Labor Spotlight- Fred Hampton

As a law student, Hampton became active in the civil rights movement and was appointed leader of the youth council of the NAACP West Suburban Branch. In 1968, he founded the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party and established a community service program that included free breakfast for school children and a free medical clinic. Hampton formed the “rainbow coalition,” a non-aggression pact that brought together Chicago’s most powerful gangs.This cohesive movement caught the attention of J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In fact, they deemed the Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country," which resulted in the Chicago Black Panther Party office being raided by police multiple times. Sadly, one of the raids led the Chicago Police Department to firing multiple rounds of ammunition, killing Hampton and Black Panther Party member Mark Clark. The debate around accountability for these deaths continues, and the work and passion of Hampton lives forever in the fight for racial and economic justice.

Source: aflcio.org