This interview of women in the Black Panther Party depicts some of the internal efforts made to leverage gendered power differentials. Interestingly, the identities of the six interviewees were kept anonymous, thus complicating how one might read this revealing document. Black Panthers Ericka Huggins and Kathleen Cleaver, two black feminist activists, are said to have been the poster-child for women who needed guidance on taking agency over their role in the Party.

The piece also speaks to the changes over time that have impacted the lessening of strict gender roles within the Party’s structure. The fact that the sisters accepted administrative tasks, as opposed to pushing back against such demeaning work, is said to have been part of the problem. At a point, there was a serious divide between the work that the men and women were doing, partly because of the leadership roles operating according to the gender binary.