Editing Eldridge Cleaver (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Eldridge Cleaver was born in [[Wabbaseka, Arkansas]]. As a child he moved with his large family to [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] and then to [[Los Angeles]].<ref name=Gates2004>{{Cite book |title=African American Lives |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis |author-link=Henry Louis Gates |last2=Higginbotham |first2=Eveleyn B. |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford / New York |isbn=019516024X |pages=173–175 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3dXw6gR2GgkC |access-date=May 15, 2012 }}</ref> He was the son of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson.<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006">Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver; edited by Kathleen Cleaver (2006). ''Target Zero: A Life in Writing''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|1-4039-6237-5}}.</ref> He had four siblings: Wilhelima Marie, Helen Grace, James Weldon, and Theophilus Henry.<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006"/> Both of his grandfathers were Protestant preachers.<ref name="Alexander Street, part of Clarivate 2015">{{cite web | title=Eldridge Cleaver: Brigham Young University Speech | website=Alexander Street, part of Clarivate | date=October 23, 2015 | url=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2859239 | access-date=February 18, 2023}}</ref>

As a teenager, he was involved in [[petty crime]] and served time in [[youth detention center]]s. At the age of 18, he was convicted of a [[felony]] drug charge (marijuana) and sent to the adult prison at [[Soledad State Prison|Soledad]]. In 1958, he was convicted of [[rape]] and [[assault]] with intent to [[murder]], and was incarcerated in [[Folsom State Prison|Folsom]] and [[San Quentin State Prison|San Quentin]] prisons,<ref name=Gates2004/><ref name=NYTobit /> where he became radicalized. He received a copy of ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]'',<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006"/> and read widely in economics, philosophy, literature and political theory.<ref>{{harvnb|Cleaver|1968|p=[https://archive.org/details/soulonicebyeldridgecleaver/page/n25/mode/2up 12]}}</ref> He joined the [[Nation of Islam]] (NOI) and led a radical faction of San Quentin's [[African-American Muslims|Black Muslims]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cummins|1994|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QXpejAPTqH0C&pg=PA95 95]}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Cleaver|1969|pp=[https://archive.org/details/eldridgecleaverpostprison/page/12/mode/2up 13–17]}}</ref> However, Cleaver grew dissatisfied with the NOI and left it at roughly the same time that [[Malcolm X]] had his publicized rift with [[Elijah Muhammad]] and formed the [[Organization of Afro-American Unity]] (OAAU).<ref>{{harvnb|Cleaver|1969|pp=[https://archive.org/details/eldridgecleaverpostprison/page/n9/mode/2up x–xi]}}</ref>

Cleaver was paroled from San Quentin on December 12, 1966, with a discharge date of March 20, 1971. His parole was granted with the help of [[Edward Michael Keating]], founder of [[Ramparts (magazine)|''Ramparts'']] magazine, who had started publishing Cleaver's prison essays in June 1966 and guaranteed him a job in the magazine's San Francisco office.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jf6K9MMcSUC&pg=PA69|title=A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America|date=August 18, 2009|page=69|publisher=The New Press |isbn=978-1-59558-525-7|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marine |first=Gene |title=The Black Panthers |year=1969 |page=52 |location=New York |publisher=New American Library |series=A Signet book |lccn=74017254}}</ref>

===Black Panther Party===

Upon his release, Cleaver continued writing for ''Ramparts'' and was also organizing efforts to revitalize the OAAU.<ref name="Gun Barrel Politics">{{cite book |title=Gun-barrel Politics: The Black Panther Party, 1966–1971 – Report, Ninety-second Congress, First Session |series=92d Congress, 1st session. House report; no. 92-470 |date=1971 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=22 |url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081808514;view=1up;seq=34|access-date=February 13, 2017}}</ref> The Black Panther Party (BPP) was then only two months old.<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006" /> Cleaver joined the [[Oakland]]-based BPP, serving as Minister of Information, or [[spokesperson]]. What initially attracted him to the Panthers, as opposed to other radical groups, was the BPP's commitment to armed struggle.<ref>{{harvnb|Cleaver|1969|pp=[https://archive.org/details/eldridgecleaverpostprison/page/36/mode/2up 36–37]}}</ref>

