William Lee Brent

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. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=U.S. Fugitives Worry About a Cuba Without Castro |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/world/americas/12cuba.html?ex=1336622400&en=fa85c17a2e9e871f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |quote=Another fugitive from a similar hijacking several years earlier, William Lee Brent, also died recently. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper’s portion of Colón Cemetery, where eight coffins are stacked atop one another and then topped with concrete. Mr. Brent, who was 75, holds position No. 5. |publisher=New York Times |date=May 12, 2007 |accessdate= ]

Biography

He had a sister Elouise Rawlins in Oakland, California. William used a handgun to hijack TWA Flight 154 from San Francisco to Havana on June 17, 1969. He spent 22 months in an immigration jail in Cuba when he arrived but was released. He earned a Spanish literature degree from the University of Havana and taught English at various junior and senior high schools. He never became a Cuban citizen but married travel writer Jane McManus (ca. 1920 - 2005). They had met and married in Cuba. 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) [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Havana Journal;25 Years an Exile: An Old Black Panther Sums Up |url= |work= |publisher=New York Times |date=April 9, 1996 |accessdate= ]

According to Amy Goodman, host of radio/tv program "Democracy Now" (November 22, 2006), William Lee Brent died in Cuba of pneumonia on November 4, 2006 at age 75.

References