-Ericka Huggins is a human rights activist, professor, former Black Panther leader, and political prisoner. She began political activism in 1963 when she attended the March on Washington. At age 18 she became the leader of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther party with her husband John Huggins, who was later killed. He and fellow Party leader Bunchy Carter were gunned down by members of the black nationalist US organization during a 1969 meeting at UCLA (Speak Out Now paragraph 1-3).
-In May 1969, Huggins and fellow Party leader Bobby Seale were targeted and arrested on conspiracy charges sparking “Free Bobby, Free Ericka” rallies across the country. The resulting trial, one of the longest and most celebrated of the era, spawned several books. While awaiting trial for 2 years before charges were dropped, including time in solitary confinement, Huggins taught herself to meditate as a means of survival…show more content… She created the vision for the innovative curriculum for the school, which became a model for and predecessor to the charter school movement. In 1976, Huggins became both the first woman and the first Black person to be appointed to the Alameda County Board of Education (Speak Out Now paragraph 7).
-Kathleen Cleaver started alongside her parents in the 1950s civil rights protests in Alabama. By 1966 she dropped out of Barnard College in New York to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where she served in its Campus Program based in Atlanta. Then she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and from 1967 to 1971, she was the first Communications Secretary of the Black Panther Party. She helped to organize the campaign to get Huey Newton released from prison. She was also the first woman to be appointed to the Black Panthers Central Committee (History is A Weapon paragraph
