Richard Aoki

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Richard Aoki

Richard Aoki (born November 20, 1938 in San Leandro , California , † March 15, 2009 in Berkeley ) was an American civil rights activist and FBI informant. He was one of the earliest members of the Black Panther Party , eventually becoming the Field Marshall , making him the only Asian American to hold a leadership role in the organization. He was also known as the one who first supplied the Black Panther Party with weapons for patrol purposes.

Aoki was born in San Leandro , California in 1938. From 1942 to 1945 he and his family, like large parts of the Japanese population, were imprisoned in the Topaz internment camp in Utah . After World War II, the Aokis moved to Oakland , California. Richard Aoki served eight years in the Army of the United States, first as a paramedic and later as infantryman . Aoki attended Merritt College for two years, where he befriended Huey Newton and Bobby Seale . By the time Newton and Seale founded the Black Panther Party (October 1966), Aoki had already moved to the University of California, Berkeley . He received his bachelor's degree in sociology in 1968 and a master's degree in social work ( Master of Social Work ) in 1970 .

In 2009, it was initially reported that Aoki died of complications from dialysis at his Berkeley home. Almost a year later it became public that he committed suicide with a gun.

His life was told in the documentary Aoki (2009).

In August 2012, after a request for inspection of the files by the journalist Seth Rosenfeld, it became known that Aoki had been spying for the FBI since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, initially against local communists, but above all against the Black Panther Party . He promoted their arming and their militaristic demeanor.

As Bo Thao-Urabe, co-founder of the Minnesota-based Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) re-raised after the assassination of George Floyd , Americans of Asian descent "were used as a wedge between the demands of the black community and our system."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Momo Chang: Richard Aoki, charter member of Black Panthers, this in Berkeley . San Jose Mercury News. March 18, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
  2. ^ Puck Lo: Film on former Panther Richard Aoki debuts . Oakland North. November 12, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  3. ^ Willi Winkler: Black Panther member Richard Aoki. Black Liberation Hero was "one of the best sources" of the FBI . Southgerman newspaper. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  4. ^ Are Asian Americans complicit in anti-black racism?
  5. ^ The history behind 'Yellow Peril Supports Black Power' and why some find it problematic

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Aoki, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH San Leandro
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 2009
Place of death Berkeley