On this day in 1969 Chicago Police Department, in collusion with the FBI, assassinated the Chairman. As a way to remember him I have made a downloadable PDF poster available for anyone who wants it.
Chairman Fred Hampton, Illinois Chapter Black Panther Party, August 30, 1948 – December 4,1969, Serve the People, Body and Soul.
The quote included on the poster is part of a much longer speech given at Olivet Church in 1969. Here is a bit more of it:
“We got to face some facts. That the masses are poor, that the masses belong to what you call the lower class, and when I talk about the masses, I’m talking about the white masses, I’m talking about the black masses, and the brown masses, and the yellow masses, too. We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity. We say you don’t fight capitalism with no black capitalism; you fight capitalism with socialism.
We ain’t gonna fight no reactionary pigs who run up and down the street being reactionary; we’re gonna organize and dedicate ourselves to revolutionary political power and teach ourselves the specific needs of resisting the power structure, arm ourselves, and we’re gonna fight reactionary pigs with INTERNATIONAL PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION. That’s what it has to be. The people have to have the power: it belongs to the people.” Rest in Peace and Power Chairman Hampton.
A portrait of Mr. Hampton as he speaks into a microphone and looks off to a crowd. He has dark brown skin, black hair, and a chin-strap beard. Text states: “We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity. — Fred Hampton.”
