Part 1 - The Life of Black Panther Queer Woman Ericka Huggins; & The Book of Everyday Resistance

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Details: Published: 22 July 2025

Out-FM aired on Tues., July 22

Press play to stream or green down arrow to download mp3 file.

Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins — Dr. Mary Frances Phillips

Part 1 - Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins

In this segment, we’ll be discussing the first biography published on one of Out-FM’s repeated guests: revered Black Panther and queer woman Ericka Huggins who is also a mother, widow, educator, poet, and former political prisoner, held for two years. She is also the coauthor, with Stephen Shames, of the 2022 book, Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party. The new biography was written by Dr. Mary Frances Phillips, Associate Professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and co-creator of the Intersectional Black Panther Party History Project. Dr. Phillips is our guest for this two-part interview, joining us from Illinois. Rhonda Williams, author of Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century, has written a comment about Dr. Phillips’s new book, titled Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins: “A remarkable story of awakening, commitment, grit, and fearlessness in the wake of personal pain, grassroots struggle, and state violence. [It] is itself a meditation on the pertinence and power of spiritual wellness and encourages us to consider what a radically holistic movement for liberation might need.”

In Part 1 of the interview, Stahimili Mapp and Bob Lederer discuss with Dr. Phillips her attempt to disrupt "the skewed public image of female revolutionaries as silenced helpmates and background characters, placing a necessary spotlight on Huggins transformative self-care practices, feminist theories, and educational activist work.” They also discuss how Ericka and two other incarcerated women resisted being crushed by brutal treatment in prison “by protecting, caring for, and uplifting one another when faced with brutality, and the torture of solitary confinement in particular.” They also discuss how they responded using direct action hunger strikes "to protest the lack of prenatal and postnatal care for pregnant women, as well as the substandard nutrition and horrific prison conditions."

In addition, we will play a clip from Out-FM's 2020 interview with Ericka Huggins. For a video of that earlier interview, click here.

Tune in again a week from now, Tues., July 29 at 8PM ET, for Part 2 of our interview with Mary Phillips, including another clip from Ericka Huggins and from political prisoner and former Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal in praise of Ericka's work during a 2024 interview with Out-FM.

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Queer Writers' Resistance to Trump

Lori Perkins

Lori Perkins has been a newspaper editor, literary agent, book editor, professor and author for four decades. She considers herself a “word-slinger” because words are the ammunition that we all have.  She encourages you all to use your power and fight the good fight. Lori discusses the need for mass resistance to the Trumpian onslaught. Perkins founded the L. Perkins Literary Agency in 1988, which she still runs, and Riverdale Avenue Books, an award-winning indie publisher 13 years ago. She was moderator of a forum at the Rainbow Book Fair titled: She is also the author of 30 books (both fiction and nonfiction), including the just published THE BOOK OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE, which is free to download.

The Book of Everyday Resistance, by Lori Perkins

-------------------------------

SUPPORT THE WBAI FUND DRIVE!

Keep fearless independent journalism alive & strong!

We urge you to consider becoming a WBAI Buddy (sustainer) at $10/month -- AND MORE if you can afford it. Or you can make a ONE-TIME tax-deductible contribution of any amount.

Three ways to donate:

Online, go to buddy.wbai.org and, in the drop-down menu, we hope you'll click on Out-FM as your favorite show. (The station now accepts PayPal.)

By phone, call 833-WBAI-NYC or 833-922-4692. If no one answers right away, leave a message and you’ll get a call within a day.

Send a check or money order, made out to WBAI/Pacifica via USPS. Mail to:
WBAI - Donations
388 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217

--------------

About Out-FM

Out-FM is a weekly progressive, intersectional queer show by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, non-binary, gender non-conforming, intersex, queer, and questioning communities. Our program originates from listener-sponsored, noncommercial WBAI/Pacifica Radio in New York, 99.5 FM and wbai.org. Our programs are archived at outfm.org. You can also follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Sign up for Out-FM's Weekly Newsletter with show announcements.

