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<h1 id="reader-title">The Story of Ahmed Evans and the Glenville
Shootout</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">December 13, 2016<br>
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<p dir="ltr">Part 2 in our blog series on histories of
resistance to racist police violence, as depicted in the
pages of The Movement newspaper.</p>
<div dir="ltr">
<div id="attachment_2229" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a
href="http://blog.freedomarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Fred_Ahmed_Evans.jpg"><img
class=" wp-image-2229"
src="cid:part3.543BC7E9.60B0357B@freedomarchives.org"
alt="Fred "Ahmed" Evans" height="368"
width="281"></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Fred “Ahmed” Evans</p>
</div>
<p>By the summer of 1968, tensions had been mounting
between the Black residents of Cleveland and the
police department for over a year. In the spring of
1967, riots broke out after the police shooting of two
children, one Black and one white. That fall, a young
Black lawyer named Carl B. Stokes rode a wove of Black
disaffection into political office when he won the
city’s mayoral race. Many Black residents had high
hopes for a Black-led Democratic administration to
usher in an era of meaningful change, but by 1968 some
were becoming disillusioned as they witnessed police
harassment of Black militants intensifying.</p>
</div>
<p dir="ltr">In the late 1960’s Cleveland had a vibrant
Black nationalist scene, which centered around Fred
“Ahmed” Evans’ Afro Culture Shop and Bookstore in the
Glenville neighborhood. Evans had opened the shop after
returning home from serving in the Korean War, and had
dedicated himself to creating a meeting place for Black
residents interested in Black nationalist culture and
politics. Evans’ shop was burned down multiple times,
and undercover police were permanently stationed across
the street in order to monitor the activities of Evans
and others who frequented the shop.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On July 23, Evans was in bed when he realized
the cops were outside his house. He looked out the
window to see what looked like officers shooting down a
Black man who was running away from them. Evans took his
gun into the bushes outside his home and began shooting.
A fifteen-minute gun battle ensued, leaving 15 wounded
and 7 dead. Police officers and Black militants on the
scene offered conflicting accounts of the event, with
Evans insisting they had been ambushed and police
claiming they had been attacked by snipers from Evans’
home. After a stand off, Evans surrendered to the
police.</p>
<div id="attachment_2231" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a
href="http://blog.freedomarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Ohio_National_Guard_on_patrol_in_Glenville.jpg"><img
class="wp-image-2231"
src="cid:part5.F8A3E9AF.189E9526@freedomarchives.org"
height="207" width="286"></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">National Guard on patrol in
Glenville.</p>
</div>
<p>The next day, Cleveland broke out into rebellion. The
Black residents of Glenville protested in the streets
for three consecutive days. On the night of July 23,
fires burned on ten blocks of Superior Avenue. Mayor
Stokes called in the National Guard in order to quash
the rebellion. On September 22, Evans was sentenced to
death by electric chair for allegedly killing three
officers. His sentence was later commuted to life in
prison. He died of cancer in prison in 1978.</p>
<p>He remained unrepentant after his sentencing, stating:
“I don’t think there is any doubt that the people of my
race have every right in the world and have every reason
in the world to resist and to reach out and become what
they were created, men–not symbols, I mean–not half
anything, but whole as I am whole. I fully understand
the ways of life as they are now, and the truth of the
matter is I have no regret….This is to be expected. I
mean, you just can’t say that you are going to turn away
from a world of iniquity and walk along a red carpet. It
is not that way.”</p>
<p>Check out the full story <a
href="http://blog.freedomarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cleveland-article-1.jpg"
target="_blank">here</a></p>
<p>-Laura<br>
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href="https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=33005"><b>Please
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