Ericka Huggins

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Ericka Huggins
Ericka Huggins 01B.jpg
Huggins in 2015.
Born
Ericka Jenkins

(1948-01-05) January 5, 1948 (age 73)[1]
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationLincoln University
OccupationActivist, educator
Years activeSince 1967
Known forNew Haven Black Panther Trials
Political partyBlack Panther Party
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1967⁠–⁠1969)​
Partner(s)James Mott (1971–72)
Children3

Ericka Huggins (née Jenkins;[2] born January 5, 1948) is an American activist and educator. She is a former leading member of the Black Panther Party.

Biography[]

Education and career[]

Born Ericka Jenkins in Washington, D.C., Huggins was the middle child of three. After graduating high school in 1966, Huggins attended Cheyney State College. She began her collegiate years at Lincoln University, where she met her husband, Vietnam veteran John Huggins. She holds a master's degree in Sociology. In 1972, she moved to California and became an elected member of the Berkeley Community Development Council.[3] She was the Director of the Black Panther Party's from 1973 to 1981. Huggins is a Professor of Sociology at Laney College in Oakland and at Berkeley City College.[4] In addition, she has lectured at Stanford, Cornell, and UCLA.[4]

Black Panther Party[]

After joining the party in 1968,[5] Ericka Huggins became a leader in the Los Angeles chapter and later led the Black Panther Party chapter in New Haven, Connecticut, along with two other women, Kathleen Neal Cleaver and Elaine Brown.[6] Her husband John Huggins, who was leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party was assassinated on January 17, 1969, on the UCLA campus[7] because of a feud between the Black Panther Party and a Black Nationalist group, US Organization, that was fueled by the COINTELPRO program, a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting American political organizations.[8] Ericka Huggins attended the burial of her husband in his birthplace of New Haven.

New Haven Black Panther trials[]

Main article: New Haven Black Panther trials

In 1969, members of the New Haven Black Panthers tortured and murdered Alex Rackley, whom they suspected of being an informant. Along with Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, Huggins was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy.[9] Huggins was heard speaking on a tape recording of Rackley's interrogation that was played during the trial.[10] 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.[11]

Personal life[]

Ericka Huggins married John Huggins, a former leader of the Los Angeles, California chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1967. Ericka gave birth to their daughter, Mai Huggins, at the age of 20.[12] Within three months of their daughter's birth, Ericka was widowed when John Huggins was killed on the UCLA campus in January 1969. Huggins has two sons including one with James Mott, lead singer of The Lumpen, the Black Panthers singing group.

References[]

  1. ^ Bloom, Joshua; Martin, Waldo E. Jr (January 14, 2013). Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520953543.
  2. ^ "Film/Documentary/TV", Valerie C. Woods website.
  3. ^ "Black Panthers Win Elections in Berkeley", Jet, June 29, 1972, p. 7.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "bio cont'd". Erickahuggins.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  5. ^ "Biography", Ericka Huggins website.
  6. ^ Hine, Darlene (1998). A Shining Thread of Hope. New York, NY: Broadway Books. pp. 298. ISBN 0-7679-0111-8.
  7. ^ "Are We Better Off? | The Two Nations Of Black America | FRONTLINE". PBS. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  8. ^ Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets. W. W. Norton & Company (2001), p. 622.
  9. ^ Alan Lenhoff (March 20, 1971). "Testimony Continues in Seale, Huggins Trial". Michigan Daily.
  10. ^ Paul Bass, Black Panther Torture “Trial” Tape Surfaces, New Haven Independent, February 21, 2013.
  11. ^ Paul Bass; Douglas W. Rae (2006). Murder in the Model City: The Black Panthers, Yale, And the Redemption of a Killer. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465069026.
  12. ^ "Former Black Panther Visits UK | UK College of Arts & Sciences". As.uky.edu. March 23, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2012.

External links[]

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