This chapter gives an account of the history of African American health-focused activisms that led to the Black Panther Party’s health politics. It surveys significant moments of the long civil rights movement that were mobilized in response to the forms of health inequality experienced by black communities, such as lack of access to healthcare resources; exclusion from whites-only hospitals; refusal of admission to professional schools, associations, and organizations; deficient or non-existent medical care; and deliberate neglect and medical abuse. The Black Panther was considered an heir to health activism, which directly reflected tactics drawn from the tradition of African American health politics.