from Library of Congress, by Blair Stapp 3

Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an activist and co-founder of the Black Panther Party with Bobby Seale. Newton was born in Louisiana, but his family relocated to Oakland in 1945 when he was three.

Newton graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1959 as a functional illiterate. He later taught himself to read "by listening to records of Vincent Price reading great poetry, and then looking up the poems to see how the words looked," 2 as well as reading Plato's Republic. 1 Newton then attended Merritt College where he met Bobby Seale, and they co-founded the Black Panther Party. Newton became the Minister of Defense.

Newton went on to earn a bachelor's degree and then a PhD from UC Santa Cruz in 1980.

Huey P. Newton leaves behind one biological child, Rico Cortez Dukes, according to Alameda County vital court records documents.

Death and Burial

In 1989, Newton was shot in West Oakland by Tyrone Robinson, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family. He was cremated and interred at Evergreen Cemetery, according to numerous sources, including The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America, by Hugh Pearson, which notes that the cemetery includes a plaque honoring Newton.

Links and References

  1. Huey Newton on Wikipedia
  2. Huey Newton on BlackAmericaWeb.com (via archive.org)
  3. LC-USZC4-1564 Library of Congress
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