The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) is an American black nationalist organization founded in Dallas, Texas in 1989. Despite its name, the NBPP is not an official successor to the Black Panther Party."There is No New Black Panther Party", The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. Members of the original Black Panther Party have insisted that the new party has no legitimacy and that "there is no new Black Panther Party". The group is characterized by its departure from many of the socialist ideals of its namesake, and towards New-Afrikanism. The Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights consider the NBPP to be a hate group,"New Black Panther Party." Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed September 3, 2017."New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense ." Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved June 25, 2025.U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, interim report, November 23, 2010 . Retrieved August 13, 2011. accusing the organization and its leaders of racism and antisemitism.
The NBPP traces its origins to the activities of original Panther Michael McGee Sr. in Milwaukee in the late-1980s; by 1990, McGee had created the Black Panther Militia. However, as McGee expanded his organization, it later came under the control of Aaron Michaels in Dallas. In turn, Aaron Michaels lost control of the leadership of the group to Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a former leading member of the Nation of Islam, who proceeded to fill the ranks of the New Panthers with ex-Nation of Islam members and other Black Muslims. Under Muhammad and his successors' leadership, the New Panthers shifted radically from the ideology of the original Black Panther Party towards an extremist form of Black nationalism.
The NBPP is currently led by Krystal Muhammad. Malik Zulu Shabazz announced on an October 14, 2013 online radio broadcast that he was stepping down and that Hashim Nzinga, then national chief of staff, would replace him. This move created a schism within the group. A vote was held and Krystal Muhammad was elected leader of the group. However, those loyal to Nzinga left and formed a splinter group called the "New Black Panther Party for Self Defence" or "NBPP SD".
History In 1987, Michael McGee, an alderman in Milwaukee and member of the original Black Panther Party, threatened to disrupt white events throughout the city unless more jobs were created for black people. He held a "state of the inner city" press conference in 1990 at City Hall to announce the creation of the Black Panther Militia. Aaron Michaels, a community activist and radio producer in Dallas, Texas established a chapter of the Black Panther Militia in 1992, but chose to refer to his chapter as "The New Black Panther Party".
Over time, McGee lost influence over the overall groups while Michaels' grew, and eventually, it would be Aaron Michaels who took overall leadership of the Panthers groups, now using "New Black Panther Party" as their banner. Michaels became increasingly radical, and so too did the group.
In 1994, Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a prominent member of the Nation of Islam, survived an assassination attempt from a former member of that group. Following the attempt on his life, Muhammad left the Nation of Islam and went to Dallas to recover, and it was during this time that Muhammad became aligned to Aaron Michaels, and subsequently joined the NBPP. By 1998 Muhammad had seized entire control of the NBPP from Michaels by filling with former members of the Nation of Islam and other Black Muslims. In 2012, Michaels claimed it was at this point he departed from the NBPP.
In 1998, Khalid Abdul Muhammad brought the organization into the national spotlight when he led an armed group of NBPP members to provide armed protection to the family of James Byrd Jr., who had just been murdered in Jasper, Texas by three white supremacists. Events escalated into a confrontation between the NBPP and the Ku Klux Klan. Muhammad continued to seek out high profile and confrontational events, and that same year sought to organise a "Million Youth March" in Harlem, New York City. On the surface, the purpose of the march was to build solidarity amongst the black youth of America but Muhammad also sought to march into the heartland of Nation of Islam support and demonstrate he had a group to compete for their support. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani sought to block the march but was overruled by a federal judge. The March went ahead on 5 September 1998 and Muhammad gave a speech to an audience of 6,000. When the police attempted to end the march at the designated end time, Muhammad encouraged those in attendance to physically resist them. It was in this same time period that Muhammad and the NBPP featured in an episode of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends entitled "Black Nationalism".
Khalid Muhammad died of a brain aneurysm on February 17, 2001, and was succeeded by Malik Zulu Shabazz, a protege of Muhammad's as well as his personal attorney. Like Muhammad, Shabazz continued to push the NBPP in an increasingly anti-Semitic and racial segregationist direction. Under Shabazz's leadership, the group would continue to appear across America during instances of racial tension and conflict, however, Shabazz was never able to return the group to the high-profile it had in the media and public's mind during Muhammad's time.
Ideology The New Black Panther Party identifies with the original Black Panther Party and it claims to uphold its legacy. While the party says that many others see the organization similarly, the NBPP is largely seen by both the general public and prominent members of the original party as illegitimate. Foundation members, containing a significant number of the original party's leaders, once successfully sued the group; their ultimate objective in doing so—to prevent the NBPP from using the Panther name—appears to have been unsuccessful. In response to the suit, Aaron Michaels branded the opposing original Panthers "has-been wannabe Panthers", adding: "Nobody can tell us who we can call ourselves." The NBPP rewrote the original Black Panther Platform to address issues such as "black-on-black violence", the military justice system, and political prisoners.
