Read The Savage City Online

Authors: T. J. English

The Savage City (65 page)

Another source of information for this book was transcripts from U.S. congressional hearings into the activities of the Black Panther Party held in Washington, D.C., in 1970–71. Among others speaking before a congressional committee was FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The hearings were primarily noteworthy for what they did not reveal and what would not be known publicly for the next five or six years: that the FBI had under way a covert counter-
intelligence investigation (COINTELPRO) into the lives of politically active African Americans that involved illegal wiretaps, unauthorized surveillance, harassment, and other violations of the U.S. Constitution.

One other report—the Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption—was essential to the writing of this book and is cited where necessary in the text and also the chapter notes section.

DOCUMENTARIES, FEATURE FILMS, AND TELEVISON PROGRAMS

The Hate That Hate Produced
(television documentary). Produced by and broadcast on CBS Television, 1959.

A Huey P. Newton Story
(feature film). Director: Spike Lee. Written and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith, based on a one-man show by Roger Guenveur Smith. Produced by 40 Acres and a Mule, 1990.

Passin' It On
(documentary). Director: John J. Valdez. Produced by the Independent Television Service. Broadcast on PBS Television, 1995.

Red Squad
(documentary). Produced and directed by Pacific St. Film Archives: Howard Blatt, Steven Fischler, Francis Freedland, Joel Sucher. Pacific St. Film and Editing Co., 1971.

What We Believe, What We Want: The Black Panther Party Library
(documentary). Presented by Roz Payne and Newsreel Films. A four-disc compilation that includes interviews with Panthers and former law enforcement agents, footage from key speeches and demonstrations, and three Newsreel documentary films:
Off the Pigs!; Mayday;
and
Repression
. AK Press Videos, 2006.

Revolution: Newark '67
(documentary). Producer/director: Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno. Broadcast on PBS Television, 2007.

The Battle of Algiers
(feature film). Director: Gillo Pontecorvo. Produced and distributed in the United States by Allied Artists, 1967.

The Marcus-Nelson Murders
(feature film for television). Executive producer and screenwriter: Abby Mann. Director: Joseph Sergeant. Produced by Universal Studio and broadcast on CBS Television, 1973.

American Experience: Malcolm X, Make It Plain
(television documentary). Director: Orlando Bagwell. Produced by MPI Home Video and broadcast on PBS Television, 1994.

American Experience: Eyes on the Prize
(documentary series). Director: Henry Hampton. Produced by PBS Home Video and broadcast on PBS Television, 1987.

Fun City Revisited: The Lindsay Years
(documentary). Executive producer: Tom Casciato. Broadcast on PBS Television, 2010.

INSTITUTIONS

Archival research for this book took place at the following institutions: William Paley Center for Media (formerly known as the Museum of Television and Radio); the New York City Public Library (newspaper division); the New York City Municipal Archives; the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive, which can be accessed via their website; and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The Schomburg Center has as part of its holdings the NAACP papers containing documents relevant to the Whitmore case, and also a file containing notes, minutes from meetings, strategy reports, and other documents from the Black Panther Party's influential Harlem branch.

COURT CASES

Many criminal proceedings involving key characters in this story are referenced throughout the book, and in some cases courtroom testimony is quoted from directly. The important cases are:

People v. Whitmore
1964 (Borrero assault and attempted rape trial I)

People v. Whitmore
1966 (Borrero II)

People v. Whitmore
1967 (Borrero III)

People v. Whitmore
1965 (Edmonds attempted rape and murder trial)

People v. Robles
1965 (Wylie-Hoffert double murder trial)

People v. Lumumba Shakur et al.
1969–71 (Panther Twenty-one conspiracy trial)

People v. Moore
1972 (Napier murder trial)

People v. Moore
1972 (Curry and Binetti attempted murder trial I)

People v. Moore
1973 (Curry and Binetti II)

People v. Moore
1973 (Curry and Binetti III)

People v. Phillips
1972 (Smith/Stango double murder and attempted murder trial I)

People v. Phillips
1974 (Smith/Stango II)

LAW ENFORCEMENT FILES AND DOCUMENTS

Formerly confidential FBI COINTELPRO files relating to the FBI's covert investigation of the Black Panther Party were perused as research for this book and are cited accordingly in the chapter notes. Also, NYPD Intelligence Division reports on the Black Power movement, including files of the Bureau of Special Services (BOSS), were essential, as were all files pertaining to OPERATION NEWKILL, the joint FBI-NYPD investigation that took place in 1971–72 after a series of shootings of police officers by members of the Black Liberation Army.

