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Quick Facts
- NAME: Huey P. Newton
- OCCUPATION: Civil Rights Activist
- BIRTH DATE: February 17, 1942
- DEATH DATE: August 22, 1989
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Monroe, Louisiana
- PLACE OF DEATH: Oakland, California
- Full Name: Huey Percy Newton
Best Known For
Huey P. Newton was an African-American activist best known for founding the militant Black Panther Party in 1966, along with co-founder Bobby Seale.
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Play NowHuey P. Newton. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:49, May 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369.
Huey P. Newton. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369 [Accessed 18 May 2013].
"Huey P. Newton." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 18 2013, 01:49 http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369.
"Huey P. Newton," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369 [accessed May 18, 2013].
"Huey P. Newton," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369 (accessed May 18, 2013).
Huey P. Newton [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369.
Huey P. Newton, http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369 (last visited May 18, 2013).
Huey P. Newton. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/huey-p-newton-37369. Accessed May 18, 2013.
Synopsis
Huey P. Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, on February 17, 1942, and named for former governor Huey P. Long. In 1966, Newton and Bobby Seale founded the left-wing Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The organization was central to the Black Power movement, making headlines with its inflammatory rhetoric and militaristic style. Newton was killed by a member of another militant group in 1989.
Early Life
Social activist Huey Percy Newton was born on February 17, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana. Newton helped establish the controversial African American political organization, The Black Panther Party and became a leading figure in the black power movement of the 1960s. As a teenager growing up in Oakland, California, he got in trouble with the law - as he did numerous times throughout his life.
Black Panther Creation
Despite his legal run-ins, Newton began to take his education seriously. Although he graduated high school in 1959, Newton barely knew how to read. He became his own teacher, learning to read by himself. In the mid-1960s Newton decided to pursue his education at Merritt College where he met Bobby Seale. The two were briefly involved with political groups at the school before they set out to create one of their own. Founded in 1966, they called their group The Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Unlike many of the other social and political organizers of the time, they took a militant stance, advocating the ownership of guns by African Americans, and were often seen brandishing weapons. A famous photograph shows Newton - the group’s minister of defense - holding a gun in one hand and a spear in the other.
The group believed that violence - or the threat of violence - might be needed to bring about social change. They set forth their political goals in a document called the Ten-Point Program, which included better housing, jobs, and education for African Americans. It also called for an end to economic exploitation of black communities. Still the organization itself was not afraid to punctuate its message with a show of force. For example, to protest a gun bill in 1967, Newton and other members of the Panthers entered the California Legislature fully armed. The action was a shocking one that made news across the country. And Newton emerged as a leading figure in the black militant movement.
Arrest and Conviction
The Black Panthers wanted to improve life in black communities and established social programs to help those in need. They also fought against police brutality in black neighborhoods by mostly white cops. Members of the group would go to arrests in progress and watch for abuse. Newton himself was arrested in 1967 for allegedly killing an Oakland police officer during a traffic stop. He was later convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison. But public pressure - "Free Huey" became a popular slogan of the day - helped Newton’s cause. The case was eventually dismissed after two retrials ended with hung juries.
During its existence, members of the group clashed with police several times.
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