Public Enemy

This fascinating overview of the turbulent 1960s as seen through the birth and rise of the Black Panther party uses reflections from key players three decades on to consider the impact, success and failure of a revolutionary commitment to social change. Bobby Seale and Kathleen Cleaver reminisce, while one-time party members Nile Rodgers (yes, he of the '70s disco group Chic) and impressive poet/teacher Jamal Joseph add texture to the tale. A picture emerges of a disciplined movement operating way deeper than the leathered gun-totin' image suggested, in education, community kitchens, local empowerment and self-determination. That its crushing by the FBI is now well documented does not mitigate a federal crime compared to which, in Noam Chomsky's words, 'Watergate was a tea party.'