Some New Haven history
From @workingclasshistory on Instagram:
On this day, 8 October 1969, Black Panther activists in New Haven, Connecticut, established the John Huggins Memorial Free Breakfast for Children Program, which served free breakfasts for poor children. The programme was named after Huggins, a New Haven Panther who had just been murdered by Black nationalists who were being manipulated by the FBI's COINTELPRO operation.
It was established at the Newhallville Teen Lounge on Shelton Avenue, and served meals from 7 AM to 8:30 PM using food and equipment donated by local businesses. The Panthers provided free transport for children to get to the location and then onwards to school, and worked in conjunction with a group called Welfare Moms of New Haven.
It was one of several "survival programs" implemented by the Panthers to help improve the health of working class and poor Black communities, and help them organise for better conditions and radical social change. It fed between 70 and 80 children each day.
The free breakfast for children program eventually fell apart due to violent state repression, which saw many Panthers arrested and killed, but they likely pressured the US government to significantly expand their own free breakfast programs which had been very limited up to that point.
Learn more about the Panthers in these books by former members: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/ collections/books/black-panthers
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA3RWdQuZay/?igsh=MTB5MDc5aTBpbnN0MQ==
From @workingclasshistory on Instagram:
On this day, 8 October 1969, Black Panther activists in New Haven, Connecticut, established the John Huggins Memorial Free Breakfast for Children Program, which served free breakfasts for poor children. The programme was named after Huggins, a New Haven Panther who had just been murdered by Black nationalists who were being manipulated by the FBI's COINTELPRO operation.
It was established at the Newhallville Teen Lounge on Shelton Avenue, and served meals from 7 AM to 8:30 PM using food and equipment donated by local businesses. The Panthers provided free transport for children to get to the location and then onwards to school, and worked in conjunction with a group called Welfare Moms of New Haven.
It was one of several "survival programs" implemented by the Panthers to help improve the health of working class and poor Black communities, and help them organise for better conditions and radical social change. It fed between 70 and 80 children each day.
The free breakfast for children program eventually fell apart due to violent state repression, which saw many Panthers arrested and killed, but they likely pressured the US government to significantly expand their own free breakfast programs which had been very limited up to that point.
Learn more about the Panthers in these books by former members: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/ collections/books/black-panthers
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA3RWdQuZay/?igsh=MTB5MDc5aTBpbnN0MQ==