[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 147 (Thursday, December 4, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8660-H8662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TUMULTUOUS TIMES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the previous speaker,
my friend from Michigan, Mike Rogers, for his distinguished service to
this Nation and to this Congress. I had the privilege of meeting Mike
when he first became a Member of this House. I remember his exuberance,
the energy that he displayed, the hopeful look in his eye, and I
watched him as he has matured into a great legislative leader and a
leader for the Nation.
But I guess the paradox of our Nation is probably exhibited in the
fact that I was kind of interested, to say the least, in the fact that
Mike Rogers was a former FBI agent, and I had to process that fact in a
rather unique way. I had not known many FBI agents prior to shaking
hands with Mike. Those that I did know, I had questions about their
character and their qualities. So I was somewhat quizzical and
interested in this fellow.
As I listened to his final speech before the House, the thought
occurred to me that one part of me certainly agrees with his notion of
a Nation that represents so much hope to the rest of the world, but I
also, to be quite honest, know that the America that should be even
greater has not yet found the greatness that it is called to be.
These times are tumultuous times within our Nation. These times are
creating pain and suffering for far too many of our citizens. These
times extinguish the hope of the young African American child. These
times call into question the high ideals that should inspire us. These
times are times of difficulty; times, indeed, of desperation, times of
despair in the life and the hopes and aspirations of far too many of
our citizens.
W.E.B. DuBois wrote a seminal classic back at the turn of the century
titled, ``The Souls of Black Folk,'' and there was one sentence in this
book that really kind of rises up to question and to challenge the
Nation that the previous speaker portrayed and the Nation that is a
reality for me and for so many of my constituents.
DuBois made the statement in 1903 that ``the problem of the 20th
century is the problem of the color line.'' I don't think that W.E.B.
DuBois, who was an eminent scholar, a graduate of Harvard with a
doctorate degree, could ever in his wildest imagination believe that
this one sentence written in 1903 would still be a sentence that would
define a Nation to many of its citizens. The problem of the 20th
century is also the problem of the 21st century: the color line, the
problem of race, the problem of discrimination, racial inequities.
These are current problems, even in today's America.
Forty-five years ago, on this very same day, December 4, way back in
the year 1969--45 years ago--in the wee hours of the morning at 4 a.m.
in a two-bedroom apartment at 2337 West Monroe, the Chicago Police
Department, in collusion with the FBI, led a raid on an apartment which
resulted in the death of two young African American men, Fred Hampton
and Mark Clark, and the wounding of seven others.
{time} 1600
They came in the middle of the dark hours of the morning in a van,
Illinois jail van. Some went to the rear of the apartment at 2337, and
some went to the front door.
Members of the organization that I was proud to be a member of and am
proud today to have served in, the Illinois chapter of the Black
Panther Party, they were in the apartment. Fred Hampton and the mother
of his son were in the back room, and other members of the Panther
Party were sleeping in different parts of the apartment.
There was a knock on the door. Mark Clark answered, ``Who is it?'' He
heard a voice from the other side of the door saying, ``Tommy.''
Mark asked, ``Tommy who?'' The other voice on the other side of the
door said, ``Tommy gun,'' and started firing into the apartment. This
was at the front of the apartment.
When those police officers at the rear heard the fire from the front,
they came in, burst in through the rear door, shooting wildly and
recklessly. After a few quick moments, the shooting subsided.
There was a shout from the rear bedroom where Fred Hampton and
Deborah Johnson had been sleeping, and there was a voice that came from
a closet saying, ``Stop shooting. Stop shooting. There's a pregnant
woman in here.''
So all the Panthers were pulled from the various areas and in the
rooms. And then Michael Voss, a member of the Chicago Police
Department, went into the bedroom where Fred Hampton had been shot,
said that, ``Oh, he's not dead yet,'' and shot him pointblank in the
head. He came out of that room and boasted, ``He's good and dead now.
He's good and dead now.''
The Panthers were taken to hospitals, and some were taken straight
to--well, they all were taken to the jail, Monroe Street Station.
I was supposed to have been in that apartment. The information by the
informant, William O'Neal, that was given to the FBI stated that I and
other leaders of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party were
in that apartment. And we had been there less than 5 hours before
because we were having a leadership meeting.
Because we did not have enough sleeping areas, it was decided that
some of us would not sleep there that night. Three members of the
leadership group, two other members and myself, we went to our homes,
thinking that tomorrow morning, or the next morning, that we would
reconvene and continue our leadership meeting.
Fred Hampton, Mark Clark were killed.
I got a call about 4:45 that morning from another Panther Party
member. Another member of the organization said that there had been a
shootout at Chairman Fred's apartment, so I immediately got dressed and
went to the basement apartment of Barbara Sankey, who lived in the 2200
block of West Monroe. Other members of the leadership, we gathered
there, and we turned on BBM radio to see what the latest word was.
