A former captain in the Black Panther Party and bodyguard to Eldridge Cleaver, Brent hijacked a plane to Cuba in June 1969 to avoid standing trial on charges stemming from a shootout with San Francisco police. To his surprise, however, upon his arrival in Havana, he was put in prison for 22 months. Now, at age 64, Brent has written his unique memoir. Photos.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Black Panther memoirs may now be in fashion, but Brent's story, though surely readable, is a minor one. Shaped by racism in the South and the army, he was drawn to the outlaw life of the streets and at 22 was sent to San Quentin for armed robbery. Out of prison, he gained inspiration from the Panthers' uncompromising stance, joined the group and gained greater stature in it. Dazed by drugs, he shot and wounded two San Francisco cops pursuing him; the Panthers expelled him for violating Panther discipline. Rather than face trial, Brent daringly hijacked a plane to Cuba. Half this book concerns his life in Cuba, but his tales of international Panther politics (including reinstatement by Huey Newton), cutting sugarcane proudly and bed-hopping with leftist internationalists are not too deep. Brent eventually joined Radio Havana Cuba, though he acknowledges that his reporting couldn't be fully honest. He remains a supporter of black liberation and the Cuban revolution, but offers no larger analysis. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Another autobiography by an ex-Panther, this tale is told by someone who doesn't paint a very flattering picture of himself. A school dropout, Brent, now a Cuban exile, was in and out of prison as a young man. When he finally was released from jail in 1962, he vowed never to return. He joined the Black Panthers in 1967 at age 37, only to be expelled months later for violating one of their principles: drinking and carrying a loaded weapon on an assignment. He was arrested again for robbing a gas station attendant and participating in a shootout with the police. Out on bail, he singlehandedly hijacked a plane to Cuba; to his surprise he was thrown immediately into jail and remained there for 22 months. The rest of the saga reflects on the aftermath of his incarceration: his struggle to learn Spanish, his interest in socialism, and his work and experiences with the Cuban people. This is good reading until it bogs down in minutiae. A marginal purchase. Two other related books to consider are Elaine Brown's A Taste of Power (LJ 12/92) and Hugh Pearson's The Shadow of the Panther (LJ 5/1/94).?Ann Burns, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STANDING UP NEXT 2 A MOUNTAIN,
By pachamama "pachamama" (Liberty City, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Long Time Gone : A Black Panther's True-Life Story of His Hijacking and Twenty-Five Years In Cuba (Paperback)
It is true that life is what we make of it but it is only true for those who are equipped with the tools of knowledge. William Lee Brent's Long Time Gone speaks of a reality so much truer for so many of us and a fantasy for so many others. Brent's story is one that seeks not a perfect truth or idealistic escapisms. It is a man's longing for basic human rights in an American environment which he did not create but was imprisoned in. The hijacking of a TWA flight to Cuba is not where you will find the adventure/richness in Brent's story but it is the fork in the road that leads to his inner perspective, closure and true freedom while in Cuba. The strength of Long Time Gone is not in the fact that it is unapologetic but that it is about redemption and that is something that often lacks in those individuals who have the convenience of a two way ticket.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You always keep what you need handy, and you always dream.,
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This review is from: Long Time Gone : A Black Panther's True-Life Story of His Hijacking and Twenty-Five Years In Cuba (Paperback)
"I was always afraid," he said "but I never let fear stop me from doing what I needed to do." Face fear and do what you believe in is the gist of 'Long Time Gone'. This excellent read will engage you, regardless of what side of the tracks you were born. I met Bill Brent in Havana, Cuba and saw in his 70-year-old eyes a man with an unique story to tell. I recognized that age had not robbed him of his forceful character, a character that had been sculpted like a rock buffeted by external forces. That day in March 2001, we talked, reminiscenced and slowly sipped our Cuba Libres in his apartment. Though I had not known Bill Lee Brent before this moment, there was a kindred spirit. A common "yes," that comes from struggling against external forces in life, and if not prevailing, at least surviving against odds. We consciously wasted away our afternoon, sharing stories about the lives we both have lived, confirming often the overlapping experiences we both went through during the sixties. From his dirt-poor childhood in the South during the thirties and early forties, to his street days and hard jail time through the fifties, Brent's engaging writing never slacks or whines. He struggles to rise above the sludge that he was born into; but he was never released by the downward pull of destiny. Finally, in the sixties, he joined the radical Black Panthers. He rose to the rank of captain and was the bodyguard of Eldride Cleaver. His honest, but critical, look inside the Black Panthers: what they stood for, how they changed, and, when Bill Brent needed them, how they turn their backs on him; is a story that for history's sake needs to be told. Bill Brent was radical, yes; revolutionary, sure; and deliberate without a doubt. So, it should have come to no one's surprise that while awaiting trial for shooting three Oakland policemen, when he saw an out, he would take it. In July, 1969 William Lee Brent hijacked TWA Flight 151 from Oakland to Havana, Cuba and has never left Cuba since. As we were parting company, he looked at me and said, ""You always keep what you need handy and you always dream." This is his fascinating memoir. Recommended
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IN MEMORIAL TO THIS GREAT AND LIBERATED AMERICAN NOW BUY HIS BOOK,
By
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This review is from: Long Time Gone : A Black Panther's True-Life Story of His Hijacking and Twenty-Five Years In Cuba (Paperback)
This great American has just now passed. Please do service to his memory by studying his memoirs. Learn to be free. Learn the way of the Samarai.
Remember the revolution which was to be and which inevitably shall come, thanks to Bush's increased inequities and injustices. REmember those elderly and infirm drowned in New Orleans, and those who go without jobs, housing, health and education, without clean air and water and opportunity. Read the late Brother Brent. The one who got away.
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