Huey P. Newton is one of those African-American men who became and icon on the struggle of blacks in the U.S. He is not as famous as Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcom X, but his deeds were of utmost importance. So, in order to help you find summarized, yet interesting information about his life, I have selected parts of a text to share with you based on Bio and some of my early African-American History studies and research.

Apparently, the Boondocks, a cartoon that brings about various topics related to black people and African-American history, created by Aaron McGruder and co-written by Rodney Barnes, has made an allusion that certainly referred to Huey.

You can watch this intriguing video on The Boondocks video below:

Huey Percy Newton, the real one (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American political activist and revolutionary, who along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. If you watch The Boondocks, you will see lots of similarities. Newton had a long series of confrontations with law enforcement, including several convictions, while he participated in political activism. He continued to pursue an education, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Social Science. Newton spent time in prison for manslaughter due to his alleged involvement in a shooting that killed a police officer, but was later acquitted. In 1989 he was shot and killed in Oakland, California, by Tyrone “Double R” Robinson, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family (The Black Guerilla Family (also known as the Black Family or the Black Vanguard) is a prison and street gang founded in 1966 by George Jackson and W.L. Nolen while they were incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California.)

The Black Panther leader was interviewed in jail. Watch the video below:

In his autobiography, Revolutionary Suicide, he wrote,

“During those long years in Oakland public schools, I did not have one teacher who taught me anything relevant to my own life or experience. Not one instructor ever awoke in me a desire to learn more or to question or to explore the worlds of literature, science, and history. All they did was try to rob me of the sense of my own uniqueness and worth, and in the process nearly killed my urge to inquire.”

Huey has been cited and referred to by the rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur also known as 2Pac on his most famous
and widespread song Changes. By the way, 2Pac’s parents were active members of the Black Panther Party.

Excerpt from 2Pac’s song:

I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself,
“Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?”
I’m tired of bein’ poor and even worse I’m black.
My stomach hurts, so I’m lookin’ for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero.
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare.
First ship ’em dope and let ’em deal to brothers.
Give ’em guns, step back, and watch ’em kill each other.
“It’s time to fight back”, that’s what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey’s dead.
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin’ changes.
Learn to see me as a brother ‘stead of 2 distant strangers.
And that’s how it’s supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he’s close to me?
I’d love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that’s the way it is.

The song by 2Pac can be found here:

So, hold on a second, the hair that is called “afro” in the U.S. is called “Black Power” in Brazil. Can you find a relation?
If you can, comment on the post and I will be happy to talk to you about it.

This material has been selected, adapted, and put together by Rodrigo P. Honorato