Sonoma honors Big Man’s 50th year of community service
sfbayview.com | May 10th 2011
by Billy X Jennings
Big Man and Willie Garrett exchange recollections at the April
22 dinner in Sonoma honoring Big Man’s 50 years of community service. Garrett
told of soda fountain sit-ins in Santa Rosa in the early ‘60s. – Photo: Martin
McReynolds Friday, April 22, I drove up to Sonoma to visit Big Man. This was a
special trip because the wonderful people of Sonoma were giving Big Man a
surprise dinner to honor his 50th year of community service. This event was the
master plan of activist and radio personality Mary Moore and Morris Turner, who
worked with the Black Panther Party in Sacramento under Charles Bronson. Morris
later moved to the Bay Area, where he worked closely with the Merritt College
Black Student Union and now lives in the Sonoma area.
I arrived early, about 3 p.m., and the dinner was at 6:30. Big Man and I talked
about the upcoming 45th year celebration we are planning for October. The
dinner was at Worth Our Weight, a restaurant that is owned by former party
member Evelyn “Tweety” Cheatham, who used to work out of the San Francisco and
West Berkeley offices. Over 50 community leaders and friends came together to
honor Big Man. It was a total surprise to him.
The food was very good, served and prepared by Evelyn’s staff. People took
turns talking about what Big Man had done since he moved to the area only six
years ago. My turn came and I spoke of who Big Man is and what he means to me.
He is a friend, comrade, original Panther, international and national
spokesperson of the BPP, first editor of the BPP newspaper, coordinator of the
Free Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins campaign in New Haven, world traveler for
the BPP, coordinator of one of Bobby Seale’s campaign offices, and
administrator at Grove Street College, to name a few things.
Big Man and his wife Carole helped start PACH, a police monitoring program. Big
Man has a radio program which is called Jazz Styles. He was a board member of
another radio station in the area. He has spoken at a number of schools and
colleges in the area.
I later told the story about how Big Man’s book came about and how he hooked up
with his wife, Carole. Some years back, Big Man and I spoke at Mississippi U;
this is when he lived in Memphis. I told Big Man of the upcoming Bobby Hutton
Day we sponsor yearly in Oakland. I asked him to come out and be a part of the
event.
Over the next few months, I had Big Man write some articles for our newspaper
and website. Then I told Big Man that he had enough material for a book. I
suggested that he check with Paul Coates at Black Classic Press, and the rest
is history
Big Man and Carole got together through the It’s About Time website. Carole had
lost track of Big Man in the early 1970s when Big Man was doing a lot of
international travelling for the BPP. She often spoke of Big Man to her
friends.
When Big Man came out in 2005 for his book tour, I placed an ad in the Bay View
newspaper and posted the info on our website. Carole was leaving town when her
friend heard about Big Man being in the Bay Area. She called Carole, but Carole
brushed her off, because her mind was on her vacation.
When Carole came back from vacation, her friend called her and asked if she’d
called to see if that was Big Man. So Carole checked the newspaper and website,
saw Big Man’s number and called him. They reunited, ended up getting married,
and I was the best man. Now that’s a story.
Big Man’s and my connection is based in the party. Even in the BPP, we used to
run together. He taught me a lot about jazz and we would sneak off to Keystone
Corner in SF to catch some shows. Big Man’s lady friends at that time liked me
and used to come get me and take me out with them. We would go to the Circle
Star and the Berkeley Jazz Festivals. We even went to the 1973 Monterey Jazz
Festival. He is one of my closest friends and advisors.
The dinner was a job well done. Thanks to Mary, Carole, Evelyn and Morris.
Black Panther Party veteran Billy X Jennings is historian, archivist and
webmaster for the party and its members, organizer of many events and curator
of countless exhibits around the world. Visit www.itsabouttimebpp.com, email
him at [email protected] and celebrate the party’s 45th anniversary this
October. Big Man’s given name is Elbert Howard.
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http://sfbayview.com/2011/sonoma-honors-big-man%E2%80%99s-50th-year-of-community-service/
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