Rainbow Coalition Founded (1969)

Fri Apr 04, 1969

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The Rainbow Coalition was a multicultural movement of cross-racial class solidarity, founded on this day in 1969, in Chicago, Illinois with the coming together of the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots.

These organizations were under the leadership of Fred Hampton, Jose Cha Cha Jiménez, and William “Preacherman” Fesperman, respectively. It was the first of several 20th century Black-led organizations to use the “rainbow coalition” concept.

The Rainbow Coalition expanded quickly, including various radical political groups like the Lincoln Park Poor People’s Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society (“SDS”), the American Indian Movement (AIM), and the Red Guard Party.

The Coalition brokered treaties to end crime and gang violence and organized to establish class solidarity across racial lines. On December 3rd, Fred Hampton was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI, and the Rainbow Coalition effectively dissolved.