COLORING THE BLACK PANTHERS

The Black Panther Coloring Book was released in 1968 and follows the journey of black (or white, depending on how you color them) people from Africa to America, where they apparently all got huge knives and started killing cops. It sort of makes the Black Panthers look like crazy, irrational assholes, which was the point, because it was made by the FBI and sent to white families across the country.

It was a (somewhat effective) effort to discredit the Panthers as any sort of valid political movement and reinforce the opinion already held by a lot of white people at the time, that Huey P. Newton and his organization were psychotic militants who killed white people and cops indiscriminately. The art direction at the Federal Bureau of Investigation left something to be desired however. Let’s have a look.

Although they had fucking fantastic castles, there wasn’t a PETA office in Africa back then.

Were they referring to emotional riches? A bounty of spears and loincloths? If you’re trying to pass the Africans off as rich, don’t draw them barefoot and without any clothes, while the white men have shirts, fancy hats, and a limp shackle for a dick.

This is where things start to get good. Here the kids can really start to explore color theory and how to properly render dark-red, white man blood on black skin.

Nat Turner was an undeniable badass. Apparently the back of the neck was the cool place to stab slave owners.

Here, again, kids are encouraged to take creative liberties in the severity of hemorrhaging department and the size/coloration of the flames billowing from that badass (and perhaps first ever) Molotov cocktail.

BOOM. Right in the kisser.

Damn. Those are some righteous mother fuckers. If the Man was trying to demonize these guys, he really shouldn’t have made them look so cool. Maybe the retarded guy on the right screaming into his gun is supposed to be enough to discredit the whole operation.

They liked to shoot/stab in the most painful places possible. Even the black gnome goes straight for the kneecap.

It would be really great if the artist could decide on a consistent spur size.

Ha! The cop pissed himself. A bit of your imagineering will determine whether it’s a smelly, bronze-ish type piss or the scentless, clear deal.

Hey kids! Print out your favorite picture, color it in, and send it here. The winning entry will get a slightly used Etch A Sketch that has been sitting on my desk for the last six months to further their artistic career!

You can see the whole coloring book at whatreallyhappened.com