connect Trump with Russia as a means to intensify war on the planet are tolerated and even embraced by a large section of the population. Right wing ideas become more attractive in the midst of the total absence of an alternative to imperialism. And the struggle to win real material victories around any number of issues becomes lost in the Democratic Party graveyard or the political dead-end of giving the US empire a "progressive" face lift.

Huey Newton has thus paved an important road for current and future movements for liberation to follow. By forging a class analysis of the period, Newton's theoretical contribution gave the Black Panther Party a clear vision that informed practical activity. The study of class, history, and economic development allowed the Black Panther Partyto change course when conditions changed, which helped keep the organization strong in the face of intense state repression. Theory and organization guided by a class analysis is the difference between becoming the vanguard of history or simply a victim of it. Organizations and activists should take heed to the lessons of the Black Panther Party and study Huey P. Newton as part of the struggle to revive the ideas that produced Black August.

Danny Haiphong is a Vietnamese-American activist and political analyst in the Boston area. [email protected]