Explaining Andy Samberg's Golden Globes joke about the government's treatment of the Black Panther party

Newsweek

Samberg's unusual joke diverted from being about Ryan Coogler's Black Panther movie to the Black Panther party, surprisingly taking aim at the U.S. government for violent suppression of black activists groups like the Black Panthers. NBC cameras awkwardly showed Coogler's reaction during the middle of the joke. The Berkeley-born Samberg and Oakland's Coogler were raised miles apart, so they  were likely immersed in Black Panther history growing up. In fact, Samberg graduated from Berkeley High School, the only public high school with an African American Studies department, which was co-founded in 1968 by a member of the Black Panthers.