Fred Hampton Jr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fred Hampton Jr.
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Hampton Jr. speaking at a 2018 anti-war rally in Oakland
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| Born |
Alfred Johnson
December 29, 1969 |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Known for | Prisoners of Conscience Committee/Black Panther Party Cubs (Chairman) |
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Fred Hampton Jr. (born Alfred Johnson; December 29, 1969) is an American political activist, based in Chicago. He is the president and chairman of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee and the Black Panther Party Cubs. He is the only child of Fred Hampton, the Black Panther Party leader assassinated by police in Chicago on December 4, 1969, with his fiancée, now known as Akua Njeri.
Early life and education
Born in Chicago, Hampton is the son of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and his fiancée, Deborah Johnson. He was born 25 days after his father, at age 21, was assassinated by the Chicago police in a 1969 raid.
His mother named him Alfred Johnson at birth. When he was ten years old, she had his name legally changed to "Fred Hampton Jr." She had already changed her own name to Akua Njeri, as she increasingly had identified with Africa in the years after Hampton Sr's death. She wanted to drop what she and many in the Black Power movement considered "slave names".
Hampton graduated from Tilden High School and sporadically studied journalism at Olive–Harvey College.
Career
During the late 1980s, Hampton worked part-time as an auto mechanic while speaking at rallies and working as an organizer for the National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (NPDUM), an interracial group. He also sold The Burning Spear, the newspaper associated with the affiliated African Socialist Party.
He now serves as president and chairman of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC) and the Black Panther Party Cubs (BPPC), made up of descendants of Black Panthers. He continues to organize to bring people together across racial and class lines. He also is a spoken word artist and poet, and draws from his experiences with police and incarceration.
