John Huggins: an unsung Black Panther Party leader

As we know, this February is the celebration of Black History Month. It’s when we not only celebrate and honor the achievements of Black people but also remember the revolutionary struggle and sacrifices that Black revolutionaries have made in the fight for liberation of not only the working class but specifically the Black community.

Among these unsung heroes for Black liberation was John Huggins, Deputy Minister of Information for the Southern California chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), who became one of the first major martyrs killed by the state’s COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program). COINTELPRO’s purpose was to murder, imprison and do anything to stop the revolutionary progress of the BPP and the revolutionary sentiment of the people as a whole.

John Huggins was born on Feb. 11, 1945, in New Haven, Connecticut. He came from a middle-class family — one of the leading Black families in the city, with prominent members such as Constance Baker Motley, one of the first Black women to hold a federal judge position. Of course, the bourgeoisie would say that the Huggins’ “success” was proof that all the Black proletariat had to do was just work hard and not complain — which is just another way for the capitalists to say, “Shut up and take your oppression.” That has always been a talking point for the ruling class.

Huggins would later reflect, in 1968, on the fact that this same talking point was debunked, pointing out that the capitalists may allow some Black people to hold positions of power, but at the end of the day the system is still controlled by the capitalists — a majority of whom are white. It is they who ultimately benefit from white supremacy and the exploitation of the working class as a whole and Black people in particular.

Like all Black youth, Huggins ran into racism early when attending the private, exclusive Hopkins Grammar School. There he was subjected to horrendous treatment by staff, resulting in him being moved to James Hillhouse High School, a public school where the roots of his revolutionary transformation began with him being involved in the Black student movement and integrating schools in New Haven. This struggle resulted in the school district repressing students, including cutting off the air conditioner to the school building to punish them.

Huggins, after graduating high school, joined the Navy, but not out of patriotism for the imperial core. As for many young people of color, he thought of joining the U.S. military as a way to escape the systematic racism of this country and also to escape poverty. Huggins saw firsthand the impact of U.S. imperialism, being sent to both Vietnam and the Philippines, which furthered his revolutionary awakening.

Becoming a Panther leader

After leaving the Navy, Huggins continued his involvement  in the Black student movement, being arrested in 1966. Later he transferred to Lincoln University in Philadelphia, where he met his future spouse Ericka. While at Lincoln, both he and Ericka would make a life-changing decision after seeing the famous photographs of Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton strapped to a hospital gurney and handcuffed after being shot — while an Oakland, California, police officer laughed. Both would make up their minds to join the party, leaving Lincoln University to go to California.

And there, along with Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, Geronimo Pratt, Elaine Brown, Roland and Ronald Freeman and others, John Huggins and Ericka Huggins helped found and create the Southern California chapter of the Black Panther Party. Most especially, they organized the Los Angeles chapter.

As captain and later deputy minister of information for the chapter, John Huggins organized several things, including community education classes as a part of the BPP survival programs. Coming up with the slogan “Educate to liberate,” Huggins also helped to organize Black youth around South Central in the Compton area of Los Angeles, especially those at Fremont High School. These youth, due to Huggins’ and Panther leadership in Los Angeles, organized a student strike, walking out to protest the deplorable material conditions students faced.

But Huggins’ biggest contribution to the revolutionary struggle was organizing and helping the High Potential Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This program served both Black and Brown students who were purposely ignored by the university. It was built with the help of the BPP, the Brown Berets and the Chicano and Black Power movements in general, who shut down UCLA and the CIA recruitment office and organized Black students against the U.S. imperial war in Vietnam.

However, with all the revolutionary activity going on, the Black Panthers and Huggins drew the attention of the state. The FBI, along with Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty and California Governor Ronald Reagan, was beginning to monitor them. The people of Los Angeles were witnessing the largest number of killings of Panthers of any city, especially in the years 1968 – 1969.

Under the direction of COINTELPRO, government forces acted to provoke tension between the Panthers and another Black group, the US Organization. This involved sending fake letters between Panther leadership and the US Organization’s leader Maulana Karenga, one accusing the other of trying to undermine and even kill each other’s leadership. Panther leadership shot this down with a decree that the BPP would not engage in any antagonistic relationship between them or the US Organization. It was stated by Bunchy Carter that the two Black organizations would not wage war on each other.

But adding onto this tension was the question of which organization would lead the UCLA High Potential Program and the Black Student Union. This all came to a head on Jan. 17, 1969, the day which, under the orders of the FBI, the U.S. government orchestrated the assassinations of both Carter and John Huggins on the UCLA campus by US Organization members.

Prior to the murders, both Huggins and BPP’s Elaine Brown were elected as leaders of the Black Student Union and the High Potential Program committee.

What can we learn from the life of John Huggins? Well, we can learn that a revolutionary can come from anywhere and come from any experience because of the conditions created by the capitalist class at the top of the hierarchy of this white supremacist country. The liberation of Black people and the working class in general is still ongoing — this is an important lesson that will live on for comrades and leaders like John Huggins and Bunchy Carter or any other revolutionary comrade.