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Eldridge Cleaver - Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver was born Leroy Eldridge Cleaver on August 31st 1935 in Wabaseka, Arkansas. He was raised there, before his family moved onto Phoenix and finally Los Angeles. Eldridge was no stranger to trouble with the law and this began in his teens. He was arrested for theft, rape and also for selling marijuana. In 1957 he was convicted of assault with intent to murder and spent time in San Quentin and Folsom prisons. During his time in incarceration he wrote some essays on his views on racial issues and revolutionary violence that were later to be published in 1968 in a book entitled 'Soul On Ice'. This became the philosophical foundation of the Black Power movement. In 1966, Eldridge was paroled and became senior editor of Ramparts magazine. He then joined the Black Panther Party (BPP) in 1967 and became its Minister of Information. He put together the Black Panther newspaper. Along with another BPP member, Lil' Bobby Hutton, Eldridge was assaulted by police in 1968. Lil' Bobby was killed and Eldridge was arrested. He and his wife, Kathleen also a BPP member and leader, fled the country and eventually founded a BPP international branch in Algeria before spending time in Cuba and then moving to France. During 1968, Eldridge also ran for US president on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom Party, but after the shootout with the police, he jumped bail and left the country. Eldridge split from the BPP in 1971 and formed his own version of the organisation. Several BPP chapters switched from Bobby Seale to him and he returned to the USA in 1975 as a born-again Christian and entrepreneur. He described his conversion in another book called 'Soul On Fire' published in 1978. In 1980 Eldridge was arrested for parole violation, but was released on probation. Sadly by the mid-1980s, he became addicted to crack cocaine and this led to new brushes with the law. He was again placed on probation in 1988 after being convicted for burglary and cocaine possession. He had a brush with death in 1994 when a fellow addict administered a severe blow to his head. However, with the help of his family, he got off drugs and went back into evangelical Christianity. He died in 1998 at the age of 62. At this time he was working as a diversity consultant for the University of La Verne near Los Angeles. The cause of death was not disclosed. From a bad start, Eldridge tried to make good, but it seemed like the forces of evil managed to drag him into the depths of drug addiction and despair in later life. He made an impact on many with his first book and hopefully the positive message he preached is not lost amongst the negativity surrounding some aspects of his life. Sources: http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aajourny/html/bh089.html http://www.cnn.com/US/9805/01/cleaver.late.obit/ |
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