The Panthers' march on the California capitol on May 2, 1967, marked a significant turning point-the moment when the Black Panthers' posture of armed self defense became a matter of national awareness. This new militancy rolled across the American landscape like an earthquake, trembling the foundation of the republic. On the surface, such an earthquake seems quite sudden. It catches people off guard. The ground begins to roll, and it is all too easy to lose footing. Solid things, things designed to be immovable, tilt suddenly, casting all confidence askew. In moments of nervousness and fear, when the ground is shaking and it feels as if the world might come crashing down, sometimes people forget that earthquakes are, in fact, not sudden. Nor do serious political movements arise in one fell swoop. Nothing happens overnight. The major turning points of history are seismic, born of eons of slightly shifting geologic plates. They do not emerge from nowhere. They are born of deep unrest. Book jacket.