Although the NBPP says it sees capitalism as the fundamental problem with the world and revolution as the solution, the new party does not draw its influences from Marxism or Maoism as the original party did. Instead, it promotes the Kawaida theory of Maulana Karenga, which includes black unity, collective action, and cooperative economics.Local Objectives at official Web site The NBPP says it fights the oppression of black and brown people and that its members are on top of current issues facing black communities across the world. Also, it notes that not all of its members are members of the Nation of Islam, although the group acknowledges universal spirituality practices within the organization.10 Point Platform at official website The NBPP is strongly anti-Zionist.
Over time, many groups subscribing to varying degrees of radicalism have called for the "right to self-determination" for black people, particularly African-Americans. Critics of the NBPP say that the group's politics represent a dangerous departure from the original intent of black nationalism; specifically, that they are starkly anti-white, and also antisemitic. The group blames the September 11 attacks on Jews. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies the NBPP as a black separatist hate group and says that its leaders "have advocated the killing of Jews and white people". Some Black Panthers sued the NBPP and tried to get it to stop using the Black Panther name, as they considered the group racist.
Organization Membership size As of 2009, the NBPP claimed a few thousand members organized in 45 chapters, while independent estimates by the Anti-Defamation League suggest that the group is much smaller but is nevertheless able to attract a large turnout of non-members to its events by focusing on specific issues of local interest.Inside the New Black Panthers, National Geographic (aired 2009). Discussion of membership size starting at 07:40.
French Wing In April 2010, Malik Zulu Shabazz appointed French Black leader Kémi Séba as the representative of the movement in France."Kemi Seba nommé par le NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY, basé à Washington, Ministre francophone" , Official Web site of MDI However, Séba left the position in 2011.
2013 schism In October 2013, Malik Zulu Shabazz announced he was stepping down as leader of the organization. He attempted to place Hashim Nzinga as his main successor. However, this move prompted a body of the group to gather for a meeting, where they elected Krystal Muhammad as their new chairperson. These events prompted a split of the organization into two competing factions. Muhammad's faction retained the name "New Black Panther Party", while the Nzinga faction dubbed themselves "The New Black Panther Party for Self Defence" or "NBPP SD". The two groups remain at odds, each attempting to control the name recognition of "The New Panthers".
Controversies
The New Black Panther Party became involved in a melee outside Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney's campaign headquarters after she lost a Democratic primary election to her opponent, Hank Johnson. The NBPP's Chief of Staff, Hashim Nzinga, had been acting as security detail for McKinney when he physically attacked reporters, calling them Jews and insisting that they must focus on Hank Johnson rather than on McKinney, since Johnson, he alleged, was a "Tom." In a subsequent appearance on the Fox News Channel program Hannity & Colmes, Nzinga defended these actions. He accused his interviewers of being part of a "Zionist" media complex bent on defaming African Americans and, by extension, the New Black Panthers., Hannity & Colmes, Fox News.
In 2006, the New Black Panther Party regained the media spotlight by intervening in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal, organizing marches outside Duke University and making numerous media appearances to demand that the jury organized by then-District Attorney Mike Nifong convict the accused lacrosse players.Biesecker, Michael. "New Black Panthers demonstrate, but not on Duke campus" , The News & Observer, May 2, 2006.
On April 12, 2007, after the case brought by Nifong collapsed and the Duke Lacrosse players were exonerated, Malik Zulu Shabazz appeared on The O'Reilly Factor. He refused to apologize for his actions in the lead-up to the Duke University lacrosse rape scandal, stating that he did not know whether or not anything happened to the young accuser. He stated his beliefs that the rich white families of Duke had placed political pressure on the investigation and forced the charges to be dropped. When questioned by guest host Michelle Malkin, he labeled her a political prostitute and mouthpiece for a male, chauvinist, racist Bill O'Reilly. Malkin said, "There's only one whore on this split screen and it's you, Mr. Shabazz." Shabazz replied, "You should be ashamed of yourself for defending and being a spokesman for Bill O'Reilly, who has no respect for women."Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Calling the NBPP extremist, critics have cited Muhammad's Million Youth March in Harlem, a youth equivalent of the Million Man March, in which the protest against police brutality included speakers calling for the extermination of white South Africans. The rally ended in scuffles with the New York Police Department as Muhammad urged the crowd to attack officers who had attempted to confiscate firearms. Chairs and bottles were thrown at the police, but only a few in the clash suffered injuries. The Million Youth March was subsequently named an annual event.