Eldridge Cleaver

At 62 years old, Eldridge Cleaver has this physical status:

Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (1935 – May 1, 1998), an American writer and political activist who became a pioneer of the Black Panther Party, was published in May 31, 1935. Soul on Ice, a series of essays that was praised by The New York Times Book Review as "brilliant and revealing" at the time of its publication.

"If a man like Malcolm X can change and condemn bigotry," Cleaver said in Soul on Ice, "if you and other former Muslims can change, then there is hope for America." "Cleaver went on to become a central member of the Black Panthers, as Minister of Information and Head of the International Section of the Panthers, as well as a fugitive from the US criminal justice system in Cuba and Algeria."

During the ambush and Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was wounded, Cleaver was wounded as well as killed.

The Black Panther, Cleaver's editor, was only rivaled by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale as editor of the official Panthers' newspaper.

Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, ending in a split that weakened the party. In 1975, Cleaver returned to the United States, where he first became a member of many religious organizations (Unification Church and CARP), as well as becoming a centrist Republican, attending Republican functions.

Early life

Eldridge Cleaver was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. As a child, he and his extended family travelled to Phoenix and then Los Angeles. He was the uncle of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson. Wilhelima Marie, Helen Grace, James Weldon, and Theophilus Henry were four siblings.

He was involved in a juvenile detention facility and spent time in youth detention centers. He was found guilty of a criminal drug offense (marijuana) and sent to Soledad's adult prison at 18 years old. He was found guilty of rape and assault with intent to murder in 1958 and spent time in Folsom and San Quentin jails. He received a copy of The Communist Manifesto while in jail.

With a discharge date of March 20, 1971, Cleaver was released on parole on December 12, 1966. He was arrested on suspicion of parole by association with people with poor reputation, as well as firearms control and ownership. Cleaver applied for habeas corpus to the Solano County court in 1968, and was granted parole along with the release of a $50,000 bond.

Cleaver was released from jail on December 12, 1966, with the help of Edward Michael Keating, the author of Ramparts magazine. He was writing for Ramparts magazine and coordinating efforts to revive the Organization of Afro-American Unity. The Black Panther Party (BPP) was just two months old. He then joined the Oakland-based BPP, serving as Minister of Information or spokesperson. Cleaver's first attraction, as opposed to other prominent groups, was their dedication to the armed war.

Cleaver, Ed Bullins, and Ethna Wyatt founded the Black House political/cultural center in San Francisco in 1967. Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Toure, Sarah Webster Fabio, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Reginald Lockett, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier, Bobby Hutton, Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale were among the Black House regulars. He married Kathleen Neal Cleaver (divorced 1987), with whom he would have son Ahmad Maceo Eldridge (born 1969, Algeria; died 2018, Saudi Arabia) and daughter Joju Younghi (born July 31, 1970, North Korea) in the same year.

Cleaver ran for president in 1968 on the Peace and Freedom Party's ticket. Cleaver was born on August 31, 1935, but not until more than a year after Inauguration Day 1969. (Obwohl the Constitution mandates that the President be at least 35 years old, it does not specify whether he has to have reached that age at the time of nomination, or inauguration.) Both Hawaii and New York ruled that he could not be barred from the election because he did not appear to be eligible for the Constitutional requirements. Cleaver and his running mate, Judith Mage, received 36,571 votes (0.05%).

There were demonstrations around the country in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968. On April 6, Cleaver and 14 other Panthers were wounded in a confrontation with Oakland police officers, during which two of the officers were wounded. During the ambush and 17-year-old Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed, Cleaver was wounded, and 17-year-old Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed. They were carrying M16 rifles and shotguns. In 1980, he confessed to leading the Panther faction in a deliberate ambush of the police officers, prompting the shootout.

Some journalists were surprised by this change, because it was in the context of an uncharacteristic address in which Cleaver discredited the Black Panthers, that "we need police as heroes" and said that "it is a rubber stamp for murder" and condemned civilian review boards of police shootings for the "businessarre" reason. Some believe Cleaver's admission was a payoff to the Alameda County justice system, whose judge only had him out of jail time; Cleaver was sentenced to community service after being charged with three counts of assault against three Oakland police officers. According to "Bobby Hutton's account, he fired more than 12 times after he had already surrendered and stripped down to his underwear to prove he was not wounded."

After the shooting, Cleaver jumped bail to escape Cuba in late 1968. Initially treated with opulence by the Cuban government, the hospitality stopped after Fidel Castro revealed that the CIA had gathered details of the CIA's presence infiltrating the Black Panther Party. Cleaver then departed to Algeria, arranging a visit to him. Elaine Klein normalized his appearance by giving him an invitation to attend the Pan-African Cultural Festival, keeping him temporarily safe from prosecution.

The festival brought him together with revolutionaries from around Africa in order to discuss the demise of white supremacy and colonialism. Cleaver was outspoken in his call for violence against the United States, contributing to his drive to "position the Panthers within the revolutionary nationalist camp inside the country and as supporters of Fanon on the international stage." In Algeria, Cleaver had opened an international office for the Black Panthers. Leary remained with Cleaver in Algiers after Timothy Leary's escape, but Cleaver put Leary under "revolutionary arrest" for encouraging drug use.

