The Savage City
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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.
SEARCHABLE TERMS
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