Elaine Brown was inducted into the Justice Category in 2024.
Elaine Brown is a former leader of the Black Panther Party, a social justice activist for the last 50 years and author of A Taste of Power and The Condemnation of Little B. A Taste of Power, her autobiography, is scheduled for film production with Alicia Keys slated to play Elaine. Elaine is CEO of the non-profit organization Oakland & the World Enterprises, Inc. (OAW), dedicated to launching and sustaining for-profit businesses for cooperative ownership by formerly incarcerated and other socioeconomically marginalized people. OAW is developing an $80 Million complex in West Oakland, The Black Panther, composed of 79 100% affordable housing units, along with OAW-supported businesses, including a neighborhood market, restaurant, fitness center, urban farm and tech center, slated for completion in May 2024. Elaine is a classically trained pianist, a songwriter and singer, who has recorded two albums of original songs, one for Motown records. Elaine's papers are archived at Emory University.
