Justice For Larry Green

Who Is Larry Green?

The NOI was generally respected in local communities during this evolving era of civil rights struggle for its philosophy of Black independence , Black Self Help, and Black empowerment. However, some law enforcement organizations, led by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and various other state and local police organizations looked at  the NOI with suspicion or as, Hoover believed,  a possible threat to nation security. Some of these agencies followed Hoover’s lead in trying to undermine, disrupt and/or discredit the work of the NOI and its membership. The FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program (Cointelpro) was  the ultimate tool employed for this purpose. Alarmed by the NOI’s separatist and anti-white supremisist language, local variations of covert programs were set in motion by some police agencies where the NOI had temples. schools and businesses. Police operatives and undercover agents infiltrated NOI establishments seeking information and causing disruption.

Meet Larry Green

Larry Green was born and raised in Berkeley , California . He lived with his father and mother ,Booker T and Cloteal and 3  sisters, Debra. DeeDee  and Dawn at 1545 Parker street during his youth and until he graduated from Berkeley High School (BHS). According to Larry’s youngest sister Dawn Larry and the family,

“…our family ate dinner together, were encouraged to read, be respectful, went to church, watched TV shows and documentaries together, enjoyed family, friends, and heighbor visits and we visited them as well. Our parents friends were of a wide variety of races, cultures and backgrounds. Our home was open to all, and our parents hosted family and friends for scheduled and unscheduled  meals. ”

Larry Green, likewise had a wide and varied circle of friends. He  was renown as the the starting point guard on BHS’s undefeated basketball team who went 32-0 and was the number one team in California in 1970. After high school, Larry matriculated to community college and a year later, in 1971,  Larry Green joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and became an active member in the Do-For-Self and social reform program work of Temple No 26 located in San Francisco, California. After joining Temple No. 26, Larry eventually got a job, in 1972,  at one of the Muslim owned businesses, Black Self-Help Moving and Storage.

In August 1973, Larry Green met Anthony Harris in the Temple No. 26 snack shop. Anthony Harris had been released from San Quentin prison and was looking to join the  Temple No. 26 community and to find employment. Larry Green befriended Harris and eventually helped him gain employment at the Black Self-Help Moving and Storage. Because Harris also possessed skills in the Martial Arts, he was able to gain acceptance as a Martial Arts instructor at Temple No. 26. It is unknown whether Anthony Harris came to San Francisco and Temple 26 as operative  and informant of law enforcement agency or whether he only became an informant  to collect the $30,000 reward and to avoid prosecution in the crimes that he was an accomplice in and that evidence points clearly to him as a perpetrator.