The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (trailer)

Change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored -- cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

Part 2: Clip - Women Panthers

In this excerpt we meet some of the women in the Black Panther Party, who did everything from fielding phone calls to delivering powerful speeches. While the central image of the Panthers may be of males in jackets holding guns, the majority of its rank and file members were women who struggled to overcome chauvinism within the Party.

Part 3: Clip - Free Breakfast Program

This excerpt reveals a less heralded side of the Black Panther Party. After reading studies on how children who didn't get breakfast fared poorly in school, the Panthers started a breakfast program that served 20,000 meals a week to black schoolchildren in 19 different communities. 

Part 4: Clip - Black Panther Style

This excerpt takes a look at the unique hairstyle and fashion worn by members of the Black Panther Party, many of whom were teenagers when they joined and unafraid to be black, to be themselves.

Find your nearest screening here

Master Documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Featuring Kathleen Cleaver, Jamal Joseph and many others. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is an essential history and a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.