Will You Die with Me?: My Life and the Black Panther Party

Amid the social turmoil of the 1960s and '70s, Flores Forbes was drawn to the Black Panther Party's mission of organizing resistance to police brutality. Eagerly joining the revolution, he soon found himself immersed in a culture of Mao-inspired rigor - and by the time he was twenty-five years old, he had earned a place in the Party's elite inner circle as a assistant chief of staff. Although ultimately his fierce dedication resulted in a deadly mistake that cost him his freedom, he finally got his life back after serving time in prison.

Now, in this remarkable memoir, Forbes vividly describes his transformation from an angry youth into a powerful partisan in the ranks of the black liberation movement. With intimate portraits of such BPP leaders as Elaine Brown, Eldridge Cleaver, and Huey P. Newton, Will You Die with Me? is a riveting firsthand look at some of the most dramatic events of the last century and a brutally honest tale of one man's journey from rage to redemption.

Amid the social turmoil of the 1960s and '70s, Flores Forbes was drawn to the Black Panther Party's mission of organizing resistance to police brutality. Eagerly joining the revolution, he soon found himself immersed in a culture of Mao-inspired rigor - and by the time he was twenty-five years old, he had earned a place in the Party's elite inner circle as a assistant chief of staff. Although ultimately his fierce dedication resulted in a deadly mistake that cost him his freedom, he finally got his life back after serving time in prison.

Now, in this remarkable memoir, Forbes vividly describes his transformation from an angry youth into a powerful partisan in the ranks of the black liberation movement. With intimate portraits of such BPP leaders as Elaine Brown, Eldridge Cleaver, and Huey P. Newton, Will You Die with Me? is a riveting firsthand look at some of the most dramatic events of the last century and a brutally honest tale of one man's journey from rage to redemption.

Flores A. Forbes, recently profiled in Crain's New York Business, is the chief strategic officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation in New York City.