Fred Hampton

[Mitch Flo]

Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/FredHampton.jpg
Fred Hampton was a radical African American activist. He was the deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) when he was shot to death (Murdered) in his apartment during a raid by an elite tactical unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office (SAO), facilitated by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Hampton was born on August 30, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Maywood, a suburb to the west of the city. His parents had moved north from Louisiana, and both worked at the Argo Starch Company. As a youth, Hampton was gifted both in the classroom and on the athletic field, graduating from high school with honors in 1966.

Following his graduation, Hampton enrolled at Triton Junior College in nearby River Grove, Illinois, majoring in pre-law. He also became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), assuming leadership of the Youth Council of the organization's West Suburban Branch. In his capacity as an NAACP youth organizer, Hampton began to show signs of his natural leadership abilities; from a community of 27,000, he was able to muster a youth group 500-members strong. He worked to get more and better recreational facilities established in the neighborhoods, and to improve educational resources for Maywood's impoverished black community. Through his involvement with the NAACP, Hampton hoped to achieve social change through nonviolent activism and community organizing.

At about the same time that Hampton was successfully organizing young African Americans for the NAACP, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (as it was originally called) started rising to national prominence. Hampton was quickly attracted to the Black Panther's approach, which was based on a ten-point program of black self-determination. Hampton joined the Party and relocated to downtown Chicago, and in November of 1968 he joined the Party's nascent Illinois chapter — founded by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizer Bob Brown in late 1967.

Over the next year, Hampton and his associates made a number of significant achievements in Chicago. Perhaps his most important accomplishment was his brokering of a nonaggression pact between Chicago's most powerful street gangs. By emphasizing that racial and ethnic conflict between gangs would only keep its members entrenched in poverty, Hampton strove to forge a class-conscious, multiracial albeit tenuous alliance between the BPP, Students for a Democratic Society (a radical political action group, most of which members were white), the Blackstone Rangers, the Young Lords (a Puerto Rican organization), and the Young Patriots (a white group). In May of 1969, Hampton called a press conference to announce that a truce had been declared among this "rainbow coalition," a phrase coined by Hampton and made popular over the years by Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Due to his organizing skills, oratorical gifts, and personal charisma, he rose quickly in the organization, becoming leader of the Chicago chapter of the party. He organized weekly rallies, worked with a People's Clinic, taught political education classes every morning at 6am, and launched a project for community supervision of the police. Hampton was also instrumental in the BPP's Free Breakfast Program. When Brown left the Party with Stokely Carmichael in the FBI-fomented SNCC/Panther split, Hampton assumed chairmanship of the Illinois state BPP, automatically making him a national BPP deputy chairman. As the panther leadership across the country began to be decimated by the impact of the FBI's COINTELPRO, Hampton's prominence in the national hierarchy increased rapidly and dramatically. Hampton was in line to be appointed to the Party's Central Committee's Chief of Staff, were it not for his untimely death on the morning of December 4, 1969.

At 4:00AM, the heavily armed police team arrived at the site, dividing into two teams, eight for the front of the building and six for the rear. At 4:45, they stormed in the apartment. Mark Clark, asleep in a front room with a shotgun in his lap, was killed instantly, firing off a single round — the only shot the Panthers fired — in a death spasm. The automatic gunfire converged at the head of the bedroom where Hampton slept. Two officers found him wounded in the shoulder, and the following exchange took place:

"That's Fred Hampton."
"Is he dead?... Bring him out."
"He's barely alive; he'll make it."

Two shots were heard, which were fired point blank in Hampton's head. One officer then said:

"He's good and dead now."

Hampton's body was dragged into the doorway of the bedroom and left in a pool of blood.

The raiders then directed their gunfire towards the remaining Panthers, hiding in another bedroom. They were wounded, then beaten and dragged into the street, where they were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and the attempted murder of their assailants. They were held on US$100,000 bail apiece.

[Redmau5]

The man's a true legend

[Mitch Flo]

The man's a true legend

No doubt about it.

[Hampton]

Some pictures:

Fred and Mark Clark

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/4269/clarkhampton9vu.gif

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/2342/fhtitelseite7ez.jpg

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/7858/fredhampton2zk.jpg

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/7838/fredhb8ul.gif

Bedroom after Dec 4th:

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/8210/subart0981it.jpg

His tombstone:

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/944/fredtomb0wz.jpg

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/6375/fredhb4sr.gif

Video clip 1 (http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1NPY5WE3UNTNK077ZUIOL019D5)

Video clip 2 (http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2N6TLRPVVYPAU2F3YT9WNE0XK5)

[Mitch Flo]

Thankyou for the Pictures... I saved them.
Also those are some very interesting videos.
I also really found the link in your signature interesting.

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Hampton simply put was one of the most effective leaders that America's ever seen - the FBI had to kill him to continue the white-supremicist trend of America at the time.

[guerillablack]

At that time?

[Mitch Flo]

At that time.. the police force was targeting the BPP, they considered them one of the biggest threats of the time. And wouldnt think twice about shooting one from 50 yards away if he (the black panther member) had a small stick that looked like it would pinch if they poked you with it... okay maby they didn't go that far... but they were very bad... not saying they are good now.

[guerillablack]

That's all i am getting at. You saying now, as if another force like bpp,bla,etc were to emerge they wouldn't be quick to shut it down.

[Mitch Flo]

That's all i am getting at. You saying now, as if another force like bpp,bla,etc were to emerge they wouldn't be quick to shut it down.


No doubt about it.

[workersunity]

He was a great man

[Hampton]

The link is kind of tempermental at times but if you are able to watch it- a video called The Murder of Fred Hampton done in 1971 I believe that has a lot of footage of speeches and things that he did before he was murdered. Picture quality is not that great.

It's in Rm so you'll need real player to play it. It's about an hour and a half.

Link. (http://demandmedia.net/metagen?vurl=rtsp://realmedia.freespeech.org/murder_fred_hampton.rm/murder_fred_hampton.rm)

You can also buy it for $25...which is a bit much I think.

Link. (http://www.pointshop.com/Mall/Catalog/Product/ASP/engine/Froogle/product-id/604229/store-id/1000008761.html)

[Mitch Flo]

Man, this is great I don't have enogh time to watch the whole thing right now though... ill finish it later but from what ive seen its interesting.

[Abstrakt]

Wow. Thanks a lot for the knowledge. I remember Stic_Man and M-1 shouting out Fred's name, but I never new anything about him. Now I do:)

[bolshevik butcher]

This man's a hero. A true freedom fighter.

[Abstrakt]

Definately. I am in the middle of the "DVD" at the moment. Great footage, and words.

[RedStarOverChina]

What a guy. Thanx Mitch. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I've never heard of him b4.

[guerillablack]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2005, 04:47 AM
What a guy. Thanx Mitch. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I've never heard of him b4.
Then you def don't know about Fred Hampton Jr! He was in the womb when his father was killed.

[RedStarOverChina]

oh yeah? what did Fred Hampton Jr do?

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

isn't he currently in prison? I could be mistaken, but I definitely remember reading somewhere that he was sentenced in 1993.

(btw, I clicked on the link, but it's not playing on my Realplayer...:()

[Rage]

Hampton is one of my Heros. In his way he was a robin hood of his time, took $70 of sweets and gave to poor children. And the way that the Government had to kill him to stop him just shows how craptacular Amerika is.

He owns.

/,,/
Rock on!

[workersunity]

yes he was a great man and revolutionary

[Eastside Revolt]

Originally posted by [email protected] 6 2005, 03:00 AM
At that time?
Exactly, this is an argument I get into with my parents all the time.

