The Black Panther may have not used the word "psychosurgery" in its earlier articles because without a definition of what psychosurgery is the word could have been viewed as a more sanitized way to describe the brutality of psychosurgery procedures. It would then make sense that the Black Panthers earlier articles described individual procedures and then once the reader base had an idea of the horrors of psychosurgery they switched to just using the term.

Psychosurgery As a Sanitized Word

My second idea is that the Black Panther Party did not use psychosurgery in articles that related specifically to an individuals experience rather than the experience of the Black community, the experiences of a group of people at a facility, or a subset of the Black community (e.g. Black veterans). By describing individual procedures more care is given for each individuals story.

Descriptions to Highlight Individual Experiences

Schalk makes particular note of how the word psychosurgery was not used until "Tearing Out Our Thoughts: Psychosurgery and the Black Community," I have two thoughts as to why this is. 

University of Wisconsin - Madison

"Tearing Out Our Thoughts: Psychosurgery and the Black Community" published on January 6, 1973 in The Black Panther was the first article published by the paper to use the word psychosurgery.

"Tearing Out Our Thoughts: Psychosurgery and the Black Community"

Neither "Burn Your Brains Out" or "Vacaville 'Medical' Facility" used the words psychosurgery or lobotomy, despite the discussion of psychosurgery. However both articles detailed the procedures performed.

Terminology in "Burn Your Brains Out" and "Vacaville 'Medical' Facility"

Schalk, Sami. Black Disability Politics, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027003

Black Disability Politics

The article was split into two parts, first a description of what psychosurgery is and its past use on animal and human subjects. The second portion of the article consists of how more contemporary uses of psychosurgery in the 1970s had been used against Black and other marginalized populations, especially those engaged in revolutionary action. 

Structure of "Tearing Out Our Thoughts: Psychosurgery and the Black Community"

Use of the Word 'Psychosurgery'

One example of a description in "Burn Your Brains Out" included the detailing of the insertion of electrode needles into an inmate's brain in order to burn out the part that was deemed to be a description of amygdalotomy.  

Example of Terminology used in "Bun Your Brains Out"

- Centering of Disabled People of Color
- Critical Stance Towards Medical Professionals
- Not Distancing Blackness from Disability
- Critique of the Black Panther's Coverage

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