On December 4, 1969 Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated by Chicago cops while they slept. The murders were part of the FBI’s COINTELPRO. Fred was deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and a rising charismatic leader. He was only 21; Mark was 22. There are potential Freds and Marks walking our streets today that need to know their history and who their enemy is. The spirit of the Black Panther lives on!
He provides the reader with captivating aerial perspectives and close-up encounters which frame the complex relationships that both fueled and obstructed the infamous slave trade.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is dying the death of a thousand cuts. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court stuck a dagger in the VRA’s guts with Shelby County v. Holder, striking down the formula that determined which jurisdictions had to get federal approval before making changes to their elections.
In my previous column, I pushed for the election of Francesca Hong as a path to resuscitating a democracy on life support. I criticized the Democratic Party elites for always defaulting to the status quo and being tone-deaf to the literal cries of their constituency for economic relief and political freedom. Working people in this country are suffering under the MAGA regime and are desperately looking for candidates who fight for the working class and defend our democracy.
