familiar faces
■ by Tamar Abrams | photo by Michael Ventura
Peace, Love, Namaste Gayle Fleming is a go-with-the-flow kind of person. It’s served her well. GAYLE FLEMING USES the word “bippie” (Black hippie) to describe her journey through life. Today she’s a yoga instructor at Sun & Moon Yoga Studio in Cherrydale, but the events that led her to that place were about as linear as a butterfly in flight. Raised in Oakland, California, Fleming graduated from high school in 1966 and joined the Black Panther Party a short time later. “Mostly I was a foot soldier— working in the office, participating in rallies, selling the party newspaper,” says the Arlington resident, now 74. “In those early days, women really had no leadership roles. The sexism in the party, among other things, is a primary reason that I left and joined the fledgling women’s movement. The party also became very corrupt. My expectations of equality and integrity were sadly not met.” Plus, she says, “I would never touch a gun or smoke cigarettes or weed or drink alcohol. I was there for the politics. I left after two years when it became more of a criminal enterprise.” 24
May/June 2022 ■ ArlingtonMagazine.com
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