Huey P. Newton

Huey P. Newton, the co-founder and inspirational leader of the Black Panther Party, was born in Monroe, Louisiana, on February 17, 1942. He was named after governor Huey P. Long. Newton's family moved to Oakland, California early in his childhood.He attended Merritt College, earning an Associate of Arts degree. He also studied law at Oakland City College and at San Francisco Law School.While at Oakland City College, Newton had become involved in the radical politics that were dominating the Bay Area. He joined the Afro-American Association and played a role in getting the first black history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. He read the works of Malcolm X, Che Guevara and Mao Tse-tung. During his time at Oakland City College, he met a young man named Bobby Seale.Newton and Seale decided early on that the police must be stopped from harassing Oakland's African-Americans and they organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (October 1966), with Seale as Chairman and Newton as Minister of Defense.From his study of the law, Newton was familiar with the California Penal Code and the state's law regarding weapons and was thus able to convince a number of African-Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms. Armed members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense began patrolling the Oakland police. In addition to patrolling, Newton and Seale were responsible for writing the Black Panther Party Platform and Program.Newton was accused of murdering Oakland police officer John Frey and in September 1968 was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. In May 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed Newton's conviction and ordered a new trial. The State of California dropped its case against Newton after two subsequent mistrials.While he had been imprisoned, party membership had decreased significantly in several cities, and the FBI had been involved in a campaign to disrupt the Black Panthers through a program called COINTELPRO. Newton concentrated on community outreach programs and the Black Panthers sponsored sickle-cell anemia tests, free food and shoes. In January, 1969, the first Panther's Free Breakfast for School Children Program was initiated at St. Augustine's Church in Oakland. By the end of the year, the Panthers set up kitchens in cities across the nation, feeding over 10,000 children every day before they went to school. Funding for several of their programs were raised as the result of the co-operation of drug dealers and prostitution rings.Due to the popularity of the programs started by Newton and the Black Panthers, J. Edgar Hoover (who was head of the FBI), stated publicly that the Panthers are the "greatest threat to the internal security of the country".In 1971, between his second and third trials for the murder of John Frey, he visited China for ten days, where he met with Premier Chou En-lai and Chiang Ch'ing, the wife of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. While there he was offered political asylum.In 1974 several assault charges were filed against him and he was also accused of murdering a 17-year-old prostitute, Kathleen Smith. Newton failed to make his court appearance. His bail was revoked, a bench warrant issued, and his name added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted list. Newton had jumped bail and escaped to Cuba, where he spent three years in exile. He returned home in 1977 to face murder charges because he said, the climate in the United States had changed and he believed he could get a fair trial. He was acquitted of the murder of Kathleen Smith after two juries were deadlocked.In 1989 he was convicted of embezzling funds from a school run by the Black Panthers, supposedly to support his alcohol and drug addictions. By this time the Panthers had turned to less violent activism.On August 22, 1989, Newton was shot at the age of 47 during a drug deal gone bad. Show less «