In 1967, he, along with [[Marvin X]], [[Ed Bullins]], and Ethna Wyatt, formed the Black House political/cultural center in [[San Francisco]]. [[Amiri Baraka]], [[Sonia Sanchez]], [[Askia M. Touré|Askia Toure]], [[Sarah Webster Fabio]], [[Art Ensemble of Chicago]], Avotcja, Reginald Lockett, [[Emory Douglas]], Samuel Napier, [[Bobby Hutton]], [[Huey Newton]], and [[Bobby Seale]] were Black House regulars.<ref name=Baraka>{{cite book |title=The Autobiography of Leroi Jones |last=Baraka |first=Amiri |date=1984 |publisher=Lawrence Hill Books |isbn=1-55652-231-2}}</ref> The same year, he married [[Kathleen Neal Cleaver]] (divorced 1987), with whom he would have son Ahmad Maceo Eldridge (born 1969, Algeria; died 2018, Saudi Arabia) and daughter Joju Younghi (born July 31, 1970, [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|North Korea]]).<ref name="NYTobit" /><ref name="NKnews">{{cite web |url= https://www.nknews.org/2012/12/the-black-panther-north-korean-juche-fetish/ |title=The Black Panther's Secret North Korean Fetish |last=Young |first=Benjamin R. |date=December 20, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2017}}</ref>

In 1968, Cleaver was arrested on violation of parole by association with individual(s) of bad reputation, and control and possession of firearms.<ref>Court of Appeal, First District, Division 1, California. IN RE: Leroy Eldridge CLEAVER on Habeas Corpus. PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Leroy Eldridge CLEAVER, Defendant and Respondent.</ref> He petitioned for [[habeas corpus]] to the Solano County Court, and was granted it along with a release of a $50,000 bail.<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006"/>

[[File:Cleaver_Presidential_Electional_Poster.png|thumb|A poster from Cleaver's 1968 presidential run]]
Cleaver was a [[President of the United States|presidential]] candidate in [[1968 United States Presidential Election|1968]] on the ticket of the [[United States Peace and Freedom Party|Peace and Freedom Party]].<ref>Warren, Jenifer; [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-02-mn-45607-story.html "Former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver Dies at 62"], ''The Los Angeles Times'', May 2, 1998.</ref> Having been born on August 31, 1935, he would not have been the requisite 35 years of age until more than a year after Inauguration Day 1969 (although the [[US Constitution|Constitution]] requires the president to be at least 35 years of age, it does not specify whether the age must be reached at the time of nomination, election, or inauguration). Courts in [[Hawaii]] and [[New York (state)|New York]] held that Cleaver could be excluded from the ballot because he did not meet the Constitutional criteria.<ref>''Jones v. Gill'' (1968) 50 Haw. 618, 446 P.2d 558; Garst v. Lomenzo (N.Y. County Supm. Ct. 1968) 57 Misc.2d 1040, 294 N.Y.S.2d 33, aff'd (1968) 22 N.Y.2d 956, 242 N.E.2d 482, 295 N.Y.S.2d 330.</ref>

In the aftermath of the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] on April 4, 1968, there were riots across the nation. On April 6, Cleaver and 14 other Panthers were involved in a confrontation with [[Oakland Police Department|Oakland police officers]], during which two of the officers were wounded. Cleaver was wounded during the ambush and 17-year-old Black Panthers member [[Bobby Hutton]] was killed. They were armed with M16 rifles and shotguns.<ref>Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.; [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/interviews/ecleaver.html "Interview with Eldridge Cleaver"], ''Frontline'', PBS, Spring 1997.</ref><ref name=KateColeman>Kate Coleman, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723044742/http://colemantruth.net/kate1.pdf "Souled Out: Eldridge Cleaver Admits He Ambushed Those Cops"]}}, ''New West'', May 19, 1980.</ref> In 1980, he claimed that he had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, thus provoking the shootout.<ref name=KateColeman />