I think they just find it more comfortable to believe that 'the times actually did a change'. ;)

Fucking liberals.

[Raisa]

He didone of my favorite wiritings about working among the people called " the breakfast for children program"

[Hampton]

http://img76.echo.cx/img76/3943/fredbreakfast5qm.jpg

[Sabocat]

Thanks for posting those links Hampton. I had never seen that documentary before. It was great. Fred Hampton was the fucking man.

I always knew he was left wing radical, but I had no idea he was so based in Socialist/Communist theory. Definitely a serious revolutionary.

I particularly liked the conversation he was having with the guys trying to start a credit union and the questions he put to them.

Too bad the Panthers didn't light that prick Hanrahan (sp?) on fire.

[RedAnarchist]

Quite obviously Hampton was a man of great intellect and compassion. Its people like him who need to be the heroes and role models of young children, not washed-up celebrities and talentless singers!

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2005, 12:06 PM
Quite obviously Hampton was a man of great intellect and compassion. Its people like him who need to be the heroes and role models of young children, not washed-up celebrities and talentless singers!
couldn't possibly agree more.

Many say our generation is becoming less skilled and more reliant on technology; I think we need to come back to reality by learning about people like Fred Hampton who died at 21 yrs. So young...

[guerillablack]

3 speeches by fred hampton


Power Anywhere Where Theres People
Its a Class Struggle,
Godamnit! We Have To Protect Our Leaders


Introduction

Fred Hampton was the Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He and Mark Clark, defense Captain of the Peoria Chapter of the BPP, were assassinated by Chicago police, in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, on December 4, 1969.

Below are three unedited speeches given by Fred Hampton, transcribed from taped copies of the speeches, which were originally printed in pamphlet form by the Illinois Chapter of the BPP.

We are presenting the speeches here as part of our Reprint Seriespart of our contribution to the effort to overcome the obstacles placed before the regeneration of a New Afrikan revolutionary movement by historical discontinuity.

The present activity surrounding the rebuilding of the national liberation movement constitutes the making of history / social development, and, we believe, along with Regis Debray, that In practice, history, because it is profoundly dialectical, o0nly allows of innovations which develop from an earlier state of affairs, or an earlier stage of development, already familiar to the masses of the people

A.S.


POWER ANYWHERE WHERE THERES PEOPLE!

Power anywhere where theres people. Power anywhere where theres people. Let me give you an example of teaching people. Basically, the way they learn is observation and participation. You know a lot of us go around and joke ourselves and believe that the masses have PhDs, but thats not true. And even if they did, it wouldnt make any difference. Because with some things you have to learn by seeing it or either participating in it. And you know yourselves that there are people walking around your community today that have all types of degrees that should be at this meeting but are not here. Right? Because you can have as many degrees as a thermometer. If you dont have any practice, they you cant walk across the street and chew gum at the same time.

Let me tell you how Huey P. Newton, the leader, the organizer, the founder, the main man of the Black Panther Party, went about it.

The community had a problem out there in California. There was an intersection, a four-way intersection; a lot of people were getting killedcars running over them, and so the people went down and redressed their grievances to the government. Youve done it before. I know you people in the community have. And they came back and the pigs said No! You cant have any Oh, they dont usually say you cant have it theyve gotten a little hipper than that now. Thats what those degrees on the thermometer will get you. They tell you Okay, well deal with it; why dont you come back next meeting and waste some time.

And they get you wound up in an excursion of futility, and you be in a cycle of insaneness, and you be goin back and goin back, and goin back, and goin back so many times that youre already crazy.

So they tell you, they say, Okay niggers, what you want? And they you jump up and you say, Well, its been so long, we dont know what we want, and then you walk out of the meeting and youre gone and they say,
Well, you niggers had your chance, didnt you?

Let me tell you what Huey P. Newton did.

Huey Newton went and got Bobby Seale, the chairman of the Black Panther Party on a national level. Bobby Seale got his 9mmthats a pistol. Huey P. Newton got his shotgun and got some stop signs and got a hammer. Went down to the intersection, gave his shotgun to Bobby, and Bobby had his 9mm. He said, You hold this shotgun; anybody mess with us, blow their brains out. He put those stop signs up.

There were no more accidents, no more problem.

Now they had another situation. Thats not that gogd you see, because its two people dealing with a problem. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, no matter how bad they may be, cannot deal with the problem. But let me explain to you who the real heroes are.

Next time, there was a similar situation, another four-way corner. Huey went and got Bobby, went and got his 9mm, got his shotgun, got his hammer and got more stop signs. Placed those stop signs up, gave the shotgun to Bobby, told Bobby If anybody mess with us while were putting these stop signs up, protect the people and blow their brains out. What did the people do? They observed it again. They participated in it. Next time they had another four-way intersection. Problems there; they had accidents and death. This time, the people in the community went and got their shotguns, got their hammers, got their stop signs

Now, let me show you how were gonna try to do it in the Black Panther Party here. We just got back from the south side. We went out therewe went out there and we got to arguing with the pigs or the pigs got to arguing---he said, Well, Chairman Fred, you supposed to be so bad, why dont you go and shoot some of those policemen? You always talking about you got your guns and got this, why dont you go shoot some of them?

And Ive said, Youve just broken a rule. As a matter of fact, even though you have on a uniform it doesnt make me any difference. Because I dont care if you got on nine uniforms, and 100 badges. When you step outside the realm of legality and into the realm of illegality, then I feel that you should be arrested. And I told him, You being what they call the law of entrapment, you tried to make me do something that was wrong, you encouraged me, you tried to incite me to shoot a pig. And that aint coo, Brother, you know the law, dont you?

I told that pig that, I told him You got a gun, pig? I told him, You gotta get your hands up against the wall. Were gonna do what they call a citizens arrest. This fool dont know what this is. I said, Now you be just as calm as you can and dont make too many quick moves, cause we dont wanna have to hit you.

And I told him like he always told us, I told him, Well, Im here to protect you. Dont worry about a thing, Im here for your benefit. So I sent another Brother to call the pigsyou gotta do that in a citizens arrest. He called the pigs. Here come the pigs with carbines and shotguns, walkin out there. They came out there talking about how theyre gonna arrest Chairman Fred. And I said, No fool. This is the man you got to arrest. Hes the one that broke the law. And what did they do? They bugged their eyes, and they couldnt stand it. You know what they did? They were so mad, they were so angry that they told me to leave.

And what happened? All those people were out there on 63rd Street. What did they do? They were around there laughing and talking with me while I was making the arrest. They looked at me while I was rapping and heard me while I was rapping. So the next time that the pig comes on 63rd Street, because of the thing that our Minister of Defense calls observation and participation, that pig might be arrested by anybody!

Wo what did we do? We were out there educating the people. How did we educate them? Basically, the way people learn, by observation and participation. And thats what were trying to do. Thats what we got to do here in this community. And a lot of people dont understand, but theres three basic things that you got to do anytime you intend to have yourself a successful revolution.

A lot of people get the word revolution mixed up and they think revolutions a bad word. Revolution is nothing but like having a sore on your body and then you put something on that sore to cure that infection. And Im telling you that were living in an infectious society right now. Im telling you that were living in a sick society. And anybody that endorses integrating into this sick society before its cleaned up is a man whos committing a crime against the people.

