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{{short description|American political party in Alabama}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2020}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode =
| name = Lowndes County Freedom Organization
|
| leader1_title = Chairperson
| leader1_name = [[John Hulett]]<ref>Carson, pp. 165</ref>
| leader2_title =
| leader2_name =
| foundation = {{Start date|1965}}
| dissolution =
| merged =
| headquarters = [[Lowndes County, Alabama]]
| ideology = [[Racial equality]]
| position = [[Left-wing]]
| national =
| colors =
| state = Alabama
}}
The '''Lowndes County Freedom Organization''' ('''LCFO'''), also known as the '''Lowndes County Freedom Party''' ('''LCFP''') or '''Black Panther party''', was an American political party founded during 1965 in [[Lowndes County, Alabama]].<ref>Carson, p. 153; Jeffries, p. 143–178</ref> The independent third party was formed by local African-American citizens and staff members of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) under the leadership of [[Stokely Carmichael]].<ref>Jeffries, pp. 146</ref>▼
▲The '''Lowndes County Freedom Organization''' ('''LCFO'''), also known as the '''Lowndes County Freedom Party''' ('''LCFP''') or '''Black Panther party''', was an American political party founded during 1965 in [[Lowndes County, Alabama]].<ref>Carson, p. 153; Jeffries, p. 143–178</ref> The independent third party was formed by local African-American citizens led by [[John Hulett]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/01/lowndes-county-black-panther-party-alabama/78943998/|title=Alabama's Black Belt helped form Black Panther Party|last=Roney|first=Marty|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US|access-date=February 10, 2020}}</ref> and by staff members of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) under the leadership of [[Stokely Carmichael]].<ref>Jeffries, pp. 146</ref>
As the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] allowed African Americans to register to vote, the objective of the party was to register African Americans in a county that was 80% black.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/lowndes-county-and-the-voting-rights-act/|title=Lowndes County and the Voting Rights Act|website=Zinn Education Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref> John Hulett, LCFO's chairperson, was one of the first two African American voters whose registration was successfully processed in Lowndes County.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=http://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC513_scans/Lowndes_Co/513.LowndesCO.bpp.6.1966.pdf|title=The Black Panther Party|publisher=Merit Publishers|year=1966|isbn=|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=19|chapter=A Report from Lowndes County}}</ref> Local residents and SNCC staff members decided to avoid joining the Alabama Democratic party because the state party was led by segregationist Governor [[George Wallace]] and employed the slogan "White Supremacy" represented by an image of a white rooster.<ref>Jeffries, pp. 148–149; Carson, p. 165</ref> Due to high rates of illiteracy among the black residents, an image of a black panther was adopted to identify party members of LCFO in contrast to members of the all-white Democratic party represented by a white rooster. The idea for the logo came from SNCC field secretary Ruth Howard.<ref>Jeffries, p. 152; Ogbar, p. 76</ref> The LCFOs symbol of a black panther was later adopted by the [[Black Panther Party]] founded by [[Bobby Seale]] and [[Huey P. Newton]] and other organizations throughout the United States.<ref>Austin, p. 15</ref>▼
==Founding and history==
[[File:Lowndes County Freedom Organization flyer.jpg|thumb|LCFO political ad from 1966 against the Democratic Party of Alabama]]
On March 23, 1965, as the [[Selma to Montgomery marches|march]] from Selma to Montgomery took place, Carmichael and some in SNCC who were participants declined to continue marching after reaching Lowndes County and decided to instead stop and talk with local residents.<ref name=lcfogenesis>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/selma-montgomery-march/#:~:text=On%20March%2023%2C%201965%2C%20the,County%20Freedom%20Party%20(LCFP).|title=March 23, 1965: Selma to Montgomery March Continues}}</ref> After word spread that Carmichael avoided arrest from two officers who ordered him to leave a school where he was registering voters after he challenged them to do so,<ref name=lcfogenesis /> Carmichael and the other SNCC activists who stayed with him in the county were inspired to create the LCFO with Hulett (who, since the banning of the [[NAACP]] in the state, had been active in [[Fred Shuttlesworth]]'s Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights),<ref>{{ Cite book|last=Greenshaw|first=Wayne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI1rzKFsBl4C|title=Fighting the Devil in Dixie: How Civil Rights Activists Took on the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama|publisher=Chicago Review Press|year=2011|isbn=9781569768259|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?d=bI1rzKFsBl4C&pg=PA214 211-5]}}</ref> and other local leaders.<ref name=lcfogenesis />
▲As the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] allowed African Americans to register to vote, the objective of the party was to register African Americans in a county that was 80% black.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/lowndes-county-and-the-voting-rights-act/|title=Lowndes County and the Voting Rights Act|website=Zinn Education Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref>
==Legacy==
{{See also|Black Panther Party}}
The LCFO's symbol of a black panther was later adopted by the [[Black Panther Party]] founded by [[Bobby Seale]] and [[Huey P. Newton]] and other organizations throughout the United States.<ref>Austin, p. 15</ref>
In 1970, the LCFO merged with the Alabama Democratic Party.<ref name=":1" /> This resulted in former LCFO candidates winning public offices.<ref name=":1" /> Among them was Hulett, who was elected Sheriff of Lowndes County.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1781|title=Lowndes County Freedom Organization|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|language=en|access-date=August 2, 2020}}</ref> Hulett served in this position for 22 years before serving three terms as a probate judge.<ref name=":1" />
The work of the political organization was examined in the documentary film ''[[Eyes on the Prize]]'' within the episode "The Time Has Come (1964–66)".
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{{Portal|Civil rights movement}}
* [[Civil Rights Movement]]
* [[Black Panther Party]]
==References==
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===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Austin |first1=Curtis J. |title=Up Against the Wall: Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party |date=2006 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn=9781557288271 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUWQHfM1ueQC
*{{cite book |last1=Carson |first1=Clayborne |title=In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s |date=1995 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674447271 |url=https://archive.org/details/instrugglesnccbl00cars|url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book |last1=Jeffries |first1=Hasan Kwame |title=Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama's Black Belt |date=2009 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=9780814743065 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFWVLK4_PCoC
*{{cite book |last1=Ogbar |first1=Jeffrey O. G. |title=Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity |date=2005 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801882753 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackpowerradica0000ogba|url-access=registration }}
===Further reading===
*{{cite book |last1=Cobb |first1=Charles E. Jr. |title=On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Movement |date=2008 |publisher=Algonquin Books |isbn=9781565124394 |url=https://archive.org/details/onroadtofreedomg00cobb|url-access=registration |quote=On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Movement. }}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Holsaert |editor1-first=Faith S. |editor2-last=Noonan |editor2-first=Martha Prescod Norman |editor-link2=Martha Prescod Norman Noonan |editor3-last=Richardson |editor3-first=Judy |editor4-last=Robinson |editor4-first=Betty Garman |editor5-last=Young |editor5-first=Jean Smith |editor6-last=Zellner |editor6-first=Dorothy M. |title=Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC |date=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252098871 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElLgCgAAQBAJ&
*{{cite book |last1=Wideman |first1=John Edgar |title=Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) |date=2003 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9780684850030 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpW9QV0MKC4C&
==External links==
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[[Category:African-American history of Alabama]]
[[Category:Black political parties in the United States]]
[[Category:Civil rights movement organizations]]
[[Category:History of African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:History of voting rights in the United States]]
[[Category:Political parties in Alabama]]
[[Category:Political parties of minorities in the United States]]
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