Who Killed The Liberator ? Black History Month 2022

The inspiration behind this drop came from us asking ourselves deeper questions about the assassinations of several black leaders who set out to liberate the hearts and minds of the people. These leaders are proof that if your demonstration on this earth was powerful your legacy can live far beyond your physical existence.

PATRICE LUMUMBA

Patrice Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium to an independent republic. Shortly after Congo’s independence, a breakaway faction supported by Belgium formed against Lumumba, so he pled to the United States & U.N. to suppress them. When U.S. & U.N. denied his request, he reached out to the Soviets for support. Once the U.S. caught wind of this so the CIA & Belgium officials had a mission to eliminate him because they could not have a Soviet communist presence in Central Africa during the cold war. 3 months into his term as prime minister he was captured, imprisoned and executed. Till this day his legend lives strong in the country and is memorialized with statues throughout the region.

MEDGAR EVERS

Medgar Evers was African American civil rights activist & U.S. Army combat veteran who was also the NAACP'S first field secretary. He was murdered by a white supremacist at his home in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. He was a martyr for the civil rights movement and was recognized by Malcolm & Martin among others. 

THOMAS SANKARA

Thomas Sankara was the president of the West African state of Burkina Faso that took over in 1983. He was one of Africa's greatest revolutionaries and thinkers, upon taking office he immediately launched programs throughout the country that created social, ecological and economic change. He focused on self-sufficiency, land reform, building schools, health centers & railways and many other things. He also promoted a pro-women agenda focused on women advancement in all sectors of society. To cut costs for his government’s budget he was famously known for exchanging the governments fleet of expensive Benz's for cheap Renault 5's and bicycles. In 1987 he was killed by an armed group lead by his former colleague. Today spirit lives on and he is still highly admired as an exemplary leader for other Presidents to follow. 

FRED HAMPTON

Fred Hampton was an African American activist who came to prominence in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party. He founded the antiracist, anti-class Rainbow Coalition, a prominent multicultural political organization that included Black Panthers, Young Patriots (organized poor whites), the Young Lords (which organized Hispanics) and an alliance of other major Chicago street gangs to help them end infighting and work for social change. In 1967 the FBI identified Hampton as a radical threat and tried to subvert all his activities. In 1969 he was drugged, shot and killed in his bed during a predawn raid at his Chicago apartment by Chicago PD via aid of the FBI, he was only 21 years old.

STEVE BIKO

Steve Biko was a pivotal voice of Black liberation in South Africa between the mid 1960's and 70's. He was a founding member of the Black Consciousness Movement during a period were the disenfranchised Black population (especially the youth) were highly receptive to the prospect of a new organization that could carry their grievances against the Apartheid state. Biko believed that Black people needed to rid themselves of any sense of racial inferiority, an idea which he turned into a popular slogan "Black is Beautiful". In 1973 The South African government came to see him as a subversive threat and placed a banning order on him, restricting his ability to travel out of town and speak publicly. Undaunted by these restrictions, Biko continued organizing protests and leading the Black Consciousness Movement. On his way to a meeting outside of town he was detained by local police. While in police custody he was beaten and starved, which lead to a brain hemorrhage and his demise.