Abstract
Taking Mario Van Peebles's feature film Panther (1995) as a starting point, this paper explores the significance of betrayal and the figure of the informant/informer in (mostly autobiographical) texts authored by members of the Black Panther Party. It argues that in constructing memory, it seems that integrating one's experiences or perceptions of mistrust, deception, and betrayal is a valuable narrative device to evaluate the meaning of political struggle both to oneself and to other readers. In this regard, memorizing and writing about the informant/informer is a means to ascertain and stabilize knowledge about the group, its political struggle, and its legacy.