The Black Panthers & US (What Really Happened)

[The Illuminated Monk]

The Polarization of Cultural and Revolutionary Nationalism (The Black Panthers and Us what really happened?)

By Jabulani Durojaye



For those born during the late sixties or early seventies many know very little of what took place between two individual groups dedicated to the uplift of African people on the U.C.L.A. campus January 17,1969. As a consequence the shooting death of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins has been told with one organization being demonized as a result. Many people who through books or media outlet only hear the side of the Black Panther Party while erroneously ignoring US (wrongly referred to as the’ united slaves’) who to the contrary were not all treasonous and along with Maulana Karenga acted at the behest of the F.B.I. Eldridge Cleaver who dogmatically painted proponents of traditional African mores as ‘pork-chop nationalists’, along with Elaine Brown’s “A Taste of Power� created the image of the ‘all style and no substance’ cultural misfit: who at best was a slave to ascetic with no concrete plan for the liberation of the masses.


Prior to the U.C.L.A. shooting, Maulana Karenga as well as Huey Newton and Bobby Seale were both groomed and nurtured in Donald Warden’s: Afro-American Association (founded in 1962), and Karenga was initially a supporter of S.N.C.C. headed then by Kwame Ture and The Black Panther Party. US wanted to be the cultural voice working alongside the revolutionary one (The Black Panthers) i.e., after the Free Huey Rally (which) Karenga supported, the Panthers moved further into Maoism and made Mao Tse Tung’s little red book required reading. As the black power movement enveloped young men and women of that era both organizations like all movements (at) the time competed for new members, relations remained cordial and on several occasions the Black Panthers and US worked side by side. This would change with Huey. P. Newton now incarcerated and Eldridge Cleaver assuming a larger role, Cleaver who was influenced heavily by communist rhetoric would be instrumental in shaping an ideological change in party philosophy from a Black Nationalist party into an international revolutionary movement, laying the foundation for an eventual conflict. Without question the one incident that would see Maulana Karenga’s character besmirched for future generations is his 1968 meeting with then Governor Ronald Reagan, who Karenga intimates called his house. One of the reasons for the meeting (Maulana) says was an opportunity to dialogue about US members who were incarcerated, but Karenga’s youth (in his mid-twenties) and his arrogance would supplant common sense. Maulana met with Reagan by himself, which in retrospect he conceded was a mistake, this as well as a private meeting with L.A. Police Chief Thomas Reddin would rightfully raise issues of integrity amongst activist circles.

PART ONE

Humbly submitted for Kefentse Bandele my brother.

[RBG Street Scholar]

EXTRACTS:http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/077.html
The FBI's War on the Black Panther Party's Southern California Chapter
Maoist Internationalist Movement, MIM Theory #11, 30 October 1999

UCLA killings

Around this time, US leader Ron Karenga had suggested Dr. Charles Thomas as head of a proposed Black Studies program at UCLA. UCLA Chancellor Charles Young authorized funding for Karenga's program. The rank and file of the Black Student Union (BSU) were upset at having been uninvolved in the decision-making process. They called a meeting. Fearing the US organization, the BSU asked the BPP to act as security for the meeting. The BPP refused to take sides, but agreed to back up the BSU's majority decision regarding the program. On January 15, the BSU voted against Karenga's program.(55) At a follow-up meeting two days later, Carter and Huggins were shot and killed. (56)

"[Local Cointelpro head Richard] Held quickly took 'credit' for the killings [of Carter and Huggins], and recommended sending more cartoons. This was duly approved and resulted in the wounding of several more Panthers and the death of yet another, Sylvester Bell. In the aftermath, Held again patted himself on the back for such 'success' via internal memoranda."(57)

In 1969, Panther Ronald Freeman was shot by US organization members while selling BPP newspapers.(58) BPP member John Savage was killed by US members in San Diego on May 23. The BPP claimed that Savage had witnessed the Carter and Huggins murders and was killed to prevent him from testifying at the US members' trial.(59) In all, four Panthers were shot and one wounded by US members in 1969.(60)

The theory outlined above suggests that genuine rivalries between two genuine organizations were exacerbated by the FBI to create war between them. On the other end of the spectrum of plausible theories, some suggest that the US organization was not a genuine part of the Black power movement at all, but was in fact an anti-Panther death squad financed by the FBI. Elaine Brown suggests that she believes this was the case, at least after the Campbell Hall killings.(61) Former FBI infiltrator and agent-provocateur Earl Anthony alleges that he knows this to be true:

"When I met with [FBI Agents Robert] O'Connor and [Ron] Kizenski at our designated time [Aug. 6, 1968],...[t]hey said they were tired of the 'Panther shit,' and the FBI had worked out a deal with Karenga where they would supply US with weapons and a master plan to destroy the LA Black Panther Party; and they were hoping to get something like that going in New York."(62)

Anthony's words have proven in the past to be untrustworthy, so this allegation is not worth very much. It is quite possible that he is continuing to spread slanderous disinformation on behalf of the FBI.

