2016 marked the fiftieth anniversary of both Stokely Carmichael’s coining of the phrase “Black Power” and the formation of the Black Panther Party (BPP).

The creation of local Oakland activists and radicals Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panthers soon developed into the largest, most prominent manifestation of “Black Power” ideology following their formation in October 1966. Yet much about the Panthers remains either forgotten or distorted, gun-toting iconography standing in for a deeper understanding of their aims.

In the interest of setting the record straight, what follows is a primer on the Black Panther Party — a group that a half century after its founding still has much to teach us about organizing, ideology, and the dangers of promoting revolutionary socialism in the United States.