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Thursday

The Real Black Panthers (2021)

The Black Panthers march in protest of the trial of co-founder Huey P. Newton in Oakland, California. Bettmann/Getty Images hide caption

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Throughline

The Real Black Panthers (2021)

In 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover said the Black Panther Party "without question, represents the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." And with that declaration he used United States federal law enforcement to wage war on the group. But why did Hoover's FBI target the Black Panther Party more severely than any other Black power organization? Historian Donna Murch says the answer lies in the Panthers' political agenda: not their brash, gun-toting public image, but in their capacity to organize across racial and class lines. It was a strategy that challenged the very foundations of American society. And it was working.

The Real Black Panthers (2021)

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Thursday

The Real Black Panthers

The Black Panthers march in protest of the trial of co-founder Huey P. Newton in Oakland, California. Bettmann/Getty hide caption

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Bettmann/Getty

Throughline

The Real Black Panthers

The Black Panther Party's battles for social justice and economic equality are the centerpiece of the Oscar-nominated film 'Judas and The Black Messiah.' In 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover said the Black Panther Party "without question, represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country." And with that declaration he used United States federal law enforcement to wage war on the group, But why did Hoover's FBI target the Black Panther Party more severely than any other Black power organization? Historian Donna Murch says the answer lies in the Panthers' political agenda and a strategy that challenged the very foundations of American society.

The Real Black Panthers

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Friday

The 1936 film You Can't Get Away With It about the FBI portrays a typical G-man of the era, complete with machine gun.

The 1936 film You Can't Get Away With It about the FBI portrays a typical G-man of the era, complete with machine gun. AP hide caption

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AP

Analysis

Politics

The Massive Case Of Collective Amnesia: The FBI Has Been Political From The Start

The fact is, controversy about the FBI is anything but new. And political goals of one kind or another have been part of the reason for the agency since its inception.

The Massive Case Of Collective Amnesia: The FBI Has Been Political From The Start

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Saturday

'Louie Louie': Indecipherable, Or Indecent? An FBI Investigation

The "Louie Louie" record, shown in 2003 ahead of an eBay auction, was a huge hit in the '60s. The hard-to-decipher lyrics led to some sordid speculation among teen listeners — and some fretting among those teens' parents. Elaine Thompson/AP hide caption

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Elaine Thompson/AP

Music News

'Louie Louie': Indecipherable, Or Indecent? An FBI Investigation

The Kingsmen's 1963 version of the song was a huge hit — though no one could make out the words. Some fevered imaginations and misheard lines led to an FBI investigation into alleged obscenity.

'Louie Louie': Indecipherable, Or Indecent? An FBI Investigation

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Thursday

FBI's Vicious Letter To King Holds Lessons On Surveillance, Hindsight

The Rev. Martin Luther King makes a statement at the Justice Department in Washington on Dec. 1, 1964 after a meeting with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Under Hoover's leadership, the FBI investigated King and his personal life for years. Bob Schutz/AP hide caption

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Bob Schutz/AP

The Two-Way

FBI's Vicious Letter To King Holds Lessons On Surveillance, Hindsight

The letter calls King an "evil, abnormal beast," and speaks of his extramarital affairs, which were discovered while seeking ties to communism. Journalists in the 1960s rejected the FBI's scoop.

Thursday

The Two-Way

Nixon-Era Probe Of Dan Schorr Uncovered A Great Reporter, FBI Files Show

In August 1971 the Nixon White House asked the FBI to do a background check on Daniel Schorr -- who at that time was annoying the administration because he was a hard-working, deep-digging, exposer of corruption and wrongdoing with CBS News.

Nixon-Era Probe Of Dan Schorr Uncovered A Great Reporter, FBI Files Show

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