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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <a
href="https://www.popularresistance.org/on-december-4th-remember-the-life-of-fred-hampton/"
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<h1 id="reader-title">On December 4th, Remember The Life Of Fred
Hampton</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Educate! Race, United
States By Bill Simpich, <br>
<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.popularresistance.org/on-december-4th-remember-the-life-of-fred-hampton/">https://www.popularresistance.org/on-december-4th-remember-the-life-of-fred-hampton/</a></small></small></small></b><br>
December 4th, 2015</div>
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<p>Above Photo: Fred Hampton, left, the head of the
Illinois Black Panthers rallies with others against the
trial of eight people accused of conspiracy to start a
riot at the Democratic National Convention. The rally
was held outside the Federal Building on Oct. 29, 1969.
Editors note: There is damage to this historic print.
(photo: Don Casper/Chicago Tribune).</p>
<p><img alt=""
src="cid:part2.03040300.04060001@freedomarchives.org"
border="0">here is one thing that’s even worse than
being attacked by the police on the street.</p>
<p class="indent">That’s being attacked by the police –
and the FBI – and the local prosecutor – in your bedroom
while you’re asleep.</p>
<p class="indent">There is one thing that’s even more
inspiring than Martin Luther King breaking down
segregation.</p>
<p class="indent">That’s people – where they live – in
motion – for liberation.</p>
<p class="indent">That’s the story of Fred Hampton and the
Black Panthers in Chicago.</p>
<p class="indent">Panthers like Fred set up <a
target="_blank"
href="http://sfbayview.com/2009/12/%E2%80%98i-am-a-revolutionary%E2%80%99/">school
breakfasts</a> so poor kids wouldn’t suffer all
morning because they were hungry.</p>
<p class="indent">People like Fred worked for peace
treaties with gangs like the Blackstone Rangers to worry
less about turf and more about power to the people.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred worked with lefty rednecks like
the <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.youngpatriots-rainbowcoalition.org/ypo-introduction/">Young
Patriots</a> – he could see past their Confederate
flag emblem and knew they wanted to unite the disparate
Scots-Irish with inner city youth.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred served as the chair of the
Inter-Racial Council at his high school, which met
whenever there was friction. He led a walkout against
the <a target="_blank"
href="http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=history_theses">school
policy</a> that only white girls could be nominated as
homecoming queen. The school had its first black
homecoming queen that year.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred wanted to be a lawyer but knew he
didn’t have “enough time.”</p>
<p class="indent">Fred and the Panthers taught the
children in Chicago to stand against war. To stand with
the people. To look each other in the eye and say, “I am
a revolutionary.”</p>
<p class="indent">In November 1969 there was a shoot-out
between an ex-Panther and the police. The police wanted
revenge.</p>
<p class="indent">On December 4th, 1969, the police, the
FBI, and prosecutor Edward Hanrahan joined forces. At
night, under the guise of an arms raid, they entered the
home of Fred Hampton under the leadership of the
prosecutor. No one was given an opportunity to surrender
before the police shooting began. Law enforcement fired
about a hundred shots, hitting almost everyone in the
dwelling.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred Hampton and fellow Panther Mark
Clark were dead, killed in their sleep. Fred had been
dosed with barbiturates by his bodyguard, who turned out
to be an FBI informant.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred had just turned 21-years-old. He
would be 66 today.</p>
<p class="indent">The raiders made one mistake. They left
without securing the crime scene.</p>
<p class="indent">The Panthers led people on tours of the
crime scene. The bullet holes went into Fred’s bedroom
door. Many people couldn’t believe that the police could
do such a thing. Others knew all too well.</p>
<p class="indent">At a mass, a local priest burst into
tears as he tried to explain the meaning of Fred’s life
to the African American schoolchildren.</p>
<p class="indent">“… the next thing I knew here was one of
our eighth grade boys – he jumped up and said, ‘<a
target="_blank"
href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bD2hBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA230&dq=%22fred+hampton%22+%22i+am+fred+hampton%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiIoPyJk7zJAhWBlogKHeFwBXYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22fred%20hampton%22%20%22i%20am%20fred%20hampton%22&f=false">I
am Fred Hampton</a>.’ And then a girl in the sixth
grade, she jumps up. ‘I am Fred Hampton.’ Another kid in
first grade, ‘I am Fred Hampton.’ And before you knew it
the whole church, kids were all shouting, ‘I am Fred
Hampton.’”</p>
<p class="indent">The LAPD tried a similar raid on the LA
Panthers five days later. Geronimo Pratt was in charge
of the chapter’s defense. Pratt, a Vietnam veteran, made
sure the entire headquarters was <a target="_blank"
href="https://books.google.com/books?id=CKFlirjb2EAC&pg=PA222&lpg=PA222&dq=%22geronimo+pratt%22+%22sandbags%22&source=bl&ots=wlIovb57sy&sig=TTEWpa9SLDYQyGFbxGyUOiVYC6c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZwK-Ii7zJAhWLRIgKHciTC3sQ6AEIIjAA#v=onepage&q=%22geronimo%20pratt%22%20%22sandbags%22&f=false">lined
with sandbags</a>.<a target="_blank"
href="http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=history_theses">The
LA Panthers held off the LAPD in a four hour gun
battle</a>. No one died.</p>
<p class="indent">This humiliation of the LAPD led to <a
target="_blank"
href="http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=history_theses">the
birth of the SWAT team</a>, which quickly spread to
every corner of the land.</p>
<p class="indent">Predictably, there was a grand jury in
the wake of Fred’s death. The grand jury refused to
indict Fred’s attackers.</p>
<p class="indent">Because of the outrage in the
African-American community, a special prosecutor was
appointed. A second grand jury was empaneled. They
indicted Fred’s attackers on the minor charge of
“obstruction of justice.” Everyone was acquitted.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred’s friends then filed a lawsuit. The
suit was dismissed.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred’s friends filed an appeal. The suit
was restored.</p>
<p class="indent">An agonizing 18-month trial then began.
