1968 – “Soul on Ice” Author Eldridge Cleaver Exiled

On June 14, 1968, Eldridge Cleaver, author of Soul on Ice and Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party, fled the United States to avoid prosecution following a shootout with Oakland police. Cleaver’s departure symbolized both the radicalization and the repression of Black political movements during the 1960s. A former convict turned intellectual revolutionary, Cleaver’s Soul on Ice was a bestseller that blended personal narrative with political theory. His exile took him through Cuba, Algeria, and eventually France, where he remained politically active. Cleaver’s journey raised questions about freedom of speech, police violence, and the FBI’s aggressive surveillance of Black activists. His time abroad represented a chapter in the global reach of the Black liberation struggle, showing how civil rights in America resonated with anti-colonial and revolutionary movements worldwide.