Ericka Huggins Use of Spiritual Maturity as a Form of Prison Resistance

• In Event: Black Power Reconsidered: Rethinking the Provenance and Paths of Black Power Thought and Praxis

Abstract

Born on January 4, 1948 in Washington DC, Ericka Huggins was an important figure in the Black Panther Party (BPP) as well as a key Black Power era activist. A high-ranking member of the BPP, she served on the organization’s Central Committee. As a writer, poet, educator, former editor of the Black Panther and Director of the Oakland Community School, Huggins was vital to the BPP as an organizer and intellectual. As a multiple target of the FBI’s COINTELPRO, in 1969, the State of Connecticut tried Huggins for kidnapping, murder, and conspiracy. In 1971, when she was released from prison after an intense trial, she immediately continued her work with the Black Panther Party. This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Huggins use of spiritual maturity as well as various other survival mechanisms she utilized during her two - year period of incarceration at Niantic State Farm including the development of a Sisterlove Collective, a support group for newly admitted female prisoners. I posit that spiritual maturity serves as a powerful form of prison resistance and personal agency. Spiritual maturity provides a framework to better understand black women’s history. This work contributes to the emerging scholarship on black women in the BPP and differs from previous interpretations on Huggins by showcasing her voice and interpretation of spiritual maturity.

Author

• Mary Phillips, Lehman College, City University of New York