What gives some credence, though not proof, to the theory held by Brown and Anthony is that while the more conservative theory holds that the FBI was using each group against the other, the repression faced by the BPP was much more severe than that faced by the US organization. The pattern of killings described above is a case in point. Another is that the FBI opened a conspiracy investigation for Panther Geronimo Pratt for a bank robbery that the FBI knew had been committed by US members.(63)

Another example of police favoritism towards US is the initial police response to the killings of Carter and Huggins, which was not to go after the US organization or any other suspects in the murder, but instead to deploy over 150 police officers to raid a Panther apartment and arrest 75 Panthers, including the remaining Panther leadership, on charges of intending to murder US members in retaliation!(64) Later, the police arrested US's Stiner brothers, Larry and George. The Stiners were given life terms and sent to San Quentin, but, adding to suspicions that US members were deliberately given light treatment, they "walked away from a minimum security area on March 30, 1974."(65) Larry Stiner turned himself in on Feb. 5, 1994, while George Stiner remained a fugitive.(66)
FBI killers?

Another theory holds that, whatever the role of the US organization as a whole, those who shot Carter and Huggins were knowing FBI agents. This theory, put forward by Huey Newton, relies on the testimony of a Black former FBI informant named D'Arthard Perry, also known as Ed Riggs and, according to him, the FBI code name "Othello."(67) Perry claims he reported directly to L.A. FBI agents Brandon Cleary, Will Heaton, and Michael Quinn.(68) Perry's testimony is more plausible than Anthony's (although it is possible that both are true), and is worth quoting at length:

"Shortly after my arrival in the parking lot I heard shots from the direction of Campbell Hall.

"Within a few minutes I observed George Stiner, Larry Stiner, and Claude Hubert also known as Chuchessa, jump into a 1967 or 1968 light tan or white, four-door Chevrolet driven by Brandon Cleary of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I saw this car drive away from the parking lot of Campbell Hall. I left the campus on foot and immediately went to FBI headquarters by bus. I inquired as to the whereabouts of Brandon Cleary at this time, and, was told he was not available. I am informed and believe that the four-door Chevrolet described above was the property of a man called 'Jomo,' a known member of the US organization, now deceased.

"I recognized George Stiner, Larry Stiner, and Claude Hubert from seeing them prior to this date on the 14th floor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation building on several occasions in the company of Brandon Cleary, the man I had seen drive them away from the Campbell Hall area.

"I had been told to give a report within twenty-four hours of the incident to my supervising agent, Will Heaton, on the 14th floor of the Wilshire Blvd. Federal Investigation building.

"A few hours later, I went to the building and met with my supervising agent, Will Heaton. While in his company, I observed George Stiner, Larry Stiner, and Claude Hubert in the company of Brandon Cleary on the 14th floor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation building. I asked Cleary, 'what was happening' and was told that there had been a 'fuck up' - no one was to be killed by 'our' people. I also learned that the car that had been driven by Cleary was taken from the place Jomo Shambulia had parked it and returned to the same parking space after the incident. I also learned that it was Claude Hubert who fired the shot that killed John Jerome Huggins and the same Claude Hubert who fired the shot that killed Alprentice 'Bunchy' Carter and not George or Larry Stiner.

"Through information and belief, I have knowledge that George Stiner and Larry Stiner were Intelligence Gatherers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and were working for Brandon Cleary and others when John Jerome Huggins and Alprentice 'Bunchy' Carter were murdered. I am informed and believe that Claude Hubert was on January 17, 1969 at the time he reportedly executed John Jerome Huggins and Alprentice 'Bunchy' Carter, an agent in the service of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles office. I am further informed that this same Claude Hubert was subsequently transferred to an east coast office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, specifically New York, New York."(69)
White former FBI agent M. Wesley Swearingen relates a similar account:

"Soon after I had been assigned to the Los Angeles racial squad, I was told by a fellow agent that another agent on the squad had arranged for [his] informers in the United Slaves to assassinate Alprentice Carter and John Huggins. Following [the agent's] instructions, informants George Stiner and Larry Stiner shot them to death on the UCLA campus on January 17, 1969.

"I later reviewed the Los Angeles files and verified that the Stiner brothers were FBI informants. I know that D'arthard Perry was an FBI informant and that he is telling the truth about the FBI."(70)

Again, while the details are disputed, the basic fact is not. Regardless of how direct or indirect the FBI's role was in the murders of Carter and Huggins, clearly at the very least the FBI encouraged the hostilities that culminated in the murders, then claimed credit after the murders took place.

