Save the Hampton House: Virtual Gala

51 years ago, the FBI & the Chicago Police Department assassinated Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton (21 years old at the time) and Defense Captain Mark Clark in a carefully planned raid. Survivors of the 4 am raid were all jailed and charged with attempted murder on police officers, including Chairman Fred’s partner Deborah Johnson (now known as Akua Njeri), who was 8 ½ months pregnant at the time. These assassinations are the most significant and indisputably proven political assassinations of U.S. citizens by the U.S. government on U.S. soil.

Today, in the midst of a new generation of the Black Liberation Movement, activists across the country still look to the legacy of Hampton’s revolutionary leadership and organizing as they continue the fight against anti-Black State violence and repression.

This year, Chairman Fred’s story is coming to the big screen for the very first time. Judas & the Black Messiah (produced by Fruitvale Station & Black Panther director Ryan Coogler) will premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival before a wide release by Warner Bros on February 12th.

Join Community Ready Corps Allies and Accomplices on February 11th, 2021 for a 90-minute event featuring Mother Comrade Akua Njeri and Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., In conversation with Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife and Field Marshal Tur-Ha Ak. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from some of the most dedicated frontline leaders in the Black struggle as they discuss the past, present and future of Chairman Fred’s legacy and the struggle for Black self determination. Chairman Fred Hampton Sr’s immediate family will speak to Black Panther politics and organizing, the repression they’ve survived, and the resilience that keeps them doing the work. Chairman Fred Jr. and Tur-Ha Ak will share stories from their time on the set of Judas & the Black Messiah, and their fight to ensure that the politics of the Panthers and the realities of COINTELPRO were accurately represented in the film. All of the featured speakers have powerful insight and wisdom to share with regard to Black movement & power building.

This virtual, national fundraising event is part of solidarity efforts to Save the Hampton House, the Chicago childhood home of Chairman Fred Hampton Sr. His surviving family are currently fighting to preserve his legacy by securing the home and turning it into a long-term community resource and museum. With the release of the upcoming film, the Hampton family needs resources to make the Hampton House Landmark & Museum a reality ASAP. This is a strategic opportunity to teach millions of people about one of the most significant ancestors in the Black struggle in the U.S. Our goal for this event is to contribute at least $150,000 towards a $500,000 endowment for the Hampton House & Museum.

Ticket prices are sliding-scale (no one turned away for lack of funds), and all proceeds go towards the purchase and restoration of the Hampton House. We know that poor and working class people typically stretch more to contribute to community care and revolutionary movement than upper and owning class people. With this is mind, we invite and encourage you to purchase a ticket that reflects a personally significant contribution to this critical work based on your access to resources. NOTAFLOF - No One Turned Away For Lack of Funds!

Reserve your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/save-the-hampton-house-virtual-fundraising-gala-tickets-137374708451

ACCESS

This event will take place as a Zoom webinar and will include guest speakers, a short video screening, and some performance art pieces. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation, ASL and real-time captions will be provided. Event materials will be made available electronically at the beginning of the event. For any other access questions or requests, please contact amanda.irwin.m [at] gmail.com.

PROGRAM

This 90-minute virtual gala will open with performances by Cat Brooks and the Lady of Rage, a short film by Jordan Foster, and remarks from Fredericka Newton (the widow of Black Panther Party founder Minister Huey P. Newton) about her work to establish a National Park and monument in Oakland dedicated to the Black Panther Party.

The event will feature a conversation with Chairman Fred Hampton Jr & Mother Comrade Akua Njeri - survivors of the state-orchestrated assassinations of Chicago Black Panther leadership in 1969 - facilitated by Oakland City councilwoman Carroll Fife and Field Marshal Tur-Ha Ak, founder of Community Ready Corps and the Black Solidarity Fund.

THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE HAMPTON HOUSE

Bigger than a building, more significant than a structure. Young Chairman Fred lived in this home while he organized other children and grew into the prolific revolutionary who is still changing lives today. Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and his family are now attempting to buy the house back from the bank, restore it to livable condition, and transform it into a community resource and museum where the community can continue to learn the important legacy of the Black Power movement, and the history of state violence and repression. Given ongoing repression and anti-Blackness that is apparent at every level of society, this work is just as significant and necessary today as it was in the freedom movements of the 1960s. For more information about the house and Chairman Fred Hampton’s legacy: http://www.thehamptonhouse.org

Want to support but can’t make it to the gala? You can send funds online or (preferably) mail checks to 804 South 17th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. (Checks should be made out to “Save the Hampton House” with “Black Solidarity Fund” in the memo line)

“This system wants Chairman Fred Hampton’s tale to remain untold, his militant memory to fade, his life of service to black folks and the black revolutionary struggle to pass unknown. The media has covered up this recent history, but some remember; perhaps now you will too.

Remember those who have gone before.

Remember those whom the system wants you to forget.

Remember those who fought against this system.

Remember Chairman Fred Hampton, and his assassins.”

— Mumia Abu-Jamal, All Things Censored (2001)


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CRC Allies and Accomplices (CRCAA) is an inter-generational, cross-class, multi-tendency organization of white people committed to opposing white supremacy.