In July 2020, I collaborated on the first of 2 projects with the supreme Chicago-based artist – Max Sansing. The best way to describe and explain the meaning/message behind this piece and project is with the message I wrote, which came with the purchase of each print:
December 4, 1969. Chicago.
The West Side on Monroe St. Around 4:00 am.
The Chicago Police Dept. The FBI.
8 police in the front of the building. 6 in the back.
Fred was asleep next to his fiancée. She was 8 months pregnant.
CPD fired off almost 100 shots. This was an assassination.
A shoot in. Not a shoot out.
They killed Mark Clark first. He was only 22.
They shot Chairman Fred twice in the head. He was only 21.
If Fred was alive, Chicago would be a better place. The world would be a better place.
A Supreme Rebel.
His overarching and interrelated purpose was to build unity and seek justice for Black people, in the midst of a nation plagued by racist ideals, institutions, and practices. He desired that we come together as a community in a united spirit and collective voice, in the midst of a continuously rising tide of heightened moral outrage. He passionately preached (and persistently practiced) that we fight with defiant and righteous resistance, against the suppressive systemic injustices that shaped and limited the conditions and capacity of a people, to live lives with equal opportunity, deserved promise, and freedom from the unjust and abhorrent acts of racism in its many forms.
He had a vision of the radical reconstruction of society. He was committed to teaching us the true meaning of liberation. This liberation would not only release us from the grotesque grasp of racism, but also bring the whole world closer to freedom and cooperative development. He encouraged us to fight without compromise, without seeking a comfortable place in oppression, or collaborating in our own hardship, by accepting the things society peddles and pushes as substitutes for dignity and truly flourishing.
He was a teacher and soldier from his heart with a deep love for the Black people. He lived for the people. He fought for the people. It is important to place rightful emphasis on his commitment to the emancipation of the downtrodden and oppressed peoples of society, with whom he felt a special kinship of shared humanity and interconnected struggles.
Fred came into social consciousness at an age much earlier than most. At the beginning of his high school years, he was determined to ground himself in the social justice tradition of the people, immerse himself in the Black world-historical struggle, and carry out his transformative and revolutionary work.
Art can stimulate us emotionally into the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring about change, and move us into the activity of challenging power relations and new ways to envision the world. The power of art is that it can alter our perception and
cause us “to imagine the possibilities of what could be,” and subsequently force us to be moved by enlightening experiences to do physical actions that result in concrete effects.
There are some who will view this art, and may know the general story of Chairman Fred. However, they might not fully understand the extent to which Chairman Fred (in his very short time on this earth) provided a blueprint, implemented multiple plans of
action, and the compass to navigate the route regarding freeing the community of a severely inequitable state that has and continues to be endured.
Me and Max Sansing supremely appreciate you collecting this piece. Moreover, it is our humble hope that this art will give more power to the cause, Fred’s legacy, and inspire you to be “about the business” of the righteous elevation of the peoples.
The Legacy. The Revolution.
We Teach. We Build.
We Fight. We Honor.
The Chairman. FRED HAMPTON.
Your contributions. Your impact.
Thank You. Sincerely.
“If you dare to struggle, you DARE TO WIN,
If you dare not to struggle, then ___dammit, you don’t deserve to win,
Let me say peace to you, if you’re wiling to fight for it …”
Chairman Fred in August 1969.
“The People’s Church.”
Chicago, IL
ARTIST BIO: https://www.maxsansing.com/about