The Fortune Cat and its Black Panther Party Roots: A Secret History Revealed

Jan 27, 2018

Once such man was Richard Masato Aoki. Born in California from Japanese parents, he joined the early Black Panther Party and not only played a fundamental role in the Panthers, but also helped to establish an ethnic studies program at the University of California. Aoki was promoted to the position of Field Marshal within the Panthers, the only person of Asian descent to reach such a title.

And so begins the secret history of the Fortune Cat. The Good Luck Cat. The Maneki Neko. There needed to be new symbol to unite the broad Asian community. One from the underground yet also passing innocently in the aboveground. One to unite the people with a secret wink. One to indicate a willingness that they too would do their part to overthrow white supremacy, monopolistic capitalism, and global hegemony.  

So the cat was chosen and agreed upon in new circles spreading from the spirit of the late 1960's.  There cat would symbolize our New World Order to come.  Its hand was raised in full Black Power salute. It just needed redefined. And on a day not much different than today to a generation of hoaxters that saw the wink, that’s just what happened.

So next time you see this tiny cat and they tell you that it’s for good luck, you know better. This tiny cat is a sign that there should be no more Fat Cats at the expense of Alley Cats. This tiny cat raises its fist to salute the rise of a new power dynamic where human and environmental values are placed first and maximum wage limits corruption. It has morphed from the Japanese, to the Chinese, to the Asian community, to the Black Panthers, and now to the entire world with a new significance. This tiny cat symbolizes the destruction of everything the Empire holds dear.

Look how it stomps upon the golden ruins.  #FearNotTheCat