Former members of the Black Panther Party have a fight against government harassment and surveillance that is far from over. A haunting legacy of paranoia, betrayal, and systemic racism still follows figures like Cleo Silvers and Malik Rahim, who believe the FBI’s shadow looms as large as ever.
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According to The Nation, despite COINTELPRO being shut down in 1971, these leaders contend that the agency’s covert war on Black activists persists, bringing with it fresh psychological and physical scars.
Crazy how it has been so long…
What Was COINTELPRO?
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COINTELPRO, short for Counterintelligence Program, was a covert operation launched by the FBI in 1956. Initially targeting communist groups, the program expanded in the 1960s to focus on civil rights organizations, anti-war movements, and Black liberation groups like the Black Panthers.
The FBI’s stated goal was to “neutralize” individuals and organizations deemed a threat to national security. In practice, COINTELPRO systematically dismantled social justice movements through illegal and unethical tactics, including:
Surveillance: Monitoring activists’ phone calls, letters, and public activities.
Infiltration: Planting informants and provocateurs within organizations to incite distrust and conflict.
Disruption: Spreading false information, creating fake letters, and forging documents to tarnish reputations and sow division.
Harassment: Targeting individuals with false arrests, imprisonment, and even assassination.
One of its most infamous operations was the 1969 assassination of Fred Hampton, a Chicago Black Panther leader, during a police raid orchestrated with FBI involvement.
The Nation reports that although COINTELPRO was officially terminated in 1971 after activists exposed its documents, the damage was lasting. Civil rights icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Huey Newton were among its targets, and the lingering effects still haunt many former Black Panthers today.
Cleo Silvers, a former Black Panther and Young Lord, told the Nation that it continues to follow her.
“It’s still killing you, psychologically and physically, as you get older,” Silvers said.
Cleo Silvers: A Legacy of Boldness Under Fire
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Cleo Silvers has spent her life fighting for social justice. According to The Nation, Silvers has helped in rooms like taking over the Lincoln Hospital takeover in the South Bronx to organizing door-to-door health screenings for tuberculosis and lead poisoning. She’s a pioneer in community organizing.
But her activism came at a high cost. According to The Nation, declassified FBI documents repeatedly mention her as a COINTELPRO target. For decades, Silvers alleges, federal agents harassed her, sabotaged her career, and pressured her employers to fire her.
“They continue to actively target us,” Silvers told The Nation.
She believes her phone is tapped, her apartment bugged, and strangers she encounters are potential informants.
“I think they do it to let me know that they’re there,” said Silvers.
The psychological toll of surveillance has left its mark. Silvers describes suffering from “surveillance PTSD,” a condition characterized by hypervigilance and anxiety. She even takes extreme measures, like pouring oil on sensitive documents before discarding them, to protect her privacy.
And yet, Silvers refuses to back down, telling the Nation:
“Some of them [activists]lost their minds because of that,” she said. “They’re afraid. More than nervous—afraid.”
Malik Rahim: Betrayed and Undermined by the Feds
Malik Rahim, a former Black Panther turned community organizer in New Orleans, is another victim of COINTELPRO’s lingering legacy. According to The Nation, Rahim founded Common Ground after Hurricane Katrina, a nonprofit that served thousands of survivors.
In 2006, documents obtained by The Nation revealed that the New Orleans Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), led by the FBI, opened a “threat assessment” against Rahim and Common Ground. The agency accused the organization of distributing “anti-government propaganda” and speculated about potential terrorist activities.
Rahim’s struggles with the FBI didn’t end there. A close associate and co-founder of Common Ground, Brandon Darby, was later revealed to be an FBI informant. The betrayal strained Rahim’s relationship with his son, who had warned him about Darby.
“It’s Like Poison”: The Continued Trauma of COINTELPRO
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Can you fathom FBI involvement in your lifestyle? According to The Nation, the FBI’s surveillance tactics were deliberately designed to induce paranoia, and their effects continue to reverberate. Frederika Newton, widow of Huey P. Newton, described how constant surveillance has shaped her life.
“Living with it so long, it’s hard to say how it’s affected me,” she explained. “It’s gotten so normalized.”
Silvers and Rahim share similar fears. Silvers suspects strangers of being informants, while Rahim believes federal agents intentionally jog past him to assert their presence. The toll, they argue, isn’t just psychological—it’s physical. Silvers attributes her heart problems to years of surveillance-induced stress.
“It’s like microaggressions,” Silvers said. “Painful in part because they are both ubiquitous and hard to prove.”
Despite decades of harassment, both Silvers and Rahim remain committed to their causes. Silvers uses humor to cope, joking about former comrades who are too afraid to stay in touch. Rahim, meanwhile, is planning to open a new community center in New Orleans, marking his return to organizing work.
The FBI will continue to watch them prove it.
