Source: aaregistry / aaregistry.org
On December 4, 1969, Defense Captain Mark Clark, leader of the Peoria, Illinois, Branch of the Black Panther Party, and Chairman Fred Hampton, leader of the Chicago, Illinois Chapter, were assassinated in cold blood.
The Chicago police, under the authority of the FBI, entered the apartment at 4 am and sprayed over 90 bullets from machine guns, rifles, and handguns, killing Mark and Fred and leaving a blood bath in their wake. It was a day that shocked black communities all over America.
My name is Gloria Clark Jackson and I am the last living relative who was a Peoria BPP member under my brother Mark’s leadership. At the time, I was only 19 and I really didn’t understand the full significance of what he was doing. After he was murdered at the young age of just 22, I began to understand more fully. And I hope that after reading this letter, many of you will understand too.
In giving the proper honor to my brother Mark, I have to mention some of the wonderful work he did in the Peoria area, setting up the very first free breakfast program for children and providing children with shoes and clothing, as well as food assistance to the elderly. As a former panther, it was a hard and thankless job. John Miller, the Peoria Captain of Communications, once stated,” Mark helped to feed so many kids in Peoria and now that they are grown, they don’t even know who to thank.”
What I remember most about Mark was that he was always helping the underdog, but on this anniversary of Mark and Fred’s death, after 55 years, I want to do something a little different. I want to honor him by sharing a message that no one else is talking about. I want to tell you what many of you don’t know.
Since not many people other than those who lived in Peoria knew a lot about my brother Mark, I decided to write a biography about him titled ”Mark Clark: Soul of a Black Panther.” My purpose in writing the book was to share what I knew about Mark and the BPP, to tell the truth and to expose the lies and misconceptions. If you want to know more, you can find my book on Amazon.com.
Now let me tell you what you don’t know:
By now, most people have heard (a version) of what took place on that fateful day. The movie titled” Judas and the Black Messiah” gives their version, and it gives the story exposure to young people who didn’t know. However, movies are made for entertainment; they add and leave out a lot of very important information, even when it’s called a documentary.
Most people have heard of COINTELPRO, which was accidentally exposed in 1975. But what many people don’t know is that the FBI had a prior surveillance program called the Ghetto Informant Program (GIP). The Ghetto Informant Program (GIP) was another intelligence-gathering operation run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1967 to 1973.
According to GIP (and please look it up), there were over 67 informants in the Black Panther Party. After learning this, it would make no sense that the FBI wouldn’t rely on one person (William O’Neal) to bring down the Chicago BPP. This made me realize that you don’t really know who you can trust. Now, that’s not to infer that all of them were/ are FBI informants. That’s simply to say that more informants aided in the murder of Mark and Fred.
So, in honor of my dear brother Mark Clark and his comrade Fred Hampton, I tell the story to the best of my ability and ask the question that no one dares to ask:
Who were the other FBI informants involved in Fred and Mark’s deaths? I endeavor to uncover this hidden truth to expose them for who they are, and on this 55th anniversary, that is how I will honor my brother Mark. Peace and love.
SEE ALSO:
Chicago Home Where Revolutionary Activist Fred Hampton Spent Formative Years Receives Historic Distinction
Boston Home Where Malcolm X Spent Teenage Years Receives Historic Distinction
Mark Clark’s Sister Pens Revealing Open Letter On Anniversary Of Black Panther’s Assassination
was originally published on
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