The infamous Black Panther party made history as the radical African American organization established to promote civil rights and self-defense from the mid 1960s to the 1970s.

In 1968, Life magazine sent photographer Howard L. Bingham and writer Gilbert Moore to document and tell the story of this controversial group. Bingham and Moore followed the Panthers for months at numerous rallies in Oakland, Berkeley, and even the United Nations, only to have the story remain unpublished due to a disagreement between Moore and the magazine over the tone of the story. Now, 40 years later, these photographs and the story behind them will finally be told.

Featured here are never-before-published intimate portraits of key Panther members such as Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and Kathleen Cleaver, as well as classic reportage coverage of the more public and tumultuous events associated with the Panthers. Accompanied by insightful essays by writers and cultural historians, and biographies of all key members, BLACK PANTHERS 1968 is an important social document for our time as well as a celebration of Howard L. Bingham's illustrious career.

Howard L. Bingham has documented some of the most compelling people and events of the late 20th century, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, and Bingham's close friend Muhammad Ali. From his humble beginnings as a young man in South Central Los Angeles where he flunked his one and only photography class, to a lifetime as an award-winning, world-class photographer of dignitaries and celebrities alike, Howard L. Bingham leaves a lasting and indelible legacy with this significant book.