Huey P. Newton

Huey Percy Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland, California, in 1966 (source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Huey-P-Newton). They built it in response to incidents of alleged police brutality and racism and to argue for Black self-reliance. Seale served as Chairman; Newton as Minister of Defense. The two men wrote the Ten-Point Program, dated October 15, 1966, a platform of "What We Want" and "What We Believe." Point 1 reads: "We Want Freedom. We Want Power To Determine The Destiny Of Our Black Community." Point 7 reads: "We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People" (source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1966/10/15.htm). The cofounders described the document as "a combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-Point_Program_(Black_Panther_Party)). Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, on February 17, 1942, and his family moved to Oakland during his childhood. He graduated from high school without having acquired literacy and later taught himself to read. He went on to attend Merritt College and the San Francisco School of Law (source: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/huey-newton). The party grew quickly. By the late 1960s it had roughly 2,000 members in chapters across several cities (source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Huey-P-Newton). It ran community survival programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children Program and the Oakland Community School (source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-15/black-panther-party-founded). In 1971 Newton announced the party would adopt a nonviolent manifesto and focus on social services such as free meals for children and health clinics (source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Huey-P-Newton). In 1980 he earned a Ph.D. in social philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a dissertation titled "War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America."