Eldridge Cleaver at the First Baptist Church of Perrine; Miami KuKlux Klan Protests (April 9, 1978)

Описание: FORMER BLACK PANTHER LEADER ELDREDGE CLEAVER (SOT) SPEAKS AT PERRINE BAPTIST CHURCH (SOT); BILLY BILL, KKK (KU KLUX KLAN) (SOT).

Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the political organization, Black Panther Party.[1][2]

In 1968, Cleaver wrote Soul on Ice, a collection of essays that, at the time of its publication, was praised by The New York Times Book Review as "brilliant and revealing".[3] Cleaver stated in Soul on Ice: "If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America."[4]

Cleaver went on to become a prominent member of the Black Panthers, having the titles Minister of Information and Head of the International Section of the Panthers, while a fugitive from the United States criminal justice system in Cuba and Algeria. Cleaver was convicted of a series of crimes including burglary, assault, rape, and attempted murder and eventually served time in Folsom and San Quentin prisons until being released on parole in 1968.[1][2] In 1968 he became a fugitive after leading an ambush on Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. Cleaver was wounded during the clash and Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed. As editor of the official Panthers' newspaper, The Black Panther, Cleaver's influence on the direction of the party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, resulting in a split that weakened the party.[5]

After spending seven years in exile in Cuba, Algeria, and France, Cleaver returned to the US in 1975, where he became involved in various religious groups (Unification Church and CARP) before joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as becoming a conservative Republican, appearing at Republican events.[6]

Cleaver accused Newton of being an Uncle Tom for choosing to cooperate with white interests rather than overthrow them.

Cleaver left Algeria in 1972, moving to Paris, France, becoming a born again Christian during time in isolation living underground.[1][29] He turned his hand to fashion design; three years later, he released codpiece-revival "virility pants" he called "the Cleavers", enthusing that they would give men "a chance to assert their masculinity".[30] Cleaver returned to the United States in 1975[31][32] to face the unresolved attempted murder charge.[22]

By September 1978, on bail as the proceedings dragged on, he had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, running a factory and West Hollywood shop exploiting his "Cleavers", which he claimed liberated men from "penis binding". He saw no conflict between this and his newfound Christianity, drawing support for his overtly sexual design from 22 Deuteronomy.[33] The long-outstanding charge was subsequently resolved on a plea bargain reducing it to assault. A sentence of 1,200 hours' community service was imposed.[2]

Later life[edit]
In the early 1980s, Cleaver became disillusioned with what he saw as the commercial nature of evangelical Christianity and examined alternatives, including Sun Myung Moon's campus ministry organization CARP.[34] He was also Catholic for a time.[35] He later led a short-lived revivalist ministry called Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity he called 'Christlam'",[1] along with an auxiliary called the "Guardians of the Sperm".[36]

Cleaver was then baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) on December 11, 1983.[37] He periodically attended regular services and lectured by invitation at LDS gatherings.[38]

By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a conservative Republican. He appeared at various Republican events and spoke at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting regarding his political transformation. In 1984, he ran for election to the Berkeley City Council but lost.[6] Undaunted, he promoted his candidacy in the Republican Party primary for the 1986 Senate race but was again defeated.[39] The next year, his 20-year marriage to Kathleen Neal Cleaver came to an end.[22]

In 1988, Cleaver was placed on probation for burglary and was briefly jailed later in the year after testing positive for cocaine.[40][41] He entered drug rehabilitation for a stated crack cocaine addiction two years later, but was arrested for possession by Oakland and Berkeley police in 1992 and 1994. Shortly after his final arrest, he moved to Southern California, falling into poor health.[40]

Death[edit]
Cleaver died at age 62 on May 1, 1998, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California.[41][42] He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.[43]