Taste of Power

The incredible memoir of Elaine Brown - the first woman leader of the Black Panthers'Here I was, a woman, proclaiming supreme power over the most militant organization in America'In 1974 Elaine Brown became the first woman leader of the Black Panther Party. This is her unforgettable memoir, charting her rise from an impoverished neighbourhood in Philadelphia, through her political awakening during a bohemian adolescence, and on to her time as a foot soldier for the Panthers and ascent into its male-dominated upper ranks. It is a seminal exploration of power, racism and one woman's revolutionary struggle.'Heart-wrenching, wild and moving ... a glowing achievement' Los Angeles Times'What Elaine Brown writes is so astonishing, at times it is even difficult to believe she survived it. And yet she did, bringing us that amazing light of the black woman's magical resilience' Alice Walker

Honest, funny, subjective, unsparing, and passionate ... A Taste of Power weaves autobiography and political history into a story that fascinates and illuminates, A stunning picture of a black woman's coming of age in America. Put it on the shelf beside The Autobiography of Malcolm X, What Elaine Brown writes is so astonishing, at times it is even difficult to believe she survived it. And yet she did, bringing us that amazing light of the black woman's magical resilience, in the gloominess of our bitter despair, Astonishing [and] heart wrenching ... Movie makers, where are you? This narration is as wild and moving as Bonnie and Clyde ... It also has beautiful, touching, heartbreaking accounts of a lonely black childhood ... Brown sees racial oppression in national and global context; every political word she writes pounds home a lesson about commerce, money, racism, communism ... A glowing achievement ... A profound, funny and heartbreaking American story, A Taste of Power is chilling, well-written, and profoundly entertaining

Elaine Brown is an American activist, writer, singer and former leader of the Black Panther Party. Born in 1943, Brown was raised in Philadelphia. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music, and there became politicized as she further experienced the daily injustices of racism. She joined the Black Panther Party in 1968, and, in 1974, was appointed leader of the group - a role she held until 1977. She has since been intimately involved in campaigns for prison and education reform.