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

Acoli, Sundiata, 381

Adinga, Sekou, 267–68, 269, 274, 381

African National Congress (ANC), 266, 288

Aidala, Richard, 35–38, 40–42, 53, 55, 56, 81, 99–100, 137, 139, 169, 264, 265

Alex, Nicholas, 348–49

Algiers

Bin Wahad in, 313, 318–19, 332

BLA members in, 338

Cetewayo and Matthews in, 209

Cleaver in, 266–67, 313

Algonquin Hotel (New York City): Cleaver press conference at, 246–47

Almanac, Charley, 125

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 145

American Renaissance Party, 160

Amsterdam News
newspaper, 70, 204, 324

anarchy statue, 198, 213

anti-Americanism, 226, 279

Apollo Theater (Harlem), 5, 300

Arm, Walter, 10, 124, 346

Armstrong, Michael, 306–8, 312, 313, 341, 383

Ashwood, Carlos, 244

assistant district attorneys, 49–50.
See also specific person

Associated Press, 208

Attica Prison

Hayden in, 254

Phillips in, 382–83

riots in, 350, 383

 

“backroom justice,” 43

Bailey, F. Lee, 368, 369, 382

Balagoon, Kuwasi, 267–68, 269

Baldwin, James, 70, 219

Bankers Trust bank (Queens): robbery of, 338

Bar Association, New York City, 340

Baraka, Amiri, 227

Barshay, Hyman, 171

Battle of Algiers, The
(film), 224, 283

Beame, Abe, 119, 153

Beck Street safe house (Bronx), 334, 335–36, 338, 359

Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn)

black gangs in, 189

Black Panthers in, 218, 225, 238

drugs in, 344

NAACP fundraising for Whitmore in, 127

numbers in, 344

police corruption in, 344–45, 346

poverty in, 33

race relations in, 173–74

riots in, 76

Beldock, Myron

and film about Whitmore case, 325–26, 370, 371

joins Whitmore legal team, 209

payment for, 371

personal and professional background of, 209, 210

Puerto Rico trip of, 355–57

and reopening of Borrero case, 372–73, 375

and vacating of Whitmore's conviction, 376

views about justice of, 210

and Viruet identification/testimony, 354, 355–57, 371, 372

and Whitmore trip to Mexico, 263

and Whitmore's appeals, 209–12, 231, 352, 354–57

and Whitmore's hearing, 263–65

Whitmore's initial meeting with, 210–11

and Whitmore's robbery conviction, 276, 277

Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital: Whitmore at, 67–69, 78, 101

Bennett, Fred, 293

Bey, Robert, 289

Bin Wahad, Dhoruba al-Mujahid (aka Richard Earl Moore) “Torch”

in Algiers, 313, 318–19, 332

ambitions of, 203–5

in army, 63–64, 225

arrests and indictments of, 59–60, 64, 203, 272–74, 280, 330, 333, 336, 337

authority problems of, 63, 116

birth of, 62

black liberation movement influence on, 209, 216, 358, 388

and black nationalism, 227–28, 286

at Black Panthers benefit, 223–24

and Black Panthers Central Committee, 288

as Black Panthers field secretary, 245

and Black Panthers' New Haven rally, 297–99

and Black Panthers–police incidents, 228–29, 241

and Black Panthers security section, 245

and Black Power movement, 203, 205, 285

and burning of
Black Panther
's office, 315–18

childhood and youth of, 60, 62–63, 143

civil lawsuit against FBI and NYPD of, 388

and civil rights, 183, 386–88

Cleaver's influence on, 205, 206, 216, 217, 225, 246, 358

and Cleaver's security detail, 246, 247

Comstock gang rumble of, 142

conversion to Islam of, 115

convictions and sentences of, 359, 360, 362–63, 368

and corruption among Black Panthers, 298

and definition of Negro, 245

documentary about, 388

as drug dealer, 204, 216

in East Village, 204–5, 206

family background of, 62–63, 143–44

father's visits with, 142–44

and FBI, 270, 294, 313, 333, 385–88

felonious assault charges against, 59–60, 64

and founding of Harlem chapter of Black Panthers, 234–35

as gang member, 60, 63, 64, 142, 180–81, 225

in Ghana, 388

Harlem move of, 245

and Hilliard, 285–87

Hoffman pays bail bond for, 285

and infiltration of Black Panthers, 271, 272, 285–87, 386–87

inner circle of, 297

and Iris, 204, 206, 208, 223, 226, 229, 245, 272

and Joan Bird incident, 269

jobs of, 216

joins Black Panthers, 218–19

and Joseph's (Pauline) anonymous call to police, 334

and King assassination, 217, 218

and leadership of Black Panthers, 269–70, 287, 358

legal strategy of, 359, 360

and living as an urban revolutionary, 314

Malcolm X's influence on, 66–67, 115, 182–83, 204, 209

and Mandella in Harlem, 388

and March on Washington, 207

marriage of, 208

and media, 318–19, 332, 360, 362

memoir of, 228, 271–72

mission of, 389

NAACP comments of, 319

and Napier murder, 318, 335, 337, 359–60

narcotics addiction program of, 390

New Jersey home of, 388

New York Times
letter of, 318–19, 332

and Newton, 208, 209, 225, 289, 292, 296, 297, 298, 299, 319

and Nostrand Avenue incident, 228–29

and NYPD-black liberation movement war, 388

and OPERATION NEWKILL, 332, 338, 387

overturning of conviction of, 387–88

as Pan-Africanist, 389–90

and Panther Twenty-one case, 280, 282, 283–84, 285, 288, 294, 295–96, 319, 320, 334

