No, the Black Panthers were not a terrorist group and were far less violent than a typical biker gang. Violence is not a tool of good. Defending yourself with proportional violence is an unfortunate reality that people are faced with. This is more about survival though and not about advancing rights.

I think you are romanticizing violence. Please explain how violence has advanced the cause of human rights. When has violence solved our social problems.

That last bit is key to understanding US society. Violence has rarely worked in favor of the common US citizen, but has been used effectively to suppress them time and time again as we saw with the Civil Rights movement.

Violence only solves things in one way and that way is the exact opposite of what the majority of people want who are looking to improve society. The violent nature of the US brought through war and neoimperialism has perverted the entire world ushering in a new age of global fascism.

I shudder at the stupidity of people who think a violent revolution is going to fix things. That their rhetoric will magically rise from the ashes to create a better society. There are zero examples of this and most revolutions, saving perhaps the Haitain, were just wealthy groups using citizens as pawns.