In the midst of the trial, the FBI was forced to reveal
thousands and thousands of documents. These documents
said “COINTELPRO.” Fred was the target of a federal
government counterintelligence program designed to
neutralize its opponents.</p>
<p class="indent">The family and the lawyers had to read
these documents while the trial was ongoing.</p>
<p class="indent">At the end of the trial, the judge
dismissed the case rather than let the jury decide.</p>
<p class="indent">Another appeal was filed. Because the
community was unified in its outrage, a
precedent-setting decision resulted. The police and the
FBI could not claim immunity for planning to kill its
dissidents.</p>
<p class="indent">Another trial beckoned. Fred’s opponents
were cornered. They offered his family money and bought
peace.</p>
<p class="indent">After all this, Fred’s mother was asked
what was proved from this twelve-year legal battle.</p>
<p class="indent">“They got away with murder.”</p>
<p class="indent">Bobby Rush, a prominent Chicago Black
Panther, has been a Congressman for more than twenty
years.</p>
<p class="indent">Bobby Rush is the only person to defeat
Barack Obama in an election for public office. He beat
him by thirty points.</p>
<p class="indent">I was going to call for a campaign for
the day of Fred’s assassination – Friday, December 4th –
to be a national holiday.</p>
<p class="indent">But that would be a mistake.</p>
<p class="indent">Gil Scott-Heron wrote a book about his
campaign and concert tour with Stevie Wonder to declare
Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday. Gil’s
book is called <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/05/last-holiday-scott-heron-review">The
Last Holiday</a>.</p>
<p class="indent">There won’t be any more national
holidays for national heroes. Not until we can push back
hate.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred is a national hero, and his
supporters can’t even name Fred’s street after him. Too
much hate.</p>
<p class="indent">There won’t be any more national
holidays until America fundamentally changes as a
nation. We can’t even make Election Day a national
holiday. Too much hate.</p>
<p class="indent">Veterans who died in war abroad are
given memorials. It’s called Memorial Day in the spring.
Veterans Day in the fall.</p>
<p class="indent">Fred and the others who died – those who
died at the hands of the police – those who died for
liberation – are entitled to a memorial.</p>
<p class="indent">They died in the war at home.</p>
<p class="indent">They died holding this country to its
promises.</p>
<p class="indent">They died so we can be free.</p>
<p class="indent">Hold them in the place of the highest
honor.</p>
<p class="indent">On Friday, December 4th, hold them in
your heart.</p>
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<p class="indent">Bill Simpich is a civil rights attorney
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of us who live here
agree on a few basic things. One is that it’s always a
good time for people to rise up. For more on Fred
Hampton, read <a target="_blank"
href="https://books.google.com/books?id=T3m64HIRWSIC&pg=PA371&lpg=PA371&dq=%22hampton+v.+hanrahan%22&source=bl&ots=Zh35pMOXQQ&sig=6-sZth8cDQiXdMORu_wsg5S-YX0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi8hLLqj7zJAhWDej4KHV8qCzoQ6AEITjAK#v=onepage&q=%22hampton%20v.%20hanrahan%22&f=false"
title="This external link will open in a new window"><em>The
Assassination of Fred Hampton</em></a>, by Jeffrey
Haas (also see this <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/4/the_assassination_of_fred_hampton_how"
title="This external link will open in a new window">Democracy
Now! interview with the author</a>); Stanley Nelson’s
documentary <a target="_blank"
href="http://theblackpanthers.com/home/" title="This
external link will open in a new window"><em>The Black
Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution</em></a> can be
seen at many theaters.</p>
<p class="indent">Reader Supported News is the Publication
of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is
freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.</p>
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