[JemChi]

Soooo u done finally got ur OFFICIAL ASSATA PASS JABSTER..

Good information, I was only lightly educated on this topic, looking forward to part 2..

[The Illuminated Monk]

PART II BLACK PANTHERS AND US WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

With a conflict inevitable members from the Black Panthers and US would become historical casualties on the campus of U.C.L.A. during a time when members from both organizations participated in the “High Potential Program�. Geared towards those who could not meet the academic requirements of the university. Tensions reached its apex with both groups attempting to support different candidates for the position of director of Black Studies; Karenga who sat on the advisory board was viewed as nothing more then a pompous interloper, who usurped the voice of the students which resulted in an alternative board that had Elaine Brown and John Huggins on it. January 17, 1969 tensions escalated into a fight between John Huggins, Bunchy Carter of the Black Panthers and US members Harold Jones-Tawala, Larry Watini-Stiner and Claude Hubert-Gaidi firing shots at both Huggins and Carter. The irony of the tragedy (is) unlike behavior that was exemplified by prominent Panthers Newton, Seale and Cleaver: who took pleasure in physically attacking cultural nationalists, both Huggins and Carter were Panther members trying to immobilize a potential war?





So what could have happened to escalate to the point where two Black Panthers would die, and three members [not counting Claude Hubert-Gaidi] would be convicted of conspiracy and second degree murder. US member and Simba Wachanga [the young lions] Sikivu Kabaila was with Maulana Karenga in New York at the time and remembers the call Karenga received that day that would change both movements forever. If many people were undecided about US and the Panthers that now was changed and Karenga’s humbled silence admitted that.Sikivu Kabaila alleges that the shooting involved Elaine Brown who was romantically linked with an US member, and that Brown has embellished many details about that day as well as the role US played in the struggle. Geronimo Pratt head of Bunchy Carter’s security detail says that during the altercation both Panthers drew their guns and the US members responded in defense of their fellow member, but the damage was done.


On April 5, 1969: Maulana Karenga was relieved of his post as Minister of Education of the Republic of New Afrika (and replaced by Herman Ferguson), and two years later would be convicted of torturing Brenda Jones and Gail (Idili) Davis, and would lose support from early members upon his release. Huey Newton would lose his battle with drugs, Eldridge Cleaver would become a philosophical nomad, and Bobby Seale would cook and promote soul food. With everything in life there is always the story, and it is imperative to tell both sides before drawing conclusions, for in making this conclusion we must see even African on African crime has and can occur amongst those who are our vanguard.


REFERENCES CITED

Fighting for US (Maulana Karenga, the US Organization,
And Cultural Nationalism: Scot Brown

The FBI’S War on the BPP’S Southern California Chapter: Sikivu Kabaila

Shadow of a Panther: Hugh Pearson

The Black Panther: May 11, 1969, Page (7)




Jabulani Durojaye is a researcher, activist, writer, artist and the older brother of Kefentse Bandele both are members of The Monastery of Illumination and write for Nyansa and The African Paradigm both published monthly.

[Kefentse_Bandele]

The Black Party for Self Defense's leadership was also ignorant to the fact that US had a crucial role to play in the struggle. The idea of US as a cultural wing of the Panther Party was shot down by Huey because he had Mao and Karl Marx in his head! Never did he (Huey) research the African revolutionaries and their contributions to the struggle. Now George Jackson, Ji Jaga, Kwame Toure and maybe a few others understood the necessity of culture as it relates to liberation as stated by Amilcar Cabral, Mwalimu Nyrere and Sekou Toure.

I am currently reading a book entitled, "Fighting for US".

I will have more on this topic sooner than later!

Uhuru & Umoja!

[BlackQueen]

Fighting for US? Wasn't it written by Maulana Karenga?

The Black Party for Self Defense's leadership was also ignorant to the fact that US had a crucial role to play in the struggle. The idea of US as a cultural wing of the Panther Party was shot down by Huey because he had Mao and Karl Marx in his head! Never did he (Huey) research the African revolutionaries and their contributions to the struggle. Now George Jackson, Ji Jaga, Kwame Toure and maybe a few others understood the necessity of culture as it relates to liberation as stated by Amilcar Cabral, Mwalimu Nyrere and Sekou Toure.

I am currently reading a book entitled, "Fighting for US".

I will have more on this topic sooner than later!

Uhuru & Umoja!

[The Illuminated Monk]

No beloved sister Fighting for Us was written by Scot Brown a U.C.L.A. professor who was assisted by Karenga and former US members, one of which was R.B. artist James Mtume who wrote and supplied the vocals for the 1983 smash hit 'Juicy' which we all know was used by Notorious BIG.