About 6:15, 6:30 that morning, we heard the news on the radio that
Fred Hampton had been killed. 45 years ago, December 4, 1969.
Our thoughts--my thoughts that morning, I was 23 years old, just had
made 23--my thoughts were scattered and confused because my friend had
been murdered.
I immediately gathered myself, and we called our attorneys and got
our attorneys on the phone, and waited awhile. Around 10:30 that
morning, we emerged from that basement apartment to go a half a block
west to see what had really happened.
Just as the cowardly police came in undercover, under the wraps of
camouflage, they quickly, after murdering Fred and murdering Mark, they
ran from the community and left this apartment open. They didn't secure
the premises, left it wide open, doors open, all the evidence right
there, the bloody mattress that Fred slept in, the door, the front door
where it was later discovered, through grand jury testimony, that
possibly one bullet came from inside of the apartment, but there were
99 bullets, 99 bullets from the outside to the inside, and one possible
from the inside to the outside.
When we walked through that apartment, we saw the evidence. In later
testimony given in various sources, including the special grand jury
they convened a few years later, there was a machinegun used by the
police, the State's Attorney police, and it showed on the walls, the
evidence of where the machinegun, just almost in a diagonal form, fired
up and down and up and down throughout the length of that wall, a
machinegun used by the police.
Our attorneys examining the evidence secured the door that had been
left behind, and with one hole in it, secured the mattress where Fred
Hampton slept.
We had a toxicologist that our attorneys hired, and the toxicologist
said that Fred Hampton had been drugged the night before, that he had
enough Seconal in his body, enough Seconal to render an elephant unable
to move. So
[[Page H8661]]
Fred was drugged by the police and their agents, murdered in his bed.
I want to be very clear here in this House, on this 45 years later.
This was the first time that I am aware of--and I read history, I love
history--before or since where an American citizen has been
assassinated by official Federal, State, and local law enforcement, the
first and only time that an American citizen had been assassinated by
law enforcement and the political status quo.
So you can understand somewhat how I felt, and how I continue to feel
about the FBI. And I am not here to castigate the FBI. This is not the
purpose of this colloquy or soliloquy. This is not my purpose for being
here on the floor.
I am talking about the history of the FBI and the history of J. Edgar
Hoover.
{time} 1615
This is the FBI I grew up with. I grew up under the J. Edgar Hoover
FBI, and he considered me and others like me in my organization to be
the greatest threat to the security of this Nation.
I had been honorably discharged from the military for 4 years--a
veteran, serving 4 years in the U.S. Army. I volunteered for the Army,
and all of a sudden, some 3 years later, I am the number one threat to
the security of the Nation to which I had pledged to give my life only
6 years earlier.
Why did they kill Fred? Why did they kill Fred Hampton, the Fred I
knew, the Fred Hampton I spent time day in and day out with?
Fred Hampton, the man full of humor and compassion, strong-willed,
but softhearted; the Fred Hampton who could move crowds with his
eloquence; the Fred Hampton who wanted me and others to learn the art
of speaking, who would take us and force us to listen to the speeches
of African American preachers and other orators; the Fred Hampton whose
laughter was infectious, strong-voiced; the Fred Hampton who said what
he meant and meant what he said; the Fred Hampton you could count on
and call on, a spokesman for the voiceless--yes, Fred allowed his voice
to be an instrument for those without a voice; the Fred Hampton who
could take complex and philosophical thought and break them down and
make them relevant to even those who were uneducated and unconcerned;
The Fred Hampton who would say, ``I am so revolutionarily intoxicated
that I cannot be astronomically intimidated,'' which meant that Fred
Hampton was going to fight for the least of these;
The Fred Hampton who was the inspiration for the Rainbow Coalition--
not just for Black people, but for poor people in general--the Rainbow
Coalition that reached out to Appalachian Whites in the uptown area and
that reached out to the Young Lords in the Hispanic west town area, and
said: ``Let's coalesce. We have the same kinds of interests, the same
kinds of problems. So, preacher man, I am going to use my voice and
speak to the problems of black lung disease and of the poverty in
Appalachia, and I am going to use my voice to speak to the problems of
migrant workers and the problems of the Latino community, not just for
Blacks'';
The Fred Hampton who told some of my liberal friends, ``I understand
your willingness to work, and I understand your cries for justice, and
I understand how you want to sacrifice for justice, but we don't
necessarily need you to organize in the Black community. You need to go
and organize in the White community to tell your brothers and your
sisters that we are all in this struggle together, that we are all a
rainbow of a coalition for justice and equality here in America'';
The Fred Hampton who loved to dance and loved to play basketball; the
Fred Hampton who never smoked or drank; the Fred Hampton who loved his
mother and his father and who loved his brothers and sisters;
The Fred Hampton who was tried and convicted of robbing a Good Humor
Man for $310 worth of ice cream bars on a summer's day in Maywood,
Illinois. Fred would say to anyone who would hear, ``I am a big man,
but I can't eat 310 ice cream bars.''
