28 Black People Who Make White People Uncomfortable (Elaine Brown)
This is our the first (of many) woman on our list, and Elaine makes it for damn good reason. All that is really talked about surrounding the Panthers are the ups and downs surrounding the men who founded and ran it at first – Newton, Seale and Cleaver – but the role of women within the Panthers was much less reported in history and much more complicated. Brown started her career as a Black revolutionary as a low-ranking woman in the Black Panthers (in fact, there were no high-ranking women at the time in the Black Panthers), and rose through the ranks of the information arm of the Panthers by using her musical and journalistic talents. She eventually supplanted Cleaver himself as the Minister of Information within the Panthers. In 1974, she became the Chairwoman of the Panthers when Newton fled for Cuba.
In her capacity as leader of the Panthers, she not only made whites uncomfortable, but caused tension within the mostly male-dominated and sexist inner politics of the Black Panthers. However, her leadership was strong enough to lead the Panthers toward greater involvement in politics and community service, especially in Northern California. Her run for city council of Oakland in 1975 almost netted her a historic victory, and she garnered 44% of the vote. She managed the mayoral campaign of Lionel Wilson, who would go on to win and become the first Black mayor of Oakland. For four years she dominated the Black revolutionary movements until she left the Panthers out of protest against its misogyny and approved beatings of female members.
Recently, Brown has been an advocate for inmates’ rights and has fought for prison reform for the past few decades. She has been involved in high-profile cases, and has explored mayoral and presidential races within the white-dominated Green Party. As recently as 2010, she has been involved in nonviolent prison protests in GA using contraband phones. She is a lifelong revolutionary, and one I respect for willing to make people of all races and genders uncomfortable for progress.