The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in October 1966, in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The name was shortened to the Black Panther Party (BPP) and it began spreading eastward through the Black urban ghetto colonies across the country. Social Protest during the 1960s produced turmoil and social fragmentation. The Black Panthers vs. the non-violent Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King, Jr. was evidence that this social fragmentation had caused a divide in the Black community.

The Black Panthers Party (BPP) was the total opposite of the Civil Rights Movement as led by Dr. King. The BPP preached self-determination through separation and segregation from whites while the CRM preached integration. The BPP wanted the total overthrow of the capitalist system while the CRM wanted to not only keep the system but wanted to be a part of the system as elected officials. Later in the 1970s the BPP saw the value in politics and electing those sympathetic to its causes. The BPP believed strongly in self-defense, armed confrontation if necessary, and the need to have weapons to fight oppression. The Civil Rights Movement of Dr. King was totally opposed to these tactics.

The non-violent philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. was in direct conflict with many of the younger leaders by 1964 including SNCC leader Stokley Carmichael. The founder of the "Black Power" Movement, Stokley preached Black separation rather than integration, the cornerstone of King's movement. Carmichael's philosophy drew heavily from the rhetoric of Malcolm X's violent confrontation and Frantz Fanon's Marxist writings. Carmichael appealed to their need for fast social and class changes. He saw this change only occurring through Black pride in themselves and Blacks working with other Blacks, whether in the U.S. or in Africa.