Nine Lives of a Black Panther: A Story of Survival

(Hardback)

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Description

In the early morning hours of December 8, 1969, three hundred officers of the newly created elite paramilitary tactical unit known as SWAT initiated a violent battle with a handful of Los Angeles-based members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP). Five hours and five thousand rounds of ammunition later, three SWAT team members and three Black Panthers lay wounded. From a tactical standpoint, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) considered the encounter a disaster. For the Panthers and the community that supported them, the shootout symbolized a victory. A key contributor to that victory was the nineteen-year-old rank-and-file member of the BPP Wayne Pharr. 'Nine Lives of a Black Panther' tells Wayne's riveting story of the Los Angeles branch of the BPP and gives a blow-by-blow account of how it prepared for and survived the massive military-style attack. Because of his dedication to the black liberation struggle, Wayne was hunted, beaten, and almost killed by the LAPD in four separate events. Here he reveals how the branch survived attacks such as these, and also why BPP cofounder Huey P. Newton expelled the entire Southern California chapter and deemed it "too dangerous to remain a part of the national organization." The Los Angeles branch was the proving ground for some of the most beloved and colorful characters in Panther lore, including Bunchy Carter, Masai Hewitt, Geronimo "ji-Jaga" Pratt, and Elaine Brown. 'Nine Lives' fills in a missing piece of Black Panther history, while making clear why black Los Angeles was home to two of the most devastating riots in the history of urban America. But it also eloquently relates one man's triumph over police terror, internal warfare, and personal demons. It will doubtless soon take its place among the classics of black militant literature.

Reviews

"An important addition to the growing historiography on the Black Panther Party--a searing inside account by a rank-and-file member of one of the most embattled chapters. The book also offers a powerful retrospective journey of Pharr's days as a Panther and his tumultuous post-Party years." --Charles E. Jones, editor, The Black Panther Reconsidered "An engrossing autobiographical account of a crucial period in the African American freedom struggle, Nine Lives of a Black Panther is an important contribution to our understanding of the rapid rise and tragic decline of the Black Panther Party. Wayne Pharr's book brought back vivid memories of my own experiences during those tumultuous times." --Dr. Clayborne Carson, historian and founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University "Wayne Pharr's riveting book opens on December 8, 1969, when he and other Panthers defended themselves against a morning attack mounted by the Los Angeles Police Department's SWAT team on their Central Avenue headquarters. Nine Lives of a Black Panther continues to illuminate the experiences that led him to commit his young life to the black revolutionary struggle, a captivating saga of the Southern California Black Panther Party trials, murders, political rivalries, and splits rarely explained in print." --Kathleen Cleaver, former communications secretary, Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and author of Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party "This is an unrelenting, up-close-and-personal account of a Black Panther leader in Los Angeles. There are no holds barred in this riveting memoir." --Jeffrey Haas, author of The Assassination of Fred Hampton and cofounder of the People's Law Office "With startling revelations, Nine Lives of a Black Panther gives the reader an inside view into the heart and soul of a revolutionary who asserts an uncompromising right to self-defense. This is an essential and unforgettable book." --Henry "Hank" Jones, Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, San Francisco "His appealing memoir [is] a technicolor portrait of a famous offshoot of the black struggle for equality." -- Publishers Weekly "[A] compelling memoir." -- Booklist " Nine Lives is an arresting look at the life of a Black Panther committed to survival and the black liberation movement." -- LA Magazine " The title offers new details on civil rights history and is told in a way that humanizes a group often vilified for its dedication to the struggle. Recommended of all readers interested in contemporary history." -- Library Journal

Author Bio

Wayne Pharr was a leading member of the Los Angeles branch of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. He has traveled throughout the country as a BPP spokesman and now works as a realtor in Los Angeles.