This Day in History

Dec. 4, 1969: Black Panther Party Members Assassinated

Time Periods: 1961
Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity
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Fred Hampton, a leader of Chicago’s Black Panther Party who was killed during an FBI-sponsored police raid.

You can jail a revolutionary, but you can’t jail the revolution.

On Dec. 4, 1969, Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton, 21, and Mark Clark, 22, were shot to death by 14 police officers as they lay sleeping in their Chicago apartment.

While authorities claimed the Panthers had opened fire on the police who were there to serve a search warrant, evidence later emerged that the FBI (as part of COINTELPRO), the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, and the Chicago police conspired to assassinate Fred Hampton.

Learn about about Hampton’s childhood (including a connection to Mamie Till), organizing, and murder from this tweet thread by high school teacher and curriculum writer Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. (Click image to read full thread.)

Learn more from “The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther,” an interview with lawyer Jeffery Haas on Democracy Now!

Teach this history with the lessons and other resources listed below.

Related Resources
COINTELPRO | Zinn Education Project
Teaching Activities (Free)

COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. 29 pages.
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.

Teaching Activities (Free)

“Riots,” Racism, and the Police: Students Explore a Century of Police Conduct and Racial Violence

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
Students explore three documents produced in the wake of three major episodes of racial violence (1919, 1967, 2014) to understand the long trajectory of police violence in Black communities.

A photograph of Black Panther children in a classroom with their teacher, Evon Carter, widow of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, at the Intercommunal Youth Institute, the Black Panther Party school.
Spanish/Bilingual, Teaching Activities (Free)

‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ 10-Point Program

Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
How students can use the Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Program to assess issues in their own communities and to develop 10-Point Programs of their own. Available in Spanish.

Teaching Activities (Free)

What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — but Should

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. Rethinking Schools. 33 pages.
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.

Books: Non-Fiction

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeffrey Haas. 2019. 400 pages.
The life and murder of Fred Hampton as told by Jeffrey Haas, co-founder of the People’s Law Office and attorney for the plaintiffs in the federal suit Hampton v. Hanrahan.

book cover showing photo of protesting Black Panthers, along with graphic imagery by BPP artist Emory Douglas.
Books: Non-Fiction

Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by déqui kioni-sadiki and Matt Meyer. 2017. 648 pages.
The collective autobiography of the New York Panther 21, an infamous conspiracy case that highlighted government repression of Black liberation activists during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (DVD) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History
Films

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 115 minutes.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

Huey Newton surrounded by youth of East Oakland community, August 1970.
This Day in History

Feb. 17, 1942: Huey P. Newton Born

Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

This Day in History

Oct. 15, 1966: The Black Panther Party Founded

The Black Panther Party sought justice for African Americans and other oppressed communities through a combination of revolutionary theory, education, and community programs.