An Oral History with Ericka Huggins

Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Ericka Huggins AN ORAL HISTORY WITH ERICKA HUGGINS Interviews conducted by Fiona Thompson in 2007 Public Domain 2010 ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Ericka Huggins, dated April 23, 2010; and interviewer Fiona Thomson dated May 24, 2010. This manuscript has been donated to The Bancroft Library and placed in Public Domain and thereby made available for research purposes. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Ericka Huggins, “An Oral History with Ericka Huggins” conducted by Fiona Thompson, 2007, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2010. iii Ericka Huggins iv Table of Contents—Ericka Huggins Interview History vii Interview 1: Fall 2007 [undated] 1 Birth and upbringing in Washington, DC — The White House — African American community — High school — Slave mothers and daughters — Huggins’ mother, born in the South in 1918, and her father, “the individualist” — Huggins’ teenage poetry and introspection — The March on Washington — Sister Kyra — The continuum from admiring JFK to joining the Black Panthers — MLK and Malcolm X — Gandhi — Slave mentality — The Black Student Congress on the campus of Lincoln University — Her experiences in the first class of women at Lincoln University — Cheyney State Teachers College — Ku Klux Klan — The Black Power Movement — Friendships, and Huey Newton, and Huggins’ decision to move to California — Stokely Carmichael, Charles Hamilton at Lincoln University — A Swahili class — Mother’s reaction to news that her daughter was joining the Black Panthers — Father’s alcoholism — John Huggins Audio File 2 21 Intimacy and human relationships — Driving to Lo Angeles with John Huggins in 1967 — Factory work, women’s workers, and the need for a union — Drugs vs. meditation — The Black Panthers in Los Angeles — The “Free Huey” rally — Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Betty Shabazz, Reies Tijerina, and Maulana Ron Karenga — Huey Newton’s mother gives a moving speech — John Huggins becomes Captain of the Party in Los Angeles — Alprentice (Bunchy) Carter — Food — John Huggins’ fearlessness — The popularity of the Panthers among the Hollywood elite — Daughter Mai’s birth — A prescient dream — Forebodings of death — Naming Mae, the Party baby — A post-partum birthday party Interview 2: September 21, 2007 Audio File 3 35 A sexist incident at Lincoln University — Recourse — The Black Panthers and coalitions — The Vanguard — White privilege and social movements — Black revolutionaries and white radicals — The White Panthers and the John Brown Society — The problem with multiculturalism and social movements — Talking about slavery and police brutality — Race, class, black revolutionaries, and the Communist Party — Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker — J. Edgar Hoover and “abuser fear” — The legacy of slavery and generational trauma — Activism and writing — Standing up — FBI harassment and the death of John Huggins — Tension on the UCLA campus — Ron Karenga’s cultural nationalism — The US organization — Bunchy Carter, Ron Karenga, and a student dispute — The High Potential Program at UCLA — FBI infiltration and Cointelpro — The murder of v Bunchy Carter and John Huggins at UCLA — Police surveillance — Geronimo Pratt — Fear — Swarmed by the police — Protecting Mai — “Is this America?” — A crazy cop and a not-crazy cop — A trip to the morgue — Nursing Mae in the back of a police car — Ericka Huggins’ arrest — At the police station: “No tears and no answers” — Walter Bremond, the Black Congress — Collusion of the US organization and the police — Evan Walker comes for Ericka, Mai, and the body of John Huggins — A train trip to New Haven — John Huggins’ family — The murder of Alex Rackley — Ericka Huggins is charged Audio File 4 56 Mai Huggins — Making meaning out of tragedy — Telling the story, correcting the record — What happened to Alex Rackley — Two years in prison, meditation, introspection, moving forward — Ron Karenga’s ego — Mai’s fatherlessness — A class action suit against the government — Trials, courts, FBI surveillance — More about Alex Rackley — FBI informants — George Sams — The Black Panthers in New Haven — More about the murder of Alex Rackley — Self-blame, introspection — Forgiveness and grief Interview 3: September 28, 2007 Audio File 5 66 The trial of Ericka Huggins and Bobby Seale, New Haven, CT, 1971 — Communications with lawyers and supporters — Huggins’ organizing while in prison — The Sister Love Collective — Doing hair — Women and community — The warden — Creativity in prison — incarcerated women addicts — Huggins’ return to prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities as a teacher of meditation — Lawyers Charles Garry, Elizabeth Roraback — Garry’s approach to jury selection — “America is on trial” — Lawyer David Rosen’s epiphany about the lack of justice in the justice system — Garry’s style of cross examination — And his yoga and meditation practice — David Hilliard and Huey Newton — The jury, and the six or seven women “who saved us” — Case dismissed — More about Catherine Roraback — Prosecutor Arnold Markle — Ericka Huggins takes the stand — George Sams — Freedom, forgiveness, a reunion with Mai — A return to California — “Here Comes the Sun” — The effect on Mai of the loss of both parents at a young age — A spiritual path — More about Mai — Stories about John Huggins’ childhood, and his kindness as an adult — Oakland in 1971, and the state of the Panthers then — Writing for the Panthers’ newspaper, working as editor of the Intercommunal News Service — Directing the Intercommunal Youth Institute and the Oakland Community School — ”A gigantic family” — Funding — Huey Newton’s addictions — Living with Elaine Brown — The Panthers’ Children’s Houses — Serving three meals a day at the Community School vi Audio File 6 85 More about the food at the school, and innovative programs like Project Seed — The school culture and curriculum — The Association of Alternative Schools — “We were the great-great grandma of charter schools” — Elaine Brown’s travel to China and her reports on childcare there — Teaching American history, slave history — Affirmation and community and interdependence — Huey Newton’s addition and his demons — Pressures of Cointelpro — FBI documents — Newton’s paranoia Interview 4: October 5, 2007 Audio File 7 92 Huey Newton’s personality, and speculation that he suffered from bipolar disorder — Ericka Huggins’ pregnancy with son Rasa — A shooting, and Newton’s exile to Cuba — His return to Oakland — Sexual relations among Party members — Newton’s visits to the school — And his cocaine use — A confrontation — “The Huey I knew was gone” — Jonestown murder-suicide — “The meditation revolution” — Swami Muktananda — The power of Shiva — Huey Newton’s meeting with Muktananda — Newton’s agitation and addiction — Meditation at the Children’s Houses — Newton’s behavior in 1997 — Rape and a threat — Ericka Huggins’ decision to leave the Black Panthers — Nightmares and healing — Severing ties, ending a relationship — Baba’s advice: “Remember not to hate him” — Huey Newton’s funeral [End of Interview] vii Interview History This series of four interviews with Ericka Huggins was conducted in the fall of 2007. They cover her life from her childhood through the late 1970s, and focus primarily on her work with the Black Panther Party. Ericka Huggins has been an activist for her entire adult life – longer considering that she attended the March on Washington on her own at age 15. A few years later she was dropping out of college to join the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles, where she quickly became a leader within the Party's chapter there. In 1969, Ericka's husband John Huggins was shot dead by members of the US Organization, a Black Nationalist group. Tensions between the Black Panther Party and US were later shown to have been fomented by an FBI counterintelligence campaign. Shortly after John's death, Ericka traveled with their infant daughter to John's family's home in New Haven. In Connecticut she helped to found a new Party chapter, but within a few months she found herself a defendant (along with Party Chairman Bobby Seale) in an internationally notorious murder trial. When the trial ended and the judge dropped all charges against her and Seale, Ericka moved to Oakland,

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