Our radio adaptation of the film, The Murder of Fred Hampton, produced by filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, provides a glimpse into the life of Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party.

On December 4th, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, age 21, and Mark Clark, age 22, were shot to death by Chicago police.

In an infamous moment in Chicago's history and politics, over a dozen policemen burst into Hampton's apartment while its occupants were sleeping, killing Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark, and brutalizing the other occupants.

As Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Hampton built a solid reputation as a community organizer and brilliant speaker. The FBI, threatened by the activities of the BPP and its dynamic youth leaders, set on a course to neutralize the organization and anyone they deemed a threat to the agenda of white supremacy.

"You can jail the revolutionary, but you can't jail the revolution…You might murder a freedom fighter like Bobby Hutton, but you can't murder freedom fighting." – Fred Hampton.

Featuring:

• Fred Hampton
• Bobby Rush
• Rennie Davis
• Edward Hanrahan

Credits:

• Special thanks to Facets DVD and Filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk
• Host: Anita Johnson
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Music:

• "Grand Caravan", Blue Dot Sessions elling Easements Viola Trio Long", Barbara Bernstein
• "Long Cory", Cory

Learn More:

• The Murder of Fred Hampton
• A Facets Cine-Notes Booklet
• The Assassination of Fred Hampton
• Freedom Archives: Fred Hampton Audio Samples
• Freedom Archives: Honoring Fred Hampton on the 50th Anniversary of his Murder

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On today's show, we take a look at the life and legacy of a central organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, Bayard Rustin. Rustin was an openly gay civil rights leader and a trusted advisor to labor leader A. Phillip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This show first aired in June 2021.

Special Thank You to Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer the producers/directors of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin and Sam Pollard, the executive director. And to the Pacifica Radio Archives for use of the Bayard Rustin archival materials.

Featuring:

• Bayard Rustin – the architect of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
• Ashon Crawley – University of Virginia Associate Professor of Religious Studies and African-American and African Studies
• Nancy Kates – filmmaker and producer of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
• Bill Sutherland – Fellowship of Reconciliation
• Reverend A.J. Muste – pacifist and mentor of Rustin
• George Houser – Fellowship of Reconciliation
• Louis John – nephew of Bayard Rustin
• Devi Prasad – pacifist

Making Contact Team

• Episode host: Anita Johnson
• Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music Credits

• Cory Gray – "Medieval Tension"
• Ketsa – "This Way Joyous"
• Blue Dot Sessions – "Rally"
• Blue Dot Sessions – "Rayling"
• Dee Yan-Key – "Hold On"
• Dee Yan-Key – "Go Down Moses"
• Blue Dot Sessions – "3rd Chair"
• Andy G. Cohen – "Our Young Guts"

Learn More

• Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio
• Bayard Rustin Fund
• Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington by Jacqueline Houtman, Michael G. Long, Walter Naegle
• I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters by Bayard Rustin, edited by Michael G. Long
• Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers
• PBS
• History
• AFL-CIO
• Washington Post
• NYTimes

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th 1963, at the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time. But it nearly didn't happen. On this special edition of Making Contact, Gary Younge, author of The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream, talks about Martin Luther King Junior's "Dream" and the story behind it. Special thanks to the New School for the recording.

Featuring:

• Gary Younge, author and journalist

Making Contact Team:

• Episode Host: George Lavender
• Executive Director: Jina Chung
• Engineer: Jeff Emtman
• Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.