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The Audio Long Read

What happens when the US declares war on your parents? The Black Panther Cubs know

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Black Panthers shook America awake before the party was eviscerated by the US government. Their children paid a steep price, but also emerged with unassailable pride and burning lessons for today By Ed Pilkington. Read by Chiké Okonkwo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is The Guardian.

0:10.0

Welcome to The Guardian long read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking.

0:16.8

For the text version of this and all our long reads, go to the Guardian.com forward slash long read.

0:25.6

What happens when the U.S. declares war on your parents?

0:30.1

The Black Panther Cubs know.

0:32.6

By Ed Pilkington, read by Chiquetakanko.

0:40.5

Radical change isn't free.

0:44.7

Fred Hampton Jr. was days away from taking his first breath when his father was assassinated.

0:50.8

Still in his mother's womb, he would have sensed the shots fired by police into his parents' bedroom at the back of 2337 Monroe Street, Chicago.

1:01.3

He would have absorbed the muffled screams, felt the adrenaline rushing through his mother's veins, been jolted by her violent arrest.

1:10.1

Could he also have somehow sensed the moment of his father's death?

1:13.7

His dad was Chairman Fred Hampton,

1:17.5

leader of the Illinois Chapter and Deputy Chairman of the National Black Panther Party,

1:21.7

who was sleeping beside his pregnant fiancé,

1:24.7

when 14 Chicago police officers burst into the apartment. They shot him in bed,

1:30.8

striking him twice in the head. Hampton, who was 21, was killed on the spot. The attack,

1:40.2

up to 99 incoming gunshots and only one fired by the Panthers from inside,

1:44.9

also claimed the life of Panther Mark Clark,

1:47.6

in what later emerged was a meticulously planned FBI-backed operation.

1:53.2

25 days later, on December 29, 1969,

1:57.4

Akua and Jare, then Deborah Johnson, gave birth to a baby boy.

2:02.1

From that moment on, the child's life was to be defined by the father, whom he never met.

...

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