At the tender age of 21, most are still navigating the waters of youth, free from the weight of the world’s expectations. But Fredrick Allen Hampton, Sr (1948-69), was no ordinary young man. By his late teens, he was uniting rival street organisations (whom imperialists call ‘gangs’), feeding hungry people and igniting a revolution in his community.
A born leader, Fred was more than just a bright student. He was an athlete fuelled by a strong commitment to uplift his community. Hampton enrolled at Triton Junior College, immersing himself in pre-law studies, determined to weaponise the law against police brutality. His activism ignited early on when he took charge of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s West Suburban Branch’s Youth Council, transforming it into a formidable force of 500 activists.
Hampton joined the Black Panther Party (BPP) in 1968, becoming a self-styled revolutionary socialist. As deputy chairman of the national BPP and chair of its Illinois chapter, he didn’t just recite the party’s mantra, ‘Power to the People.’ He lived it, invigorating a movement that sought to dismantle systemic oppression. He was the architect of the Rainbow Coalition, a working-class, multicultural alliance that brought together rival Chicago street organisations under a shared vision of justice and equality. To stay close to the action, he and his partner, Akua Njeri, made their home in a four-room apartment at 2337 West Monroe Street, just blocks from the BPP headquarters.
As Fred’s influence grew, so did the fear of those in power. By 1967, the FBI had branded him and his fellow Panthers a radical menace. They unleashed a campaign that sent infiltrators into chapters to sow discord. A subsequent investigation into FBI misconduct would reveal the depths of their paranoia and the lengths they would go to silence voices.
Hampton’s life ended abruptly when a joint force of the FBI, Chicago police and the county prosecutor’s tactical unit fired 100 bullets into his home.
Post credit: @whostye (X) / @classwar.memes (IG)
Sources:
https://exhibits.stanford.edu/saytheirnames/feature/fred-hampton
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fred-Hampton
https://www.biography.com/activists/a45988576/fred-hampton
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGQ5X8avwcc/?igsh=QkFFSV9YblplVA%3D%3D