The Fred Hampton Files

## Intro

In this project, you will see examples of "Black Out Poetry" created from the "Fred Hampton Files" released from the FBI through the "Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts". Black Out Poetry is a form of poetry where you take any form of written text and cover-up words to make it your own. It is also known as erasure poetry and/or redacted poetry. The "Fred Hampton Files" were released after Democratic Representative, Bobby L. Rush, introduced legislation that would force the government to publish old files about "domestic spying on civil rights and peace activists" according to The Washington Post. Rush was a founder of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party was mostly inspired by finding answers in the death of Fred Hampton, a fellow Illinois Black Panther.

Black out poetry can be traced back to the 18th century. According to Offbeat Poetry, "Benjamin Franklin’s neighbor in the 1700s published an entertaining broadsheet of puns constructed with words read across the narrow columns of a newspaper, instead of down (Kleon, 2010). The hodgepodge sequence of words created playful puns, like MadLibs for the 18th Century. From that point forward, redacted poetry would meander through various countries and mediums." An example of black out poetry is "I Have Spoken To Batman" by Austin Kleon. Some use it just for fun and choose articles out of newspapers and others choose government documents like the Declaration of Independence to make a political statement.

## Who was Fred Hampton?

### Early Life

Fred Hampton was born in 1948 and was the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was also the executive chairman of the national Black Panther Party. After turning eighteen, Hampton started to align himself with socialist and communist agendas and political beliefs. Before joining the Black Panther Party, Hampton was involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He assumed leadership of the West Suburban Branch's Youth Council. He had a council of roughly 500 people. Shortly after though he gained interest in the ten-point program created by the Black Panthers and joined their Illinois chapter in 1968.

### His Time in the Black Panther Party

In 1968 Hampton was charged with assaulting an ice cream truck driver. He was convicted in 1969 and was sentenced to two to five years in prison. Hampton conducted a meeting against sexism, as the now standing chairman of the Illinois chapter. In just a year, the Black Panther Party was 40-70% women. He also created the rainbow coalition which consisted of the Black Panther Party, The Young Patriots Organization, and the Young Lords. Later the rainbow coalition was joined by the Students for Democratic Society (SDS), the Brown Berets, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M), and the Red Guard Party. After rising through the ranks due to his leadership skills, oratorical abilities, and overall charisma. Once he became the leader of the Illinois chapter he taught political education classes every morning, started a program for supervision of the community police, and was instrumental in the free breakfast project. He assumed chairmanship after the former left, which made him deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party. With this quick rise to fame and popularity the FBI and its COINTELPRO marked his name as an immediate threat.

### His death

In the hours before the fatal raid and assassination of Fred Hampton, the FBI informant William O’Neal slipped Secobarbital into Fred’s drink to sedate him while the raid happened. At 4:45 A.M. two teams of heavily armed police initiated the raid. Mark Clark was instantly killed after being shot in the chest. He fired a reactionary shot into the ceiling and that marked the only shot by the Black Panthers. Then making their way into the house Fred Hampton was shot and injured in the shoulder, but upon inspection an officer shot him twice in the head to ensure he was dead. Seven Panthers who were present during the raid were indicted by a grand jury for attempted murder and various gun charges, but all were dropped. In 1971 footage was released in a documentary called, “The Murder of Fred Hampton” as well as COINTELPRO being revealed to the public.

## Our project

In total there were 6 poems done. Descriptions and photos of the poems are listed below.

### The Watchmen by Alyssa Vandiver

"Policemen and politician,

Watch, scrutinize, and observe all in black communities.

In remembrance of black communities,

Advised instant police end"

In this poem, a security camera is pictured, playing on the line about how policemen and politicians "watch" black communities. Relating to Fred Hampton and his life, when the Black Panthers were still active, the FBI used citizens to infiltrate the party and collect information.

### Bullets by Alyssa Vandiver

"Following bullets in the designated night,

The bullets determining the insufficient USA"

This poem relates to how Hamptons murder "woke up" America and overtime led to political and social change.

### For Whom The Gavel Tolls by Alyssa Vandiver

"Forces of power oppress, suppress, repress, black people,

Representatives called the black organizations atrocities,

Survival will be established with education"

The Black Panther Party strove to educate people about what they believed in. On the other hand the government painted them as evil and dangerous. The "forces of power" tried to undermine the progress that the Black Panther Party was hoping to achieve.

### Bloodstain by Addison Musk

"Bloodstain,

Bloodstain,

Bloodstain"

While this poem may look simple, it calls out the permanent stain left on American history from the night the FBI killed Fred Hampton and Mark Clark.

### Two-Faced by Addison Musk

"Senator,

concerned, concerned, concerned, concerned"

This poem calls out the politicians who claimed to be "concerned" for the American people but then contributed to organizations like COINTELPRO.

### Weighted Scale by Addison Musk

"Justice Department and FBI to conduct a ~~fair~~ investigation,

because of previous investigations involving Black Panther Party (BPP)."

This poem highlights the unfair treatment of the Black Panther Party. The police were not arrested for the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark while the Panthers who survived the raid were arrested for aggravated assault and attempted murder of a police officer. 100 shots were fired, only 1 by the Panthers themselves. A settlement for the other victims involved was not reached until 1982, almost 13 years later.

## Links and Resources

The Fred Hampton Files

Judas and the Black Messiah movie trailer

Washington Post article about the FBI information release

Blackout poetry video