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Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars against the Black Panther Party & the American Indian Movement
by
For those wondering how Bill Clinton could pardon white-collar fugitive Marc Rich but not Native American leader Leonard Peltier, important clues can be found in this classic study of the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program). Agents of Repression includes an incisive historical account of the FBI siege of Wounded Knee, and reveals the viciousness of COINTELPRO ca
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Paperback, 550 pages
Published
November 1st 2001
by SouthEnd Press
(first published 1988)
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Start your review of Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars against the Black Panther Party & the American Indian Movement
If you wanted to make a case that the FBI are often worse criminals than the actual criminals and serve more as a thuggish Orwellian political police than look no further than this book. Its more or less impossible to deny that the FBI time and time again has comitted and instigated sociopathic criminal behavior up to and including multiple murders. Most of Agents of Repression focuses on what was done in their campaign against the American Indian Movement in the 1970s and 1980s. There is also q
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Excellent book. Abundance of source material. This book begins with a history of the FBI. Then the book continues with the FBI involvement with the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement. The books main focus is on the role of the FBI as political police and the tactics and strategies the FBI uses to undermine all opposition movements to the status quo.
Very informative.
Very informative.
An expose of the federal government's Cointelpro program to discredit, dismantle and destroy both the Black Panther Party and AIM (American Indian Movement) during the 1960s and early 70s. Unfortunately, the FBI succeeded, and by 1975 most of the leadership of both these radical organizations were jailed, self-exiled or murdered. A must-read for all who care about social change in this country. This is our history. Two thumbs up.
I read it back in the 90's and just now
ran across my copy today. It is an invaluable reference. Details how the US secret police have affected history, crushing movements by turning people against each other. It is still happening today, in more sophisticated forms.
ran across my copy today. It is an invaluable reference. Details how the US secret police have affected history, crushing movements by turning people against each other. It is still happening today, in more sophisticated forms.
I was disappointed at the only brief mention of Bunchy Carter. Churchill could have expanded on his murder as well as other details involving the Black Panther Party. Most of the book focuses on the American Indian Movement instead (which is fine, but not my personal interest).
An essential read.
I worked through the Black Panther Party section (about a third of the book) before running out of time. I hope to come bath to Churchill's analysis of the FBI's repression of Native American resistance. Churchill weaves a pretty convincing narrative of government crookedness, and he doesn't disguise his biases. The thing is, the book is so thoroughly annotated that any argument you pick with Mr. Churchill, you also have to pick with his sources, which are numerous and sometimes arcane. The one
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I read a long paper by Churchill on this, and I have never felt so utterly convinced of the state's commitment to perpetuating a society based on racist exploitation. Even I was shocked by the FBI's literal war against a self-defense movement which engaged in completely legal--yes, completely legal--activity. The BPP's 10 point platform is hardly more radical than the UN Declaration of Human Rights, for example. But since the demands of food, clothing, shelter, and self-determination for those o
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A well researched and documented book. After finishing the book, the reader is left with skepticism and doubt about the FBI.
It is unbelievable what Hoover and the FBI was up to in the early days.
I do think the author went out of his way to trash the FBI. Mind you, it is hard to find fault with the authors' findings and conclusions. And when they are speculating, the authors state it as such. But it is frequent and always speculating that the FBI was up to no good.
It also leaves the reader with a ...more
It is unbelievable what Hoover and the FBI was up to in the early days.
I do think the author went out of his way to trash the FBI. Mind you, it is hard to find fault with the authors' findings and conclusions. And when they are speculating, the authors state it as such. But it is frequent and always speculating that the FBI was up to no good.
It also leaves the reader with a ...more
If I didn't think this guy was one of the most awesome, well researched and articulate anti-oppression scholars and activists in the world, I might be kind of scared of him. He definitely doesn't rule out the possibility of taking up arms against the government, and he doesn't mince words. This book is key to understanding the full story of the Black Panther Party, and to just understanding the role of the police state in crushing activist movements. You will read some crazy stuff, and he provid
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a must read ... there is a follow-up book by Ward Churchill called Cointelpro Papers which is mostly documentation obtained via Freedom of Information act supporting claims made in this book (though much is blacked out ...)
This book and Ward Churchill have been trashed in mainstream/right-wing press but this book is must reading for anyone interested in the future of social movements in this country ...
This book and Ward Churchill have been trashed in mainstream/right-wing press but this book is must reading for anyone interested in the future of social movements in this country ...
You. Read. Now.
Pretty much required reading for anyone involved in radical politics, or even progressive causes. The authorities lump us all together anyway. There is interesting, infuriating history here and warnings to take away, but don't let it make you too paranoid--not everyone who disagrees with you or who you don't like is "COINTELPRO."
Pretty much required reading for anyone involved in radical politics, or even progressive causes. The authorities lump us all together anyway. There is interesting, infuriating history here and warnings to take away, but don't let it make you too paranoid--not everyone who disagrees with you or who you don't like is "COINTELPRO."
I read this in college alongside A Taste of Power -- it was amazing series of parallels reading about the implementation of COINTEL programs and see how they were being perceived from within one of the targeted groups.
Powerful book on attempts by Nixon administration to squash movements in the U.S. Of particular interest, was the American Indian Movement. Great detail and research included with photos, interviews, and news stories.
Ward Churchill got the shaft at the University of Colorado. Free speech, my ass. Best professor I had, with the exception of James Kimble in the philosophy department. That's what you get for standing up.
Apart from all the criticisms of Ward Churchill, This book was one of the first books that opened my eyes to the truth behind all the infiltration projects supported and carried out by the FBI and the CIA.
read this if you want a real dose of history!
read this if you want a real dose of history!
Reading this book is like a nightmare. That's how scary it is. Some of it is hard to believe, you don't want to believe it, but it's real. It's unfathomable, but it's real.
The best book on the US government repression of the American Indian Movement in the 70s (also has excellent treatment of the crushing of the Black Panthers) that I am aware of.
2018 Reading Challenge - A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to
this is good.
I always knew the FBI was a fucked up inherently evil organization. Here is the proof. A little biased but a good read about an interesting period in American history.
All in all an excellent book, but it makes some very dubious assertions related to Italian anarchists and the Palmer raids near the beginning.
An amazing premier on the FBI/CIA Cointelpro tactics.
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Ward Churchill (Keetowah Cherokee) has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues. He was a Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, from 1990 till 2007; a leading member of the American Indian Movement (AIM); and has been a delegate to the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations. He is the author of numerous
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