panthers reveals party members’ grit and battle scars-and the undying love for the people that kept them going.