Kathleen Cleaver speech at UC Berkeley/Seale on Thurgood Marshall

Caution: this clip contains strong racial insults. KRON-TV archival newsfilm footage of an appearance by Kathleen Cleaver at the University of California Berkeley after her husband (Eldridge Cleaver) failed to show up for a guest lecture he was scheduled to give there. Although she does not address her husband's absence Mrs. Cleaver makes a brief speech in which she maintains her husband's innocence and thanks the students and faculty for their continued support. After her speech the students many of whom raise their fists in solidarity give her a standing ovation. Contains establishing shots of the UC Berkeley campus and views of students filing into Dwinelle Hall and waiting for Eldridge Cleaver to appear. The clip opens with footage of a vigil in support of Eldridge Cleaver that took place outside the Cleavers' home on 2777 Pine Street in San Francisco on November 27th 1968. This footage features an interview with Bobby Seale who is asked to react to a recent decision by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to reject Eldridge Cleaver's appeal to have his bail revoked. Seale says "I can react to any boot licking Uncle Tom who has been placed in the Supreme Court." Seale continues to say that Marshall is "used by the power structure to trick black people" and continues to quote Huey P. Newton saying "they are in fact a special kind of person that's used by the power structure who is supposed to be some kind of an official spokesperson for black people. He's not an official spokesperson for black people. He's an official spokesperson in fact for the racist white pig power structure." Seale suggests that Marshall is another tool being used by the power structure and that therefore he is "dangerous to the survival of black people" and that no person of color should respect him. Later in the clip Bobby Seale interrupts a press conference on the steps of the Cleavers' home to reiterate these points referring to Marshall as an "Uncle Tom a boot licker a nigger pig" whose "ass belongs to black people." The clip also features an interview with Kathleen Cleaver in which she says that she believes her husband should resist being taken into custody "by any means necessary." For additional footage of the Cleaver vigil please see also report reference number KRON 136-1. Acquired in 2012 from former KRON film editor David Webb Peoples.