Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party

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Published: 13 February 2023

Aired on Feb. 19, 2023

Press Play button or green download button below for sound file of 2-hour program.

Out-FM aired a two-part interview (both parts above) with Ericka Huggins, queer Black Panther Party leader, educator and former political prisoner. She discussed the book she published along with photographer Stephen Shames, titled Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party. Out-FM co-producers Stahimili Mapp and Bob Lederer interviewed Sister Ericka.

In Part 1, she discussed the remarkable women she profiled in the book and the persistent failure of both the Black and white media to portray them, as well as the significance of the Party’s Community Survival Programs and the philosophy and practice of the Oakland Community School that Sister Ericka led from 1973-1981.

In Part 2, we covered the treatment of women and queers by the Party and Sister Ericka’s introduction in prison, through self-study, to the vital, centering practices of yoga and meditation, which she has taught to many other folks over the years.

Please consider donating $100 to WBAI and receive in turn a copy of Sister Comrades: The Women of the Black Panther Party. Also please mention Out-FM as a favorite show when you become a member.

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About Out-FM
Out-FM is a weekly progressive, intersectional queer show on listener-sponsored, noncommercial WBAI/Pacifica Radio. It airs at 99.5 and wbai.org, generally on Tuesdays from 8-9 PM.  Please support us by donating to WBAI. Become a member for $25 or a BAI Buddy (sustainer) for $10/month or more. Go to give2wbai.org or call 212-209-2950 and let the station know you listen to Out-FM by supporting the station with a donation. Be sure and mention our show when you donate.  Sign up for Out-FM's Weekly Newsletter with show announcements.

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For our 2020 video interview with Sister Ericka, where she discusses her experiences as a Panther, including the FBI-instigated assassination of her husband John Huggins Jr. and their comrade Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter. both in their 20s; her 2+ years as a political prisoner (including months in solitary confinement); and the Panthers’ public support for the then-new Lesbian and Gay Liberation movement, and reflects on her hopes for the current-day uprising against racist police murders, go to: 

https://wbai.org/upcoming-program/?id=3983 

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Reference:

Panther Party cofounder Huey P. Newton’s groundbreaking 1970 speech on The Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements

Georgia Police Assassinate Queer Indigenous Opponent of "Cop City,"; & Proud Boys Protest Drag Story Hour in Queens

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Published: 31 January 2023

Georgia Police Assassinate Queer Indigenous Opponent of "Cop City," Steps up Repression of Forest Defenders

On January 18, Atlanta and Georgia police assassinated a queer defender of the Weelaunee Forest during a raid by heavily armed city and state police on a camp that activists have occupied for over a year to block the construction of an 85-acre, $90 million police training facility, popularly dubbed “Cop City.” The person shot and killed by police was Manuel Teran, who went by Tortuguita. Tortuguita was an Indigenous Venezuelan of Tomoto-Cuica descent who was queer and non-binary.

 

The police also arrested 12 forest defenders and another 6 a week later in an unprecedented use of a state anti-terrorism law. In response to Atlanta street protests of the killing, Republican Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in Atlanta and mobilized 1,000 National Guard troops.

In this segment of Out-FM, we bring you voices of those who worked with Tortuguita and members of the groups 1000people 1000trees and Defend Atlanta Forest who spoke at a vigil in East River Park in Manhattan on Saturday, January 28. 

 

For more information, and to support the struggle in Atlanta tostop Cop City and the forest destruction, visit twitter.com/defendATLforest  To support the effort to save East River Park,visit twitter.com/1000treesNYC

 

Proud Boys Protest Drag Story Hour in Queens