Black Panther Assassinated - Fred Hampton, 1948-1969

Detroit: People Against Racism, [1970]. First Edition. Original illustrated poster, with text and photographic portrait of Hampton offset printed in black and dark green on white stock, measuring 44.5cm x 57cm (17.5" x 22.5"). Light wear and a few thin strips of toning to extremities, two old folds smoothed out, with a few tiny edge tears, and some toning to upper half on verso; unbacked; Very Good+.

Attractive copy of this poster issued in the months following the death of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Black Panther Party's Illinois chapter, and Deputy Chairman of the national BPP. Given his position and his involvement with both the NAACP and SNCC, Hampton's profile was rising rapidly at the national level; he was assassinated on December 4, 1969, while sleeping in his apartment, during a raid by a tactical unit of the Cook County, IL State Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the FBI. This poster, issued by the Detroit-based People Against Racism, includes a petition along the right edge, calling for the creation of an investigating commission to determine responsibility for the murders, with spaces for names and signatures, and a plea for funds. OCLC notes 4 holdings (Yale, Northwestern, U.Kansas, Wisconsin Historical), and we find 2 others at OMCA and the Hoover Institution.