Being a Woman and Black
Being a woman and Black woman at that matter is not something that is worth celebrating about in a white or black male dominated land. Elaine Brown who is raised by a single mother and only a grandmother is experiencing many challenges both at school and in the slum that they are living in. She has moved from Philadelphia to come to California but life is still very challenging and she is forced to struggle for survival and at this leads Brown gets a job as a cocktail waitress at the strip club (Sharp and Brown). This is where Elaine Brown and Jay Richard Kennedy met, fell in love and lived together for some time before they parting ways because Jay Richard is a married man. However, Jay Richard introduced Elaine Brown into politics. Elaine Brown has worked so hard in the Black Liberation Movement, and the Harambee Newspaper and this is why she Brown became the first Representative of the Black Student Alliance in the Congress.
Her Leadership and Association with Men
Her leadership is directly linked to her association with men. For her to get into politics, a married man Jay Richard held her hands and involved her in his work. Even though Brown’s father has not taken his role in raising her up well, Brown has been a leader from her teenage age and even not she is still being celebrated for outshining in everything she does especially in leadership (Sharp and Brown). Being a leader in a male-dominated environment is not easy because some men are not ready to have a leader as the head and they will do anything to ensure that a lady does not rise to a higher position of power. Her songs in the album Until We’re Free has played a very huge role in making her famous and has also made many to believe in her considering the fact that she has been working very hard in the Black Panther Party. For her to get to the level of leadership, she was accused of eroding the black manhood and considered to be a hindrance to the black race (Nelson). It is so awkward that instead of being celebrated as a leader, she is being tagged as the enemy of the black race simply because she is a black woman in power.
Impact of Sexism
Sexism has affected so many women and has made many people to even go to jail because of their firmness in ensuring the right thing is done especially when a male is found at fault with a woman in a leadership position (Gopinath). Women being looked down at, is not something that our society should be promoting, instead, we ought to accept women to even take leadership positions and encourage them to even go to leadership schools and take leadership positions. Assuming that one gender is superior to the other is unlawful and it is the source of some vices in the community. Some evil practices like rape, sexual harassment, and sexual violence are still being witnessed because of gender discrimination. Am not saying that men are not being harassed sexually but am only trying to point out that the rate at which women suffer due to gender discrimination is higher than the rate at which men do.
Exposure and Experience in the Black Panther Party
The exposure and experience that Elaine Brown received from cleaning the guns for the Black Panther Party did not only gave her some money but also gave her the courage to climb into the leadership of the party. “I have all the guns and all the money. I can withstand a challenge from without and from within. Am I right, Comrade?”. The statement was made Elaine Brown being a leader in the Black Panther Party (Nelson). This statement is very strong and threatening and saying that one is ready to tackle any challenge from within and even externally shows that one is ready to even fight for what he or she wants. Brown has acquired these behaviors from spending most of her time with men.
Association with Men and Leadership
Brown has seen a lot of bad things happen to her friends and close associates, from gunshot to death caused by drugs such as cocaine and being segregated because of racial discrimination. She was also barred from leadership because of her gender caused her pain and she has a desire to see a change in all these. Her love relationship with a brilliant and self-educated, Huey Newton made her the party leader after he anointed her to run it (Lloyd). This has also given Brown an upper hand in leadership because it is also through this that she won the hearts and loyalty of the party’s angry men and gained the mainstream respect for almost all the schools and other social programs in Oakland and having the power to influence and rule the California politics.
Recognition and Association with Men
All the power that she is getting is largely as a result of the association with men and therefore one cannot say that Brown made herself a leader. In her book “A Taste of Power” she has struggled so much from childhood, being left by her father, her mother, and grandmother struggling to raise her on their own and even though she tried to work in a club to take care of herself, she should not praise herself that it is all her doing (Sharp and Brown). Her association with the male gender played a very important role. Through men, she managed to rise beyond the limits.
Gender Dynamics in the Black Panther Party
For Brown to be the Chairperson of the Black Panther, she has tried to narrate how the black men in this party related with the black women (Sharp and Brown). Her opinion can be said to be biased though still subject to discussion, she has talked so much about herself and in some instances, one can feel like she has highly praised herself and portrayed a black man to look like uncaring and very harsh. It is true that she has suffered so much, but all the Black Americans have suffered racial discrimination together and it is not only Brown who suffered black woman sexism and for her to be into the leadership, her association with men has made her who is now. Brown portrayed that Black Panther Party has abandoned its main agenda, which is to rebuild and to nature the development that is to help the black American community (Lazerow and Williams). The party foundation is supposed to help blacks but instead of helping them, the women are still being seen as a lesser human being compared to the men.
Sexual Relationships and Perception of Men
The men in the party are being portrayed as people who need sex with any woman in the party. Even though she says that her sexual relationship with men in the party was out of her own will, still she paints a picture that shows that men demanded sex and any lady in the party willingly slept with men in the party (Lazerow and Williams). Her relationship with men did not only give her the avenue to rise to power but also satisfied her sexual needs. I say this because it is not like only the men enjoyed the sex but even the lady since sex is something that both parties are supposed to enjoy unless when one is raped. To me, Brown should not praise herself so much and portray a picture that taints Black American men.
Works Cited
Gopinath, Sumanth. "Brown, Elaine (ii)." Oxford Music Online, 2015.
Lazerow, Jama, and Yohuru Williams. "Bringing the Black Panther Party Back In." Liberated Territory, 2008, pp. 33-84.
Lloyd, Vincent W. "The Racial Messiah: On Huey P. Newton." Fordham University Press, 2018.
Nelson, Alondra. "Origins of Black Panther Party Health Activism." Body and Soul, 2011, pp. 49-74.
Sharp, Elaine B., and Michael Brown. "Cultural Conflicts, Religion, and Urban Politics." Oxford Handbooks Online, 2012.
