In Living for the City, Donna Murch details the origins and rise to prominence the Black Panther Party experienced during the 1960s and 1970s. The Civil Rights Movement and eventually the Black Panther Movement of Oakland, California emerged from the growing population of South African American migrants who brought with them the traditional strength and resolve of church community and family values. Although the area was strongly driven by the massive industrialization movement during World War II, the end of the war left behind a period of economic collapse and social chaos. The Black Panther Party was formed in this wake; driven by continued violence against young African Americans by local police forces, although initially a party that sought to inspire the independence of the African American community from government control, this image was modified throughout the movement in the wake of opposition and issues concerning the Party's image. In the Party's final years the focus was on helping the community of Oakland, California gain political ground both locally and later nationally; this was done by educating the community and offering assistance to the African American population, regardless of affiliation. The Party eventually succeeded in creating political ground, but its subsequent approach during the occupation of Merritt College and the public image of the Party's inner circle led to its decline and eventual dissolution in the importance that Southern migrants had on the movement future; although they did not play as large a role in the Party as the youth, the ideals and social structures of the older generation greatly inspired the Party and its rise to prominence. Murch uses it to explain why the Party has succeeded at the local level but has often failed at the national level. It cannot be argued that the Black Panther Party was not a socially driven movement, but Murch argues that the movement itself was driven by the social structures of the Bay Area's African American community. Murch approaches the success of the Black Panther Party from a perspective that examines how the party's positions and its course were driven by the public in which it was centered. Murch explains that Oakland's African American community was deeply rooted in family values ​​and social organizations, such as churches. The initial success of the Black Panther Party occurred without having to address these roots, but as the Party expanded and desired to move forward, changes in Party policy can be directly attributed to the desires and needs of the community. Murch profiles the Oakland Community School and the People's Free Food Program, social institutions created by the Black Panther Party to respond to needs