Join Dr. Chris Stacey for a presentation on the emergence of the Black Panther Party in Chicago, Fred Hampton’s Role in the BPP, and the events leading to his death on December 4, 1969 at the age of twenty-one. In Part Two, we’ll explore Fred Hampton’s life as an activist at Proviso East High School and his work in traditional Civil Rights organizations before co-founding the Chicago BPP with Bobby Rush. One aspect we want to explore is the accuracy of a traditional historiographical dichotomy between “non-violent Civil Rights organizations and violent Black Power organizations.” We’ll survey the political landscape in Chicago during the late 1960s including the African American sub-machine under the Daley regime. We’ll examine the “shoot-to-kill” order and the CPD’s policing tactics in the late 1960s and why the department targeted the BPP. We’ll discuss the BPP’s ideology and community programs and the events leading up to the murder of Fred Hampton. Of special interest is the BPP’s creation of multi-ethnic alliances across the city and why the BPP gained acceptance in certain African American communities. We’ll work to contextualize the legacy of Fred Hampton and the Chicago BPP by looking at the movement for community control of the police and the critically acclaimed film Judas and the Black Messiah. In terms of the film, we can have a rich discussion comparing how the Hollywood portrayal of Fred Hampton converges and diverges from the documented details of his life.

Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Time: 6:30 p.m. CDT

Location: Zoom Video Conference

Cost: Free