If you walk past a hospital room and see a sign that says Contaminated and then you try to lead people into that room, either those people are mighty dumbyou understand me, cause if they werent, theyd tell you that you are an unfair, unjust leader that does not have your followers interests in mind. And what were saying is simply that leaders have got to becomeweve got to start making them accountable for what they do. Theyre goin around talking about so-and-sos an Uncle Tom so were gonna open up a cultural center and teach him what blackness is. And this n****r is more aware than you and me and Malcolm and Martin Luther King and everybody else put together. Thats right. Theyre the ones that are most aware. Theyre most aware, cause theyre the ones that are gonna open up the center. Theyre gonna tell you where bones come from in Africa that you cant even pronounce the names. Thats right. Theyll be telling you about Chaka, the leader of the Bantu freedom
fighters, and Jomo Kenyatta, those dingo-dingas. Theyll be running all of that down to you. They know about it all. But the point is they do what theyre doing because it is beneficial and it is profitable for them.

You see, people get involved in a lot of things thats profitable to them, and weve got to make it less profitable. Weve got to make it less beneficial. Im saying that any program thats brought into our community should be analyzed by the people of that community. It should be analyzed to see that it meets the relevant needs of that community. We dont need no n*****s coming into our community to be having no company to open business for the n*****s. Theres too many n*****s in our community that cant get crackers out of the business that theyre gonna open.

We got to face some facts. That the masses are poor, that the masses belong to what you call the lower class, and when I talk about the masses, Im talking about the white masses, Im talking about the black masses, and the brown masses, and the yellow masses, too. Weve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you dont fight racism with racismwere gonna fight racism with solidarity. We say you dont fight capitalism with no black capitalism; you fight capitalism with socialism.

We aint gonna fight no reactionary pigs who run uip and down the street being reactionary; were gonna organize and dedicate ourselves to revolutionary political power and teach ourselves the specific needs of resisting the power structure, arm ourselves, and were gonna fight reactionary pigs with INTERNATIONAL PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION. Thats what it has to be. The people have to have the powerit belongs to the people.

We have to understand very clearly that theres a man in our community called a capitalist. Sometimes hes black and sometimes hes white. But that man has to be driven out of our community, because anybody who comes into the community to make profit off the people by exploiting them can be defined as a capitalist. And we dont care how many programs they have, how long a dashiki they have. Because political power does not flow from the sleeve of a dashiki; political power flows from the barrel of a gunit flows from the barrel of a gun!

A lot of us running around talking about politics dont even know what politics is. Did you ever see something and pull it and you take it as far as you can and it almost outstretches itself and it goes into something else? If you take it so far that its two things? As a matter of fact, some things if you stretch it so far, itll be another thing. Did you ever cook something so long that it turns into something else? Aint that right?

Thats what were talking about with politics.

That politics aint nothing, but if you stretch it so long that it cant go no further, then you know what you got on your hands? You got an antagonistic contradiction. And when you take that contradiction to the highest level and stretch it as far as you can stretch it, you got what you call war. Politics is war without bloodshed, and war is politics with bloodshed. If you dont understand that, you can be a Democrat, Republican, you can be Independent, you can be anything you want to, you aint nothing.

We dont want any of those n*****s and any of these hunkies and nobody else, radicals or nobody talking about, Im on the Independence ticket. That means you sell out the republicans; Independent means youre out for graft and youll sell out to the highest bidder. You understand?

We want people who want to run on the Peoples Party, because the people are gonna run it whether they like it or not. The people have proved that they can run it. They run it in China, theyre gonna run it right here. They can clal it what they want to, they can talk about it. They can call it communism, and think that thats gonna scare somebody, but it aint gonna scare nobody.

We had the same thing happen out on 37th Road. They came out to 37th road where our Breakfast for children program is, and started getting those women who were kind of older, around 58---thats, you know, I call that older cause Im young. I aint 20right, right! But you see, theyre gonna get them and brainwash them. And you aint seen nothin t9ill you see one of them beautiful Sisters with their hair kinda startin getting grey, and they aint got many teeth, and they were tearin them policemen up! They were tearing em up! The pigs would come up to them and say You like communism?

The pigs would come up to them and say, You scared of communism? And the Sisters would say, Noscared of it, I aint never heard of it.

You like socialism?

Noscared of it I aint never heard of it.

The pigs, they be crackin up, because they enjoyed seeing these people frightened of these words.

You like capitalism?

Yeah, well, thats what I live withI lie it.

You like the Breakfast For Children program, n****r?

Yeah, I like it.

And the pigs say, Oh-oh. The pigs say, well, the Breakfast For Children program is a socialistic program. Its a communistic program.

And the women said, Well, I tell you what, boy. Ive been knowing you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, n****r. and I dont know if I like communism and I dont know if I like socialism. But I know that that Breakfast For Children program fees my kids, n****r. And if you put your hands on that Breakfast For Children program, Im gonna come off this can and Im gonna beat your ass like a .

Thats what they be saying. Thats what they be saying, and its a beautiful thing. And thats what the Breakfast For Children program is. A lot of people think its charity, but what does it do? It takes the people from a stage to another stage. Any program thats revolutionary is an advancing program. Revolution is change. Honey, if you just keep on changing, before you know itin fact not even knowing what socialism isyou dont have to know what it istheyre endorsing it, theyre participating in it, and theyre supporting socialism.

And a lot of people will tell you, way, Well, the people dont have any theory, they need some theory. They need some theory even if they dont have any practice. And the Black Panther Party tells you that if a man tells you that hes the type of man who has you buying candy bars and eating the wrapping and throwing the candy away, hed have you waling East when youre supposed to be walking West. Its true. If you listen to what the pig says, you be walkin outside when the sun is shining with your umbrella over your head. And when its raining youll be goin outside leaving your umbrella inside. Thats right. You gotta get it together. Im saying thats what they have you doing.

Now, what do WE do? We say that the Breakfast For Children program is a socialistic program. It teaches the people basically that by practice, we thought up and let them practice that theory and inspect that theory. Whats more important? You learn something just like everybody else.

Let me try to break it down to you.

You say this Brother here goes to school 8 years to be an auto mechanic. And that teacher who used to be an auto mechanic, he tells him, Well, n****r, you gotta go on what we call on-the-job-training. And he says, Damn, with all this theory I got, I gotta go to on-the-job-training? What for?

He said, On on-the-job-training he works with me. Ive been here for 20 years when I started work they didnt even have auto mechanics. I aint got no theory, I just got a whole bunch of practice.

What happened? A car came in making a whole lot of funny noise. This Brother here go get his book. He on page one, he aint got to page 200. Im sitting here listening to the car. He says, What do you think it is?

I say, I think its the carburetor.

He says, No I dont see anywhere in here where it says a carburetor make no noise like that. And he says, How do you know its the carburetor?

I said, Well, n****r, with all them degreesas many as a thermometer around 20 years ago, 19 to be exact, I was listening to the same kind of noise. And what I did was I took apart the voltage regulator and it wasnt that. Then I took apart the alternator and it wasnt that. I took apart the generator brushes and it wasnt that. I took apart the generator and it wasnt that. I took apart the generator and it wasnt even that. After I took apart all that I finally got to the carburetor and when I tot to the carburetor I found that thats what it was.
And I told myself thatfool, next time you hear this sound you better take apart the carburetor first.

How did he learn? He learned through practice.

I dont care how much theory you got, if it dont have any practice applied to it then that theory happens to be irrelevant. Right? Any theory you get, practice it. And when you practice it you make some mistakes. When you make a mistake, you correct that theory, and then it will be corrected theory that will be able to be applied and used in any situation. Thats what weve got to be able to do.

