Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2012
Podium Presentation
Socializing and Politicking: Generating Revolution through
Urban Politics in Inner-City Communities Nationwide
Brandon Scates
Faculty Mentor: Jo-Ann Morgan
African American Studies
My research is a comparison of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s proposal of The
Great Society (1960s) to the Black Panther Party’s (1960s-1970s) ten-point program
and survival programs. The Great Society was first referenced by President Johnson on
May 7, 1964 at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. At Ohio University he delivers a
discourse about a society where no child would go hungry and every youth would
receive the proper education. The goals of The Great Society were introduced in a
speech on May 22, 1964 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The
Great Society believes in liberation of all Americans and petitions for poverty to be
eliminated and racial prejudice be eradicated. The Great Society’s main goal was to
create initiatives that would evolve civil rights, education, medical care, urban problems,
and transportation in America. Current implementation of these programs into
American society and the inner-city could provide a better future for America. I will
compare and examine the similarities between the two assemblies. There will be a
critical analysis of the Great Society’s major programs and social reforms as it relates to
the Black Panther Party platform. The Black Panther Party programs will be dissected
for further interpretation so that my audience can have a scholastic review of the core
values of this social political organization. My contributions will be to bring the Black
Panther Party within political discourse of its time period to highlight both its historical
and contemporary relevance.