Crook Manifesto

Although a vast, complex network of Black Power organizations existed during the 1970s, many of which had their roots in the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, Crook Manifesto is primarily interested in the division between the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. Founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party was a Marxist-Leninist Black Power movement that sought to improve conditions for Black Americans. Initially willing to engage in violent acts, the Panthers ultimately expanded into social programming, providing free food for children, education programs, and community health and outreach operations. The Black Liberation Army was a much more militant organization. Their stated goal was to “take up arms” for the liberation of Black Americans, and they were markedly more willing than the Black Panthers to resort to violence to achieve their aims.

This tension is on full display in Crook Manifesto, where Ray and his family follow the feud between the two organizations closely, not only in the media but also on the streets of Harlem. As Ray notes, the Black Panther Party was a reform-based organization, meaning that they wanted to work within existing power structures to improve conditions for African Americans. In contrast, the BLA was a revolutionary movement. They openly stated that their goal was to overthrow the US government. The BLA was involved in countless attacks during the 1970s and was blamed for the deaths of multiple police officers. Support for the two organizations split communities, and this tension can be observed in Crook Manifesto.

A prominent (although fictional) BLA member, Malik Jamal is behind the jewel heist that propels much of the action in Part 1, and his character makes several more appearances in the text. This is one way that Whitehead engages with key sociocultural phenomena in 1970s-era Harlem, creating a detailed picture of what life was actually like for African Americans during that time. Many of the societal issues faced by Black Americans during the 1960s and 1970s were at the core of what the Black Power movement sought to change in America, and they too are on full display in Crook Manifesto: Harlem’s urban decay, high crime rates, inequality, and poor access to education and social services were all conditions that the Panthers and the BLA sought to change, and a discussion of those topics is woven through both the novel’s plot and its thematic concerns.

Blaxploitation was a subgenre of African American cinema that reached the peak of its popularity in the 1970s. Although initially independently produced, often low-budget, and aimed at Black audiences, Blaxploitation films became so popular that their viewership expanded to white audiences and Hollywood took an interest in producing its own Blaxploitation movies. The versatile canon of Blaxploitation cinema includes crime films, westerns, horror, martial arts movies, and even comedies. Steeped in pop-culture references and ’70s-era style and featuring loud, of-the-moment funk and soul soundtracks, these films often tackled important social issues. Race relations, discrimination, sexism, racism, and colorism were frequently at issue in Blaxploitation cinema.

Zippo’s original inspiration was Blacula, a real film produced in 1972, and Zippo’s own film evidences many key elements of Blaxploitation. His protagonist, Nefertiti, is a strong, female action hero. Zippo is clear that he means the film to be a compliment to Black women. His fictional film recalls real-life titles such as Foxy Brown. Blaxploitation was also heavily influenced by the Black Power movement of the 1970s, and many of these films can be viewed through that lens. Black characters were empowered, took center stage, and showcased sociopolitical issues of interest to Black audiences. They were not without controversy, and even the NAACP criticized the genre, but it remains an important piece of American cinematic history.