The story of the Black Panthers is usually told in a scatter of parts that were re-packaged, usually depicting mythic accounts of violence and criminal actions. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson extends right to the foundation, weaving a treasure of rare archival footage with all the voices of those men and women who have there been: authorities, FBI informants, journalists, white fans and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and people who abandoned it. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, an essential history, is a living, individual, vibrant and breathing chronicle with the movement which birthed a brand new revolutionary culture in America.