Although Lincoln University's Black Student Congress was opposed to female leaders, Huggins engaged in the group despite the opposition.

[12] Her motivation came from a Ramparts magazine article she read that discussed the cruel treatment of Huey P. Newton while incarcerated.

A picture in the article depicted Newton shirtless, with a bullet wound in his stomach, strapped to a hospital gurney.

Along with Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, Huggins was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy.

[19] While awaiting trial from 1969 to 1972, Huggins spent her time writing in the Prison Niantic State Farm for Women.

Writing about the poor social conditions herself and her community endured, she viewed storytelling as a form of self-defense, personal agency, and educational activism.

Her work is defined by themes such as love and hate, time and space, sexism and feminism, spirituality, racism, and nationalism.

[20][21] Within three months of their daughter's birth, Ericka became a widow when John Huggins was killed on the UCLA campus in January 1969.

[22][23] In 2007, Higgins stated in an interview that Huey Newton repeatedly raped her and threatened that if she told anyone he would hurt her children.