Every time I speak in a church I always try to say something, you know, about Martin Luther King. I have a lot of respect for Martin Luther King. I think he was one of the greatest orators that the country ever produced. And I listened to anyone who speaks well, because I like to listen to that. Martin Luther King said that it might look dark sometime, and it might look dark over here on the North Side. Maybe you thought the room was going to be packed with people and maybe you thought you might have to turn some people away and you might not have enough people here. Maybe some of the people you think should be here are not here and you think that, well if theyre not here then it wont be as good as we thought it could have been. And maybe you thought that you need more people here than you have here. Maybe you think that the pigs are going to be able to pressure you and put enough pressure to squash your movement even before it starts. But Martin Luther King said that he heard somewhere that only when its dark enough can you see the stars. And were not worried about it being dark. He said that the arm of the moral universe is long, but it bens toward heaven.

We got Huey P. Newton in jail, and Eldridge Cleaver underground. And Alprentice Bunchy Carter has been murdered; Bobby Hutton and John Huggins been murdered. And a lot of people think that the Black Panther Party in a sense is giving up. But let us say this: That weve made the kind of commitment to the people that hardly anyone else has ever made.

We have decided that although some of us come from what some of you would call petty-bourgeois families, though some of us could be in a sense on what you call the mountaintop. We could be integrated into the society working with people that we may never have a chance to work with. Maybe we could be on the mountaintop and maybe we wouldnt have to be hidiin when we go to speak places like this. Maybe we wouldnt have to worry about court cases and going to jail and being sick. We say that even though all of those luxuries exist on the mountaintop, we understand that you people and your problems are right here in the valley.

We in the Black Panther Party, because of our dedication and understanding went into the valley knowing that the people are in the valley, knowing that our plight is the same plight as the people in the valley, knowing that our enemies are on the mountaintopour friends are in the valley, and even though its nice to be on the mountaintop, were going back to the valley. Because we understand that theres work to be done in the valley, and when we get through with this work in the valley, then we got to go to the mountaintop. Were going to the mountaintop because theres a motherfucker on the mountaintop thats playing King, and hes been bullshitting us. And weve got to go up on the mountain top not for the purpose of living his life style and living like he lives. Weve got to go up on the mountain top to make this motherfucker understand, goddamnit, that we are coming from the valley!


(SPEECH DELIVERED AT OLIVET CHURCH, 1969)

[Abstrakt]

I'm also wondering about Freddy Jr. I was listening to 'Let's Get Free' yesterday, and heard his name. Does anyone have any information?

[guerillablack]

Vibe magazine

Online Exclusive: December 4th: It’s Not Just Jay-Z’s Birthday




Fred Hampton Jr.
On the eve of December 4th, I listened to Dead Prez’s Turn Off the Radio mixtape track “Know Your Enemy” in my iTunes and I thought about the relevance of hip hop music, not all but some. It’s Stic.man’s line “You want to stop terrorist, start with the U.S. imperialist / Ain’t no track record like America’s,” that had me thinking about the recent changes in President Bush’s cabinet, especially his recent nomination for Homeland Security, as well as the significance of December 4th.

No, it’s not Jay-Z’s birthday that makes December 4th special. If you can imagine, there’s a larger historical context than Jigga’s birthday that needs to be remembered on this day.






The story goes, thirty-five years ago early in the AM on Chicago’s Westside, Illinois' Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton laid asleep beside his pregnant comrade Akua Njeri when gunfire erupted in 21 year-old Hampton’s house. Under orders of Illinois’ Cook County State's Attorney, fourteen officers opened fired on not only Fred, but his fellow Black Panther Party members including Defense Captain Mark Clark, 22. Ninety-eight rounds of bullets later, Clark and Hampton laid dead and several others in the house suffered from gunshot wounds. The tale sounds like a familiar Godfather-wannabe-rhyme from any miscellaneous rapper (new or old), but the story is not a verse. Hampton wasn’t dealing drugs to his community and he wasn’t stealing from the community, although this didn’t stop him from seeing the inside of many prisons in Illinois. He was a freedom fighter, a political prisoner, not yet iconic like the late revolutionary Che Guevara today. Hampton was banging for freedom, as Dead Prez would put it. He lead free breakfast programs, united the people, helped create a free medical center, initiated a door to door program of health services which tested for sickle cell anemia, and he encouraged blood drives for the Cook County Hospital. So far, it doesn’t sound like there was a justifiable cause for his assassination. But that didn’t stop what seemed like the inevitable for black leaders fighting for “The People.”

As heard on Dead Prez’s Let’s Get Free album on the song “Behind Enemy Lines,” this tragic event left behind Hampton's unborn son, who today, “Looks just like him, walks just like him, talks just like him.” I recently talk to Fred Hampton Jr., he shared his thoughts about the significance of December 4 and his father.

As a child what were you told about December 4, growing up?

In plain laymen’s terms, I was told that it was a day that the government, federal government via the Chicago Police Department [long pause] came in early in the morning and gunned down 22 year-old Defense Captain Mark Clark as well as my father, who was 21 years-old at the time, Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party Fred Hampton.

You were born shortly after your father was killed, what day were you born?

Approximately two-and-half weeks later, December 29th the same year.

How has your life been impacted by being the son of Fred Hampton?

Loved by the people, sweated by the “you know who,” and being subjected to the similar, if not the same, counterinsurgency.

Who’s the you know who?

The U.S. government.

Are you involved in the same type of movement that your father was involved in?

I’m presently the Chairman of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (P.O.C.C.), in which one of our models is that we be the great grandchildren of Garvey, offspring of Malcolm and the cubs of Panthers.

How do you celebrate your father’s legacy?

Everyday I continue to work and put into practice what Chairman Fred said that, “You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill a revolution.” In particular on December 4th, we go to the black community’s Ground Zero, that being 2337 W. Monroe, and clinch fist in the air in a private and silent vigil. This is done annually.

I saw the resolution, introduced by Chicago’s former Alderwoman Marlene C. Carter, commemorating December 4th as "Fred Hampton Day in Chicago." It referred to 2337 W. Monroe, where your father was murdered, as Ground Zero. Do you compare what happened on September 11th to the murder of your father?

I see this as the black and colonized community’s Ground Zero. We define it as one of the most brutal acts of terrorism to ever occur on U.S. soil. The way they assassinated Chairman Fred and Defense Captain Mark Clark was done in a strategic type of way to send a message of terror to their present generation and future generations to never take such a stance that forces like Chairman Fred and Defense Captain Mark Clark had took. It was a strategic terrorist strike and all those who played the role in the assassination of Chairman Fred, we identify as terrorist.

What does the P.O.C.C. do, what type of work in the community and what are you involved in?

Some of our survival programs include food programs, political education programs that we host, some of our campaigns include the “One Prisoner, One Contact” campaign. It’s widely known for it’s ability to form principal coalitions as well as scientific relationships.

What do you think about the re-election of President Bush?

We refer to it as the selection [not election], it was already setup of who they were going to have as the next gang chief. We didn’t have a lot of hope invested in Kerry or nobody else. Our position is that we know history, there’s never been no Great White Hope that saves us. We didn’t take a lot of cats role as “Vote or Die.” Our position was “Organize or Die” or “Ride or Die.” We still maintain that position, it’s going to take us, to get down, organize for the liberation of our people.

Neither of these individuals, either Bush or Kerry, addressed the issues of what’s going down in our community. Basically, what I was hearing spewed from both of their mouths or their party was like a foreign language. I heard no talk about addressing the issues of political prisoners. I heard no talk about the issue of reparation. I heard no talk from their mouths about addressing the African Anti-terrorism Bill. These are the issues that we’re faced with in our community.

What is the African Anti-Terrorism Bill?

The African Anti-Terrorism Bill is a bill that we’re putting forth. We’re taking a position that we don’t care if an individual is running for President or running for garbage collector in the city of Chicago, they have to take a position on this African Anti-Terrorism Bill.