Parole Board hearings of, 116–17, 142

parties of, 204, 206, 216

as PE teacher, 237

and Pentagon march, 206–7

personal life of, 208, 360, 388–89

political consciousness of, 66–67

post-prison activities of, 388–90

in prison, 58–59, 64–66, 115–17, 141–44, 203, 333, 337, 385–86

and proclaimed as enemy of Newton Black Panthers, 299

and race riots, 203

reading interests of, 66–67, 115–16, 142, 204–5, 216, 224–25, 314, 385–86

reflections of, 389–90

releases from prison of, 179, 288, 388

robbery of after-hours club by, 180–81

self-image of, 181, 245

and shooting of policemen, 332, 333, 334–36, 337, 359, 360–63, 386

social consciousness of, 217

spiritual and physical rebirth of, 203–4

and splits among Black Panthers, 289, 290–91, 294, 295–96, 314, 315–18, 319

suspension from Black Panthers of, 296

as symbol of activist, 388

and Triple-O social club robbery, 327–30, 333, 336, 359, 361

as underground, 299, 313–14, 318, 319–20, 328, 332

views about police of, 60, 61

weapons procurement by, 271–72

and Webb murder, 300

and Whitmore case references, 58, 59, 67, 283

Binetti, Nicholas: shooting of, 321–22, 323, 331, 332, 333, 334–35, 337, 360–63, 386

Bird, Joan, 267–69, 282, 288, 296, 297, 299

Black Agitator Index, 216, 332

Black Brotherhood, 197

black gangs, 62, 189–91

Black Liberation Army (BLA)

Beck Street safe house for, 334, 335–36, 338, 359

as center of black liberation movement, 358

and Chesimard case, 381–82

and FBI, 338, 380, 381, 382

George Jackson squad of, 350

goal of, 338

lack of support for, 338

leadership of, 380

and media, 335, 336, 347–48, 350, 351

Murphy statement about, 350

“narcotics eradication program” of, 328

and New Jersey Turnpike shootout, 381

NYPD war with, 332–33, 338–39, 347–48, 350–51, 380–81

and OPERATION NEWKILL, 332–33, 338

rise of, 322

and shooting of policemen, 322–24, 331, 333, 350, 380

as underground, 338

and Whitmore's appeals, 352

black liberation movement

Black Panthers as center of, 358

and Chesimard arrest, 381

and COINTELPRO, 386

decline/demise of, 244, 288

infiltration of, 386

motto of, 224

NYPD war with, 254, 270, 314, 388

and Panther Twenty-one case, 320

shifts in, 213–14

as threat to police, 196

and Whitmore appeals, 352

Whitmore's concerns about, 325

See also specific person or organization

black nationalism, 182, 183, 198, 227–28, 286, 289, 290–91

Black Panther
newspaper, 226–27, 235, 237, 238, 255, 268, 269, 283, 289, 299, 300, 314–16, 359

Black Panther Party (BPP)

arrests of, 239–41

basic principles and purpose of, 214, 288–89, 359

Bin Wahad's reflections about, 389

and BOSS, 243–44, 268, 301–2, 358

Brooklyn headquarters of, 218–19

and burning of
Black Panther's
office, 315–18

as center of black liberation movement, 358

Central Committee of, 225, 228, 235, 288, 289, 294, 296, 298, 313, 314, 315, 319

and Cleaver's flight to Algiers, 266–67

and COINTELPRO, 320, 358

corruption in, 290–91, 294

Drug Relief Program of, 315

and drugs, 301

and FBI, 216, 244–45, 270, 279, 286, 288, 292–94, 297, 300, 301, 331–32, 358

Fillmore East benefit for, 223–24

founding of, 185, 290

funding for, 223–24, 226, 228, 287, 289, 314

as grassroots phenomenon, 226

and Hayden, 247–54

image and characterizations of, 278–79

infiltration of, 243–45, 268, 270, 271, 285–87, 301–2, 320, 358

international chapter of, 266

leadership of, 186, 216, 267, 285–88, 295–96, 297, 358

and media, 185, 209, 214, 255, 313, 338

mock trials by, 303

and murder of other Panthers, 293–94, 299–300, 315, 359

and Napier murder, 317–19

New Haven rally of, 296–99

and Newton arrest, 208

Nixon-Hoover discussion about, 331–32

and Nixon's election, 266

and Nostrand Avenue–police incident, 227–29, 238

NYPD interactions/war with, 226, 238–43, 266–74, 279–81, 301, 320

old-guard civil rights groups split with, 216

and “Open Letter to the Harlem Community,” 186–87

OPERATION SHUT DOWN of, 187

and Panther Twenty-one case, 285–87, 294–96, 297, 298, 315

and police corruption, 279–81, 301

and police as pigs, 227

and police as tool of ruling class, 302–3

political education (PE) of, 218–19, 224–25, 235, 237–38, 270, 271

in prison, 373

purging of renegades from, 299

and RAM, 197, 213

reading materials of, 219

recruitment of members for, 235, 315

reputation of, 215

and revenge, 359

Sacramento march of, 185

security section in, 245, 271

and SNCC, 214–15

social services of, 338

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