Huey Newton
On August 22, 1989, Black Panther Organization Co-Founder And Leader, Huey Percy Newton, Was Murdered In
Oakland, California, By Convicted Drug Dealer, Tyrone Robinson.
Huey Newton Was Born February 17, 1942, In Monroe, Louisiana. His Family Moved To Oakland, CA When He Was Three.
Despite Being Illiterate When He Graduated High School, Newton Taught Himself To Read. While Attending Oakland City College, He Became Active In Bay Area Politics. He Joined The Afro-American Association And Became A Member Of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. He Also Helped To Get The First Black History Course Put Into The School's Curriculum.
Newton Went On To Study At The San Fransisco School Of Law. He Also Was Influenced By The Works Of Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara, Tse-tung And Mao.
In 1966, Huey Newton Met Bobby Seale And Founded The Black Panther Party For Self Defense, A Revolutionary Political Movement, Drawing Support Largely From Disenfranchised Youth Who Lived In Oakland's Most Impoverished
Areas. Seale Assumed The Role Of Chairman And Newton Served As Minister Of Defense.
Originally, Their Platform Centered Around Uniting Urban Blacks To Protect Their
Rights, Specifically To Protect Themselves Against Police Brutality.
The Early Panthers Wore Black Berets And Leather Jackets. They Used What Was Considered During That Period, "Radical Terminology," Like "Pigs," For The Police: "Fascists" For Established Figures And "Comrade" For Fellow Party Members.
The Militant, "Urban Warfare" Phase Of The Party Didn't Last Long. Party Leaders, Much Maligned And Harassed, Soon Shifted To A Less Radical Ideology. Subsequently, The Movement Was Converted From A "Race Struggle" To More Of A "Class Struggle."
While The Ultimate Demise Of The BlackPanthersMay Have Been Caused, In Part, By Internal Conflicts, There Is Also Significant Evidence That The Federal Government Aided In The Process,
A Year After Founding The Panthers, Newton Was Convicted Of Killing A Police Officer. He Was Cleared In 1971, After Three Mistrials.
In 1974, He Went To Cuba, In Light Of Drug And Murder Charges. He Returned To The United States In 1977, And Two Trials Ended In Hung Juries.
Dr. Huey P. Newton Earned A Ph.D In Social Philosophy, From The University Of California At Santa Cruz, In 1980.
Click Here To Watch The Documentary That Focuses On Huey Newton's 1967 Incarceration.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We MustContinue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
Rights, Specifically To Protect Themselves Against Police Brutality.
The Early Panthers Wore Black Berets And Leather Jackets. They Used What Was Considered During That Period, "Radical Terminology," Like "Pigs," For The Police: "Fascists" For Established Figures And "Comrade" For Fellow Party Members.
The Militant, "Urban Warfare" Phase Of The Party Didn't Last Long. Party Leaders, Much Maligned And Harassed, Soon Shifted To A Less Radical Ideology. Subsequently, The Movement Was Converted From A "Race Struggle" To More Of A "Class Struggle."
While The Ultimate Demise Of The BlackPanthersMay Have Been Caused, In Part, By Internal Conflicts, There Is Also Significant Evidence That The Federal Government Aided In The Process,
A Year After Founding The Panthers, Newton Was Convicted Of Killing A Police Officer. He Was Cleared In 1971, After Three Mistrials.
In 1974, He Went To Cuba, In Light Of Drug And Murder Charges. He Returned To The United States In 1977, And Two Trials Ended In Hung Juries.
Dr. Huey P. Newton Earned A Ph.D In Social Philosophy, From The University Of California At Santa Cruz, In 1980.
Click Here To Watch The Documentary That Focuses On Huey Newton's 1967 Incarceration.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We MustContinue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