It addresses this phenomenon of terrorism from the viewpoint of the O.V.’s. The O.V’s be the Original Victims of Terrorism and that means African people. People who have been subjected to terrorism under such euphemisms as slavery, Jim Crow, red lining, gentrification, etc. We’re putting these in their correct context. We say that the crime of terrorism has no statute of limitations. We say that bomb dropped on African women and children, the MOVE organization May 13, 1985 in Philadelphia on Osage Avenue, that was terrorism. Or what happened December, 4th 1969, assassination of Chairman Fred and Defense Captain Mark Clark Defense Captain Mark Clark that was one of our Ground Zero’s. Matter of fact, yesterday December 2, 2004 when we mobilized deep to march the one-year anniversary of the cold-blooded shooting of little 17 year-old Darryl Hamilton, the brother was shot by Chicago Police. Shot several times in the back and in the head. He had his face pulled over the concrete up under the surveillance camera. He’s an individual that we identify as our modern day Emmett Till. These are all victims of terrorism. In fact, more than that, they are original victims of terrorism. That’s just a bill that we’re pushing forward and we’re holding cats accountable. Whether they come from the white-left or any other community they’ll be endless discussion about this phenomenon.

Just like the ruling class, they have code orange, code yellow, code green so and so forth. We have classifications for the terror we’re subjected to. Code green. Code black. Code Red. We say Mumia Abu Jamal’s status is code red. Sundiata Acoli…his code is red and so many other soldiers and soldierettes who are held inside the concentration camps and in the general community at large.

Dead Prez released a song about your family. Did you know that Dead Prez would be releasing “Behind Enemy Lines?” How did it come about?

I believe at the time I was riding the circuit.

When you say circuit, what do you mean?

I was being transferred from one concentration camp to another.

When you say concentrate camp, you mean?

What the U.S. refers to as the prisons. On the circuit it’s hard to get word. Your mail don’t catch up with you, you don’t get no phone calls etcetera- etcetera. You get moved around at 3 o’clock in the morning via helicopter via cars, whatever the case may be. So it’s kinda hard to get word.

I can’t recall when it was, but I don’t think I actually heard the piece until I was unleashed in 2001. I heard word about it. I would have to depend on a lot of brothers who would come into the camps and keep me updated through the grapevine.

For me, in particular, they [the prison] would go out their way to make sure I was not kept updated on letters or how the support was going. But, the piece was inspired by the “Free Fred” international campaign to free Fred Hampton Jr.

Why were you in prison?

I was snatched up for me being what I define a 3-Strike offender. One, just for being African. Two, for being the son of Deputy Chairman Fred and Akua Njeri. Three, for continuing to fight for the liberation of my people.

The trumped-up charge that I was issued were two charges of aggravated arson. The state claims that I fire-bombed two Korean owned stores on the Southside of Chicago, which later claim that a motive was done in response to the verdict that was surrendered in Simi Valley about the LAPD beating of Rodney King.

Have you cleared your name?

No, we have a campaign still going on called “Fight the Frame, Clear Fred’s Name.” We want people to continue to write letters to the present governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich …The “Free Fred” campaign is still going down, because we say it wasn’t just about me. It’s a matter of freeing all political prisoners. That trumped case is still on the record.

What hip hop artists do you listen to?

It’s this young brother named Saigon. A little brother who did seven years.

What is it about his music that you like?

One is his content and also I did a background check on this cat and he has this thing called the Abandoned Nation that he does, it’s an organization that they get down with. They get clothes and stuff for children of prisoners and they give it to them, but they don’t tell the children that it comes from them. The children are under the impression that it actually comes from their parent. That’s just one of the things.

I’m going to be honest with you. Glad you asked this question. Prior to me meeting this cat, as organizers we try to use every part possible of this phenomenon as we can. We’re looking at hip hop as a phenomenon, it’s a tool that we want to try to use to help heighten the conscious of people. But, I ain’t go lie to you. I had said this whole thing, this hip hop thing…man, we need Pac back in the game. It was getting real demoralized trying to work this phenomenon.

I think that it can be safely said that Richard Pryor provided more economical assistance or support for the Panther Party or the struggle in general than all these artists combined today. And that’s a sad statement but it’s a true statement. But I’m not going to negate, I want to give a clinched fist to the Dead Prez’s or the Common’s and the Erykah Badu’s. Sometimes it looks bleak.

Were you disappointed that Jay-Z didn’t include the death of your father in his “December 4” song on The Black album?

I think it was an insult. I wasn’t disappointed and to be honest I wasn’t surprised. A lot of these cats have made it very clear whose interest they work in. If our people don’t want to see these contradictions, again I wasn’t surprised, I’m clear.

In the ruling class, when you say September 11, automatically they recognize that date. Again, Decmeber 4th was one of the most brutal acts of terrorism ever to occur on U.S. soil.

I know for a number of reasons a lot of these cats address safe subjects, they’re clear. Like the old saying, those Negroes (he laughs) got freedom of speech as long as they don’t say the wrong thing.

I’m going to say a word, I want you to say the first word that comes to mind:

President Bush?
Criminal

Tupac Shakur?
Panther cub

Aaron Patterson?
Soldier. S-O-U-L-J-A-H

Akua Njeri?
Mother comrade, soldier

Condeleeza Rice?
Criminal

Hip Hop?
A phenomenon

December 4th?
One of the most brutal acts of terrorism ever to occur on U.S. soil

[codyvo]

Fred Hampton was great, unfortunately I didn't kow much about him until I found out he was friends with Bernadine Dohrn of the Weathermen, they had a small piece on him in the Weather Underground movie, they should really teach this kind of stuff in schools.

[comrade_mufasa]

I just relized that i was born on Dec 4. Chairman Fred(RIP) was assinated 18 years before I was born. I turn 18 this year :o ??? Trippy

[guerillablack]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2005, 09:23 PM
Fred Hampton was great, unfortunately I didn't kow much about him until I found out he was friends with Bernadine Dohrn of the Weathermen, they had a small piece on him in the Weather Underground movie, they should really teach this kind of stuff in schools.
There is a reason why they celebrate Dr King and not Malcolm X and the Panthers!

[flyby]

actually fred hampton "fell out" with the weathermen (and Dohrn) over the "Days of RAge" -- and that conflict is what is mentioned in the film on the Weathermen.

Fred Hampton Jr. has hooked up with a narrow nationalist group (Uhuru House) -- and was arrested for burning a korean grocery store in a black neighborhood.

For some narrow nationalists, the target of their actions is not the larger imperialist system but the smaller capitalists within the ghetto -- and that (unfortunately) takes on a rather ugly racist overtone when it is aimed at asian and arab shopkeepers.

In other words, Fred Jr. does not follow the same politics as his father (who was a communist and a revolutionary)

[Hampton]

He was also arrested because he was involved in the People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, which was/is seen as a gang to the police.

His complaints of those within the ghetto sounds much like what malcolm described as black nationalism and its economic means and what he went through when he expressed his opinion of the Jewish store owners in Harlem.

[codyvo]

I didn't know Fred Hampton Jr. was a Uhuru, they really are a black nationalist group that is not helping the image of blacks in america. Also if any of you know about the Connie Burton situation you should know how bad the Uhuru's are. Also I didn't know that the falling out between Hampton and and Dohrn was so big, I liked Hampton better.

[1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18 2005, 01:03 PM
In other words, Fred Jr. does not follow the same politics as his father (who was a communist and a revolutionary)
Weren't you the one who referred to the BPP in another thread as "revolutionary nationalists, not proletarian internationalists"? I agree with the stance you adopted in that other thread, and I'm curious, what makes Hampton more of a communist than Newton and Seale?

