Elaine Brown from Poor to Rich.
"The value of my life had been obliterated as much by being female as by being black and poor."
"You Must Be Willing To Die For What Believe In."
I am Elaine Brown. I am 80 years old. MY birthday is March 2, 1943. I helped set up the first Free Breakfast for Children program in Los Angeles, as well as its first Free Bussing to Prisons program.
I am from North Philadelphia and I was raised by my mother. I grew up in a single-parent home and experienced economic hardship. I had the opportunity to attend a private school where i participated in extracurricular activities such as classical piano and ballet.
To get where I am now took a lot of effort. As a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party, I helped establish the party's first Free Breakfast for children program outside of Oakland. By 1971 I became editor of the BPP party paper. Soon as I got elected to be the first female member of the Panther Central Committee.
On my big day I was very excited to be chosen by Newton to lead the BPP in 1974 when he moved to Cuba to avoid criminal charges. I led the Party from 1974 until 1977. During my leadership, I chaired the successful political campaign of Lionel Wilson, Oakland's first African American mayor and I founded the Panther Liberation School.
After my big my I left the BPP less than a year after Newton's return to Cuba in 1977 because he refused to condemn the beating of Regina Davis. I then became involved with Jay Richard Kennedy, a music executive who educated me on capitilism, communism, and social justice. Now I am the CEO of non-profit organization Oakland and the World Enterprises Inc.
