Stories

Introduction

Every year for Black History Month and Women’s History Month, we often see the same figures discussed. So many Black Women have contributed to American history without recognition and rightly deserve to have their story told. To recognize these unsung heroes, we have decided to create a shortlist of less talked about women who have done great work for their communities.

Elaine Brown

Elaine Brown is the first and only Black woman to lead the Black Panther Party. After meeting founder Huey Newton at the airport, Brown’s admiration of the organization grew to new heights. Newton’s decision to promote her caused controversy. Previously, such high leadership positions had only been held by men in the party. In her memoir “A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story,” she described her experience as “A woman in the Black Power movement was considered, at best, irrelevant. A woman asserting herself was a pariah. If a Black woman assumed a role of leadership, she was said to be eroding Black manhood, to be hindering the progress of the Black race.” She left her position and the organization in 1977. After leaving the Panthers, Brown went on to co-found Mothers Advocating for Juvenile Justice and the National Alliance for Prison Reform.

Ericka Huggins

Ericka Huggins was a Black Panther leader for 14 years. After joining the Black Panthers, her husband and fellow member John Huggins was murdered. In May 1969, Huggins and Panther Bobby Seale were imprisoned on false conspiracy charges. Huggins spent two years in jail, some in solitary confinement. After her prison release in 1971, she became the editor for the BLACK Panther Intercommunal News Service. From 1973-1981, Huggins served as the Director of the Oakland Community School, a community-run childhood center created by the Black Panthers. Today, she works with World Trust, which sees films that document the impact of racial inequity systems.

Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin was 15 years old when she decided not to give her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Most people would be surprised to know this happened before Rosa Parks gave her seat up, nearly causing the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. She also was the first who went to court and challenged the law. Colvin was one of the four women plaintiffs in Browder v Gayle. That case eventually overturned the bus segregation laws. Historians have debated about the many reasons why Colvin has fallen through the cracks; the fact she was dark-skinned and a teenager are the main reasons.

The Women of the "Six Triple Eight"

The United States Army’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight,” was the first, and only all-Black, all-women’s army battalion that served in World War Two. Their duty was to ensure backlogged mail was delivered to American troops in Europe. Their motto was “no mail, low morale.” They worked 8-hour shifts, sometimes sorting up to 65,500 pieces of mail. They worked in less favorable conditions, and their eating, sleeping, and working quarters were segregated. After their unit went home in 1946 and disbanded, there was no recognition or acknowledgment of their service. Despite the women receiving their individual campaign medals, the unit was not officially honored until 2019 (73 years after they had been disbanded), when the U.S. Army awarded the “Six Triple Eight” Battalion the Meritorious Unit Commendation.