Today, 17 February, we celebrate the remarkable legacy of Huey P Newton, visionary leader and co-founder of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Had he lived, he would have been 83 years old.
Huey was born the youngest of seven children in 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana. His family’s migration to Oakland, California, was not just a search for safety but a step toward fighting for justice.
In 1966, alongside his classmate Bobby Seale, Newton co-founded the BPP, becoming its leading theorist and political strategist and introducing internationalism among the party’s ranks. Newton viewed the Black people in the US as an internal colony.
The party challenged police brutality, but the over 60 social programmes—renamed Survival Programmes—by 1971 were equally impactful. The groundbreaking Free Breakfast for Children initiative fed youths in US cities where BPP had chapters, transforming communities and uplifting countless lives. The US government later appropriated the free breakfast programme.
Despite the relentless opposition from figures like J Edgar Hoover, the BPP inspired people from all walks of life. In 2021, a plaque for ‘Dr. Huey P. Newton Way’ was placed at the corner of the three-block section of the city’s 9th Street, where a gang member murdered him, serving as a tangible reminder of his indomitable spirit and the fight for equality.
Today, as we honour Huey P Newton, we recognise his contributions and his enduring struggle for justice and liberation.
Happy birthday to this inspiring elder!
Sources:
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/newton-huey-p-1942-1989
https://www.ktvu.com/news/part-of-ninth-street-in-west-oakland-named-for-huey-p-newton