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Chairman Fred grew up during the peer pressure to either dress as a "Gouster" or an Ivy Leaguer. Gunplay was so rampant, Elijah Muhammad referenced the proliferation of guns among young boys in a '66 speech. There were street organizations w/ north of 3,000 members.
Doc LIVED in Chitown in '66. Daley rushed to have his Lawndale crib & its environs fixed up B4 the SCLC leader moved in. King wrote that living in cramped circumstances, made his children more ornery toward one another
When Chairman Fred was a teen, the street organizations were such stakeholders, Dr. King convened w/ them @ Soldier Field. Bear in mind two yrs later, when the "Invaders" messed up his Memphis march by shattering windows, Doc didn't meet w/ them until AFTER. FBI had paid them
The South Side (& West Side) of Chairman Fred's youth, was this:
These are the "living" conditions in the Woodlawn section of the South Side when Chairman Fred was around 18:
The Chicago of Chairman Fred's young existence:
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & his cohort, hand picked Chitown as a site of Northern struggle & rock ribbed oppression. There were valid reasons f/ this. Chairman Fred lived that. Chitown had also supplanted Harlem as a cultural capital. Ali lived there. Blues labels
Mahalia had employed Chitown as a base. And Louis Armstrong. And "EBONY" & "JET". "Good Times" is about Chitown, even though Florida had worked f/ "Maude" in Queens. Sam, Curtis & Jerry were raised in Chitown
"Cooley High" is set in Chitown, although the real Cooley H.S. was in Detroit. Until ATL moved it off its square, Chitown was the cultural capital. Harlem's heir. Jesse was based in Chitown. Haki Madhubuti. Bobby Rush. Harold Washington. Obama
The 1st & 2nd Black legislators to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 20th century were both repping Chitown. The Beatles' 1st U.S. label was based in Chi
First Black comic to become a mainstream standup star, & be paid like one, was Dick Gregory @ the Chitown Playboy Club. Greg is fr. STL, but Geo. Kirby, Robin Harris, Bernie Mac are fr. Chi. Marsha Warfield, Corey Holcomb, DeRay Davis
The Savoy Ballroom Big Five were all from Chicago (Wendell Phillip H.S.). They were branded as "The Harlem Globetrotters". The Negro National League was founded by a Chicagoan. So Chairman Fred grew up in a hub of gospel, sport, media, Black Nationalism, blues, hair care, "gangs"
Elijah Muhammad is from GA & Detroit. The NOI HQ was in Chicago (even though Malcom's ministry was in Harlem)
The other constant of Chairman Fred's youth was rampant police brutality. In the late '60's some Chic. PD had an acronym that was a play on the "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco" initials. LSMFT. Stood f/ "Let's shoot a (Oedipal swear word) tonight"
Youth sentiment about early 1960's Chicago PD (16:30-17:20):
