The party's Ten-Point Program called for housing, education, jobs, an end to police brutality and Black self-determination. Members followed police patrols in Oakland to observe arrests, which California lawmakers answered with the Mulford Act of 1967, banning the open carry of loaded guns. The party opened chapters in dozens of cities.
Its survival programs included the Free Breakfast for Children Program, started in 1969, free health clinics, sickle cell anemia testing, and free clothing and shoes. Women made up a large share of members and ran many of these programs.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover called the party the greatest threat to the internal security of the country in 1969. Through COINTELPRO, the FBI planted informants and spread disinformation. In December 1969, Chicago police killed chapter leader Fred Hampton in a raid planned with an FBI informant's help. The federal government later expanded school breakfast programs.