Some reporters were surprised by this move, because it was in the context of an uncharacteristic speech in which Cleaver also discredited the Black Panthers, stating, "we need police as heroes", and said that he denounced civilian review boards of police shootings for the "bizarre" reason that "it is a rubber stamp for murder". Some speculated Cleaver's admission could have been a pay-off to the Alameda County justice system, whose judge had only just days earlier let him avoid prison time; Cleaver was sentenced to community service after getting charged with three counts of assault against three Oakland police officers.<ref name=KateColeman /> The [[PBS]] documentary ''A Huey Newton Story'' claims that "Bobby Hutton was shot more than twelve times after he had already surrendered and stripped down to his underwear to prove he was not armed."<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/people/people_hutton.html "Bobby Hutton"], PBS.</ref>
[[File:"It's_Time_to_Intensify_the_Struggle"_political_button_Eldridge_Cleaver.jpg|thumb|A button featuring a depiction of Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver with the slogan, "It's Time to Intensify the Struggle"]]
Charged with [[attempted murder]] after the incident, Cleaver [[jumped bail]] to flee to [[Cuba]] in late 1968.<ref name="NYTobit" /> Initially treated with hospitality by the Cuban government, this ended with reports that [[Fidel Castro]] had received information of the [[CIA]] infiltrating the Black Panther Party. Cleaver then decided to head to [[Algeria]], sending word to his wife to meet him there.<ref name="Cleaver, Eldridge Cleaver 2006"/><ref name="ReferenceA">"Leroy Eldridge Cleaver". Retrieved February 20, 2014.</ref> [[Elaine Mokhtefi|Elaine Klein]] normalized his status by getting him an invitation to attend the Pan-African Cultural festival, rendering him temporarily safe from prosecution.<ref name="Malloy"/>

The festival allowed him to network with revolutionaries from all over Africa in order to discuss the perils of white supremacy and colonialism. 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 [[Frantz Fanon|Fanon]] on the world stage".<ref name="Malloy">Malloy, Sean L. (2017). Out of Oakland. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-5017-1342-2}}.</ref> Cleaver had set up an international office for the Black Panthers in Algeria.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Following [[Timothy Leary]]'s [[Weather Underground]]-assisted [[prison escape]], Leary stayed with Cleaver in [[Algiers]]; however, Cleaver placed Leary under "revolutionary arrest" as a [[counter-revolutionary]] for promoting drug use.

Cleaver cultivated an alliance with [[North Korea]] in 1969, and BPP publications began reprinting excerpts from [[Kim Il Sung]]'s writings. Although leftists of the time often looked to Cuba, [[China]], and [[North Vietnam]] for inspiration, few had paid any attention to the secretive [[Pyongyang]] regime. Bypassing U.S. travel restrictions on North Korea, Cleaver and other BPP members made two visits to North Korea in 1969–1970 with the idea that the ''[[juche]]'' model could be adapted to the revolutionary liberation of African-Americans. Taken on an official tour of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, Cleaver expressed admiration at "the DPRK's stable, crime-free society which provided guaranteed food, employment, and housing for all, and which had no economic or social inequalities".

In the summer of 1970, Cleaver traveled to China as part a U.S. People's Anti-Imperialist Delegation along with another prominent party member, [[Elaine Brown]].<ref name=":Minami">{{Cite book |last=Minami |first=Kazushi |title=People's Diplomacy: How Americans and Chinese Transformed US-China Relations during the Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=9781501774157 |location=Ithaca, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=39}}

Byron Vaughn Booth (former Panther Deputy Minister of Defense<ref name="NKnews" />) claimed that, after a trip to North Korea, Cleaver discovered that his wife had been having an affair with Clinton Robert Smith Jr., a fellow Black Panther. Booth told the FBI he had witnessed Cleaver shoot and kill Smith with an AK-47 in Algeria.<ref name="Rosenzweig">{{cite news |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Ex-Panther Says He Saw Cleaver Kill a Man |last=Rosenzweig |first=David |date=February 24, 2001 |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-24-me-29765-story.html |access-date= March 5, 2017}}</ref> [[Elaine Mokhtefi]], in the ''London Review of Books'', writes that Cleaver confessed the murder to her shortly after committing it.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Diary |last=Mokhtefi |first=Elaine |date=June 1, 2017 |work=London Review of Books }}</ref>

