Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, born and raised in Compton, California, joined the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party in early 1969 as a teenager who had just been released from the California Youth Authority. In September of that year, as a dedicated member of the Party, Chip was arrested in connection with a police shoot-out and tried for assault on police and related charges, including the murder of a security guard. He was sentenced to death.

Ultimately, his sentence was commuted to life with parole. He has been in prison for nearly 40 years now.

Chip’s dedication to the cause of the liberation of black and all oppressed people has not wavered through all the years of his brutal incarceration.

Read more about Chip Fitzgerald…

Interview with Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald

Chip Fitzgerald gave his first recorded interview on October 22, 2007 after 38 years of incarceration.

Listen to Chip on his early days in the streets, how he came to join the Black Panther Party, and his words for young people oppressed by the current power structure.

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