THE ORIGINAL BLACK PANTHER — THE DEACONS FOR DEFENSE
Before the Black Panther Party there were the Deacons for Defense and Justice — Black men, mostly veterans, who decided in 1964 that nonviolent protest had limits when the Ku Klux Klan was burning churches and shooting civil rights workers. 🔥
Founded in Jonesboro Louisiana in 1964 the Deacons for Defense were primarily working-class Black men who had served in World War Two and Korea. They had trained with weapons. They had faced enemy fire. They were not afraid of night riders in white sheets. ✊🏾
They organized armed patrols of Black neighborhoods in Louisiana and Mississippi. They provided armed escorts for CORE and SNCC civil rights workers who were being targeted for violence. When KKK motorcades came through Black communities the Deacons met them.
The results were measurable. The Klan largely avoided towns where the Deacons were known to be active.
The FBI surveilled them extensively — more concerned about armed Black men protecting their communities than about the Klan terrorizing those communities. 👑
#HiddenBlackLegacy #BlackHistoryUntold #BlackExcellence #DeaconsForDefense #BlackResistanceHistory
Before the Black Panther Party there were the Deacons for Defense and Justice — Black men, mostly veterans, who decided in 1964 that nonviolent protest had limits when the Ku Klux Klan was burning churches and shooting civil rights workers. 🔥
Founded in Jonesboro Louisiana in 1964 the Deacons for Defense were primarily working-class Black men who had served in World War Two and Korea. They had trained with weapons. They had faced enemy fire. They were not afraid of night riders in white sheets. ✊🏾
They organized armed patrols of Black neighborhoods in Louisiana and Mississippi. They provided armed escorts for CORE and SNCC civil rights workers who were being targeted for violence. When KKK motorcades came through Black communities the Deacons met them.
The results were measurable. The Klan largely avoided towns where the Deacons were known to be active.
The FBI surveilled them extensively — more concerned about armed Black men protecting their communities than about the Klan terrorizing those communities. 👑
#HiddenBlackLegacy #BlackHistoryUntold #BlackExcellence #DeaconsForDefense #BlackResistanceHistory
THE ORIGINAL BLACK PANTHER — THE DEACONS FOR DEFENSE
Before the Black Panther Party there were the Deacons for Defense and Justice — Black men, mostly veterans, who decided in 1964 that nonviolent protest had limits when the Ku Klux Klan was burning churches and shooting civil rights workers. 🔥
Founded in Jonesboro Louisiana in 1964 the Deacons for Defense were primarily working-class Black men who had served in World War Two and Korea. They had trained with weapons. They had faced enemy fire. They were not afraid of night riders in white sheets. ✊🏾
They organized armed patrols of Black neighborhoods in Louisiana and Mississippi. They provided armed escorts for CORE and SNCC civil rights workers who were being targeted for violence. When KKK motorcades came through Black communities the Deacons met them.
The results were measurable. The Klan largely avoided towns where the Deacons were known to be active.
The FBI surveilled them extensively — more concerned about armed Black men protecting their communities than about the Klan terrorizing those communities. 👑
#HiddenBlackLegacy #BlackHistoryUntold #BlackExcellence #DeaconsForDefense #BlackResistanceHistory
