Unapologetic and Unafraid, Elaine Brown on Community Care, Love, and Revolution: A Womanist Approach to Archives

Desiree McCray entered the world, hailing from Chicago, Illinois. A womanist scholar and prophetic scribe, she crafts essays, poetry, and scholarly research, delving into themes of race, gender, bodies, and class, at the intersection of Black religion and culture. McCray, a poet, released three collections of poems: My Sisters Look Like God: A Womanist Manifesto of Poetry (2024), Hope Among Other Foods (2021), and Send A Refreshing (2023). Their work is forthcoming in Femme Literati: Mixtape Anthology for Black Women Edition Three by Genre: Urban Arts. Black Feminist Collective, Gal’s Guide Anthology, and RAGE Zine all echo her womanist words in 2024. McCray’s poem “Writing the Revolution” was featured in the Remembering Audre Lorde Anthology (2024) with Moonstone Art Center. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri–Columbia, McCray fulfills her calling as a writer, minister of justice, and educator. Desiree McCray graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ, earning a Master’s in Divinity. She is currently enrolled at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in a D.Min program focused on Public Theology and Creative Writing.

As a Black womanist scholar who first fell in love with archival research at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS), I find archives speak to me, almost like having a conversation. At Princeton, I was drawn to learn about the first Black women to gain PhD degrees in Biblical Studies and Theology at PTS. I also found a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. to our then-seminary president. I always loved how I could comb through the pages to find what stood out for me. I started with a question but then answers came that I never asked for. Similarly, my current archival study sheds light on the often-overlooked contributions of unapologetic Black women within the Black Panther movement, exploring the intersections of race, gender, class, economics, and politics. Through these materials, this research reveals the multifaceted roles played by Black Panther women and their influence on the broader goals of liberation during that era. To understand Elaine Brown’s role, you must know that the Black Panthers was founded by men. In October of 1966 in Oakland, California, The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. The BPP was a revolutionary organization focusing on an ideology of socialism (community care/mutual aid), Black nationalism, and armed self-defense, amid violence such as police brutality.

Elaine Brown’s first book, A Taste of Power, was a primary source within the archives. “I have all the guns and the money. I can withstand challenge from without and from within,” Brown spoke unapologetically to the party, according to her memoir, A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story (1992). It vividly chronicles her leadership, community care, and role in social movements. The Elaine Brown Papers, spanning 1977-1988 (Manuscript Collection No. 912, Box 1), highlight her activism, particularly through her role in the National Political Congress of Black Women (NPCBW). The NPCBW aimed to engage in political activities like registering Black women to vote and encouraging their appointment at all government and political levels. This mission connects Elaine Brown’s legacy to the revolutionary work of founding chairs like Shirley Chisholm and Dr. C. Delores Tucker. Chisholm was an educator, author, and politician (the first Black woman to run for President in 1972). Two years later in August of 1974, Elaine Brown became the first and only woman to take over as chair of the Black Panther Party, a radical organization. To understand how radical this was for a woman, no woman had ever been recorded in history as having led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

I’m excited to incorporate my findings into my upcoming book, which explores the political power of Black women’s grief in America. In 2019, I embarked on a mission to shed light on the historical grief experienced by Black women in America. While studying Public Theology in Washington D.C. at Wesley Theological Seminary, I was disappointed by the lack of attention given to Black women in politics. Determined to fill this gap in knowledge, I teamed up with Professor Christopher Norris to conduct independent research on the theological and political power of Black mother’s and women’s grieving. As I studied at the intersections of race, gender, faith, and politics, I recognized that Black grief has historically acted as a powerful impetus for social change. Therefore, I was elated to learn about the 2024 J Herman Blake & Emily L. Moore Award for Research in Black Panther Party Collections Fellowship. I feel honored to delve deeper into the lives of movement leaders, particularly Elaine Brown, a prominent leader of the Black Panther Party, whose relatively little-known voice resonated with me through the archives. This award has enriched my multifaceted understanding of Elaine Brown as more than a leader of the Black Panther movement but a woman with a deep and rich interior life.

Elaine Brown’s life is fascinating not only as a leader in the fight for racial justice but also as a mother. Her daughter Erica is frequently mentioned in letters exchanged with women and sister-friends like Carmen and Fatima. These exchanges reveal a village of women surrounding Elaine, providing care and consideration for her family. Elaine’s motherhood also points to the political power of Black motherhood for women to bring life and to change lives through their work. For Black women, the work of liberation has always been connected to their wombs because the womb has been a place of oppression since slavery. Elaine’s maternal nature to nurture is evident in her 1980 responses. Elaine’s move to Paris with her long-term partner Pierre reflects her commitment to community care, evident in the hospitality and emotional safety she offered to guests and friends.

For Black women like Brown, our leadership is not detached; it’s rooted in social care, in “spilling the tea” or swapping happenings with our girlfriends. Our impact is rooted in the agency found with a good “kiki” or a laughter session where we can unmask in the security of other sisters. In the Elaine Papers, a friend named Fatima tells Elaine: “I’m dating a grad film student. He’s very bright and creative but lacking between the sheets! You spoke with him on the phone once. We make a very strong couple, the chemistry was automatic.” Reading that in the archives instantly made me laugh because this exchange is universal to most women. Fatima is spilling the tea as most Black women do when we feel safe with our sisters. It’s almost like there is no such thing as too much information amongst good sister-friends. This also tells me that Elaine Brown not only offered physical safety for people who came to stay with her and Pierre in Paris, but she also offered emotional and mental safety for people to share deeply and richly about their lives. This womanist view of emotional and social community care is an integral lens toward my study of Brown’s life.

Elaine’s correspondence with another of my favorite authors, Toni Cade Bambara, provides further insight into her life. In a letter to her editor Calvin, dated May 25, 1990, Elaine cites Bambara’s advice: “Toni Cade Bambara told me not to let anybody force me to a deadline.” This connection suggests that Brown sought guidance from Bambara before writing her first book. In the same letter, Brown’s reflections on love are deeply touching: “I am relaxed for the first time. Having love in my life is foreign and wonderful. Knowing me as you do, more than most, you realize, I’m sure, what this love must mean. Addictively, I look around for pain. Everywhere, there is beauty with Pierre.” This passage reveals that, after her time with the Black Panther Party, Brown found a revolutionary love that opened her eyes to the surrounding beauty. The lover girl in me smiled, thinking about the political power of love. How revolutionary it is to see a Black woman loved properly when everywhere we turn we are publicly degraded in the media? This made me think that possibly one of the roles of Black women in social movements is to love and be loved.

Initially, I aimed to focus my research solely on Elaine Brown the Black Panther. However, as I turned the pages of her letters, book drafts, meeting minutes, and speeches, I discovered Elaine Brown the mother, daughter, sister, lover, and friend. My study of Elaine Brown, enriched by previous research on the political power of Black motherhood, which I have presented at various conferences across the United States, seeks to contribute significantly to understanding Black Panther women’s pivotal roles through an intersectional lens. It has been a truly enriching experience. I hope you have enjoyed reading about the fearless life and tireless work of Elaine Brown just as much as I have enjoyed this deep dive.