[guerillablack]

I don't understand how by not being communist you are not revolutionary. Fred Hampton Jr is a revolutionary and so are chairman Omali of The African People's Socialist Party aka Uhuru.

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

as per dictionary.com:

Revolution: a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving;

Communism was tried. It failed. Let's move on.

[viva le revolution]

Originally posted by Knowledge 6 6 [email protected] 21 2005, 10:59 PM


Communism was tried. It failed. Let's move on.
No, my friend, In fact Communism was never really started anywhere in the world. Whenever people hear of communism they automatically think of the U.S.S.R. They weren't communist,they were state capitalists.
So was China.
Cuba,on the other hand i feel came closest but still hasn't reached there yet.

[1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2005, 10:03 PM
I don't understand how by not being communist you are not revolutionary. Fred Hampton Jr is a revolutionary and so are chairman Omali of The African People's Socialist Party aka Uhuru.
Neither Flyby nor I said that you have to be a communist to be a revolutionary. If you had read the Flyby quote I pulled out describing the BPP as "revolutionary nationalists, not proletarian internationalists," you would see there is the clear implication that the BPP were revolutionaries--just not communists. What Flyby is saying is that you can't be a revolutionary if you initiate racist attacks against other oppressed nationalities, which is what Flyby accuses Fred Hampton Jr. of having done. I, personally, do not know enough about the Hampton Jr. case to have an opinion on it, so I will remain neutral on it until I have seen the facts.

[flyby]

you are close, 1949, but with come clarifications:

Yes the Panthers were revolutionary nationalists -- but not thoroughly communist.

Their ideology was a mix, and it varied from chapter to chapter and person to person, but it always had Fanon mixed with Mao (for example).

And they were tremendously revolutionary, and they introduced many many people to Maoism and revolutoinary communism, and the red book. Including Bob Avakian.

(http://rwor.org/a/1212/baback.htm)

And by contrast, the Uhuru movement (with Fred Hampton Jr.) is reactionary nationalist, not revolutionary. It is just deeply different (even though it poses as revolutionary, socialist and even as successors to Huey and the Panthers.)

I did not say that Fred Jr. actually did the burning of a korean store. He was arrested for it, and did the time. And I don't know the details of what he did.

But I do know that the members of his movement had a line of "He didn't do it but he should have" -- i saw them say this, and saw it on leaflets.

Which means they uphold the attacking of korean merchants (which is a matter of line more important than the petty details of what Fred Jr. actually did.)

So I don't accuse him of doing the deed (and have no knowledge about whether he did.) But i am saying that he and his forces uphold (as a matter of line) making other sections of the masses (including small merchants of other nationalities) their target (instead of the imperialist system.) There are other matters of line worth criticizing them for and digging into, but that is certainly a big and revealing one (that marks them as reactionary nationalists, not progressive ones -- if you see my point.)

[1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2005, 03:46 PM
you are close, 1949, but with come clarifications:

Yes the Panthers were revolutionary nationalists -- but not thoroughly communist.
I knew that, which is why, earlier in this thread, I was curious as to why you referred to Fred Hampton as "a communist and a revolutionary". What made him more of a communist than Newton and Seale? Were you just in a hurry to write that first post?


I did not say that Fred Jr. actually did the burning of a korean store. He was arrested for it, and did the time. And I don't know the details of what he did.

But I do know that the members of his movement had a line of "He didn't do it but he should have" -- i saw them say this, and saw it on leaflets.

Which means they uphold the attacking of korean merchants (which is a matter of line more important than the petty details of what Fred Jr. actually did.)

So I don't accuse him of doing the deed (and have no knowledge about whether he did.) But i am saying that he and his forces uphold (as a matter of line) making other sections of the masses (including small merchants of other nationalities) their target (instead of the imperialist system.) There are other matters of line worth criticizing them for and digging into, but that is certainly a big and revealing one (that marks them as reactionary nationalists, not progressive ones -- if you see my point.)
Okay, sorry about that.

[flyby]

nothing to be sorry about, brother. You helped me have a chance to be clear.

As for Fred Hampton and communism:

There were two panther leaders who openly described themselves as communists: Fred Hampton and George Jackson.

They were somewhat different in their approach. But George Jackson was very clear about being a revolutoinary communist, and being a Marxist Leninist.

And Fred Hampton was famous for saying (often and clearly) that he considered himself "a proletarian" and a proletarian revolutionary. And this was something that other Panthers were not as clear on.

So I did say Fred was a communist, because (though he was influenced by nationalism like all the Panthers) he was much more clear and open and determined about that, than his party as a whole.

[guerillablack]

You keep calling Uhuru reactionary, and not revolutionary. But never base it on any proof. I beg to difir that Uhuru is reactionary.

[codyvo]

The Uhuru's pass out flyers that say "Kill Whitey" which I thought were funny, but really that is not a very good message to send.

[1949]

"...the members of his movement had a line of "He didn't do [the burning of the Korean store] but he should have" -- i saw them say this, and saw it on leaflets.

"Which means they uphold the attacking of korean merchants (which is a matter of line more important than the petty details of what Fred Jr. actually did.)

"...he and his forces [thus] uphold (as a matter of line) making other sections of the masses (including small merchants of other nationalities) their target (instead of the imperialist system.) There are other matters of line worth criticizing them for and digging into, but that is certainly a big and revealing one (that marks them as reactionary nationalists, not progressive ones -- if you see my point.)"

The above is from Flyby's post. This is his proof of the Uhuru movement being reactionary, Guerilla Black. Would you like to explain why making a target of other oppressed nationalities is not reactionary?

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Originally posted by viva le revolution+May 21 2005, 11:19 PM--> (viva le revolution @ May 21 2005, 11:19 PM)
Knowledge 6 6 [email protected] 21 2005, 10:59 PM


Communism was tried. It failed. Let's move on.
No, my friend, In fact Communism was never really started anywhere in the world. Whenever people hear of communism they automatically think of the U.S.S.R. They weren't communist,they were state capitalists.
So was China.
Cuba,on the other hand i feel came closest but still hasn't reached there yet. [/b]
And we all know how Cuban locals live...

In case you don't know, there's no internet for locals in Cuba. Why? Cuz Castro thinks it'll open the peoples' minds to anti-Castro sentiment. Gotta love communism.

[guerillablack]

Exploit my community and not give back, your the enemy and capitalism. Being a oppressed minority does not give you a pass to exploit another and does not mean your not an extension of imperialism. Maybe they should've boycotted before bombed, but it's not even Uhuru had anything to do with the bombing. So how can you say they are reactionary?

[Black Dagger]

Exploit my community and not give back, your the enemy and capitalism. Being a oppressed minority does not give you a pass to exploit another and does not mean your not an extension of imperialism.

A local grocery store is hardly an 'extension of imperialism'. Although all capitalists are to be opposed, attacking local two-dime stores that are run by visible 'foreigners' is a really pathetic (and overtly racist) 'strategy', why not focuson the real 'imperialists' and exploiters?

[flyby]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2005, 08:17 AM
Exploit my community and not give back, your the enemy and capitalism. Being a oppressed minority does not give you a pass to exploit another and does not mean your not an extension of imperialism. Maybe they should've boycotted before bombed, but it's not even Uhuru had anything to do with the bombing. So how can you say they are reactionary?
well, guerillablack, i'm sorry to hear that you agree with targetting korean grocers (or other small merchants) in the black community.

And I must say that i think it is a rather large mistake. We need to "unite all who can be united, against the real enemy."

And it is very important to know who the "real enemy" is.

Let me write my views on this, and i hope you will consider them and then respond.

First let me put it this way: There is no Black liberation on the capitalist path.

