Unrest caused by racial injustice reached fever pitch in 1960’s America. What laws for equality were passed through civil rights measures did not fully heal racial divisions, and continued antagonizing of African Americans by law enforcement only increased tensions. According to authors Bloom and Martin in Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, the Black Panther Party (BPP) rose up where they felt the Civil Rights Movement fell short, sparked by the question, “how would black people in America win not only formal citizenship rights, but actual economic and political power?” (p. 12)