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
what s on the idiot box? it s only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. this period in time will be looked at as the platinum age. our obligation is to entertain. if we ve left something to think about, so much the better. kunta kinte. television should not be just entertainment. charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. congress has no right to interfere in the media. well, excuse me! we have the responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see. the years of the 60s which end in a few hours have a bad reputation that is not entirely justified. some things got worse, obviously. but tv and other news coverage is better, not worse. we simply developed more demanding standards. when i think of tv, i think of the 70s. what is this world coming to? the american public was hungry for more. more was allowed that hadn t been before. it was the last decade where it was a campfire television, where there was one in t
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
our obligation is to entertain. if we ve left something to think about, so much the better. gunta kinte! television should not be just entertainment. charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. congress has no right to interfere in the media. excuse me! we have the responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see. the years of the 60s which end in a few hours have a bad reputation that is not entirely justified. some things got worse, obviously. but tv and other news coverage is better, not worse. we simply developed more demanding standards. when i think of tv, i think of the 70s. what is this world coming to? the american public was hungry for more. more was allowed that hadn t been before. it was the last decade where it was a campfire television, where there was one in the living room. i want to watch an all-black show for a change. oh, where are you going to find one? here s one the los angeles
idiot is watching it. at this point in time, what is known as the platinum age. our obligation is to entertain and if we have something to think about, so much the better. television should not be just entertainment. charges were leveled at commercial television networks. congress has no right to interfere with the media. you have a responsibility to give the audience what it tendon to say. for years, the 60s, which end in a few hours have a reputation which is not entirely justified. some things got worse, obviously, but tv news coverage is better, not worse, we developed more demanding standards. when i look at the tv, i think of the 70s. what is this world coming to? the american public was hungry for more. mort was allowed than had been before. it was the last decade where it was a camp fire television, there was one in the living room. i m going to watch an all- black show for a change. where will you find one? here s one. young people were