On February 19, 2007 Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. came to Lehigh University to give a lecture. For those unaware Fred Hampton Jr. is the son of Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton who was a member of The Black Panther Party and was murdered by the F.B.I. and Chicago Police on December 4, 1969. At 4 o’clock in the morning F.B.I. agents and Chicago S.W.A.T. stormed the home of Hampton and killed Hampton and Mark Clark while wounding seven others and the rest of the people sleeping in the home were thrown into jail. At that time Fred Hampton’s wife was eight and half months pregnant with Hampton Jr. In Hampton Jr.’s words, “his first cell mate was his own mother”.
Fred Hampton was responsible for setting up many children breakfast programs all over Chicago and also headed the pact known as the “Rainbow Coalition” which brought together different gangs comprised of different races all across Chicago. All of these progresses made in the community were destroyed and infiltrated by the F.B.I. with the culmination of killing Chairman Fred.
Hampton Jr.’s life was molded by the untimely death and followed in the same footsteps of his father. He became an effective organizer and leader in the struggle for people’s rights. In 1990, Hampton Jr. became the president of the local National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement which fights for the rights of African people in America.
It is to no surprise that with his same organizing skills and close physical resemblance to his father that the F.B.I. and other government officials have try to contain Fred Hampton Jr. In 1993, the government finally got what they wanted. Hampton Sr. was dead and Hampton Jr. was now behind bars.
Hampton Jr. received 18 yrs for allegedly setting fire to a Korean Grocery store. This was a lie and a fabricated story. Here are some of the facts of the case:
There is no evidence of a fire
No fire truck came to the scene
The store was not closed for more than 15 minutes
Fred Hampton was allowed no character witness
When Fred Jr.'s mother took the stand to testify as to where Fred Jr. was at the time of the alleged incident, the main focus of questioning was her political affiliation with militant and radical groups like the BPP and the NPDU
While in prison or in other words “Behind Enemy Lines” Hampton Jr. started the P.O.C.C. which is the Prisoners of Conscience Committee. On September 14, 2001 Chairman Fred was released from prison. He still organizes and is the Chairman of the P.O.C.C.
Chairman Fred now almost six years free is as lively as ever and is trying to make the masses of people aware of the political struggles that oppressed people have in this country. Chairman Fred opened up his lecture by focusing on what was the Truth about The Black Panther Party and separating it from the media and Hollywood negativity. He then moved into talking about modern day struggles showing that the struggle was not completed in the 60’s. He spoke about Aaron Patterson who was a political prisoner and is still fighting for his freedom to this day in court.
Chairman Fred was very informing and energetic towards the crowd. Many of The Righteous Griots were able to come out and support this man.
If you are interested in learning more about Chairman Fred please visit his myspace pages: www.myspace.com/free_em_all
www.myspace.com/poccinternational
www.myspace.com/chairmanfredpart_2
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! YA BASTA!
