The Greene County Democrat

Tag: and Mark Clark

  • Newswire: Remembering the politics of Fred Hampton on the 54th anniversary of his assassination by Chicago Police

     Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party

    By NewsOne editorial staff

     

    Assassinated on Dec. 4, 1969, Chairman Fred Hampton  was one of the major figures in the original Black Panther Party that rose to prominence after the height of the civil rights movement. The extrajudicial murder of Hampton and his comrade, Mark Clark, 54 years ago as they slept is an example of the lengths white supremacy has gone to deny Black power and self-determination.

    Hampton was only 21 at the time of his murder, but his accomplishments and contributions to empowering Black people in America have lasted for decades. Law enforcement began “heavy surveillance” of him before the fateful police raid in Peoria, Illinois, where he died and other Black Panther members were injured.

    Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and Clark, a 22-year-old Peoria Panther leader, were murdered by Chicago police officers working with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. At the time of the attack, Hampton and Clark were both asleep inside their Chicago home.

    Driven by Cook County State’s Attorney Edward Hanrahan, the deadly raid of the local BPP chapter—which left four other BPP members severely injured—was one of the multiple attempts to attack the Black Panther Party amid Cointelpro’s mission to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist hate type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership and supporters,” as written in an FBI document.

    Though the FBI is said not to have been responsible, a federal grand jury did indicate the bureau played a notable role in events leading up to it. Specifically, FBI informant William O’Neal—third in command of the Chicago Panthers—supplied Hanrahan with information to plan his attack. The families of Hampton and Clark, along with the seven survivors, filed a $47.7 million damage suit.

    As chairman of the BPP’s Illinois chapter, Hampton was known as a charismatic leader. His other accomplishments include organizing a student chapter of the NAACP in Maywood, Illinois. Hampton also brought together poor Black, white and Puerto Rican people as part of the “Rainbow Coalition” committed to dismantling white supremacy. He also inspired peace among several gangs in rivalry with one another.

    On the anniversary of Hampton’s death, we remember the life of an inspiring revolutionary, as well as the other lives lost on that date 55 years ago.

     

  • Newswire: Chicago mayor declares Fred Hampton Day

    Fred Hampton


    Mayor Brandon Johnson declared August 30th Chairman Fred Hampton Day in the City of Chicago to honor the slain leader of the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Party.
    Chairman Fred Hampton’s commitment to racial and economic equality was the driving force that fueled his every action.
    Around 4:30 a.m. on December 4, 1969, plainclothes officers from the Chicago Police Department armed with shotguns and machine guns kicked down the door of the Chicago apartment where several Black Panther Party members were staying and opened fire on them.
    Though the Party members were asleep in their beds at the time and posed no threat, the officers fired over 90 bullets into the apartment, killing Fred Hampton, 21, and Mark Clark, 22—two leaders of the Black Panther Party—and critically wounded four other Party members. Mr. Hampton had been asleep next to his fiancé, who was eight months pregnant when he was killed.
    He was murdered by Chicago on December 4, 1969. 
    Hampton was born in Summit, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
    “I was honored to join Chairman Fred Hampton’s widow Akua Njeri and son Fred Hampton Jr. on the West Side at a celebration of his life and legacy,” said Mayor Johson.
    Free breakfast, medical, and transportation programs for thousands of Black families were the hallmarks of his work as a leader and organize