Eldridge Cleaver
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. His book Soul On Ice is a collection of essays praised by The New York Times Book Review at the time of its publication as "brilliant and revealing."
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 in exile in Cuba and Algeria. As editor of the official Panther's newspaper, Cleaver's influence on the direction of the Party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, resulting in a split that weakened the Party.
A reformed serial rapist and racist, Cleaver wrote in Soul on Ice, "If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America."
After spending seven years in exile in Cuba, Algeria and France, Cleaver returned to the US in 1975 to become involved in various alternative Christian movements (Unification Church, CARP, and Mormonism), and become a conservative Republican, appearing at Republican events.
Read more about Eldridge Cleaver: Early Life, Soul On Ice (1968), Black Panther Party, Exile and Soul On Fire (1978), Later Life
Famous quotes by eldridge cleaver:
“Every time I embrace a black woman I’m embracing slavery, and when I put my arms around a white woman, well, I’m hugging freedom. The white man forbade me to have the white woman on pain of death.... I will not be free until the day I can have a white woman in my bed.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)
“The ‘paper tiger’ hero, James Bond, offering the whites a triumphant image of themselves, is saying what many whites want desperately to hear reaffirmed: I am still the White Man, lord of the land, licensed to kill, and the world is still an empire at my feet.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)
“If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)
“All the gods are dead except the god of war.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)
“What we’re saying today is that you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)