Even those who prosecuted Fred said that if he took the ice cream
bars from the Good Humor Man, then he passed them out, that he gave
them to the young people in the hot summer Sun there in Maywood,
Illinois, so even those who prosecuted him had to admit that, if he
did, he robbed the rich and gave to the poor.
This was the Fred Hampton I knew. This was the Fred Hampton of my
life, this man who had such an unabashed commitment to the great ideals
of this Nation, in that this Nation should be a Nation where everybody
is equal and everybody has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness. He was one of the better spirits that this Nation
produced.
He only lived to be 21 years old. His family's loss was great, and
his friends' loss was great, but this Nation's loss was even greater
because, had he lived, he would have been a tremendous, incomparable,
and unconquered advocate for those high ideals that inspire all
segments of this society.
There was a grand jury that convened and a report that was issued
that stated that 99 bullets were fired into that apartment on December
4, 1969, and possibly one fired out of that apartment.
The political machine in Chicago--the Daley machine, the political
establishment, those who were in power--thought by killing Fred and
Mark and wounding seven others, that they would be heralded as heroes.
Little did they know, when they left that apartment wide open--
unsecured--then, step by step, person by person--men, women, and
children alike--marched through that apartment and observed for
themselves what had gone on and what had happened on the morning of
December 4, 1969.
They reached the conclusion that Fred Hampton and Mark Clark had been
murdered and that one Edward V. Hanrahan--the State's attorney who
later that same morning, on December 4, went before the television
cameras and cried out how his police officers had been attacked
viciously by the members of the Black Panther Party, the residents of
that apartment--lied; yet instead of being heralded as heroes, the very
same community--the very same people--denounced him as a murderer.
In the election that came a few years later, this very same community
defeated this State's attorney in his bid for reelection. He was being
lifted up, and he was being paraded around as the heir to the Richard
J. Daley machine.
He was going to be Mayor Richard J. Daley's successor, but the
African American community--the Black community--said, ``No, you will
not,'' and they elected a Republican State's attorney, Bernard J.
Carey. It was the first time that the Black community, en masse, told
the Daley machine, ``No, we will not vote with you. We are going to
vote against you.''
That independent action--that independent and courageous act, that
astounding act--defined urban politics not only in Chicago, but in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in New York, and in many other places.
{time} 1630
You see, because Fred Hampton died, then Harold Washington became the
first African American mayor of the city of Chicago, which, again,
astounded the world. The rising up of the Black community body politic
created the necessary conditions to elect Harold Washington as mayor of
the city of Chicago; created the necessary conditions to elect Carol
Moseley Braun as the first African American U.S. Senator from the State
of Illinois and in the history of the U.S. Senate; created the
conditions to elect Barack Obama as the U.S. Senator from the State of
Illinois, the first African American male to be a U.S. Senator from the
State of Illinois; created the conditions, yes, for Barack Obama to be
elected President of the United States; created conditions for the 1984
and 1988 campaigns for the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson when he ran for
President.
Fred. Mark. 45 years ago, they assassinated Fred while he was drugged
beyond any capacity to defend himself.
Even today, W.E.B. Du Bois, your statement is troubling this Nation
even today.
We travel beyond the 20th century. We are in the 14th year of the
21st century, and even today the problem of the color line is still the
problem of this Nation.
When we look at Ferguson, Missouri, in the case of Michael Brown and
his
[[Page H8662]]
murder and the horrendous conclusions drawn by the grand jury and the
atrocious acts of the Governor of Missouri, the problem of the color
line is preeminent. Justice for Michael Brown still has not occurred.
Police brutality is still the main issue that we have regarding the
establishment. Young Black men are still being murdered by police even
today.
New York City, Eric Garner, a father of six, the grand jury could not
even respond adequately to the evidence that everyone who has eyes to
see can see that this man, Eric Garner, was choked to death by racist
police in New York City.
Even today, Trayvon Martin still cries out for justice in this
Nation, even today.
And there have been so many, from border to border, the North, South,
East, and West. Young Black men are being murdered in the streets by
law enforcement who know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they can
kill young Black men and that the culture of the police across this
Nation won't protect them, that they will not be called to answer for
their atrocious actions for the killing of young Black men, be they
students, be they fathers, be they 12-year-old babies, such as what
happened in Cleveland.
When will the lunacy end? The lunacy that is in law enforcement must
come to a screeching halt. The police and the police departments all
across this Nation are not viewed as officer friendly, are not viewed
as protectors who serve and protect. They are viewed as occupying
forces who are at war with young Black men. That is the lunacy that we
are confronted with even today.
So, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, for the last 45 years, I have
carried in my heart, in my spirit, the pain, the agony of losing my
great friend and my great leader, Fred Hampton. Yes, he inspires me in
my daily walks, but there is still pain that I carry with me in my
heart. I won't forget, and I won't allow this Nation to ever forget as
long as there is breath in my body, the legacy and the life of this 21-
year-old American revolutionary, this simple yet brilliant man, this
man who had insurmountable courage, the man who could move crowds with
his eloquence and his sincerity, the man who had not even reached the
fruit of his promise and potential, who was murdered, assassinated
after he was drugged the night before, the man who was wounded in his
bed and an animal, an armed animal walked in the room and fired two
bullets in his head and said: He is good and dead now.
We can't forget. We have to remember. We have to keep a fire lit.
Only when we can deal with justice for everybody can we ever achieve
the greatness that we have promised each other. Don't leave young Black
men, young Hispanic men, don't leave them out of the equation. When you
speak about justice and the greatness of this Nation, include them in
in meaningful ways; not with just platitudes but with everyday
practices, include them in.
Mr. Speaker, I have come this evening because we have to embrace the
truth, and Scripture tells us: Know ye the truth, and the truth shall
set you free.
{time} 1645
Today, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and a young 12-year-
old lad from Cleveland are crying from their graves. They want justice.
The young people who are marching throughout the Nation want justice.
And I want to say to those young people, fight on, march on, protest
on, and don't stop. I believe in the power of the youth, the power of
the youth won't stop.
Fred Hampton lives today in the hearts, the minds, and the spirits of
some of these young people today who are taking to the streets in
protest of police brutality here in our Nation, police murder here in
our Nation.
I say to you that Chairman Fred, my friend, Chairman Fred still
lives. His spirit permeates the minds and hearts of all justice-seeking
people, particularly the young people, even today.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 6 minutes remaining.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I would love to ask my colleague from Chicago,
Mr. Danny K. Davis, I yield to him.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you, my friend and colleague,
Congressman Rush for calling this Special Order. I have thought that I
wouldn't be able to be here, but I actually changed my schedule. I want
to commend you for calling this Special Order and especially for the
subject which you have addressed.
As I listened to you, I thought about the fact that the day of the
assassination, my friend, Frank Lipscomb, and I went through the
apartment. We saw the blood on the sheets, we saw the bullet holes, and
we saw the tape. We were young schoolteachers, becoming activist-
oriented, caught up in what was taking place in our country. I am so
grateful that you were not there because had you been, in all
probability, not only would we be talking about Fred and Mark, but we
would also be talking about Bobby Rush. But I do believe that the good
Lord spared you and somehow or another took you in another direction at
that moment so that 45 years later we could look at and appreciate the
many public contributions that you have made in efforts to try and make
this world a better place, a more just place, a place where all life
could be considered sacred.
The location is in my congressional district, the district that I
represent, the district that I serve, less than a mile away. The
building that I inhabit as a district office has a mural on the wall on
the side of the building of Chairman Fred. His son, Fred, Jr., Fred's
mother, and members of their organization come with regularity to pay
homage and tribute. Of course, Fred's mother, brother, and sister live
in my district in Maywood, Illinois. Never does a year go by when they
don't have some event, some activity, some groupings of progressive-
thinking people who come and spend time at their home talking about
progressive causes and progressive issues.
It is kind of interesting that here we are 45 years later when law
enforcement misconduct and police brutality are all at the forefront of
issues plaguing our society today. I think the one thing that Fred's
life and legacy has taught us is that freedom is a hard-won thing. Each
generation has to win it and win it again. So when we look at what is
taking place in St. Louis, in Chicago, in Ferguson, in Cleveland, in
New York, and in Florida, all across the country, it tells us what
Frederick Douglass taught, and that is that struggle, struggle, strife,
and pain are the prerequisites for change. If there is no struggle,
then there is no progress. Fred taught us that struggle must continue
even to the last breath of injustice.
So we commend you, just as we commend your friends, Fred and Mark,
for the leadership that you have provided in trying to help make
America the America that has never been but all of us know must and
will be.
I thank you for calling this Special Order.
Mr. RUSH. Well, I want to thank my friend and colleague, Danny K.
Davis, from my home State, my former city council colleague and my
compatriot in all things that are in the nature of justice, equality,
and standing for the goodness of not only this Nation.
I just want to say to you when you mentioned me, I just have to, in a
humble way, the most humble way--and it didn't have anything to do with
me. I am a devout Christian, a pastor, theologian, seminary graduate,
and pastor of a church, so I know it wasn't me, but I have had to
remind you and others that the very next morning after December 4, on
December 5, which ironically was my mother's birthday, the police came
to my apartment to kill me and shot my door down, but I had gone
underground.
____________________