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Willy O’neal Could Have Warned Fred Hampton.
Fred Hampton was the charismatic orator chosen by the Black Panther Party to bring their audience to the awareness of the issues. He was the front man. The leader of the pack. A general. The man. It was Fred Hampton that had the youth of America, of all races, rallying together to fight the police brutality and COINTELPRO tactics that Hoover’s FBI had put into place. The tactics were radical, so the leaders of the fight against it had to be just as radical. As a youth, Hampton was involved in the NAACP and other African American social groups. As a young man of 20, he was now charged with leading a nation to freedom.
J. Edgar Hoover didn’t see a hero. He saw a threat to the very counter intelligence program that his agency fought so hard to put into place. Hoover’s program has made its way into every facet of American life. It’s in our homes, our jobs and in our schools.
COINTELPRO hits home to me. My high school was infiltrated by an FBI agent who attempted to make me an FBI Mole. My family on is DOD/CIA, and has been so for many years. Being an FBI Mole didn’t really make sense to me.
