Fred Hampton, deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, was born on August 30, 1948 and raised in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois. In high school he excelled in academics and athletics. After Hampton graduated from high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. Hampton also became involved in the civil rights movement, joining his local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His dynamic leadership and organizational skills in the branch enabled him to rise to the position of Youth Council President. Hampton mobilized a racially integrated group of five hundred young people who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for African American children.

In 1968, Hampton joined the Black Panther Party (BPP), headquartered in Oakland, California. Using his NAACP experience, he soon headed the Chicago chapter. During his brief BPP tenure, Hampton formed a “Rainbow Coalition” which included Students for a Democratic Society, the Blackstone Rangers, a street gang and the National Young Lords, a Puerto Rican organization. Hampton was also successful in negotiating a gang truce on local television.

In an effort to neutralize the Chicago BPP, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Chicago Police Department placed the chapter under heavy surveillance and conducted several harassment campaigns. In 1969, several BPP members and police officers were either injured or killed in shootouts, and over one hundred local members of the BPP were arrested.

During an early morning police raid of the BPP headquarters at 2337 W. Monroe Street on December 4, 1969, twelve officers opened fire, killing the 21-year-old Hampton and Peoria, Illinois Panther leader Mark Clark. Police also seriously wounded four other Panther members. Many in the Chicago African American community were outraged over the raid and what they saw as the unnecessary deaths of Hampton and Clark. Over 5,000 people attended Hampton’s funeral where Reverends Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference eulogized the slain activist. Years later, law enforcement officials admitted wrongdoing in the killing of Hampton and Clark. In 1990, and later in 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4 as Fred Hampton Day.

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  • SoylentSnake [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    2 months ago

    i fucking hate being sensitive. over the past year or so ive tried to embrace it as a strength and not run from it. but fuck that. i want to be a detached motherfuckker. i want to be a tough guy. i want to have an upper li[p stiff as a corpse. i want there to be so many fish in the sea. i want to be a fuckjboy not a lovewrboy. i want a masculinity so toxic they leave a message of "trhis place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here" by my corpse when i'm gone.

    • SoylentSnake [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      (jk. i love myself the way i am. at least on a good day. but sometimes it makes life inconvenient and it forces me to go against the grain in a way that can hurt)

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I took the "stone heart pill" early on in my dating life and had to take boosters a couple times. It isn't a permanent thing.

      You should try being a slut. The goal of dating should be to learn to identify incompatible mates as quickly as possible. Throwing preconceptions (aka. "standards") out the window is a power move. It allows for more varied data with less testing and time. "standards" is a superficial supremacist idea. Most people have lovable qualities. The most repulsive people are often physically attractive. Thus sorting by physical attractiveness will give more false starts. If you try enough types of partners you might realize that "your type" really isn't compatible with who you are.

      Stop looking for the love of your life and just enjoy anyone who is enjoyable for as long as they are enjoyable. Just be honest about your intentions and feelings so as to cause as little damage as possible with breakups. Never leave someone on the line as a backup because that is unfair and cruel. Eventually you might find someone who is enjoyable for an extended period of time.

      • SoylentSnake [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        2 months ago

        I took the "stone heart pill" early on in my dating life and had to take boosters a couple times. It isn't a permanent thing.

        idt i have this in me dog, i feel like you and i are very different (or at least, you were able to will yourself toward being v different in a way that would be more of a struggle for me). FWIW i have had things that were like "yeah that was fun or fun-ish while it lasted, but very much time to move on," i just don't really post about them on here cuz they were kinda nothingburgers. which i guess is a little stone heart-adjacent. it just sux when the ones that feel like really deep meaningful connects don't pan out. nothing lasts forever or truly "pans out" i suppose because most relationships fail, and for the ones that don't we're all mortal. but i guess when the meaningful ones end before they feel like they've run their "natural course" is when it hurts. but ah well, u feel your feelings and press on.

        also when i've posted about types i've generally meant more along the lines of personality types. i'm most drawn to people like me: sensitive, introspective, creatives and/or intellectuals. it's not really a rule that i've set for myself, moreso that i've noticed pretty much everyone i've ever truly fell in love with has fit this type, and i think it makes sense that i'm drawn to that and there's no reason to run from it. i guess i do sorta have physical/more superficial presentation style "types" as well but i don't wanna post about that in too much detail because, idk, at a glance it could look a little fetishy or objectifying? and i don't want any femme comrades to feel uncomfortable. plus the physical type dimension is also way less important than the Nature of My Potential Partners' Souls aspect.

        • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
          ·
          2 months ago

          I didn't mean to come off as bossy and know it ally as I did.

          it just sux when the ones that feel like really deep meaningful connects don't pan out.

          Have you tried having Dating Theory discussions early on? not like the "where is this going" conversation. More "what are your aims and goals of dating" and "what strategies do you employ to ensure dating is a net positive experience" sort of theoretical conversation. If a partner doesn't know what they are doing or why and more importantly if they aren't willing to discuss or contemplate it that can be a sign of an instable foundation for the relationship.

    • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      What about combat sports? BJJ might give you a thicker hide. During coaching, I get a few people who are like "I don't want to hurt them" when it's time to learn submissions. There was one recently who was paired with a 50 something year old purple belt tough guy who was shadowing me so he might be a coach as well. This is the kind of guy who, if the newbie changed his mind deep into the submission and wanted to hurt him, could force his way out and regain control. This newbie was not going to hurt anyone, let along make him uncomfortable.

      I think going from "I'm afraid of hurting people" into a grappler is... le good! You'll have tumbles, get kneed in the face, and land on someone in a takedown. In doing that you'll gain a little context for your sensitivities. Maybe instead of wanting to cast them off entirely, you'll find that a bloody lip and a black eye aren't the opposite of a good time.