The Panthers made what they call a ten point program in which stated their fundamental wants and needs. A shorten version of the ten points are:

1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our black community.
   
2. We want full employment for our people.
3. We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our black community.
4. We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings.
5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present day society.
6. We want all black men to be exempt from military service.
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.
8. We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.
9. We want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their black communities, as defined by the constitution of the united states.
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.