TONIGHT ON THE TERRORDOME: Kathleen Cleaver on the History and Legacy of the Black Panther Party
Kathleen Neal Cleaver is the former National Secretary of Communications for the Black Panther Party. Born in Dallas in 1945, Kathleen Neal became involved in the American human rights struggle in the 1960s. By 1967, she went to work full-time for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, before meeting author and Black Panther Party Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver . The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary street organisation whose activities ranged from observing and confronting police during acts of brutality, to operating a Free Breakfast for Children Programme and opening medical clinics to treat inner city residents. After marrying Eldridge Cleaver , Kathleen Neal Cleaver helped coordinate the Party’s national campaign to free Minister of Defense Huey P. Newton from prison. After Eldridge Cleaver was wounded in a confrontation with police and another Party member was shot to death , Eldridge fled to Cuba and then Algeria . Kathleen Neal C...