Fred grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and in high school excelled in academics & athletics. His family was deeply impacted by the horrendous murder and injustice of Emmett Till, as his mother was a babysitter for him during that time.
BEFORE the ASCENSION
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BEFORE the NORTH STAR
In high school Fred organized a student section of the NAACP and served on the school’s inter cross section committee.
After Fred graduated from high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College while also becoming involved in the civil rights movement by joining his local branch of the NAACP.
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BEFORE becoming ETERNAL
Fred’s leadership and organizational skills enabled him to rise to the position of Youth Council President. He mobilized a racially integrated group of five hundred young people who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for African American children.
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ASCENSION
Disenchanted with the pace of progress of the NAACP, Fred joins the Black Panther Party and forms the Rainbow coalition that combines the member group’s varied resources to provide aid to low income citizens.
This included the provision of free breakfasts for schoolchildren and a medical clinic that did not charge patients for treatment.
One of Fred’s greatest achievements was to persuade Chicago's most powerful street gangs to stop fighting against each other. He held a press conference where he announced a nonaggression pact between the gangs under his Rainbow Coalition.
NORTH STAR
The FBI targeted Fred and saw him as a young Messiah who could unify and electrify the Black Nationalist Movement. In a police raid, the Chicago police department and FBI coordinated the assassination of 21 year old Fred Hampton firing over 100 rounds of ammunition throughout his apartment.
ETERNAL
Fred Hampton's revolutionary spirit continues to remind us that the fight for justice is a noble and unrelenting endeavor.
His legacy calls upon each of us to be the change we wish to see in the world, to stand for justice, and to work tirelessly to dismantle systems of oppression and create a more equitable future for all.
IMPACT