CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ACTIVISTS

Letter from Ericka Huggins.
Used with permission from Ericka Huggins.

 

In the aftermath of her release, Ericka Huggins continued to be a force of activism, representing the significant work done by the Black Panthers far beyond the May Day Rally.

Ericka Huggins, drawn by Robert Templeton. Image used with permission from Ericka Huggins.

Having spent over a year in jail for a murder that she did not commit, Huggins wrote letters as a way to channel her feelings about and frustrations with the corrupt legal system. In addition to the letters that she wrote during and after her incarceration, Huggins corresponded with another famous Black Panther activist of the era: Angela Davis. 

Angela Davis and Professor Donald Kalish, Los Angeles, 1969. Los Angeles TimesPhotograph Archive.
Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Used with permission from Angela Davis.

Courtroom sketches like this one of Ericka Huggins were significant to the media’s reporting on the trial. 

In a letter written by Davis to Huggins, Davis, in the midst of her own incarceration, emphasized her support for Huggins and for the larger movement, making the connections between the two women evident, with both figures navigating their intersectionally marginalized identities within the Black freedom struggle. Ultimately, Huggins emerged victorious. But in the process of getting to that result, it is important to understand the significance of the May Day Rally, not only to Huggins or Davis, but to the Black Power era as a whole. Representing the significant uniting power of people from many different backgrounds and identities, May Day and its mission drew on the inspiration of everyone who was involved in the protest, but especially those like Huggins who were most significantly affected by its efforts, and who served as an inspiration for activists of the future.

 Angela Davis, undergoing her own period of incarceration, wrote letters like this one to Huggins, encouraging and supporting her by drawing connections between their struggles. The letter featured above, penned by Huggins after her release from jail, demonstrates her excitement about the future
she saw beyond the New Haven Black Panther trials.