Ahjamu Umi - Lessons from Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panth | Марксизм и критическая теория (Marxism and critical theory)

Ahjamu Umi - Lessons from Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panther Party

“Revolutionary or Death” is the 2020 biography written about former Black Panther Party (BPP) Minister of Information Leroy “Eldridge” Cleaver. The book was written by Justin Clifford. Eldridge Cleaver without question was an enigmatic figure within the BPP and Clifford attempts to use this biography to show a balanced view of Eldridge Cleaver as insightful and talented while also displaying Cleaver’s brutality and ruthlessness.

Most people engaged in studying the history of African liberation movements in general and the BPP in particular already have some understanding of the contradictions within the BPP. Eldridge personified those contradictions. On the positive side, his open willingness to use the royalties from his best-selling book “Soul on Ice” to help finance the early stages of the BPP, and his work to establish the Los Angeles BPP Branch (the first outside of Oakland, California, U.S.), are clear examples here. It was Eldridge who recruited Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter into the BPP after their days doing time together at Folsom Prison in California during the 1960s. Carter, along with Fred Hampton, probably remain as the most iconic and respected BPP leaders to this day. Also, Cleaver’s work, along with people like Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and others to make the Panthers a national organization cannot be overstated.

https://mronline.org/2021/06/19/lessons-from-eldridge-cleaver-and-the-black-panther-party/