Cleaver, Eldridge (1935–1998)

ELDRIDGE CLEAVER became known as an African American left-radical activist and writer. In his young days, he was convicted of an assault and was paroled in 1966 after eight years of imprisonment. Cleaver joined the leftist, anti-establishment nationalist group Black Panthers Party (BPP) based in Oakland, California, and owing to his notoriety as a writer for the New Left journal Ramparts, he became the information minister, or BPP spokesman.

In late 1960s, he was the most notorious proponent of the Black Power Doctrine, according to which blacks must organize politically and militarily for dealing with white society from a position of strength. Cleaver also played a critical role in introducing, advertising, and defining the black community free social programs that the BPP launched to improve public ...