🎙️ TELL IT LIKE IT IS Black History Series: Fred Hampton, the 21-Year-Old Revolutionary Whose Vision Still Shapes America

Charismatic Illinois Black Panther leader built multiracial coalitions, challenged institutional power, and became a symbol of state violence and unfinished justice

Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, remains one of the most consequential—and contested—figures of the American civil rights and Black liberation movements. Killed by police at just 21 years old during a predawn raid in Chicago, Hampton’s short life left a long shadow over U.S. politics, law enforcement accountability, and the debate over dissent and state power.

Born August 30, 1948, and raised in Maywood, Illinois, Hampton emerged early as a gifted leader. He excelled academically and athletically in high school before enrolling in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College. At the same time, he joined the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where his organizing talent quickly propelled him to president of the NAACP Youth Council. There, Hampton mobilized hundreds of racially diverse young people to pressure city officials for improved educational resources and recreational facilities for Black children—an early indication of the coalition-building that would define his politics.

In 1968, Hampton joined the Black Panther Party and soon became head of its Chicago chapter. Drawing on his NAACP experience, he helped transform the organization into a disciplined, community-focused political force. Hampton’s most enduring contribution was the creation of the “Rainbow Coalition,” an alliance that brought together the Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society, the Young Lords, and even local street organizations—an unprecedented multiracial, cross-class effort aimed at addressing poverty, police brutality, and political exclusion.