33 Facts About Eldridge Cleaver

Leroy Eldridge Cleaver was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the political organization, Black Panther Party.

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".

Eldridge 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.

Eldridge Cleaver was wounded during the clash and Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed.

Eldridge Cleaver was the son of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson.

Eldridge Cleaver had four siblings: Wilhelima Marie, Helen Grace, James Weldon, and Theophilus Henry.

Eldridge Cleaver was released on parole December 12,1966, with a discharge date of March 20,1971.

In 1968 he was arrested on violation of parole by association with individual of bad reputation, and control and possession of firearms Eldridge Cleaver petitioned for habeas corpus to the Solano County Court, and was granted it along with a release of a $50,000 bail.

Eldridge Cleaver was released from prison on December 12,1966, with the help of Edward Michael Keating, founder of Ramparts magazine.

Eldridge Cleaver was writing for Ramparts magazine and organizing efforts to revitalize the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Eldridge Cleaver then joined the Oakland-based BPP, serving as Minister of Information, or spokesperson.

Eldridge Cleaver was a presidential candidate in 1968 on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Eldridge Cleaver was wounded during the ambush and 17-year-old Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed.

Eldridge Cleaver then decided to head to Algeria, sending word to his wife to meet him there.

Eldridge Cleaver was outspoken in his call to violence against the United States, contributing to his mission to "position the Panthers within the revolutionary nationalist camp inside the United States and as disciples of Fanon on the world stage".

Eldridge Cleaver had set up an international office for the Black Panthers in Algeria.

Eldridge Cleaver cultivated an alliance with North Korea in 1969, and BPP publications began reprinting excerpts from Kim Il Sung's writings.

Byron Vaughn Booth claimed that, after a trip to North Korea, Eldridge Cleaver discovered that his wife had been having an affair with Clinton Robert Smith Jr.

Elaine Mokhtefi, in the London Review of Books, writes that Eldridge Cleaver confessed the murder to her shortly after committing it.

Eldridge Cleaver stated that he was followed by other former criminals turned revolutionaries, many of whom hijacked planes to get to Algeria.

Eldridge Cleaver advocated the escalation of armed resistance into urban guerrilla warfare, while Newton suggested the best way to respond was to put down the gun, which he felt alienated the Panthers from the rest of the black community, and focus on more pragmatic reformist activity by lobbying for increased social programs to aid African-American communities and anti-discrimination laws.

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

Eldridge Cleaver left Algeria in 1972, moving to Paris, France, becoming a born again Christian during time in isolation living underground.

Eldridge Cleaver returned to the United States in 1975 to face the unresolved attempted murder charge.

Eldridge Cleaver later led a short-lived revivalist ministry called Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity he called 'Christlam'", along with an auxiliary called the "Guardians of the Sperm".

Eldridge Cleaver was then baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on December 11,1983.

Eldridge Cleaver periodically attended regular services and lectured by invitation at LDS gatherings.

Eldridge Cleaver appeared at various Republican events and spoke at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting regarding his political transformation.

The next year, his 20-year marriage to Kathleen Neal Eldridge Cleaver came to an end.

In 1988, Eldridge Cleaver was placed on probation for burglary and was briefly jailed later in the year after testing positive for cocaine.

Eldridge Cleaver 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.

Eldridge Cleaver died of prostate cancer at age 62 on May 1,1998, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California.

Eldridge Cleaver is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.