Conservative, Is Dead at 62", "Eldridge Cleaver; Post-Prison Writings and Speeches", "Eldridge Cleaver Announces Bid for U.S. Senate Seat", "The Black Panther's Secret North Korean Fetish", "Former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver Dies at 62", "Souled Out: Eldridge Cleaver Admits He Ambushed Those Cops", "Ex-Panther Says He Saw Cleaver Kill a Man", "One Journey Home: Eldridge Cleaver's Spiritual Path", "From Black Panther to Mormon: The Case of Eldridge Cleaver", North Korea International Documentation Project, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, "From Muslim to Mormon: Eldridge Cleaver's Rhetorical Crusade", Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. 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He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California. (Although the Constitution requires that the President be at least 35 years of age, it does not specify whether he need have reached that age at the time of nomination, or election, or inauguration.) [33], By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a conservative Republican. But in 1968, the same year he ran for U.S. president on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom Party, Cleaver was wounded after a shootout between Black Panthers and police in Oakland. At the family's request, the cause of his death was not divulged… “Soul on Islam” is the first book written by Ahmad Maceo Eldridge Cleaver, the son of best selling author Eldridge Cleaver. [29] The long-outstanding charge was subsequently resolved on a plea bargain reducing it to assault. Citing a family request for privacy, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Porras declined to provide a cause of death or any details about his hospitalization. [2] Initially treated with luxury by the Cuban government, the hospitality ended upon reports Fidel Castro had received information of the CIA infiltrating the Black Panther Party. Out of Oakland. He was writing for Ramparts magazine and organizing efforts to revitalize the Organization of Afro-American Unity. "Everybody changes, not just me," he said. Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Toure, Sarah Webster Fabio, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Avotcja, Reginald Lockett, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier, Bobby Hutton, Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale were Black House regulars. [35][36] He entered drug rehabilitation for a stated crack cocaine addiction two years later, but was arrested for possession by Oakland and Berkeley Police in 1992 and 1994. Black Panthers focus cameras on police abuse, Former Black Panther freed on $25,000 bail, The Two Nations of Black America: An interview with Eldridge Cleaver. Regular price $28.99 Sale price $28.99 Sale. I wanted to send waves of consternation throughout the white race. He wrote in his book, Soul on Ice, that he considered the rape of white women to … I did this consciously, deliberately, willfully, methodically – though looking back I see that I was in a frantic, wild and completely abandoned frame of mind. [20] By September 1978, on bail as those proceedings dragged on, he had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, running a factory and West Hollywood shop exploiting his "Cleavers", which he claimed liberated men from "penis binding". At the age of 18, he was convicted of a felony drug charge (marijuana, a felony at the time) and sent to the adult prison at Soledad. He became a fugitive after leading an ambush on Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. [6] Undaunted, he promoted his candidacy in the Republican Party primary for the 1986 Senate race but was again defeated. Cleaver died at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center outside Los Angeles. Eldridge Cleaver, the fiery Black Panther leader and literary voice of the Black Power movement who later renounced his past and became a Republican, died Friday. [22], Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton eventually had a disagreement over the necessity of armed struggle as a response to COINTELPRO and other actions by the government against the Black Panthers and other radical groups, which led to Cleaver's eventual expulsion from the BPP. Despite the Great Depression, Hollywood and popular film production flourished. [1][27] He turned his hand to fashion design; three years later, he released codpiece-revival "virility pants" he called "the Cleavers", enthusing that they would give men "a chance to assert their masculinity". "I thought Eldridge was the reincarnation of Malcolm X. I'd never heard such power, such eloquence," said David Hilliard, a former Black Panther. Eldridge Cleaver Former colleagues in the Black Panther movement expressed sadness at Cleaver's death While in prison, he wrote a number of philosophical and political essays, first published in Ramparts magazine and then in book form as Soul on Ice. [W]hen I considered myself ready enough, I crossed the tracks and sought out white prey. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. As editor of the official Panthers' newspaper, The Black Panther, Cleaver's influence on the direction of the Party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Robert James Hutton (April 21, 1950 – April 6, 1968), also known as "Lil' Bobby", was the treasurer and first recruit to join the Black Panther Party. [10], In 1967, Cleaver, along with Marvin X, Ed Bullins, and Ethna Wyatt, formed the Black House political/cultural center in San Francisco. But a neighbor, Peter Apanel, who was with Cleaver on Thursday night said the onetime seminal figure of … They were armed with M16 rifles and shotguns. Citing a family request for privacy, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Porras declined to provide a cause of death or any details about his hospitalization. He later admitted to committing numerous rapes, which he called “an insurrectionary act” that made him feel like he “was getting revenge.” [35], Cleaver died at age 62 on May 1, 1998, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California. When Cleaver was asked to speak at the University of California at Berkeley, then-Gov. Quantity. He was placed on probation in 1988 after convictions for burglary and cocaine possession. Alongside Eldridge Cleaver and other Panthers, he was involved in an ambush on Oakland police that wounded two officers. "I have taken an oath in my heart to oppose communism until the day I die," Cleaver told interviewers during his congressional campaign. In 1984, he ran for election to the Berkeley City Council but lost. He saw no conflict with his newfound Christianity, drawing support for his overtly sexual design from 22 Deuteronomy. [36][37] He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.