Aboriginal Black Power and the Rise of the Australian Black Panther Party, 1967-1972 - (Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements)

Book Synopsis

Examining transnational ties between the USA and Australia, this book explores the rise of the Aboriginal Black Power Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. Aboriginal adaptation of the American Black Power movement paved the way for future forms of radical Aboriginal resistance, including the eventual emergence of the Australian Black Panther Party. Through analysis of archival material, including untouched government records, previously unexamined newspapers and interviews conducted with both Australian and American activists, this book investigates the complex and varied process of developing the Black Power movement in a uniquely Australian context. Providing a social and political account of Australian activism across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, the author illustrates the fragmentation of Aboriginal Black Power, marked by its different leaders, protests and propaganda.

From the Back Cover

This book examines the Aboriginal Black Power movement and the eventual emergence of the Australian Black Panther Party in the 1960s and the early 1970s. By providing an examination of Black Power adaptation, focusing on its arrival in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland; examining those transnational ties that linked Aboriginal Black Power and the Brisbane Black Panther Party to American shores; and drawing conclusions from Australian media reportage and the responses of Australian security intelligence to the formation of the Black Panther Party, it provides a new understanding of its emergence in Australia. An original and central contention in this book is that Black Power in Australia was largely comprised of independently driven units due to issues of locality. Aboriginals adapted the rhetoric and methods of Black Power in the United States in different ways, distinct to their individual communities. Investigating the complex and varied process of developing Black Power in a uniquely Australian context, this book illustrates the fragmentation of Aboriginal Black Power, which was marked by its different leaders, protests and propaganda.

Alyssa L. Trometter is a historian and nonprofit leader, who has studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the College of the Holy Cross in the USA. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her partner, Ben, and their rescue dogs, Rosie and Bonnie.

About the Author

Alyssa L. Trometter is a historian and nonprofit leader, who has studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the College of the Holy Cross in the USA. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her partner, Ben, and their rescue dogs, Rosie and Bonnie.