Ericka Huggins ( Jenkins; born January 5, 1948)
is an American activist, writer, and educator. She is a former leading member of the political organization,
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
(BPP). She was married to fellow BPP member
John Huggins
John Jerome Huggins Jr. (February 11, 1945 – January 17, 1969) was an American activist. He was the leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party who was killed by black nationalist US Organization members at the University o ...
in 1968. In 1969, as part of the
New Haven Black Panther trials
In 1969-1971 there was a series of criminal prosecutions in New Haven, Connecticut, against various members and associates of the Black Panther Party. The charges ranged from criminal conspiracy to first-degree murder. All charges stemmed from t ...
, Huggins was charged with various crimes relating to the murder of
Alex Rackley
Alex Rackley (June 2, 1949 – May 20, 1969) was an American activist who was a member of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in the late-1960s. In May 1969, Rackley was suspected by other Panthers of being a police informant. H ...
. She was found not guilty on all charges and released from prison in 1971.
Early life and education
Born Ericka Jenkins in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, Huggins was the middle child of three. After graduating high school in 1966, Huggins attended
Cheyney State College
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest university out of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. It is a mem ...
(now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania). She then attended
Lincoln University, an historically black school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There she studied education, and eventually met John Huggins, who she would later marry in 1968.
Although Lincoln University’s Black Student Congress was opposed to female leaders, Huggins engaged in the group despite the opposition.
She holds a Master of Arts in Sociology from
California State University, East Bay
California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...
. Her thesis focused on an education model which proposed “student-centered, community-based tuition-free education for students to minimize the multigenerational race and gender trauma of American”
Career
In 1972, she moved to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and became an elected member of the
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
Community Development Council. Later, in 1976, she was elected onto the Alameda County Board of Education. She was both the first Black person, as well as the first Black woman to have a seat on the Board.
From 2008 to 2015, Huggins worked in the
Peralta Community College District
The Peralta Community College District is the community college district serving northern Alameda County, California. The district operates four community colleges: Berkeley City College, Laney College and Merritt College in Oakland, and Coll ...
as a professor of sociology, African American studies, and women studies. She taught sociology at both
Laney College
Laney College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County, California, Alameda County. Laney Coll ...
and at
Berkeley City College
Berkeley City College (BCC, formerly Vista Community College) is a public community college in Berkeley, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Peralta Community College District. Berkeley City College is accre ...
, as well as women’s studies at
California State University
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...
.
In addition, for more than 30 years, she has lectured at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
,
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
where she has spoke about education, spirituality, feminism, prison reform, and queer people of color homelessness.
In relation to her work with spirituality, Huggins did work for 15 years at the Siddha Yoga Prison Project where she led
hatha yoga
Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...
and meditation to groups such as incarcerated people, public school children, and college students.
At the Mind/Body Medical Institute, which works with
Harvard medical school
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
, she continued sharing her spirituality and its practices for 5 years.
Involvement with the Black Panther Party
While at Lincoln University, Both Ericka and her husband were inspired to leave school, and join the Black Panther Party.
Her motivation came from a Ramparts magazine article she read that discussed the cruel treatment of Huey P. Newton while incarcerated. A picture in the article depicted Newton shirtless, with a bullet wound in his stomach, strapped to a hospital gurney.
In 1967, the couple arrived in Los Angeles and joined the Black Panther Party.
Eventually, her husband John Huggins, became leader of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Black Panther Party.
While at home with her three week old daughter, her husband was assassinated on January 17, 1969, on the UCLA campus
due to a feud between the Black Panther Party and a Black Nationalist group, US Organization, that was fueled by the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
's
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrati ...
program.
[Gentry, Curt, ''J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets''. W. W. Norton & Company (2001), p. 622.] After his death, Ericka attended his burial in his birthplace of New Haven, Connecticut. Following his funeral, she decided to move there and open up a new Black Panther Party branch.
She led this new chapter along two other women,
Kathleen Neal Cleaver
Kathleen Neal Cleaver (born May 13, 1945) is an American law professor and activist, known for her involvement with the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party, a political and revolutionary.
Early life
Juette Kathleen Neal was bor ...
and
Elaine Brown
Elaine Brown (born March 2, 1943) is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther Party chairwoman who is based in Oakland, California.Wheaton, Sarah (December 12, 2010)"Inmates in Georgia Prisons Use Contraband Phone ...
.
While involved with the Black Panthers, Huggins held several positions: both an editor and writer for the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, director of the party’s Oakland Community School from 1973 to 1981, and a member of the party’s Central Committee.
After spending two years in prison, Huggins decided to leave the Black Panthers, after being a member for 14 years, which is the longest membership for any woman involved with it.
New Haven Black Panther trials
In 1969, members of the New Haven Black Panthers tortured and murdered
Alex Rackley
Alex Rackley (June 2, 1949 – May 20, 1969) was an American activist who was a member of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in the late-1960s. In May 1969, Rackley was suspected by other Panthers of being a police informant. H ...
, whom they suspected of being an informant. Along with Black Panther Party co-founder
Bobby Seale
Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
, Huggins was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. Huggins was heard speaking on a tape recording of Rackley's interrogation that was played during the trial.
[Paul Bass]
Black Panther Torture "Trial" Tape Surfaces
''New Haven Independent'', February 21, 2013. The trial sparked protests across the country about whether the Panthers would receive a fair trial and the jury selection would become the longest in state history. In May 1971 the jury deadlocked 10 to 2 for Huggins' acquittal, and she was not retried.
Writing and poetry
While awaiting trial from 1969 to 1972, Huggins spent her time writing in the Prison Niantic State Farm for Women. Writing about the poor social conditions herself and her community endured, she viewed storytelling as a form of self-defense, personal agency, and educational activism. Her work is defined by themes such as love and hate, time and space, sexism and feminism, spirituality, racism, and nationalism. After being released from prison and all charges being requited, ''Insights and Poems'', a book of poetry, co written by Huggins and
Huey P. Newton
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966.
Under Newton's leadershi ...
, founder of the Black Panther Party, was released in 1975.
Personal life
Ericka Huggins married
John Huggins
John Jerome Huggins Jr. (February 11, 1945 – January 17, 1969) was an American activist. He was the leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party who was killed by black nationalist US Organization members at the University o ...
in 1968.
Ericka gave birth to their daughter, Mai Huggins, at the age of 20.
Within three months of their daughter's birth, Ericka became a widow when John Huggins was killed on the UCLA campus in January 1969.
Huggins has two sons. One of her sons is Rasa Sun Mott,
whom she had with James Mott, lead singer of the ''Lumpen'', the Black Panthers singing group. Huggins has been with her now partner, Lisbet Tellefsen, who is an archivist, collector, and curator for 16 years.
Bibliography
*
References
External links
Official websiteEricka C. Huggins oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Oakland, California, 2016 June 30 from Library of Congress
Young Lords in Lincoln Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huggins, Ericka
Members of the Black Panther Party
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American activists
Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area
People from Berkeley, California
American sociologists
American women sociologists
African-American social scientists
Living people
1948 births
People from Oakland, California
20th-century American women
21st-century American women