Panther Baby by Jamal Joseph

Synopsis:  Memoir of a young man fighting for disadvantaged people living in his community

Writing Style: Straightforward. Candid. To-the-point.

Pacing: Fast.

Personal Highlights: I must give it to Jamal. Not only does he make his experiences easier to digest, he paints a clear informative picture of what was at the heart of the Black Panther movement.

Initially he was on track... slated to graduate high-school at 16...finish college in 3 years... go to law school...be an attorney...buy himself and his grandmother side-by-side beautiful homes in the suburbs...become a senator or congressman...since, ‘although his teachers thought he had an inborn genius to become president,’ back then the goal for a black man (or woman) becoming president of the U.S. was as unrealistic as living on Mars.

As such, in real time the Black Panther Party caught Jamal’s attention. Like many, particularly those naive about what was at the heart of the black Panther movement, Panther Baby gravitated towards its popular perceived militant miens. The ‘stand your ground’ type techniques appealed to him. It took joining the Panthers, getting schooled about appropriate ways to treat women and elders, and being advised upfront “if you’re here because you hate the oppressor and don’t have a deep love for people, then you are a flawed revolutionary” to fully respect the hard work it would take to help his community.

This is what made this memoir truly engaging. Hard as it was to read this memoir, I was mesmerized by the work it took building and assisting programs that fed people without food, and getting care for individuals without access to healthcare, and the fight to keep drugs off the streets, and the tough consequences for challenging systems that exploited vulnerable citizens. Many clear-cut... and ambiguous messages came out of these hard boiled lessons, the makings for a must read memoir. Highly recommended.