Elaine Brown

Elaine Brown (born March 2, 1943) is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther Party chairwoman who is based in Oakland, California. Brown briefly ran for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008. Early life Elaine Brown grew up in the inner city of North Philadelphia with her mother Dorothy Clark and an absent father. Despite being in desperate poverty, Brown's mother worked hard to provide for Elaine. She was enrolled in private schooling, took music lessons, and had nice clothing. During her childhood, she studied classical piano and ballet for many years at a predominantly white experimental elementary school. As a young Black woman, Elaine had very few African-American friends and spent most of her time with white people. After graduating from Philadelphia High School for Girls, a public preparatory school for gifted young women, she studied at Temple University for less than a semester. She withdrew from Temple because of her desire to work in the music industry. Brown moved to Los Angeles, California, to become a professional songwriter. While in Los Angeles, Brown enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles. She later went on to briefly attend Mills College and Southwestern University School of Law. Upon arriving in California with little money and few contacts, Brown got work as a cocktail waitress at the strip club The Pink Pussycat. While working at the Pink Pussycat, she met Jay Richard Kennedy, a music executive who taught her about the intricacies of social justice. They became lovers. Brown learnt about political radicalisation first hand while in a relationship with Kennedy. Because of the thorough education on the Civil Rights Movement, Capitalism, and Communism which Kennedy provided to her, Brown later became involved with the Black Liberation Movement. After living together for a brief time in the Hollywood Hills Hotel, the pair parted ways. After this pivotal relationship, Brown's involvement in politics grew and she began working for the radical newspaper Harambee. Soon after, Brown became the first representative of the Black Student Alliance at the Black Congress in California. In April 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she attended her first meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party.