GOOD MOTHERS WITH GUNS: FRAMING BLACK WOMANHOOD IN THE BLACK PANTHER, 1968-1980

This article examines the Black Panther Party newspaper's frames of black womanhood to explore larger questions about how social movement media construct social reality, create and maintain group identify, and counter hegemonic media. It uses framing and social movement theory to analyze the Black Panther's refraining of black womanhood from restrictive essentialist stereotypes to empowering portrayals of female resistance. The newspapers evolving frame of black women makes it all important artifact of the culture of resistance regarded as the foundation of black feminist thought. Its discussions of the interlocking oppressions of race, class, and gender were a major contribution to feminism.