[38]. [20] Elaine Mokhtefi, in the London Review of Books, writes that Cleaver confessed the murder to her shortly after committing it. Cleaver died at 6:20 a.m. at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles. [1] He was the son of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson. But in the mid-1980s, Cleaver became addicted to crack cocaine, which led to new brushes with the law. Activist Eldridge Cleaver dies (62) ... but declined to give any details on the cause of death, citing a family request for privacy. [16] Some reporters were surprised by this move, because it was in the context of an uncharacteristic speech, in which Cleaver also discredited the Black Panthers, stated "we need police as heroes", and said that he denounced civilian review boards of police shootings for the "bizarre" reason that "it is a rubber stamp for murder". Shipping calculated at checkout. Following his expulsion from the Black Panthers in 1971, the group's ties with North Korea were quickly forgotten. She then worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Yale Law School, and a Senior Lecturer in the African American Studies department at Yale University. So he endorsed Reagan. Hutton was killed by the police under disputed circumstances. Cleaver also cultivated an alliance with North Korea in 1969, and BPP publications began reprinting excerpts from Kim Il Sung's writings. Some speculated his admission could have been a pay-off to the Alameda County justice system, whose judge had only just days earlier let Eldridge Cleaver escape prison time; Cleaver was sentenced to community service after getting charged with three counts of assault against three Oakland police officers. He described these crimes as politically inspired, motivated by a genuine conviction that the rape of white women was "an insurrectionary act". [24][25][26], Cleaver left Algeria in 1972, moving to Paris, France, becoming a born again Christian during time in isolation living underground. In a 1986 interview with the Associated Press, Cleaver explained his many life transformations. The festival allowed him to network with revolutionaries from all over Africa in order to discuss the perils of white supremacy and colonialism. A hospital spokeswoman declined to reveal the cause of death, citing a family request. "At that time, it was inspirational for us here in the South to see a group like that out in Oakland providing breakfasts, providing shelter for the needy," said Tobe Johnson, a professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Cleaver died at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, according to hospital spokeswoman Leslie Porras. It explores the audacious dreams and spiritual transformations of the eccentric radical and places him squarely within the context of his changing times. She declined to provide any cause of death or … When Cleaver returned in 1975, he began a remarkable political transformation. "[4], Cleaver went on to become a prominent member of the Black Panthers, having the titles Minister of Information and Head of the International Section of the Panthers, while a fugitive from the United States criminal justice system in Cuba and Algeria. "I was pulled over in my car with my secretary for a traffic thing, and one of the officers walked up to the car and saw me sitting inside. mother… And he did. Bypassing US travel restrictions on North Korea, Cleaver and other BPP members made two visits to the country in 1969–1970 with the idea that the juche model could be adapted to the revolutionary liberation of African-Americans. Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, resulting in a split that weakened the party. Cleaver was arrested and charged with attempted murder. [7] He then joined the Oakland-based Black Panther Party (BPP), serving as Minister of Information, or spokesperson. In 1992, he was arrested again for cocaine possession, but a judge threw out the charges after determining Cleaver was improperly arrested. Cleaver returned to the United States in 1977 to face the unresolved attempted murder charge. External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. There’s no better time for a biography of Eldridge Cleaver than now. [13] Having been born on August 31, 1935, Cleaver would not have been the requisite 35 years of age until more than a year after Inauguration Day 1969. © 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.A Time Warner Company All Rights Reserved. Cleaver was wounded in the leg and so Hutton said he would go first. Discover what happened on t… On April 6, Cleaver and 14 other Panthers was involved in a confrontation with Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. [6], Eldridge Cleaver was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas; as a child he moved with his large family to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles. He also suffered well-publicized struggles with drug addiction in the years before his death in 1998. Cleaver became a born-again Christian, embraced anti-communism and made an unsuccessful run for the GOP nomination for a Senate seat in California. [3] Cleaver stated in Soul on Ice: "If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America. Rape was an insurrectionary act. Cleaver died at 6:20 a.m. PDT at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, spokeswoman Leslie Porras said. In 1958, he was convicted of rape and assault with intent to murder, and eventually served time in Folsom and San Quentin prisons. Remains:Buried, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, CA. [citation needed], In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, there were riots across the nation. She declined to provide any cause of death or any details about his hospitalization… ... Hutton was killed while trying to surrender after a shootout with Oakland police that involved Eldridge Cleaver. [28] "He was a gentle spirit," said Richard Rose, a professor of religion and philosophy who worked with Cleaver at the university. Eldridge Cleaver was an American Civil Rights activist and leader of the Black Panther Party. [14] Cleaver and his running mate Judith Mage received 36,571 votes (0.05%). Cleaver accused Newton of being an Uncle Tom for choosing to cooperate with white interests rather than overthrow them. Byron Vaughn Booth (former Panther Deputy Minister of Defense[12]) claimed that, after a trip to the DPRK, Cleaver discovered his wife had been having an affair with Clinton Robert Smith Jr. Booth told the FBI he had witnessed Cleaver shoot and kill Smith with an AK47. Faced with criminal charges, he jumped bail and fled the United States for a life of exile in Algeria, Cuba and France. Cleaver died at 6:20 a.m. PDT at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, spokeswoman Leslie Porras said. There’s no better time for a biography of Eldridge Cleaver than now. Cleaver died at 6:20 a.m. at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles. [16] The PBS documentary A Huey Newton Story claims that "Bobby Hutton was shot more than twelve times after he had already surrendered and stripped down to his underwear to prove he was not armed."[17]. [20], In 1988, Cleaver was placed on probation for burglary and was briefly jailed later in the year after testing positive for cocaine.