"Don't no woman have to do nothing she don't want to do": Gender, Activism, and the Illinois Black Panther Party

The essay is an examination of the gender dynamics in the Illinois Black Panther Party. Scholarship on the Black Panther Party has identified sexism, misogyny, and gender discrimination as critical issues within the organization. This article argues that, although those problems existed, gender dynamics were not uniform across chapters. Rather, each chapter was distinct with regard to region and concerns immediate to distinct localities. For this reason, I assert, it is critical that researchers examine each chapter on its own to determine its respective gender policy and practice. This paper focuses on the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and finds that it was more progressive and consistent in its gender dynamics than most other Panther affiliates and Civil Rights/black power organizations.