Manifestos use radical language to catch your attention. In order to be understood, you must first be noticed. If one is already a member of a marginalized group, one cannot simply say, “I deserve to be listened to.” and have it happen. One must take their words and use them to grab their audience by their shirt collars and shake them into understanding what is going on in their peripheral vision that they have previously ignored. The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Plan and the SCUM Manifesto both do this in different ways and to different effects. The Black Panther Party uses the outline and language of well known American documents to portray the point that they are both American and despised by Americans. It is a tactic meant to offend those who read it and feel that the documents have been appropriated, but also to remind them of the idea that “men are created equal” which we have since ignored when inconvenient. I think it is significantly more effective than the language of the SCUM Manifesto. However, both have their pros and cons. The SCUM Manifesto uses a form of radical language that I find a bit overbearing. I don’t like when organizations become so radical in their rhetoric that they begin discussing killing the oppressor. My personal preference, however, doesn’t take away from the fact that this is, indeed, an effective tactic. It allows the marginalized to assert power over their oppressor verbally and build up to a physical/political assertion of this power. The SCUM Manifesto certainly catches the attention of their audience and builds up the energy within their base.