Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935-1998

Scope Note: 670 __ |a The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, via WWW, July 31, 2013 |b (Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998); one of the best-known and most recognizable symbols of African-American rebellion in the 1960s as a leader of the Black Panther Party; in the 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and later an active member of the Republican Party; Eldridge Cleaver was born on August 31, 1935 in Wabbaseka (Jefferson County), Arkansas; he died on May 1, 1998, in Pomona, California; Cleaver published several books, including the autobiographical titles Soul on Ice (1968) and Soul on Fire (1978), Eldridge Cleaver: Post-Prison Writings and Speeches (1969), and Eldridge Cleaver’s Black Papers (1969); at the time of his death, he was employed by the University of La Verne in La Verne, California as a diversity consultant; Cleaver married Kathleen Neal in December 1967; they had two children and divorced in 1987) 670 __ |a African American National Biography, accessed December 12 2014, via Oxford African American Studies Center database: |b (Cleaver, Eldridge; Leroy Eldridge Cleaver; Black Panther Party leader; born 31 August 1935 in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, United States; civil rights activist, essayist; was abandoned by his father at an early age; briefly converted to Roman Catholicism (1950); convicted on a felony charge of selling marijuana and sent to prison (1954); was arrested for the attempted rape and again sent to prison (1958); joined the Nation of Islam; was paroled in November 1966; joined the Panthers, becoming their minister of information; was involved in a Panther shoot-out in Oakland; the Panthers expelled him (1971); with the assistance of the French president, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, established legal residency in France (1974); was one of the best-known and most recognizable symbols of African-American rebellion in the 1960s; died in Los Angeles, California, United States (01 May 1998))

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