You can jail a revolutionary, but you can't jail the revolution ...
A memorial poster sets a large portrait of Fred Hampton, and a smaller figure speaking at a microphone, against radiating blue beams, with slogan text running up the left edge: "You can jail a revolutionary, but you can't jail the revolution." A caption block gives his party office and dates and says he was "Murdered by fascist pigs Dec. 4, 1969", using a hostile label for the police who carried out the raid.
- Date
- 1969
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Black Panther Party (Illinois chapter, Chicago)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Movement
- Regime
- Nixon Administration
- Leader
- Richard Nixon
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- Race and ethnicity, Security and surveillance
- Event
- Killing of Fred Hampton
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- U.S. publication without copyright notice; LoC: no known restrictions on publication
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Text on the object
YOU CAN JAIL A REVOLUTIONARY, BUT YOU CAN'T JAIL THE REVOLUTION. YOU CAN RUN A FREEDOM FIGHTER AROUND THE COUNTRY BUT YOU CAN'T RUN FREEDOM FIGHTING AROUND THE COUNTRY. YOU CAN MURDER A LIBERATOR BUT YOU CAN'T MURDER LIBERATION. Fred Hampton Deputy Chairman Illinois Chapter Black Panther Party Born August 30, 1948 Murdered By Fascist Pigs Dec. 4, 1969 I AM A REVOLUTIONARY PHONE NO. [illegible] BLACK PANTHER PARTY [illegible] W. MADISON ST. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [illegible]
The slogan runs as rotated text up the upper left, and is checked against the continued title recorded by LoC. Footer details are small and partly illegible; 'I AM A REVOLUTIONARY' is a small caption by the speaking figure.
