Fred Hampton, deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, was born on August 30, 1948 and raised in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois. In high school he excelled in academics and athletics. After Hampton graduated from high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. Hampton also became involved in the civil rights movement, joining his local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His dynamic leadership and organizational skills in the branch enabled him to rise to the position of Youth Council President. Hampton mobilized a racially integrated group of five hundred young people who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for African American children.

In 1968, Hampton joined the Black Panther Party (BPP), headquartered in Oakland, California. Using his NAACP experience, he soon headed the Chicago chapter. During his brief BPP tenure, Hampton formed a “Rainbow Coalition” which included Students for a Democratic Society, the Blackstone Rangers, a street gang and the National Young Lords, a Puerto Rican organization. Hampton was also successful in negotiating a gang truce on local television.

In an effort to neutralize the Chicago BPP, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Chicago Police Department placed the chapter under heavy surveillance and conducted several harassment campaigns. In 1969, several BPP members and police officers were either injured or killed in shootouts, and over one hundred local members of the BPP were arrested.

During an early morning police raid of the BPP headquarters at 2337 W. Monroe Street on December 4, 1969, twelve officers opened fire, killing the 21-year-old Hampton and Peoria, Illinois Panther leader Mark Clark. Police also seriously wounded four other Panther members. Many in the Chicago African American community were outraged over the raid and what they saw as the unnecessary deaths of Hampton and Clark. Over 5,000 people attended Hampton’s funeral where Reverends Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference eulogized the slain activist. Years later, law enforcement officials admitted wrongdoing in the killing of Hampton and Clark. In 1990, and later in 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4 as Fred Hampton Day.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • PaX [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    3 months ago

    Everything feels wrong, I can barely tell the difference between anxiety and reality anymore

    cw: doomer, suicide, wolves

    two-wolves-1 You’re so fucked now, and you’re so fucking old now, you know how much time you’ve wasted? Close your left eye right now, look at that grey splotch in your right eye, are you prepared to live with that for the rest of your life? You’re damaged beyond repair, you should redact yourself now

    It’s uhhhhhhh not that big of a hole in my retina? It obscures maybe a single small word on a computer monitor at a comfortable viewing distance if I have my left eye closed? two-wolves-2

    two-wolves-1 Do you hear that? Your tinnitus is getting louder recently. Why were you feeling so dizzy last night? That was textbook vertigo last night when you were laying down and it felt like the world was spinning. You think normal people struggle with holes in their retinas? This is all a sign of something deeply, permanently wrong with you and staying alive further will only prolong your suffering as you watch your body failing more and more and the possibilities receding with each passing day

    Please… stop talking… it’s too much two-wolves-2

    two-wolves-1 Your body is fucked and your brain is cooked, it only gets worse from here. Any day now one of those transient holes in your retina that no doctor has been able to explain will be another permanent hole in your retina with how much caffeine you use, how shit your diet is, how little exercise you get, how dysfunctional you are in dealing with any of it, how stressed you are all the time, how […]

    I’m so tired and idk what to do doomjak