Huey Newton was the youngest of seven children, born to a Baptist minister on February 17, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana. The Newton family eventually moved to Oakland, California where Newton, alongside Bobby Seale, would later establish the Black Panther Party in 1966. Although Newton played an important role in improving black lives, his life was not without controversy.
How Was Huey Newton Shaped by His Formative Years?
Newton’s youth was shaped by urban unrest, police brutality, repression and an education system that failed black students. Upon moving to Oakland, he did become involved in committing crimes like dislodging coins from parking meters and later in 1964 he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon serving 8 months in jail.
In high school, Newton realized that he was functionally illiterate, a struggle he traced back to white teachers. However, his older brother was a good student, and Huey borrowed his copy of Plato’s The Republic and worked hard to improve his reading skills. [1] Newton would even go on to publish his own book, Revolutionary Suicide, in 1973.
While in Junior High School, Huey Newton and a classmate set up a gang called the Brotherhood to challenge racism at school. Although Newtons early years in school were difficult, he graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1959.
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Newton continued his studies at Merritt College in Oakland- during this time he met Bobby Seale with whom he would later set up the Black Panther Party. They both joined the local Afro-American Association where they read books by the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin and began to look closer at the community and the problems they faced.
What Was the Black Panther Party?
The Black Panther Party was initially set up in response to police brutality in African American neighborhoods, but it soon expanded its work and was active across the US between 1966 and 1982. The party was known for its use of self-defense, violent rhetoric and for its hyper-masculine image and lesser known for its work to improve black lives through community work.
Newton and Seale wanted to maximize the potential, and improve, the lives of black communities and knew that to do this there needed to be real change and improvement in a number of areas. [2] To facilitate this, the party was organized around a Ten Point Program which outlined areas requiring change such as an end to police brutality, decent housing and full employment. [3] To implement changes, the party established 65 social programs between 1966 and 1982, including a Free Breakfast for Children Program.
The party educated and empowered black communities across America and made real change, but it was also marked by controversy (both personal and political) and violence during its existence.
What Controversy Did Newton Face?
Although Newton contributed a lot to improve black lives, his life was not without controversy, and he was often in and out of jail or having run-ins with the law. Members of the Black Panther Party were involved in several shoot-outs with the police- over a six-year period 24 members had been killed during gun fights. On 28th October 1967, Newton was wounded and while in hospital was charged with killing a police officer, John Frey, following a shoot-out. [5] The following year he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, but in May 1970, a new trial was ordered,
and the charges were dismissed.
In 1974 Newton was accused of murdering a 17-year-old prostitute, Kathleen Smith. He and his then-girlfriend, Gwen Fontaine, fled to Cuba and did not return until 1977. Upon return, Newton stood trial, but the charges were dismissed- he was also acquitted of assault on a tailor in September 1978. In 2007, party member Ericka Huggins stated in an interview that Newton repeatedly raped her and threatened to hurt her children if she told anyone.
How Did Newton Spend his Final Years?
Newton returned to his studies and in 1980 he received a Ph.D. in social philosophy from the University of California Santa Cruz, but his later years continued to be troubled. In 1987, he served nine months in San Quentin for gun charges and in March 1989, served 6 months for stealing $15,000 from an Oakland school. Newton also battled with drug addiction, heavily using cocaine and drinking alcohol. [5]
On August 21, 1989, Huey found out that a film project about his life was falling through. The next day Newton was shot in the face three times outside of a residential complex in Oakland following a drug related dispute with drug dealer Tyrone Robinson.
It is alleged that before he was shot, Newtons last words were, “You can kill my body, but you can’t kill my soul. My soul will live forever!”. [6] Newton is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland.
Sources:
[1] Judson L. Jeffries, Huey P. Newton, the Radical Theorist (University Press of Mississippi, 2002), p. xxii
[2] Bobby Seale, Seize the Time: The Story of The Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton (Second Edition), (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1991), p.413
[3]https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/primary-documents-african-american-history/black-panther-party-ten-point-program-1966/
[4] Pearson, Hugh (1995). The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America. Da Capo Press, 145-47
[5] Judson L. Jeffries, Huey P. Newton, the Radical Theorist (University Press of Mississippi, 2002), p.11.
[6] https://spartacus-educational.com/USAnewtonH.htm
