Kijai Furtake (left), Ericka Huggins (center), and Kamilah Moore (ASU Chair- right)
This past Friday marks 45 years since Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins—Black Panther Party (BPP) leaders and students at UCLA—were shot and killed on the campus of UCLA.
This past Friday more than a hundred students from various campus organizations gathered in commemoration of the late Carter and Huggins, which for many, serves as a reminder of the harsh path Black Americans have traveled, and the cumbersome road still ahead.
The Commemoration was held in UCLA’s Campbell Hall, the very building where Carter and Huggins were killed. “I’ve not stepped into this building for over 30 years,” said Lamar Lyons, one of the four panelists at the event, and personal friend of Carter and Huggins. He further expressed how hard it was to return to the place where his friends were killed. Lyons was new to UCLA the year of the shootings, and in the wake of Carter and Huggin’s death, Lyons decided to use the tragedy as an opportunity to pick up where they left off, which according to Lyons, consist in “challenging the basic core of the school.”
A room filled with people
The evening began with food and conversation amongst students from various organizations around the campus, and was then followed by two spoken word artists, Semaj Earl and Too Black. Finally, the four panelists took the stage. The panel included: Former BPP leader and author Elaine Brown- who was present the day of the shooting, Ericka Huggins, wife of John Huggins and former BPP leader, Lamar Lyons former UCLA Student Body President, and Vara Bocoum- UCLA Alumni of 2013.
The panel discussion centered on the key issues concerning Afrikan Americans at UCLA such as the low enrollment of Black students at the university, mass incarceration of Black Americans, and the failure of the university and its students to produce an Afrikan American Studies Department.
Elaine Brown saw the lack of an Afrikan American Studies Department as due largely to the tendency of many being slow to take action. “Action is what’s most important,” said Brown, “I’m hearing a lot of ideas [coming from the audience]… If you want something done, do it.”
The panelist. (photojournalist: Rasheed Shabazz/ Nommo Contributor)
Some in the audience were concerned that the current generation of Blacks are uniquely apathetic and out of touch with the struggle when compared to the Blacks of the Civil Rights era. However, Brown cautioned the audience against romanticizing her generation. She said, “ When I got [to UCLA] the main argument amongst Black folk was rather Marvin Gay’s [version of] ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ was better than Gladys Knight’s…so I wouldn’t be so arrogant to think that I should be disappointed in this generation. I am sad at some things…but I’m not disappointed.”
The panel discussion was followed by a candlelight vigil for Carter and Huggins. This ritual was started in 1999 at UCLA, and according to the Afrikan Student Union, it will continue.
The Vigil
Despite the unfortunate circumstances prompting the event, the panelist assured the audience that the chief emotion they hold 45 years after the tragedy is happiness. Ericka Huggins, wife of Bunchy Carter said, “They [Bunchy and Huggins] would be grateful that you are all here.” Then, as her gaze swept the room, she said, “ And your presence here tonight makes me very happy.”