William Lee Brent

Brent in his home in Havana (May 1996)

William Lee Brent (1931 – November 4, 2006) was a Black Panther Party member who hijacked a passenger jet to Cuba in 1969 and spent 37 years in exile in Cuba.

Biography

William Lee Brent was born in Franklin, LA in November 1931. He came to California in 1943 with his mother, Eva, who moved to Oakland to work in the shipyards during WWII. A younger sister, Elouise, was left behind in Texas with relatives until Eva was able to get a job and bring out to join her and Bill. After getting into trouble as a juvenile, Bill decided to join the army and enlisted at the age of 17. He was discharged after only eight months, and returned to the streets of West Oakland. It was there, in 1955, that he and some three other boys were convicted of armed robbery and auto theft. Bill spent eight and half years in San Quentin and Tehachapi State Prisons.

While in prison, Bill began to develop his intellectual and artistic sides. He read profusely -- philosophy, poetry, history. While in San Quentin, he composed songs and wrote poetry.

Upon his release from Tehachapi in 1962, Bill moved back to Oakland where his mother, sister, and six nieces and nephews lived. He took a job as an auto mechanic, having learned those skills while incarcerated. Soon love entered Bill Brent's life when he met and married Gloria Harness, a beautiful brunette of Portuguese descent. vThough not conventionally handsome, Bill was striking and charismatic. He was tall and lean, with very dark skin, a deep baritone voice and piercing eyes. Men, too, were drawn to Bill - and it was clear that he was born to lead.

Bill and Gloria soon rented an apartment in East Oakland and began married life in 1964. The couple, both intellectual, soon became enthralled by the Black Power movement which was still in its early stages. Bill joined the Black Panther Party and quickly ascended to a leadership role in the inner circle. He worked closely with Eldredge Cleaver, Minister of Information, and rose to the level of Captain in the Party.

As the Black Panthers grew to be a national organization, the focus on the founding chapter in Oakland brought attention and participation from white liberals in the Bay Area as well as Hollywood. After the murder of Bobby Hutton by the Oakland police department in a shootout in West Oakland, the attention of the world was riveted to Oakland. When Bill delivered a speech at the deFremery Park listing the Panther's "Ten Point Program", movie star Marlon Brando followed with a speech of his own to express his support for the Party and the Black community as a whole.

One source of revenue for the Party was the sale of the "Black Panther" newspaper. The readership was fairly large, especially in the Bay Area, and many of the members participated in helping to distribute them for sale. On one such outing in 1969, Bill, along with several other members of the party stopped at a station in San Francisco to get gas. Bill, having been up for several days and after smoking some marijuana was almost delirious. He went inside to buy cigarettes, the clerk panicked and thought he was there to rob him. Bill said that when the clerk handed him all the cash, he was confused and just ran out of the store.

Soon the SF police stopped the Panther's van and a shootout occurred. One policeman suffered a wound to his hand, and all of the suspects were arrested and held at City jail. Friends and supporters paid Bill's $100,000 bail in a matter of days, and he was released pending trial for robbery and assault on a police officer.

After consulting with an attorney, and weighing the possibility of an acquittal for an ex-felon accused of shooting a San Francisco police officer, Bill realized that the only option available to him would be to flee the country. Bill decided to leave everything he loved so much -- his family, his wife, and his home -- for a chance to continue the fight for freedom and dignity, in Cuba. On June 17, 1969, Bill boarded TWA Flight 154 from Oakland bound for New York City. Once in the air, he took out a .38-caliber revolver, apologized and ordered pilots to take him to Cuba.

He was immediately arrested by Cuban authorities who suspected him of being a US spy. He spent 22 months in isolation in the Cuban jail, and was released only after many interrogations. He earned a Spanish literature degree from the University of Havana and taught English at various junior and senior high schools. He continued to be creative, writing an autobiography "Long Time Gone" that was published by Random House books. He never became a Cuban citizen but after he and Gloria were legally divorced, Bill married travel writer Jane McManus (ca. 1920 - 2005). They remained a loving and supportive couple until her death in 2005. Bill was left alone, far from his home and family, with only adored doberman "Chikatico." He was working on another book - this one about racism in Cuba - at the time of his death.

In a 1996 interview with Associated Press, he said he missed the United States and the American black community. But he was unwilling to return to the United States to face life imprisonment for air piracy and kidnapping. Around 1996, Times Books published his memoirs, Long Time Gone (ISBN 0-595-00288-9).

Brent died in Cuba of pneumonia on November 4, 2006 at age 75.