In 1969, Cleaver developed a North Korea friendship, and BPP publications began reprinting excerpts from Kim Il Sung's books. Although leftists of the time often looked to Cuba, China, and North Vietnam for inspiration, no one had paid any attention to the obscure Pyongyang regime. In 1969–1970, BPP members were on two visits to North Korea, including the understanding that the juche style could be adaptable to African-American liberation. Cleaver, who was on a formal tour of North Korea, expressed admiration for "the DPRK's stable, crime-free society," which provided supervised food, education, and housing for all, as well as no socioeconomic or socioeconomic inequalities.

After a trip to North Korea, Byron Vaughn Booth (former Panther Deputy Minister of Defense) announced that his wife was having an affair with Clinton Robert Smith Jr. who died in Algeria with an AK47. According to Elaine Mokhtefi of the London Review of Books, Cleaver confessed the murder to her just after she had committed it.

Cleaver's 1978 book Soul on Fire made several arguments about his exile in Algeria, including that regular stipends from the government of North Vietnam, which the US was then bombing. According to Cleaver, he was followed by other former convictors and revolutionaries, many of whom (including Booth and Smith) hijacked planes to get to Algeria.

Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton had a disagreement about the defenition of an armistic conflict, which culminated in the BPP's withdrawal from Cleaver's later expulsion from the BPP. Also, Cleaver's fascination in North Korea and international anti-imperialist strife anger among other BPP members who felt that he was neglecting the needs of African-Americans at home in the United States. Following his expulsion from the Black Panthers in 1971, the organization's links with North Korea were quickly forgotten.

Cleaver advocated for increased police involvement in urban guerrilla warfare, while Newton suggested that the best option was to ban the rifle, alienating the Panthers from the rest of the black community, and focusing on more practical reformist legislation by pushing for increased social services and anti-discrimination legislation. Newton was accused of being an Uncle Tom rather than overthrowe them.

Cleaver left Algeria in 1972 and went to Paris, France, becoming a born again Christian during a time of solitary life underground. He turned his hand to fashion design, and three years later, he introduced codpiece-revival "virility pants" enthusing that women will be able to assert their masculinity. In 1975, Cleaver returned to the United States to face the unsolved attempted murder charge.

He had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, owning a factory and a West Hollywood store, using the term "liberated man from "penis binding" as the trial progressed. He saw no contradiction between this and his newfound Christianity, and he praised his overtly sexual style from 22 Deuteronomy. The long-standing accusation was eventually settled on a plea deal that reduced it to assault. A community service term of 1,200 hours was suspended.

Cleaver became disillusioned with what he saw as evangelical Christianity's commercial nature in the early 1980s, including Sun Myung Moon's campus ministry group CARP. For a time, he was also Catholic. Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity that he referred to as 'Christlam', was later led by the author's aide, "Guardians of the Sperm."

On December 11, 1983, Cleaver was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He attended regular services and lectured at LDS gatherings by invitation.

By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a centrist Republican. He appeared at several Republican forums and appeared at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting on his political reforms. He ran for office to the Berkeley City Council in 1984 but lost. Undaunted, he boosted his campaign for the 1986 Senate primary but was eventually disqualified. Kathleen Neal Cleaver's 20-year marriage came to an end next year.

After finding positive for cocaine in 1988, Cleaver was put on probation for robbery and was briefly jailed later this year. He began using crack cocaine for a stated crack cocaine use two years ago, but Oakland and Berkeley police arrested him in 1992 and 1994 for illegal possession. He went to Southern California immediately after his last detention, suffering in poor health.

Cleaver died at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California, on May 1, 1998. He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Later life

Cleaver's early 1980s was disillusioned with what he perceived as the evangelical faith's commercial nature and explored alternative options, including Sun Myung Moon's campus ministry group CARP. For a time, he was also Catholic. He remained president of Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity" that he referred to as 'Christlam'," as well as an auxiliary group called the "Guardians of the Sperm" later in life.

On December 11, 1983, Cleaver was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He regularly attended regular services and spoke at LDS gatherings by invitation.

Cleaver had become a centrist Republican by the 1980s. He appeared at several Republican functions and testified at a California Republican state Central Committee meeting discussing his political transition. He ran for office to the Berkeley City Council in 1984 but lost. He lobbied his candidacy in the 1986 Senate primary but was ultimately disqualified. Kathleen Neal Cleaver's 20-year marriage came to an end next year.

After testing positive for cocaine, Cleaver was put on probation for robbery and was briefly jailed later this year. He began heroin use as a result of a public crack cocaine use two years ago, but Oakland and Berkeley police arrested him in 1992 and 1994 for unlawful drug use. He moved to Southern California shortly after his last detention, and he began to be in poor shape.

Cleaver died on May 1, 1998 at Pomona, California, at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. He is buried in Altadena, California, at Mountain View Cemetery.

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