Elbert Howard (January 5, 1938 – July 23, 2018), better known as Big Man, was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist and author who was one of the founding members of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

Black Panther

Howard spent several years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in Europe. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Howard moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. While attending

Merritt College Merritt College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California, United States. Merritt, like the other three campuses of the Peralta Community College District, is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accr ...

, Howard met

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an African American revolutionary, political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) ...

and

Huey P. Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...

. In 1966, at the age of 28, he became one of the six original founding members of the Black Panther Party, along with Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, "L'il" Bobby Hutton, Reggie Forte, and Sherman Forte. Howard was an active member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense from 1966 through 1974, and acted as the Party's "Deputy Minister of Information", often functioning as a lead spokesperson for the party while other members were imprisoned.

Post-party

After leaving the party in 1974, Howard returned to Tennessee. In Memphis, he served on the boards of directors of several African American progressive educational institutions. In 2001, Howard self-published his memoir, ''Panther on the Prowl'', covering the rise and fall of the Black Panthers. In 2003, he was a coordinator for the All of Us or None Ex-Offender Program, and also was a member of the Millions for Reparations committee.

Later life

Until his death, Howard lived in Forestville, California with his wife, Carole Hyams. They married in 2007. He was a founder of the Police Accountability Clinic & Helpline of

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

, and a board member of KWTF, a community radio station. Howard was a lifelong lover of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and hosted jazz and blues programs at several radio stations. In 2016, he provided an oral history of his life in the freedom struggle for the national Civil Rights History Project, a joint undertaking of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture
Elbert Howard interview from the Library of Congress & NMAAHC
Howard died on July 23, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Elbert 1938 births 2018 deaths Activists from California Members of the Black Panther Party Merritt College alumni People from Chattanooga, Tennessee People from Forestville, California Military personnel from Tennessee United States Air Force airmen Writers from Tennessee