In his 1978 book ''Soul on Fire'', Cleaver made several claims regarding his [[exile]] in [[Algeria]], including that he was supported by regular [[stipend]]s from the government of [[North Vietnam]], which the United States was then bombing. Cleaver stated that he was followed by other former criminals turned [[revolutionaries]], many of whom (including Booth and Smith<ref name="Rosenzweig" />) [[skyjacking|hijacked planes]] to get to Algeria.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cleaver |first=Eldridge |title=Soul on Fire |publisher=[[Word Records|Word Books]] |date=1978 |location=[[Waco, Texas]]}}</ref>

===Split and new directions===
Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton eventually had a disagreement over the necessity of armed struggle as a response to [[COINTELPRO]] and other actions by the government against the Black Panthers and other radical groups, which led to Cleaver's eventual expulsion from the BPP. Also Cleaver's interest in North Korea and global anti-imperialist struggle drew ire from other BPP members who felt that he was neglecting the needs of African-Americans at home in the U.S. Following his expulsion from the Black Panthers in 1971, the group's ties with North Korea were quickly forgotten.<ref name=Churchill>{{cite book |title=The COINTELPRO Papers |first1=Jim |last1=Vanderwall |first2=Ward |last2=Churchill |orig-year=1990 |date=2002 |publisher=South End Press |isbn=0-89608-648-8}}</ref>

Cleaver advocated the escalation of armed resistance into [[urban warfare|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. Cleaver accused Newton of being an [[Uncle Tom]] for choosing to cooperate with white interests rather than overthrow them.<ref name= Katsiaficas>{{cite book |title=Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party |first1=George |last1=Katsiaficas |first2=Kathleen |last2=Cleaver |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-92784-6}}</ref><ref name=Horowitz>{{cite book |title= Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts about the 60's |last=David Horowitz |first=Peter Collier |date=1989 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-684-82641-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Newton |first=Huey |author-link=Huey Newton|title=To Die for the People |date=2009 |publisher=City Lights |location=San Francisco, California |pages=44–53}}</ref>

Cleaver left Algeria in 1972, moving to Paris, [[France]], becoming a [[born again Christian]] during time in isolation living underground.<ref name=Gates2004/><ref>Jeff Bailey, [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryid=2743 "Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (1935–1998)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530220731/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryid=2743 |date=May 30, 2013 }}, ''The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture''.</ref> He turned his hand to fashion design; three years later, he released codpiece-revival "virility pants" that he called "the Cleavers", enthusing that they would give men "a chance to assert their masculinity".<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]] |date=August 28, 1975 |title=Eldridge Cleaver Designs Paris Virility Trousers |page=55 |publisher=Johnson Publishing}}</ref>
Cleaver returned to the United States in 1975<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/eldridge-cleaver|title = Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 - May 1, 1998)|date = August 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eldridge-Cleaver|title = Eldridge Cleaver &#124; Biography, Books, & Facts| date=August 25, 2023 }}</ref> to face the unresolved attempted murder charge.<ref name="Rosenzweig" />

By September 1978, out on bail as the proceedings dragged on, he had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, running a factory and West Hollywood shop exploiting his "Cleavers", which he claimed liberated men from "penis binding". He saw no conflict between this and his newfound Christianity, drawing support for his overtly sexual design from [[Deuteronomy 22]].<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]] |date=September 21, 1978 |title=Eldridge Cleaver Designs Pants 'for Men Only' |page=22 |publisher=Johnson Publishing}}</ref> The long-outstanding charge was subsequently resolved on a plea bargain reducing it to assault. A sentence of 1,200 hours' community service was imposed.<ref name="NYTobit" />

