Previous image preload Next image preload
Back to catalog
Lot 51
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3
Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver autographed note denouncing Communism.
Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver autographed note denouncing Communism.
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3
Description:

Cleaver Eldridge 1935 - 1998

Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver autographed note denouncing Communism.

One page of notes, recto and verso, written in a diary, c. 1975, 5.5" x 8.5", boldly scripted in ink entirely in the hand of Eldridge Cleaver. Near fine with 3 pulled-open punch holes to the left margin. Included is a small newspaper clip from the period with the title of "Former Panther Leader Renounces Marxist Ideology". Accompanied by a near fine unused envelope with the address label removed leaving residual adhesive, with the printed return address of "Cleaver for Congress ...", and embellished with a United States flag, 9.5" x 4".

An important page of hand-written notes dating from perhaps the most important period of Eldridge Cleaver's political life. This was the period after he jumped bail and fled to Cuba in 1968, and visited other countries to observe their political systems. Cleaver had first become enamored with Communism in 1958 while in prison when he was convicted of rape and assault with intent to murder. While in prison, he was given a copy of the Communist Manifesto. The Communist Manifesto (originally Manifesto of the Communist Party), a 1848 political pamphlet by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Communist League, the Manifesto was later recognized as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. It presents an analytical approach to the class Struggle (historical and then-present) and the problems of capitalism and the capitalist mode of production. Unfortunately it based in philosophical theory and in real life, never worked. As such it was a poor prediction of Communism's potential future forms.

However, Eldridge Cleaver studied the theory and in the purist form of the philosophy began to preach about the vices and problems with our governmental system, and the glorification of Communism. However this was all about to come to an end when he was to encounter an abrupt realization that things are not what they seem. His page of handwritten notes was written much later, and included a news paper clipping from the time period are shown in full below:

"Irangate: Nicaragua's Bay of Pigs

After it had become clear to the whole world that Fidel Castro has established a communist dictatorship in Cuba, the defeat of the Cuban Exiles at the Bay of Pigs guaranteed communism military control of Cuba, which resulted in Political control. The agreement worked out between Khrushchev and Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis, guaranteed Cuba's continued existence as a communist dictatorship without any fear of serious opposition from the U.S.A."

With the attached newspaper clipping of:

"Former Panther Leader Renounces Marxist Ideology"

"Following his release, Cleaver fled to Cuba on the pretext that the Cuban government would develop a military training camp in Cuba for American black militants

Cleaver said that he soon became disillusioned with the Cuban government when those plans never materialized and his suspicion grew when he began talking to Cuban blacks who were dissatisfied with the government there,

"The bottom line was, these people were very unhappy with Fidel Castro, with communism, with the dictatorship of the proletariat - they felt that the whole idea of the revolution was a good idea, but they didn't like the life that existed under the dictatorship. The reason they were miserable was because they did not have any input in the decision making process," Cleaver said.

Upon Cleaver's release from prison, his view of the world was about to change...

His seven exiled years first brought him to Cuba where he received red-carpet treatment. Cleaver was set up in a Havana penthouse with his own personal maid and cook, then when the hospitality soon ended (Having received information that the CIA had infiltrated the Black Panther Party,) Castro could no longer trust them.

As a fugitive he lived in Algeria, Cuba and France, and made trips to North Vietnam, North Korea and the Soviet Union. Everywhere he was wined and dined by the Communists. However, while in these countries Cleaver began to see that they were not "workers' paradises" as he had been led to believe. He saw the bone-crushing poverty. He saw that people had no freedom of speech whatsoever. They were, for all practical purposes, SLAVES. Those who dared to demonstrate for more money and better living conditions were mowed down. Cleaver became disillusioned with Marxist-Leninist-Socialism. Realizing that everything he had believed in and fought for was false, he suffered a nervous breakdown while in Paris and was on the brink of suicide.

Another set of notes discovered within his diary additionally expressed his despair with the communistic system "The Communists say they are out to take from the rich and give to the poor. They took from the rich and from the poor - in the name of the poor - and kept it all for themselves."

In this moment, during his breakdown, he had his vision bordering on hallucination, watching what were his former Communistic heroes pass before his eyes. In his state of utter disillusionment he saw at the end of the procession, in dazzling, shimmering white light, the image of Jesus Christ appeared. Cleaver remembered the sermons of his Baptist minister grandfather, and trembling, frightened and sobbing, he repeated what he could remember of the Lord's Prayer and the Twenty Third Psalm. He fell to his knees and asked Jesus to forgive him and to become his Lord and Savior. The next morning, he saw a path of light all the way to America, going through a prison cell. He got in touch with the FBI and said he wanted to come home and he was ready to stand trial and accept whatever judgment the law decided he owed society in order to reinstate himself and to erase his criminal past.

This personal example is a fantastic, scarce, and revealing piece by Eldridge Cleaver during a highly charged period of our recent history.

Eldridge Cleaver was a leader of the Black Panthers who, because of his many crimes, was often in prison. There he wrote "Soul on Ice", a commentary on prison life and racism in America which became an international best-seller and was basically the "manifesto" of the Black Nationalist Movement in America and abroad. In "Soul on Ice" Cleaver described his metamorphosis from rapist and drug-dealer to Malcolm X apostle to Marxist revolutionary, who became, virtually overnight, one of the leading exponents of "black liberation" in America.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. ***PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR SHIPMENT TO BE SENT TO AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE ON FILE WITH INVALUABLE, YOU WILL NEED TO INFORM US OF THIS AS SOON AS PAYMENT IS SUBMITTED FOR YOUR WINNINGS*** Shipping and handling costs are competitive as we maintain discounted contracts with FedEx. If you have any questions, contact University Archives prior to bidding. After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item. We currently ship via FedEx but if your purchase is shipping to a P.O. Box, we ship via USPS. All items are insured. We ship from our offices in Westport, CT. We may opt to use a third party shipper for very fragile, bulky or oversized items. Items requiring third party shipping will be denoted in the item description. Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 20% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000