Support us by following, liking and sharing our content on social media. Find us at:

●   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutFMRadio/
●   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/out_fm/
●   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/outfm.bsky.social
●   X: https://x.com/outfm

Dr. Mary Frances Phillips — Dr. Mary Frances Phillips

Part 1 - Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins

In this segment, we’ll be discussing the first biography published on one of Out-FM’s repeated guests: revered Black Panther and queer woman Ericka Huggins who is also a mother, widow, educator, poet, and former political prisoner, held for two years. She is also the coauthor, with Stephen Shames, of the 2022 book, Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party. The new biography was written by Dr. Mary Frances Phillips, Associate Professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and co-creator of the Intersectional Black Panther Party History Project. Dr. Phillips is our guest for this two-part interview, joining us from Illinois. Rhonda Williams, author of Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century, has written a comment about Dr. Phillips’s new book, titled Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins: “A remarkable story of awakening, commitment, grit, and fearlessness in the wake of personal pain, grassroots struggle, and state violence. [It] is itself a meditation on the pertinence and power of spiritual wellness and encourages us to consider what a radically holistic movement for liberation might need.”

In Part 1 of the interview, Stahimili Mapp and Bob Lederer discuss with Dr. Phillips her attempt to disrupt "the skewed public image of female revolutionaries as silenced helpmates and background characters, placing a necessary spotlight on Huggins transformative self-care practices, feminist theories, and educational activist work.” They also discuss how Ericka and two other incarcerated women resisted being crushed by brutal treatment in prison “by protecting, caring for, and uplifting one another when faced with brutality, and the torture of solitary confinement in particular.” They also discuss how they responded using direct action hunger strikes "to protest the lack of prenatal and postnatal care for pregnant women, as well as the substandard nutrition and horrific prison conditions."

In addition, we will play a clip from Out-FM's 2020 interview with Ericka Huggins. For a video of that earlier interview, click here.

Tune in again a week from now, Tues., July 29 at 8PM ET, for Part 2 of our interview with Mary Phillips, including another clip from Ericka Huggins and from political prisoner and former Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal in praise of Ericka's work during a 2024 interview with Out-FM.

--------------------------------------

Queer Writers' Resistance to Trump

Lori Perkins

Lori Perkins has been a newspaper editor, literary agent, book editor, professor and author for four decades. She considers herself a “word-slinger” because words are the ammunition that we all have.  She encourages you all to use your power and fight the good fight. Lori discusses the need for mass resistance to the Trumpian onslaught. Perkins founded the L. Perkins Literary Agency in 1988, which she still runs, and Riverdale Avenue Books, an award-winning indie publisher 13 years ago. She was moderator of a forum at the Rainbow Book Fair titled: She is also the author of 30 books (both fiction and nonfiction), including the just published THE BOOK OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE, which is free to download.

The Book of Everyday Resistance, by Lori Perkins

-------------------------------

SUPPORT THE WBAI FUND DRIVE!

Keep fearless independent journalism alive & strong!

We urge you to consider becoming a WBAI Buddy (sustainer) at $10/month -- AND MORE if you can afford it. Or you can make a ONE-TIME tax-deductible contribution of any amount.

Three ways to donate:

Online, go to buddy.wbai.org and, in the drop-down menu, we hope you'll click on Out-FM as your favorite show. (The station now accepts PayPal.)

By phone, call 833-WBAI-NYC or 833-922-4692. If no one answers right away, leave a message and you’ll get a call within a day.

Send a check or money order, made out to WBAI/Pacifica via USPS. Mail to:
WBAI - Donations
388 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217

--------------

About Out-FM

Out-FM is a weekly progressive, intersectional queer show by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, non-binary, gender non-conforming, intersex, queer, and questioning communities. Our program originates from listener-sponsored, noncommercial WBAI/Pacifica Radio in New York, 99.5 FM and wbai.org. Our programs are archived at outfm.org. You can also follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Sign up for Out-FM's Weekly Newsletter with show announcements.

Support us by following, liking and sharing our content on social media. Find us at:

●   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutFMRadio/
●   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/out_fm/
●   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/outfm.bsky.social
●   X: https://x.com/outfm