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Long Time Gone: A Black Panther's True-Life Story: of His Hijacking and Twenty-Five Years in Cuba

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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.

"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

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.

This is real life on pages. A vivid look into the life of a Black Man in the dark ages of American History. This book Takes you through life in the south, on the west coast, in and out of prison and finally getting involved with the Black Panthers during a period of turmoil. He feels finally something positive to dedicate his life to. Something worth fighting and dying for. Out on bail after being in a shootout with San Francisco police, knowing there was no JUSTICE in American courts for Blacks, He weights his options,to face a prejudice judge & jury, or escape while he could. intense!!!!!