Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People

 Magoon's newest book is a must purchase for libraries and anyone interested in social history.  I had the opportunity to read this book early in association with an author panel I moderated for the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in April.  This book won't be out until September, but the author has been working on it since she published her debut novel, The Rock and the River in 2009.  Revolution in Our Time is the first comprehensive picture of the Black Panther Party written for young adults.  

Magoon puts the Black Panthers in the greater context of race in America and draws a thread from slavery through to the party itself.  And an epilogue shows the influence of the party of social justice movements today.  She provides the background knowledge to contextualize the events of the '60s and '70s for a young adult audience who may not have the background knowledge to do so automatically.  

Many people have a single image of Black men with guns when we think of the Black Panthers, but that was actually a small part of the party's origin.  The party was really about education, literacy, and social reform.  Magoon focuses on the ways party members acted to feed and support members of their communities who were falling through the cracks.

While there may have been misogyny in the early days of the party, soon women were taking active roles, and eventually, the majority of the membership and the leaders were women.  

This was an eye-opening book for me, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of race in America, adult or young adult. This would be a good companion piece to Stamped by Kendi and Reynolds.  Highly recommended.