Tonight on The Terrordome: COINTELPRO's War Against Afrikamerica
On March 4, 1968, the head of the US-based Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, sent a communiqué to the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge at Albany . The communiqué was entitled “COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM, BLACK NATIONALIST~HATE GROUPS.” It read in part: “For maximum effectiveness of the Counterintelligence Program, and to prevent wasted effort, long-range goals are being set. “1. Prevent the coalition of militant black nationalist groups. In unity there is strength; a truism that is no less valid for all its triteness. An effective coalition of black nationalist groups might be the first step toward a real ‘Mau Mau’ in America , the beginning of a true black revolution. “2. Prevent the rise of a ‘messiah’ who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. DELETED NAME might have been such a ‘messiah;’ he is the martyr of the movement today. DELETED NAME, DELETED NAME, and DELETED NAME all aspired to this position. DELETED NAME is less of ...