A TASTE OF POWER ELAINE BROWN A T A S T E O F P O W E R A Black Woman's Story ANCHOR BOOKS DOUBLEDAY NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND AN ANCHOR BOOK PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036 ANCHOR BOOKS, DOUBLEDAY, and the portrayal of an anchor are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. A Taste of Puwer was originally published in hardcover by Pantheon Books in 1992. The Anchor Books edition is published by arrangement with Pantheon Books. Page 451 constitutes a continuation of this copyright page. Library of Congress Catalogi,ng-in-Publication Data Brown, Elaine, 1943- A taste of power : a black woman's story I Elaine Brown. - 1st Anchor Books ed. p. cm. Originally published: New York: Pantheon Books,© 1992. 1. Brown, Elaine, 1943- . 2. Black Panther Party-Biography. 3. Afro-Americans--Biography. 4. Black power-United States. I. Title. [El85.97.B866A3 1994] 973' .0496073'0092--ck20 [B] 93-30816 CIP ISBN 0-385-4 7107-6 Cofryright © 1992 by Elaine Brawn ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION: January 1994 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 For Ericka Suzanne Brown Thank you for your gift of life CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 Assumption 3 2 York Street 17 3 "We Are the Girls Who Don't Take No Stuff" 36 4 Some Other Life 63 5 The Child Has Died 83 6 Getting Black 105 7 Living for the People 132 8 January 17th 156 9 Postmortem 171 10 Dying for the People 185 11 Where Is the Love? 208 viii Contents 12 Becoming Huey's Queen 241 13 Kiss of the Panther 268 14 Sanctuary 295 15 A New Wave to Ride 311 16 Chairman 328 17 A Woman's Revolution 356 18 Alpha and Omega 377 19 Friends and Enemies 401 20 Enemies and Friends 417 21 "I'll Change the World for You" 437 Illustration Credits 452 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Though the writing of this book required eight years of my life to complete, I was not alone. I was bolstered by a small and special community of people, whom I wish to acknowledge: SUZANNE DE PASSE, who made me believe I had a story worth telling and that I was worthy of telling it. CALVIN HERNTON, who patiently gave me the tools of his artistry, and challenged me tenderly to be true to the word and find the true words. KAY LEVATTER, my psychotherapist for seven years, who guided me carefully through the valley of the past. AMANDA URBAN, my literary agent, who started with me and stayed with me because she believed in me. LINDA HEALEY, my editor, whose pen was at once healing and merciful. PIERRE ELBY, whose love over the past years gave me the spirit to see this through and whose support gave me the strength to do it. DOROTHY CLARK, my mother, who gave me something more than I recognized when I set about this writing: the ability to write. Ix