Black history fact #19

Huey P. Newton (1942 - 1989) was a political activist and revolutionary. Along with Bobby Seale, he cofounded, in 1966, and led the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland, California. The Panthers was central to the Black Power Movement and took a more militant stance than other social movements on the plight of black communities in America. The party laid out their goals in a document called the "Ten-Point Program," which called for better housing, jobs, and education for black Americans. They actively took a stance against police brutality in urban neighborhoods by mostly white cops and would go to arrests in progress and watch for abuse. In the 1970s, Newton aimed to take the Panthers in a new direction that emphasized nonviolence, democratic socialism, and services for the poor, including free lunch programs and urban clinics. At the height of its popularity, the Black Panther Party had 2,000 members in chapters in several cities. Later in his life, Newton, who graduated high school as a functional illiterate, returned to school and earned a PhD in Social Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1980.

Thank Huey P. Newton for advocating for better treatment of our communities!