"Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in October 1966 in Oakland, California. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense against the US government and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community-based [programs.At](http://programs.At) its peak in 1969, the party had a membership of 10,000. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called the Panthers “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country”."