Some can replace all the korean grocers with Black grocers. They can burn out all the Arab liquor stores, and boycott all the Jewish landlords. They can only "buy black" at neighborhood record stores. And even if someone accomplished this, Black people would still be bitterly oppressed.

And that is because the source of black poverty is not the "extraction of black dollars from the community by merchants of different nationalities." This is a false theory of economy -- a mistaken Black capitalist view of the solutions to real problems.

The poverty of the Black people is because the masses of people in the U.S. (of all nationalities) are oppressed by monopoly capitalism (a whole system, not a chain of ghetto liquor stores). It has to do with how wealth and industry are allocated, how the wage system works. And it comes down heaviest on Black people -- because there is a white supremacist structure to U.S. capitalist society. And that structure exists because it benefits the ruling class of that society -- which is the top owners of the corporations and banks.

To a Black capitalist, the enemy is his petty competitor. He dreams that if he eliminates his competitor he can rise up a notch, get his nose above water, and perhaps survive in the "dog-eat-dog" of the rat race. And it is often said (in the black community) that the path to prosperity is supporting black merchants.

The theory is (supposedly) that "the dollars will circulate." People like farrakhan are fascinated by the billions of dollars Black people spend on consumer goods. He (and Black capitalists like him) dream that if they can somehow corral those billions, then they can rise up, be stable, and survive as capitalists.

But even if their puny fantasy was realized... having black owned consumer outlets won't prove real jobs and education for black people. It won't end the killer cops. It won't mean that the real means of production or the power to shape the futre are in the hands of the masses.

And the class interests of those Black capitalists are, themselves, sharply contradictory to the interests of the people.

There is a famous story of a Black woman who got special loans as a "black business" to make Black dolls "for the community." It was a classic "Black capitalist" success story -- and she got the money, in part, because the struggle of the people has made the banks concede some loans to black businesses. And then it came out that her dolls weren't made in detroit or gary --- they were made for her in Indonesia. And when she was interviewed, what did she say? "Well, that was just a basic business decision! I had to make the dolls were it made most sense. Otherwise I would not have been able to survive!" And of course, it is true. And it shows that even if you push forward the Black capitalists -- they will act under the laws of capitalism.

If you create a new network of black ghetto businesses (and you won't), but if you do, they will act like capitalists too.

------------------------------

In preparing this post, I studied an interesting article called Blacks and Jews -- a Revolutionary View (http://rwor.org/a/v20/970-79/971/blajew.htm). It takes up many aspects of why it is wrong to think that Jews (and particularly Jewish merchants in the ghetto) are the main enemy of Black people. And it includes this idea which i started with:

"You could run every "outside" merchant and landlord out of the ghetto--you could replace every Arab, Korean or Jewish shopkeeper with an African American--you could replace every Jewish record producer with an "independent Black label"--and it still would never end the poverty of the Black community or create jobs for the millions of unemployed."

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Couldn't have said it better myself, flyby.

Let's take a black capitalist, who owns the means of production - Sean Combs. Can you honestly believe he's looking out for the empowerment of black people? What about Jay-Z (Shawn Carter)?

It's not about oppressing other races while glorifying another; it's about capitalism. It's about a system that allows workers to make pennies per hour while making empires big. Capitalism is the greatest evil that has ever happened to this world; so much so that we cannot do anything BUT be part of it. Heck, you reading this and me typing it is possible because of capitalism. Look around you...capitalism, capitalism, capitalism! Scary eh..?

[guerillablack]

Look at my argument, i never mentioned anything about black capitalism being good. Any one who exploits the community and does not give back for it's survival is the enemy.

[flyby]

guerillablack:

You are correct, of course, that you didn't mention Black capitalism.

But you implied that attacking korean grocers, and running out merchants of other nationalities might benefit black people.

And you endorsed the theory that the poverty of black people is the result of "money leaving the community."

My point was that this is the analysis of Black capitalism -- and is tied to all kinds of assumptions that are not true, and produces a strategy that is not revolutionary.

Replacing korean grocers with Black grocers will not liberate the people. And those who think it would make things better are following a Black capitalist logic.

And worse: they are making potential allies into enemies.

Liberation will come from a broad revolutionary united front that brings together all kinds of streams of resistance and struggle under the leadership of a hardcore force committed to a new society.

It will come from a multinational communist thang, not a black capitalist thang.

[guerillablack]

No, flyby I did not imply that running out merchants of other nationalities would benefit black people. It's not a ethnic issue, it's an ecomomic and survival issue. Replacing korean grocers with blacks will not help to to liberate people. I agree with Point 3 on the black panther ten point program which states "We want an end to the robber by the CAPITALISTS of our Black Community".

Before we can have a mutlinational front, we need a black united front. We need a strong black community.

[comrade_mufasa]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2005, 08:19 PM
No, flyby I did not imply that running out merchants of other nationalities would benefit black people. It's not a ethnic issue, it's an ecomomic and survival issue. Replacing korean grocers with blacks will not help to to liberate people. I agree with Point 3 on the black panther ten point program which states "We want an end to the robber by the CAPITALISTS of our Black Community".

Before we can have a mutlinational front, we need a black united front. We need a strong black community.
I agree with you. Its kind of like the idea "If one cant help themself, then how can they help others"

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Originally posted by [email protected] 28 2005, 01:19 AM
No, flyby I did not imply that running out merchants of other nationalities would benefit black people. It's not a ethnic issue, it's an ecomomic and survival issue. Replacing korean grocers with blacks will not help to to liberate people. I agree with Point 3 on the black panther ten point program which states "We want an end to the robber by the CAPITALISTS of our Black Community".

Before we can have a mutlinational front, we need a black united front. We need a strong black community.
You've been watching Spike Lee's movie 'X' too much! Malcolm says something VERY similar to the last line you've written. lol.

[guerillablack]

LOL. I've read the man's biography, also Huey P Newton and other Black Panthers in their works reiterate this same idea and i agree.

Peace!

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

X's autobiography is one for the ages. I love the part where he talks about regular 9-5 men going to prostitute houses. I dont think many knew this kind of information...it's sorta scary thinking about the amount of fathers that do this.

[flyby]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2005, 02:24 AM
LOL. I've read the man's biography, also Huey P Newton and other Black Panthers in their works reiterate this same idea and i agree.

Peace!
this issue of "black united front" and whether it is a correct strategy for revolution is an important one.

Actually (on a factual note) it was explicitly NOT the approach of Huey and the Panthers.

The Panthers had an approach of uniting with revolutionaries of all nationalities -- and seeking to build a unified revolutionary movement on that basis.

Their main approach was not at all "Black United Front" -- and they did not spend a lot of efforts building coalition and unity formations with a broad array of Black groups.

They saw doing revolutionary work in their "community" and uniting with others of other nationalities who were doing the same thing.

Then (at a later point) as they came under intense and murderous attack theyaddopted an approach of "United Front Against Fascism" -- which involved trying to develop broad unity and defense. But here too, a lot of their work involved rallying and uniting with other natiionalities (including white people and prominent people).

The Black United Front thing was not the panther approach.

And there is much to say (beyond this historical point) about why the approach of Black United Front is not a revolutionary one.

I will post more on this later.

[1949]

Actually, Guerilla Black is partially correct. Huey P. Newton did reiterate Malcolm X's idea in one place I am aware of:

"As far as our party is concerned, the Black Panther Party is an all black party, because we feel as Malcolm X felt that there can be no black-white unity until there first is black unity. We have a problem in the black colony that is particular to the colony, but we're willing to accept aid from the mother country as long as the mother country radicals realize that we have, as Eldridge Cleaver says in SOUL ON ICE, a mind of our own. We've regained our mind that was taken away from us and we will decide the political as well as the practical stand that we'll take. We'll make the theory and we'll carry out the practice. It's the duty of the white revolutionary to aid us in this." (underlining added)

http://www.hippy.com/php/article.php?sid=76

[Hampton]

Their main approach was not at all "Black United Front" -- and they did not spend a lot of efforts building coalition and unity formations with a broad array of Black groups.

