Hidden Figures: Elaine Brown (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Elaine Brown

Elaine Brown grew up in the ghetto of North Philadelphia, the child of a single, working mother. After graduating from Philadelphia High School for Girls, she studied at Temple University for less than a semester before withdrawing and moving to Los Angeles, California to become a songwriter. While there she became involved with the Black Liberation Movement, working for a radical newspaper and becoming the first representative of the Black Student Alliance to the Black Congress in California. In April 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior, she attended her first meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Brown joined the Black Panther Party as a rank-and-file member, studying revolutionary literature, selling Black Panther Party newspapers, and cleaning guns, among other tasks. She soon helped the Party set up its first Free Breakfast for Children program in Los Angeles, as well as the Party’s initial Free Busing to Prisons Program and Free Legal Aid Program. She eventually assumed the role of editor of the Black Panther publication in the Southern California Branch of the Party, and in 1971, Brown became a member of the Party's Central Committee as Minister of Information, replacing Eldridge Cleaver. When Newton fled to Cuba in 1974 in the face of murder charges, he appointed Brown to lead the Party. The only woman to do so, Elaine Brown chaired the Black Panther Party from 1974 until 1977. During Brown's leadership of the Black Panther Party, she focused on electoral politics and community service. Brown stepped down from chairing the Black Panther Party in 1977 when Newton returned and she could no longer tolerate the sexism and patriarchy of the Party. She left Oakland with her daughter and moved to Los Angeles. She eventually returned to the struggle for black liberation, especially espousing the need for radical prison reform. In 1996, Brown moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and founded Fields of Flowers, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to providing educational opportunities for impoverished African-American children. In 1998, she co-founded the grassroots group Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice to advocate for children being prosecuted as adults in the state of Georgia. In 2003, Brown co-founded the National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform, which helps thousands of prisoners find housing after they are released on parole, facilitates transportation for family visits to prisons, helps prisoners find employment, and raises money for prisoner phone calls and gifts. In March 2007, Brown announced her bid to be the 2008 Green Party presidential nominee. Her platform focused on the needs of working-class families, promoting living wages for all, free health care, more funding for public education, more affordable housing, removal of troops from Iraq, improving the environment, and promoting equality. ~ via Wikipedia #HiddenFigures #ElaineBrown ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Twitter: @seren_sensei Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'Elaine Brown’s ‘A Taste Of Power’ About Only Woman To Lead Black Panther Party Acquired By The Firm, Robbie Brenner:' http://deadline.com/2017/09/black-panther-woman-leader-elaine-brown-a-taste-of-power-book-to-movie-the-firm-robbie-brenner-1202175279/ 'New Biopic Will Explore Life of Former Black Panther Party Chair, Elaine Brown:' http://www.colorlines.com/articles/new-biopic-will-explore-life-former-black-panther-party-chair-elaine-brown 'A Film On Black Panther Party Leader Elaine Brown Is In The Works:' http://www.okayplayer.com/culture/film-a-taste-of-power-black-panther-party-leader-elaine-brown.html A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story by Elaine Brown https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Power-Black-Womans-Story/dp/0385471076 The Condemnation of Little B - New Age Racism in America by Elaine Brown: https://www.amazon.com/Condemnation-Little-New-Racism-America/dp/080700975X Elaine Brown - Until We're Free (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhY_64vGw30 Elaine Brown - Seize The Time (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vzXhXJ6sz4 'Tracing History's Links to Bigotry in America Through 'Little B:' http://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/07/news/lv-books7 Brown, Elaine (1943- ): http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/brown-elaine-1943 Elaine Brown (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Brown