Eldridge Cleaver

Eldridge Cleaver, the son of a nightclub piano player, was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, in 1935 !he fa"ily later "oved to #os Angeles As a teenager he was sent to refor" school for stealing a bicycle and selling "ari$uana %oon after his release he was arrested for possession of "ari$uana &ound guilty he was sentenced to 3' "onths in %oledad (rison While in prison Cleaver beca"e interested in politics and read the works of )arl *ar+, !o" (aine, Willia" ,u -ois and #enin Cleaver was released in 195. but the following year he was arrested and charged with atte"pted "urder &ound guilty, he was sentenced to a ter" of two to fourteen years in prison While in %an /uentin he began reading books on black civil rights and was particularly influenced by the writings of *alcol" 0 After leaving prison in 1911 Cleaver $oined the -lack (anther (arty 2-((3 %oon afterwards he was appointed the organi4ation5s "inister of infor"ation Cleaver was now a co""itted revolutionary and called for an ar"ed insurrection and the establish"ent of a black socialist govern"ent Cleaver "arried )athleen 6eal on 7.th ,ece"ber, 191. !he following year he published his "e"oirs, Soul on Ice 219183, established hi" as one of African A"erican5s the "ost i"portant political figures !he activities of the -lack (anthers ca"e to the attention of 9 Edgar :oover and the &-; :oover described the (anthers as <the greatest threat to the internal security of the country< and ordered the &-; to e"ploy <hard=hitting counter=intelligence "easures to cripple the -lack (anthers< >n 1th April, 1918 eight -(( "e"bers, including Cleaver, -obby :utton and ,avid :illiard, were travelling in two cars when they were a"bushed by the >akland police Cleaver and :utton ran for cover and found the"selves in a base"ent surrounded by police !he building was fired upon for over an hour When a tear=gas canister was thrown into the base"ent the two "en decided to surrender Cleaver was wounded in the leg and so :utton said he would go first When he left the building with his hands in the air he was shot twelve ti"es by the police and was killed instantly Cleaver was arrested and charged with atte"pted "urder :e was given bail and in 6ove"ber, 1918, he fled to *e+ico #ater he "oved to Cuba :e also spent ti"e in Algeria

While in e+ile Cleaver had disagree"ents with :uey 6ewton and in 19.1 he e+pelled hi" fro" the -lack (anther (arty %oon afterwards Cleaver for"ed the ?evolutionary (eole5s Co""unication 6etwork and )athleen Cleaver returned to the @nited %tates to establish the party in 6ew Aork %oon afterwards Cleaver underwent a "ystical conversion to Christianity :e now re$ected his for"er political beliefs describing the syste" in Cuba as <voodoosocialis"< :e also wrote an article for the New York Times where he argued <With all its faults, the A"erican political syste" is the freest and "ost de"ocratic in the world < Cleaver returned to the @nited %tates in 19.5 !ried for his role in the 1918 shoot=out, Cleaver was found guilty of assault !he court was lenient and Cleaver, now a born=again Christian, received only five year5s probation and directed to perfor" 7,''' hours of co""unity service ,avid :illiard, on the other hand, charged with the sa"e offence, had received a one to ten year prison ter" After his trial he ran the Cleaver Crusade for Christ #ater, he ca"e up with a plan for <Christla",< a plan to co"bine Christianity and ;sla" :e published Soul on Fire 219.83 and for a ti"e he advocated the religious ideas of %un *yung *oon and beca"e involved with *or"onis" ,uring the 198's he beca"e a supporter of ?onald ?eagan Cleaver, who for a ti"e worked as a tree surgeon, divorced his wife, )athleen Cleaver, in 1985 :e continued to struggle with drug proble"s and in 199B was seriously in$ured when he was knocked unconscious while buying cocaine fro" a drug dealer >n his release fro" hospital he worked for the -lack Cha"ber of Co""erce in %an &rancisco :e also taught at a -ible college in *ia"i :owever, in 1998 he was placed on probation in 1998 after convictions for burglary and cocaine possession Eldridge Cleaver died at (o"ona Calley *edical Center on 1st *ay, 1998 :is fa"ily reDuested that the hospital did not reveal the cause of his death