During the late sixties, profound posters of the Black Panther Party's co-founder, Huey P. Newton were plastered all over the rooms of college students, coast to coast across the United States. Donning his signature black beret and leather jacket, sitting on a wicker chair, spear in one hand and rifle in the other, Huey Newton was destined to be the symbol of his generation's anger and bravery in the face of racism and seemingly perpetual discrimination. His intellectual capacity and natural leadership abilities led him, along with Bobby Seale, to establish the Black Panther Party. Newton played a vital role in directing civil rights activists’ attentions to the dilemma of the often ignored urban Black communities. He easily molded the rage and dissatisfaction of Blacks in order to address social injustice in a useful and productive manner. However, the FBI's rising fear of the Huey and the Party's militant actions would not only drive the party to near extinction, but also create a false narrative regarding the Panther's programs and extensive accomplishments.
Huey's experiences growing up were concentrated into his creation of the Black Panthers. In contrast to Dr. King and other Southern, spiritually motivated civil rights activists from the middle socio-economic class and educated families, Huey P. Newton came from a lower working class family in a poor black neighborhood. Born on February 17th, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana, Huey moved to Oakland, California while he was a toddler, at the mere age of two. Throughout his childhood, his baby face, light skFinned complexion, average height, high-pitched voice and nickname "Baby", forced him to learn to fight very early in life. Huey's exceptional wit and strength earned him the respect of his peers as well as the reputation of being a tough guy . Upon enrolling in Merritt College, Huey's educational achievements quickly began to surpass even the best students, while still being able to relate to those he grew up with on the streets. Huey's desire to develop his intellect and receive higher education while still being able to successfully identify with his contemporaries in the streets contended an immense role in his leadership within the Party. Early in life Huey came face to face with regular hostility from the police. He recalled attending the movies as an adolescent where the police would sometimes, more often than not, force him out of the theatre and call him a ni**er. Huey evaluated the mistreatment in his book To Die for the People: "The police were very brutal to us, even at that age" (Newton 53). Police harassment and brutality against Blacks was part of daily life for several Blacks throughout the country. Although the Civil Rights movement was primarily a Southern development, the non-violent ideology and integrationist focus of the movement became, according to historians Floyd W. Hayes and Francis A. C. Kiene, "sources of increasing frustration and disenchantment for several Blacks in Northern and Western cities (Hayes and Kiene 159) ." While the Civil Rights Movement approached the end of the sixties, northern Blacks became infuriated by the television coverage of police brutality, incarcerations of Southern Blacks practicing non-violence, employment discrimination in conjunction with the police brutalities in Northern Black neighborhoods (Brooks 136). Newton and multiple other Black social justice activists believed nonviolence was ineffective. This point of view served as the catalyst for the establishment of the increasingly popular radical approach of "Black Power” (Newton 115).It was against this background that Huey attended Merritt College where the concept of the Party would be brought to life. At Merritt, Huey met Bobby Seale who would presently become Huey's co-founder of the BPP. The initial relationship between Huey and Seale proved to be quite productive, as they shared the frustrations of social injustices towards the Black community. Together, they organized the African American students on campus by establishing the Soul Students Advisory Council (SSAC). Newton and Seal eventually left the organization after an event proposal to bring an armed squad of youths onto campus was rejected. Sick and tired of increasing police harassment towards African Americans and the rejection of "Brothers On the Block", Huey and Bobby set to establish an organization to watch police behavior in black neighborhoods and defend the rights of African Americans: the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP).
The Panthers set their feet into history in 1966 once Huey P. Newton wrote the platform for the party. The platform created an aggressive call for "power to determine the destiny of our black community. With the stress on the necessity for assembling Black defense groups to put a stop to police brutality. Newton and Seale created an identity for the Panthers to demonstrate the seriousness and discipline of the Party's platform, which included the natural hair so many were raised to be ashamed of. The Black Panthers' initial action was to follow police cars around Oakland, while wearing the signature black pants, black leather jackets, blue shirts and black berets, carrying fully loaded guns. The Black community's response to the new Panther Party was fierce. The BPP's identity and operations served as a testimony that Blacks would not back down to the police. Huey had a profound understanding of political thought process and distinct grasp of social matters. His sharp thinking brought him to establish a society that built Blacks’ confidence and self-love. As the Party’s intellectual leader, Huey's ideals, as well as the Black Panther viewpoint are vital as they represent the perpetuation of radical African American political ideology. Huey displayed a noteworthy ability to grasp advanced philosophies. His sharp social analysis is what led him to form an inclusive Party that united African Americans in an exceedingly collective effort that demonstrated the power that they were unaware existed within themselves. The Panthers engaged the youth who’d given up on society that they were able to be the change and stop the daily police harrassment that haunted Blacks across the nation.
The party's message extended across the country like a blazing inferno, appealing to young Blacks in Black communities. Starting in Oakland in ‘69, programs included breakfast and lunch programs for children in school, clothes and food drives and giveaways, transportation services health care services for seniors, that offered sickle cell testing and analysis. Because of its success, programs extended to Panther chapters nationwide.
The programs not only gave poorer Black people with security, food, and clothing, but also extended to them political influence and an education. The media and caucasians believed that since the Party was part of the Black Power Movement, they detested white people. In contrast to organizations among the Black Liberation Movement, the Panthers had many racial coalitions.
Even though the Black Panthers were focused on bettering the community and the lives of Blacks, they still intimidated people. The Panthers embodied what is called "the United States racial nightmare." Said nightmare so divided the nation by racism that Blacks took up arms against whites in rebellion. Policemen were, in reality, frightened of the Party. The Black Panthers’ increasing popularity provoked the government to believe the Party was likely to become the stimulant for a united Black violent insurrection.