I have talked about the Black Panther Party’s Free Food Program in earlier post http://www.foodasalens.com/2011/02/black-history-month-for-foodies-series_09.html.Former Black Panther Elmer Pratt, who changed his name in 1968 to Geronimo Ji Jaga, died in Tanzania on June 2, 2011 at the age of 63. Born in 1947 in Morgan City, Louisiana, Pratt joined the Army where he served in Vietnam as a highly directed solider. After the military he migrated to Los Angeles where he attended UCLA on the GI Bill. Pratt joined the Panthers Los Angeles chapter and quickly rose through the ranks to become its Minister of Defense and then its leader. At the time the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO program carried out a plan to destroy radical groups like the Panthers, Students for Democratic Society (SDS), The Young Lords, Brown Berets, and others late 1960s groups. FBI documents show that U. S. officials with the help of informants murdered a number of radicals including member of the Panthers and framed others leading to their arrest and incarceration. FBI informants also fomented schism within radical groups that led to internal conflict and violence. In 1969 the LA police department arrested Pratt in connection with a 1969 SWAT team attack on the LA Panther office. He was held without bail and finally gained release in 1970 after which time he went underground. He went to Texas and set up a secret military training camp for the Panthers. The FBI learned is location arrested him and extradited him back to Los Angeles.
Louisiana Jambalaya Poem and recipe: http://www.foodasalens.com/2011/04/historic-poems-and-food-series.html
1 comments:
Wow! Great post. I did a paper in college where I interviewed several NY Black panthers. wonder what ever happened to that paper. Anyway, always loved Geronimo Pratt. By the way, how cool that their food kitchen matches your food research.awesome angle. Warigia
www.democratizingegypt.blogspot.com
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