More about Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter--from a website

This is from another blog: http://www.jasmyneacannick.com, and an interview with Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter's big brother, Bernie Morris, 76, the oldest of ten children of Nola Carter. Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, was a former leader of Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who was murdered at U.C.L.A.’s Campbell Hall in 1969, recently viewed the film at a private screening for the first time.  

A retired engineer, Mr. Morris, who now lives in Carson, Calif., is the first member of the Carter family to watch the film that features first hand accounts as told by the original surviving Black Panther members of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins’ murders.

“Powerful, dynamic—the film rekindled a lot of old emotions,” explains Mr. Morris.  “I remember by brother sitting me down and explaining to me who this group called the Black Panthers were.  After our mother and our stepfather split up and with me being the oldest brother, my mother looked to me for support in guiding my younger brothers.  I was expected to lead by example.  I remember thinking that the Panthers were just another gang that he was involved in and worried about the effect it was going to have on our mother.”

From the Los Angeles Sentinel: Bernie Morris, 73, speaks with "Gregory Everett" about the 1969 murder of his brother, Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter, former leader of the Southern California Panther Party for Self Defense. 

Prior to joining the Black Panthers, Bunchy Carter, a graduate of Freemont High School was the leader of the Slauson Renegades, a local Los Angeles gang.  After graduating high school, Bunchy began working for an upscale department store in downtown Los Angeles on Wilshire.

Laughing he recalls, I remember my first introduction to the Nation of Islam was when Bunchy, and our brothers John and Glen came into the house one day and declared ‘no more pork!’  It drove my mother insane.  Here she was trying to feed a family of ten on a limited budget where there was no room to be selective about what was for dinner.  It was utter chaos.”

“Bunchy was a party goer, a ladies man—what young people now call a player,” remembers Mr. Carter.  “In 1961, Bunchy wanted a car and so one day he came to me and asked me if I would co-sign on a car for him.  We looked for a car for a couple weeks and finally settled on a 1956 red and black MGB. At the time, he was just enjoying living life.  When he got that car, you couldn’t touch Bunchy with a ten foot pole,” he chuckles.

“Sometime after that, Bunchy was sent to Soledad Prison for attempting to rob a Security Pacific Bank and was there for four years.  He came out two years after the Watts Riots ended and there were all these programs being started.  Our mother was involved with a program call N.A.P. and they had these teen posts.  She got Bunchy involved in one of the teen posts on Central and Nadeau.  That’s where Bunchy met Caffee Greene and Nate Holden because they were also involved with those programs at the time working with Supervisor Hahn.”

“From that all of a sudden all I know is he’s in this organization called the Black Panthers and traveling back and forth up north.  He had formed a kinship with Bobby [Seal], David [Hilliard], and Eldridge [Cleaver].  Initially, I thought it was just another gang.”

Mr. Carter explains that their mother, Nola Carter, now 93, was feeling anguish and worried about Bunchy’s well being and that being the older brother, it was up to Mr. Carter to find out exactly what was going on and what this group called the Panthers was all about.

“Bunchy sat me down and explained his reasons for joining the Black Panthers,” he continues.  “He said he was tired of being oppressed.”

“You have to understand that Bunchy, he didn’t have the same fear that I had.  He was a very proud strong young man, and by this time, he had been arrested and incarcerated—whereas a person like me who had not been involved in any of that kind of stuff was scared.  There were certain values that our mother instilled in me as the oldest brother.  Like Bunchy, I had a role to play in our family and he had his.  The bottom line was that I knew something bad was going to happen because I knew my brother felt strongly about the injustices that were happening to black people at the time.  But it was his destiny to fulfill and I was concerned with making sure it had as small an impact as possible on our mother.”

In March of 1968, Arthur (Glen) Morris, brother of Bernie and Bunchy Carter and Bunchy’s first bodyguard, was shot and killed on 111th between Normandie and Vermont Avenues.  He was the first member of the Black Panther Party to be killed.

“When Glen died things really started to changed,” Mr. Carter explains.  “Almost a year after Glen’s death Bunchy and John [Huggins] were murdered at U.C.L.A.”  A murder that is still unsolved today.

I gather that's where Aquarius takes over, pawing over Glen's murder. I would guess this is going to bring up a lot of pain for the Carter family. I'm sure they are a strong family. I hope they find a good way to deal with this.