Fredric Allen Hampton and His Significant Role in the Black Panther Party

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Fred Hampton and His Role in the Black Panther Party
Fred Hampton’s full name was Fredric Allen Hampton. He was born on 30th August 1948 in Chicago and was killed on 4th December 1969 (Albert). He was a leader for the American civil rights movement and deputy chairperson for the Black Panther Party situated in Illinois, which formed the first rainbow coalition in Illinois (Albert). He was assassinated during an attack conducted on his home by Chicago police. Fred was brought up in the Chicago village along with his brother and sister, and he was the youngest child of Francis and Iberia Hampton. Emmett Till was among Hampton’s family friends. Till was executed illegally by local white men in Mississippi in 1955 while visiting his relatives in the region. The close connection between Till and Hampton’s family and racial inequity in their village familiarized Fred with racial injustices present in America (Albert). Hampton mobilized a section of students of the NAACP while in high school at Maywood, Illinois, and demonstrated against the unwarranted arrest of Eugene Moore. The latter emerged as the first black state representative from the region. After graduating from high school, Hampton registered for a prelaw program at Triton College.
In 1967, Hampton participated in multiple rallies demanding the building of a racially joined swimming pool in Maywood. The rallies’ goal was accomplished, and Maywood’s integrated pool was approved. Hampton separated with NAACP in 1968 after continuous hostile and violent confrontations with law enforcement during rallies and demonstrations and joined the blank panther party (Albert). The party’s original intentions were to conduct patrols on the black neighborhood while protecting residents from excessive use of power by the police. However, the party evolved to a Marxist revolutionary group the demanded compensation for black Americans for enduring centuries of exploitations and military draft exclusion. Their operations made J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director, term the party as a great danger to the nation’s internal security.
Fred Hampton acted as the chairman of his local chapter of the Black Panther Party from his base in Chicago. Despite being only 20 years old, Fred was a respected leader in the party due to his public speaking talent and experience in organizing community operations while at NAACP. Fred organized community activities like health clinics and free breakfast for local children (Biography). Also, he oversaw the creation of a “Rainbow Coalition” that involved local gangs such as the young white parrots and Puerto Rican Young Lords, whose families originated from Appalachia. Fred’s success and favorable profile led to negative attention from the police. As such, the FBI started monitoring the activities of the Chica...