I would wager to say this is not because of some theoretical reason rather they wanted to be the biggest dog in the yard.

[guerillablack]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2005, 03:00 AM
Actually, Guerilla Black is partially correct. Huey P. Newton did reiterate Malcolm X's idea in one place I am aware of:

"As far as our party is concerned, the Black Panther Party is an all black party, because we feel as Malcolm X felt that there can be no black-white unity until there first is black unity. We have a problem in the black colony that is particular to the colony, but we're willing to accept aid from the mother country as long as the mother country radicals realize that we have, as Eldridge Cleaver says in SOUL ON ICE, a mind of our own. We've regained our mind that was taken away from us and we will decide the political as well as the practical stand that we'll take. We'll make the theory and we'll carry out the practice. It's the duty of the white revolutionary to aid us in this." (underlining added)

http://www.hippy.com/php/article.php?sid=76
Yes, i suggest you re-read To Die for the People by Huey P Newton and the Panthers speak. Of course the issue of a united black front is an important issue because my freedom as well as millions of africans' freedom is in it's hands. Before their can be any multicultural unity there must be unity within the black community. Otherwise the multicultural front will fail.

The black united front is not a revolutionary one? What ethnocentric argument do you have for this?

[flyby]

Originally posted by guerillablack+Jun 1 2005, 04:53 AM--> (guerillablack @ Jun 1 2005, 04:53 AM)
[email protected] 1 2005, 03:00 AM
Huey P. Newton did reiterate Malcolm X's idea in one place I am aware of:

"As far as our party is concerned, the Black Panther Party is an all black party, because we feel as Malcolm X felt that there can be no black-white unity until there first is black unity. " (underlining added)

http://www.hippy.com/php/article.php?sid=76
Yes, i suggest you re-read To Die for the People by Huey P Newton and the Panthers speak. Of course the issue of a united black front is an important issue because my freedom as well as millions of africans' freedom is in it's hands. Before their can be any multicultural unity there must be unity within the black community. Otherwise the multicultural front will fail.

The black united front is not a revolutionary one? What ethnocentric argument do you have for this? [/b]
I want to thank 1949 and guerillablack for digging into this issue of "Black united front" with me.

I'd like to start by helping to clear up a confusion.

First, the quote that 1949 cites is about vanguard formations not the united front. It is about the party, not the united front.

For a revolution you need both solid core and broad unity.

You need organized vanguard forces (the party formation) with a high level of unity around the revolutionary and communist goals. And you need to findthe ways to bring broad forces together (the united front) -- coming from different places, classes and ideology for common struggle against the system.

The Panthers (as we all know) were for a Black party -- and they formed one. But they were NOT into a "Black United Front" -- and they had, as I pointed out, a strategic approach of working with people of all nationalities.

They did NOT say "we have to get our black community together first, and only then can we related to progressive and revolutionary people of other communities and nationalities."

Unlike some Black nationalists, their approach was broad unity across national lines.

They struggled for unity on different levels: First, they fought for unity among revolutionaries of all nationalities and worked closely with revolutioanries and communists who were white, Latino, Native Americans, Asian and other nationalities. And they fought to build broad united groupings --especially as they faced intense repression and wanted support from many parts of society.

In none of this did they put a priority on "Black United Front" -- and they did not talk about "Black United Front" as their strategic approach.

and this was in contrast to other Black nationalist forces who were much less willing and eager to work with white people and other progressives.

So, I just wanted to point out to 1949 and guerillablack that they are reading a quote about forming a Black PARTY, and they are mistakenly thinking that this is a discussion of Black United Front. These are two different things.

On the question of vanguard organization:

In the U.S. i nthe 1960s, there was no revolutonary vanguard organization. The CPUSA was hopelessly reactionary and counterrevolutionary. And other attempts at revolutionary organization (like PLP) had early adopted positions that were not correct or revolutioanry.

And so, new revolutonary forces emerged out of the incredible mass struggles of the 1960s, and (given the power and prominence of the Black Liberation struggle) it is not surprising at all that Black people formed a vanguard force like the Panthers that was "all-Black."

At the same time, even then, people were asking and strugglig over the important question: how do we organize ourselves so we can actually defeat U.S. imperialism, create a new society and advance the struggle for a whole new world.

And on two levels, there was a problem with being organized by nationality:

First of all, for communists, the goal of struggle and revolution is not only (or mainly) freeing THEIR own oppressed community. Communists are part of an international movement, representing an international proletarian class. And the goal of communist revolution is liberating all of humanity, not just "my nation" or "your nation." The liberation of Black people is an extremely important task for all communists (not just for Black communists, or Black revolutionaries) -- and for communists it is part of their approach and vision of transforming the whole world.

For a communist, liberating "your own people" (meaning your nationality) is not more important than (for example) the liberation of Mexico, or ending the oppression of Iraqi people, or the independence of Puerto Rico. That is one of the fundamental differences between communism (proletarian internationalism) and non-communist ideologies (like revolutionary nationalism).

Second, it is not possible to end the oppression of Black people from a "black only" thing. Black people are an oppressed nation -- with a long and bitter history of oppression as a people. However they are not concentrated in a single colonial country, and so it is difficult (strategically) to defeat and overthrow U.S. imperialism through a national struggle alone.

There are classes in the Black nation, and often sharp class conflicts.

Or to put it another way: The Black proletarian people at the bottom of society have more in common with (say) Mexican immigrant workers than they do with the Black bourgeois forces.

In fact, it is even true (if controversial) that Black proletarians objectively have more profound common interests with white working people at the bottom than they have with the upper classes of the Black nation.

Now it is possible and desireable to bring even well-off parts of the Black nation on the side of the revolution. But it is very important strategically to build the MULTINATIONAL unity of the oppressed and build our revolutionary movement around that kind of INTERNATIONALIST approach.

That is why the basis of revolutionary strategy for the U.S. is not "Black United Front first" (where black proletarians work out their unity and common interests with the black middle class and bourgoeis forces) -- and only then unity with other oppressed people. This is not a strategy that leads to the needed revolutonary unity for a whole new society -- and the Black United Front (historically and inevitably) becomes a strategy for "gimme a slice of the action and a piece of the pie" not a strategy for "lets carry through a revolutoinary overthrow of capitalist society and all oppression."

There is much more to say about this.... let me stick to a few quick final points:

a) There were Panthers who went through the experience of the BPP and then moved on to become revolutionary communists. For example, the former-Panther Joe Veale (http://rwor.org/a/001/revolutionary-communist-4-tour.htm) (who is now the spokesperson for the RCP in Los Angeles) is now about to start a summer speaking tour as part of the "Revolutionary Communist 4." I urge all of you to check this out, to help build this tour, and to come discuss these issues with Joe and his three fellow speakers.

b) There is a great deal of theoretical work on what the correst strategic approach to revolution is in the U.S. -- specifically the "United Front Under the Leadership of the Proletariat" (UFULP) (http://rwor.org/margorp/a-uf1.htm). There is much to say about this approach -- what it is, how the revolution carries through the historic work of liberating the masses of Black people once and for all from white supremacy and oppression (http://rwor.org/margorp/a-nat.htm)

We can get into all this. But i'm not gonna try to cram it all into one post!