for black freedom and equality. black oaklanders know the reality of systemic discrimination. back in the 1960s, one response was the creation of the radical and controversial black panther party. it was founded by men. some of its key leaders were women. one of them, my guest today, ericka huggins. she spent two years imprisoned and she became a symbol of the black panther struggle. looking around oakland today, has anything really changed? ericka huggins, welcome to hardtalk. well, thank you! it s an honour to be here. it is a great pleasure to have you on the show. i want to take you back to your years as a leader in the black panther party. when you reflect on those years now, does it feel to you like ancient history, or part of a struggle that continues till today? well, it certainly doesn t feel like ancient history because the life that i lived and that all of my friends lived at that time stays with me. it s a very pivotal part of my life. and i think that history som
leaders were women. one of them, my guest today, ericka huggins. she spent two years imprisoned and she became a symbol of the black panther struggle. looking around oakland today, has anything really changed? ericka huggins, welcome to hardtalk. well, thank you! it s an honour to be here. it is a great pleasure to have you on the show. i want to take you back to your years as a leader in the black panther party. when you reflect on those years now, does it feel to you like ancient history, or part of a struggle that continues till today? well, it certainly doesn t feel like ancient history because the life that i lived and that all of my friends lived at that time stays with me. it s a very pivotal part of my life. and i think that history sometimes. well, let me say, i have a particular view of history, that it doesn t happen in segments, that it flows like a river. so i m still in the river and, um, doing the best i can to uplift humanity, like i did then. let s take you b
in a way, when you entered the river, that is when you were a young student and you were studying in philadelphia, but you just decided you had to move to the west coast, to los angeles, when you were still a teenager, tojoin the struggle. why did you do that? i read a magazine article and the magazine was called ramparts. it doesn t exist any more. but there was an article about the black panther party for self defence. and because i grew up in a black community, i knew that self defence wasn t just a physical thing. it sparked some interest in me and i read on in the article and the person who wrote it said, this organisation is for all poor and oppressed people. and ifelt, this is very important and i want to be a part of this. i m very interested by that
and that all of my friends lived at that time stays with me. it s a very pivotal part of my life. and i think that history sometimes. well, let me say, i have a particular view of history, that it doesn t happen in segments, that it flows like a river. so i m still in the river and, um, doing the best i can to uplift humanity, like i did then. let s take you back to, in a way, when you entered the river, that is when you were a young student and you were studying in philadelphia, but you just decided you had to move to the west coast, to los angeles, when you were still a teenager, tojoin the struggle. why did you do that? i read a magazine article and the magazine
it s a very pivotal part of my life. and i think that history sometimes. well, let me say, i have a particular view of history, that it doesn t happen in segments, that it flows like a river. so i m still in the river and, um, doing the best i can to uplift humanity, like i did then. let s take you back to, in a way, when you entered the river, that is when you were a young student and you were studying in philadelphia, but you just decided you had to move to the west coast, to los angeles, when you were still a teenager, tojoin the struggle. why did you do that? i read a magazine article and the magazine was called ramparts. it doesn t exist any more. but there was an article about the black panther