Huey P. Newton | |
|---|---|
 Newton c. 1967 | |
| Born | Huey Percy Newton February 17, 1942 Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | August 22, 1989 (aged 47) Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Murder by gunshot |
| Education | Merritt College San Francisco Law School University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, MA, PhD) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Years active | 1963–1969 |
| Organization | Black Panther Party |
| Known for | Founding the Black Panther Party |
| Notable work | Revolutionary Suicide |
| Spouses | Gwen Fontaine
(m. 1974; div. 1983)Fredrika Newton (m. 1984) |
| Children | 4 |
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who founded the Black Panther Party. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966.
Under Newton's leadership, the Black Panther Party founded over 60 community support programs[1] (renamed survival programs in 1971) including food banks, medical clinics, sickle cell anemia tests, prison busing for families of inmates, legal advice seminars, clothing banks, housing cooperatives, and their own ambulance service. The most famous of these programs was the Free Breakfast for Children program which fed thousands of impoverished children daily during the early 1970s.[2] Newton also co-founded the Black Panther newspaper service, which became one of America's most widely distributed African-American newspapers.[3] In 1967, he was involved in a shootout which led to the death of police officer John Frey and injuries to himself and another police officer. In 1968, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for Frey's death and sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison. In May 1970, the conviction was reversed and after two subsequent trials ended in hung juries, the charges were dropped. Later in life, he was also accused of murdering Kathleen Smith and Betty Van Patter, although he was never convicted for either death.
Newton learned to read using Plato's Republic, which influenced his philosophy of activism.[4] He went on to earn a PhD in social philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz's History of Consciousness program in 1980.[5][6] In 1989, he was murdered in Oakland, California by Tyrone Robinson, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family.
Newton was known for being an advocate of the right of self-defense and used his position as a leader within the Black Panther Party to welcome women as well.[citation needed]
- ^ "Black Panther Party Community Programs (1966-1982)". The Black Panther Party Research Project. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
- ^ "Rise of the Black Panther Party". Black Panther Party.org. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ "Black Panther Party Community News Service". The Freedom Archives.
- ^ Brian P. Sowers (January 24, 2017). "The Socratic Black Panther: Reading Huey P. Newton Reading Plato" (PDF). Journal of African American Studies.
- ^ Stein, Mark A.; Basheda, Valarie (August 22, 1989). "Huey Newton Found Shot to Death on Oakland Street: Black Panthers Founder Killed in High Drug Area". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
- ^ Pearson 1994, p. 276.