===Later life===
In the early 1980s, Cleaver became disillusioned with what he saw as the commercial nature of [[evangelical Christian]]ity and examined alternatives, including [[Sun Myung Moon]]'s campus ministry organization [[Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles|CARP]].<ref>Neale, Linda [https://earthlight.org/2004/essay50_neale.html "One Journey Home: Eldridge Cleaver's Spiritual Path"], ''EarthLight Magazine'', no. 50, Spring 2004.</ref> He was also [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] for a time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bringhurst|first=Newell G.|date=2002|title=Eldridge Cleaver's Passage through Mormonism|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23288647|journal=Journal of Mormon History|volume=28|issue=1|pages=80–110|jstor=23288647|issn=0094-7342}}</ref> He later led a short-lived [[Christian revival|revivalist]] ministry called Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity he called 'Christlam'",<ref name=Gates2004/> along with an auxiliary called the "Guardians of the Sperm".<ref name=chic>Horacio Silva, [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/magazine/radical-chic.html "Radical Chic"] ''The New York Times'', September 23, 2001.</ref>

Cleaver was then [[Baptism in Mormonism|baptized]] into [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) on December 11, 1983.<ref>[https://www.mormonmatters.org/from-black-panther-to-mormon-the-case-of-eldridge-cleaver/ "From Black Panther to Mormon: The Case of Eldridge Cleaver"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216071920/http://mormonmatters.org/2009/03/10/from-black-panther-to-mormon-the-case-of-eldridge-cleaver/|date=December 16, 2010}} at Mormonmatters.org.</ref> He periodically attended regular services and lectured by invitation at LDS gatherings.<ref>{{cite news|first=John|last=Kifner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/us/eldridge-cleaver-black-panther-who-became-gop-conservative-is-dead-at-62.html|title=Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther Who Became G.O.P. Conservative, Is Dead at 62|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 2, 1998|accessdate=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a [[conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]. He appeared at various Republican events and spoke at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting regarding his political transformation. In 1984, he ran for election to the [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] City Council but lost.<ref name=announces>{{Cite news |date=February 24, 1986 |title=Eldridge Cleaver Announces Bid for U.S. Senate Seat |work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]] |publisher=Johnson Publishing |volume=69 |issue=23 |page=25 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=N7MDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=May 16, 2012 }}</ref> Undaunted, he promoted his candidacy in the Republican Party primary for the [[1986 United States Senate election in California|1986 Senate race]] but was again defeated.<ref>{{Cite book |title=American Social Leaders and Activists |last=Hamilton |first=Neil A. |date=2002 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=1438108087 |page=84 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tKxOpAh78IsC&pg=PA84 |access-date=May 16, 2012 }}</ref> The next year, his 20-year marriage to Kathleen Neal Cleaver came to an end.<ref name="Rosenzweig" />

In 1988, Cleaver was placed on [[probation]] for [[burglary]] and was briefly jailed later in the year after testing positive for [[cocaine]].<ref name=Chron>{{cite web |url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/05/02/MN2755.DTL |title=Ex-Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver Dies |last=Taylor |first=Michael |date=May 2, 1998 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Haynes, V. Dion 2014">Haynes, V. Dion, "Ex-Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver", ''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved February 19, 2014.</ref> He entered [[drug rehabilitation]] for a stated [[crack cocaine]] addiction two years later, but was arrested for possession by Oakland and [[Berkeley Police Department|Berkeley police]] in 1992 and 1994. Shortly after his final arrest, he moved to [[Southern California]], falling into poor health.<ref name=Chron/>

===Death===
Cleaver died at age 62 on May 1, 1998, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in [[Pomona, California]].<ref name="Haynes, V. Dion 2014"/><ref name="CNN obit">{{cite web |title='He was a symbol': Eldridge Cleaver dies at 62 |url= http://www.cnn.com/US/9805/01/cleaver.late.obit/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=October 6, 2018 |date=May 1, 1998}}</ref> He is buried at [[Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena|Mountain View Cemetery]] in [[Altadena, California]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hometown Pasadena: The Insider's Guide |last1=Dunn Bates |first1=Colleen |last2=Gillis |first2=Sandy |date=2006 |publisher=Prospect Park Publishing |location=Pasadena |isbn=097539391X |page=87 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mtm90kfdNeMC&pg=PA87 |access-date=May 15, 2012 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>