Johnny Spain is a father, a son, an activist, a professor and, above all, a man with a story– a story that begins long before his incarceration in the San Quentin State Prison. One of the six men accused of a murder/escape ploy at San Quentin State Prison on August 21, 1971, Johnny Larry Armstrong is most well-known for his role in the San Quentin Six. The trial itself took place in 1975 and was dubbed the longest trial in the history California at the time, spanning 16 months and costing more than 2 million dollars. It is alleged that George Jackson, a prominent Black Panther figure of the time, was the mastermind behind the attempted escape of San Quentin and it was because of his attempt to escape that five other black and brown men were also implicated in their alleged involvement. Out of the five (George Jackson had been killed during the commotion of his attempted escape) Spain was the only to be convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. Spain ensures that he had no part in the murder of the two guards, but rather that he was in fact targeted only because of his political and social involvement with the Black Panther Party (Anderson, “Black Power, White Blood” ch. 12). Because of legal inconsistencies (Spain being shackled and forced to be absent during his 1977 trial), Federal District Judge Thelton Henderson overturned Spain’s conviction. Originally, Spain had been in prison convicted of first-degree murder and serving a life term because of the murder of Joe Long, a man who Spain, with a few friends, decided to rob. Spain shot Joe Long four times in the chest and served 21 years in prison for his crime. Spain was released from prison in 1988 because he had been granted parole (Anderson, “BP, WB” 71).

 

Before for the incarceration, before the trials, before the conspiracies, Johnny Spain was just a mixed-race American boy growing up in the 50s and 60s within a complicated familial household. Johnny Spain was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1949 to his white mother Ann Armstrong and to his black father Arthur Cummings. Ann Armstrong was married to Fred Armstrong, a white man, when Spain was born. Johnny Spain has not always been Johnny Spain. Spain was born with the name Larry Armstrong. Larry Armstrong was a white child. He was a child that had darker skin than his neighborhood friends, he was a child whose identity his white father questioned, he was a child that learned about himself through the ridicule of his hair. It was when his own brother, his white brother, called him a nigger that Larry understood his race to be more than what his parents, particularly his mother, had led him to believe. Larry Armstrong’s childhood was shaped by a duality wrought with tension. He was almost accepted in his community, he was almost a part of the Armstrong family, he was almost white if only it hadn’t been for his hair. Amongst Jackson community members, criticisms and speculations of scandal within the Armstrong household rose. When Larry was six years old, Fred Armstrong was made aware by a friend of his that Larry was indeed black. That night, Fred went home to confirm his suspicions with his wife Ann and she told him that, indeed, his speculations were reality. Spain says that he doesn’t remember much from his childhood in the Armstrong household but he does remember when his father would abuse his mother and scream at her to get that black child out of his home. Ann Armstrong conceded to her husband’s orders and, suddenly, Larry was being sent to live with a black couple in California. In Mississippi, Larry Armstrong was a white child, but in California Larry, who would become Johnny, became a black child.

 

Larry was sent to live with John and Helen Spain. John was an electrician and Helen, a mixed-race woman herself, was a cook and a caterer. Ann had entrusted Larry to these two people because they were a hard-working black couple that she felt would give her son the love that he deserved. Unfortunately for Larry, that was not the case. The Spains loved Johnny very much, but showed him their love only superficially, showering him with gifts and toys and expensive clothes. Their relationship was broken and missing that fundamental trait of parental love. Yet, there was affection there. He never thought of Helen as his mother nor did he feel that Ann was his mother. Johnny was a motherless child. With John Spain though, Larry had a much closer relationship, so close that he decided to don his father’s name therefore changing his name to Johnny Larry Spain. The Spain household was primarily comprised of Johnny, John, and Helen, but Helen’s mother, Mary Davis, lived behind their house and it was with her that Johnny had the most loving relationship. In an interview with Esquire, Spain said that Mary was “sweet; she smelled of fresh cooking; she always had time for him.” It was Mary’s death that sent Spain into a downward spiral. After she was taken away from their home, Spain took to the streets. It was then that Johnny’s life would never be the same.

 

Consulted:

Andrews, Lori B. Black Power, White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain. Temple University Press, 1999.