When Cleaver was asked to speak at the University of California at Berkeley, then-Gov. 'I wanted to send waves of consternation through the white race,' he said.Īnd he did. It delighted me that I was defying and trampling upon the white man's law. In one essay, Cleaver described his rape of white women as 'an insurrectionary act.

In 1968, they were published as the book 'Soul on Ice,' which became the philosophical foundation of the Black Power movement. While there, he wrote a powerful set of essays outlining his views on racial issues and revolutionary violence. In 1957, he was convicted of assault with intent to murder and sent to California's tough San Quentin and Folsom prisons. His family moved first to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles, where the teen-aged Cleaver began running into trouble with the law, with arrests for theft and selling marijuana. He was a symbol,' said Roland Freeman, another former Panther.Ĭleaver was born on August 31, 1935, in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. 'Eldridge played a very critical role in the struggle of the '60s and the '70s. I'd never heard such power, such eloquence,' said David Hilliard, a former Black Panther. 'I thought Eldridge was the reincarnation of Malcolm X. Citing a family request for privacy, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Porras declined to provide a cause of death or any details about his hospitalization.įormer colleagues in the Black Panther movement expressed sadness at Cleaver's death and remembered him for his role during that turbulent time. at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles.

POMONA, California (CNN) - Eldridge Cleaver, the 1960s Black Panther activist and fugitive who later swung to the other side of the political spectrum to become a Republican, died Friday at the age of 62.Ĭleaver died at 6:20 a.m. 'He was a symbol': Eldridge Cleaver dies at 62ĬNN's Bob Cain tells us about the life of Eldridge Cleaverīlack Panther became born-again Republican May 1, 1998 CNN - 'He was a symbol': Eldridge Cleaver dies at 62 - May 1, 1998

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