Acknowledgments
It took countless people to make this book possible. Not everyone named here will share my conclusions about the Black Panther Party (BPP), and the mistakes are all mine, but I want to thank at least some of the many people who helped me. These include all the staff at Cornell University Press, particularly my editor Michael J. McGandy, as well as the series editor David Engerman at Brandeis. Michael has been involved with this book since its inception, and aside from his monstrous instance on having only a single space after periods he has been everything an author could ever wish for as both a sounding board and advocate. David provided insightful advice, particularly on the introduction and conclusion, that helped me better frame some of my core arguments. My sincere thanks also to the two anonymous peer reviewers whose feedback on my draft manuscript was invaluable. Chris Dodge’s copyediting also contributed greatly to the readability of this book.
The University of California, Merced, has been my academic home for over a decade, and the students, faculty, and staff have been a constant source of inspiration and support. While UCM has grown too large to thank everyone by name, I want to particularly highlight my colleagues and unindicted coconspirators in History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES), and the graduate program in Interdisciplinary Humanities (IH). Mario Sifuentez, Anneeth Kaur Hundle, David Torres-Rouff, Jan Goggans, Ma Vang, Kit Myers, Kevin Dawson, Sholeh Quinn, Daniel Rios, and Kim McMillon are among the many comrades who have made UCM such a wonderful environment for scholarship, teaching, and activism. Gregg Herken brought me to UCM back in 2005 and for that I will always be thankful. While I cannot thank everyone by name, I want to acknowledge the contributions of the hardworking support staff at UCM and particularly highlight Becky Smith, Megan Topete, Alisha Kimball, Fatima Paul, and Simrin Takhar for all their help over the years. They make the work of teachers and scholars possible and too often go unmentioned.
Outside of UCM, I want to extend thanks to the terrifyingly smart and always generous Mark Padoongpatt for his feedback. Kevin Fellezs has left UCM for Columbia, but his advice and counsel over pizza and Sapporo were crucial in the early stages of this book. Steven Salaita is the model of a committed and compassionate scholar whose courage and tenacity has been an inspiration. Thanks also go to the staff at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley and Special Collections at Stanford University for assistance with the Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton collections respectively. Adrienne Fields (Artists Rights Society), and Liz Kurtulik Mercuri (Art Resource) were immensely helpful in securing the rights to reprint artwork by Emory Douglas. The work done by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin in ensuring that the near-complete run of the Black Panther newspaper was collected and digitized made my research, and that of future scholars of the BPP, considerably easier.
Most importantly, my family has supported and inspired me. My parents Jim, Treacy, and Judy helped shape both my values and my curiosity. My wife Patricia has offered not only love and support but also a daily example of no-bullshit commitment to social justice. My daughter Lia is a constant source of wonder and inspiration. I love you all.