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Black Cultural Association
The Black Cultural Association (BCA) was an African-American inmate group founded in 1968 at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, a California state prison, and formally recognized by prison officials in 1969. The primary purpose of the BCA was to provide educational tutoring to inmates, which it did in conjunction with graduate college students from the nearby San Francisco Bay Area. Outsiders were allowed to attend meetings of the BCA, and tutors provided remedial and advanced courses in mathematics, reading, writing, art, history, political science, and sociology. In time, radical political organizations such as Venceremos infiltrated the BCA, giving rise to BCA factions such as Unisight, which eventually gave birth to the Symbionese Liberation Army.
The 1960s were famous for numerous social movements, including the Black Panther Party in California. This increase in racial tension across the nation fed to rising concerns about the African-American population. The Black Panther Party was created to watch the actions of police forces in Los Angeles making sure that they were protecting the public as a whole, not a specific race. In Oakland, the number of arrests dramatically increased, which led to an increase in prison populations. In the State of California's prisoners statistics it states that the populations of inmates on December 31, 1960, was 21,660 persons. 8 years later on December 31, 1968 the population had increased to a high of 28,462. During the 1960s the black distribution in California prisons was 20.8 percent but gradually increased to 34.1 percent by the 1980s. The same people who were demanding social reforms found themselves in jail demanding prison reforms for those of color. From this rise in black inmate population came the Black Cultural Association, or the BCA. Their goal was to educate black inmates on basic educational skills as well as foster an environment for black empowerment.
The main purpose of the BCA was to provide educational tutoring for inmates. For two years the BCA operated without much direction. However, in 1971 the BCA was officially recognized by the California Medical Facility. University of California-Berkeley linguistic professor, Colston Westbrook was recruited to organize an educational tutoring system for the group. Westbrook's goal was to instill racial pride in the prisoners and provide self-help. Westbrook brought in a group of tutors to teach math, reading, writing, art, political science, black sociology, and African heritage. A majority of the BCA tutors were white students from the University of California at Berkeley that held leftist and radical beliefs. BCA tutors included Russell Little and William Wolfe. As well as Patricia Soltysik, Nancy Ling Perry, and Patty Hearst (who used a fake ID with the name Mary Alice Siem), according to Lake Headley, a private investigator. The group began to grow and started to meet two to three times a week. Over time, the BCA evolved from an educational group into more of a political group that focused on radical ideals and black empowerment. Because the focus of the group shifted away from the conventional educational group, no statistics could be found on how successful the program was at improving the education of prisoners.
One notable member of the BCA was a black prisoner named Donald DeFreeze. Defreeze became close with Westbrook and quickly embraced the revolutionary fantasy that was fostered in the BCA. Eventually, DeFreeze was transferred to Soledad State Prison where he then escaped. Following his escape he teamed up with fellow BCA members Russell Little and William Wolfe, as well as Bill and Emily Harris and Angela Atwood, to create the Symbionese Liberation Army.
BCA Coordinator: Colston Westbrook
Member and Inmate: Donald DeFreeze
BCA Visitor/Tutor: William Wolfe
BCA Visitor/Tutor: Russell Little
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Black Cultural Association
The Black Cultural Association (BCA) was an African-American inmate group founded in 1968 at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, a California state prison, and formally recognized by prison officials in 1969. The primary purpose of the BCA was to provide educational tutoring to inmates, which it did in conjunction with graduate college students from the nearby San Francisco Bay Area. Outsiders were allowed to attend meetings of the BCA, and tutors provided remedial and advanced courses in mathematics, reading, writing, art, history, political science, and sociology. In time, radical political organizations such as Venceremos infiltrated the BCA, giving rise to BCA factions such as Unisight, which eventually gave birth to the Symbionese Liberation Army.
The 1960s were famous for numerous social movements, including the Black Panther Party in California. This increase in racial tension across the nation fed to rising concerns about the African-American population. The Black Panther Party was created to watch the actions of police forces in Los Angeles making sure that they were protecting the public as a whole, not a specific race. In Oakland, the number of arrests dramatically increased, which led to an increase in prison populations. In the State of California's prisoners statistics it states that the populations of inmates on December 31, 1960, was 21,660 persons. 8 years later on December 31, 1968 the population had increased to a high of 28,462. During the 1960s the black distribution in California prisons was 20.8 percent but gradually increased to 34.1 percent by the 1980s. The same people who were demanding social reforms found themselves in jail demanding prison reforms for those of color. From this rise in black inmate population came the Black Cultural Association, or the BCA. Their goal was to educate black inmates on basic educational skills as well as foster an environment for black empowerment.
The main purpose of the BCA was to provide educational tutoring for inmates. For two years the BCA operated without much direction. However, in 1971 the BCA was officially recognized by the California Medical Facility. University of California-Berkeley linguistic professor, Colston Westbrook was recruited to organize an educational tutoring system for the group. Westbrook's goal was to instill racial pride in the prisoners and provide self-help. Westbrook brought in a group of tutors to teach math, reading, writing, art, political science, black sociology, and African heritage. A majority of the BCA tutors were white students from the University of California at Berkeley that held leftist and radical beliefs. BCA tutors included Russell Little and William Wolfe. As well as Patricia Soltysik, Nancy Ling Perry, and Patty Hearst (who used a fake ID with the name Mary Alice Siem), according to Lake Headley, a private investigator. The group began to grow and started to meet two to three times a week. Over time, the BCA evolved from an educational group into more of a political group that focused on radical ideals and black empowerment. Because the focus of the group shifted away from the conventional educational group, no statistics could be found on how successful the program was at improving the education of prisoners.
One notable member of the BCA was a black prisoner named Donald DeFreeze. Defreeze became close with Westbrook and quickly embraced the revolutionary fantasy that was fostered in the BCA. Eventually, DeFreeze was transferred to Soledad State Prison where he then escaped. Following his escape he teamed up with fellow BCA members Russell Little and William Wolfe, as well as Bill and Emily Harris and Angela Atwood, to create the Symbionese Liberation Army.
BCA Coordinator: Colston Westbrook
Member and Inmate: Donald DeFreeze
BCA Visitor/Tutor: William Wolfe
BCA Visitor/Tutor: Russell Little