Thread by @HamptonThink

Black leaders who extend their battlegrounds to class struggle (in other words, are anti-capitalist and/or socialist) are too much of a threat to the internal power structure of the US. Because they've found the key to liberation not only for Black folks, but for all folks.

So, they are dealt with extra harshly:

- MLK started focusing on imperialism and economic justice, suggesting capitalism had "outlived its usefulness": ASSASSINATED.

- Fred Hampton (and the Panthers) embraced socialism, dialectical materialism, read Mao, and sought Black liberation through international proletarian revolution: ASSASSINATED.

- Claudia Jones became active with the Communist Party and viewed capitalism as the main barrier to Black liberation: INCARCERATED AND DEPORTED.

- Malcolm X left the NOI, moved toward a broad, multiracial, multi-ethnic struggle against oppression, labeled capitalists as bloodsuckers: ASSASSINATED.

- Assata Shakur is explicitly anti-capitalist and views socialism as the key component to Black struggle: EXILED AND ADDED TO THE FBI'S MOST WANTED.

The list goes on and on...