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• 1 2023-12-03T19:20:32-08:00 Elaine Brown 15 Black Panther Party 1968-1978 image_header 2023-12-11T20:53:22-08:00

  Elaine Brown was born and raised in the inner city of North Philadelphia born March 2, 1943 to her mother named Dorothy Clark and her absent father. Brown was the result of a love affair between her mother who worked as a dress factory worker and her father who was a well known Philadelphia dentist. Because her father was a married well known dentist at the time, he chose not to be involved in her life resulting in her working class mother to parent Brown alone as a single parent. Her mother sacrificed and worked long and exhausting hours to provide for her more opportunities. Brown was given ballet and piano lessons during her childhood which sparked her interest in music. When entering kindergarten, Brown’s mother was aware of the importance of education and did not want her attending the local public school with less school resources and extra curricular activities so she demanded she attend a school called Philadelphia High School for Girls, a public preparatory school for gifted young women. At first her mother experienced much push back from the school; however, she demanded her child's attendance by having community leaders write letters to the school advocating for Elaine Brown. After much persuading Brown was finally enrolled into the predominantly white elementary school and stayed until graduating among the top students in her high school class. As a young Black woman, Elaine had very few African-American friends and spent most of her time with white people experiencing life outside the ghetto streets. After graduating high school Brown briefly studied at Temple University for less than a semester before withdrawing. She withdrew from Temple because of her desire to work in the music industry. Brown moved to Los Angeles, California, to become a professional  songwriter. While in Los Angeles Brown's involvement in politics grew and she began writing for the radical Black Congress Newspaper called Harambee.  Brown’s first direct exposure to the Black Panther Party came through local appeals for the Huey Newton Legal Defense Fund. In April 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she attended her first meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party. When she first joined the party as a rank and file member her responsibilities were studying revolutionary literature, and selling Black Panther Party newspapers. As a member she helped establish the party’s first Free Breakfast for Children program outside of Oakland and by 1971 she worked her way to become editor of the party paper. Brown’s life changed in the organization once she officially met the co-founder of the party; Huey Newton at an airport, upon her return from a trip organized by fellow Panther named Eldridge Cleaver. She had never met Newton in person before, she had only previously seen him on posters during the Free Newton Movement while he was in jail awaiting trial for the murder of a police officer. Her and Newton became very close as she admired him as leader and a lover. During the year of 1974 Huey Newton appointed Brown as the first woman to lead the Black Panther Party before fleeing to Cuba to avoid criminal charges. Brown solidified her position as leader of the male-dominated party and worked to redefine the Panthers’ revolutionary program to include the aspirations of black women.  Under her direction, the Panthers built 300 houses for displaced people, elected the first black mayor of Oakland, CA, and successfully resisted police brutality. The Black Panthers also established the Free Breakfast for Children Program, free health clinics, liberation schools, and much more. In the year of 1978 she left her leadership position in the party after Huey Newton’s return to resume his role. Her decision to leave the party was driven by the sexist treatment and threats of violence during her time of leadership. Moving on from the Black Panther Party, she continued her passion and commitment to shattering social barriers. In 1998, Brown co-founded the grassroots Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice, which advocated against children being prosecuted as adults in the state of Georgia. Five years later, she co-founded the National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform, which was created to provide reentry support for thousands of incarcerated people upon their release. Brown is also CEO of Oakland & the World Enterprises Inc., which is a  nonprofit organization dedicated to launching and sustaining for-profit businesses for cooperative-ownership by formerly incarcerated people and other people facing monumental social barriers to economic survival. Brown later committed her activism to radical prison reform and providing educational resources for African American children living in poverty. Currently, Brown lectures frequently on prison reform at conferences, colleges, and universities.