3/17/2023 0 Comments Huey p. newtonIt’s one of the most iconic images from the 1960s protest era, and I like to think that Huey, who died in 1989 before I could ever meet him, at least figuratively watches over my work. In it, he sits famously in a wicker chair, a spear in one hand, a rifle in the other. It’s captioned in a framed lithograph of Huey that hangs over my desk at home. After all, African-Americans around that time were rioting in cities across the nation.Īlthough I don’t like guns, I see this quote about “the wrath of the armed people” every day. In Huey’s case, his colorful language is essential to the message, and it’s hard to imagine him expressing himself in a less incendiary way. Forget the lyrical turns, if they cloud the message or storytelling. I sometimes think I’ve carried this influence of and preference for direct speaking into my work as an editor, even if unconsciously, when I ask writers to tell me more clearly what they mean. Black people with guns, if provoked, will shoot and presumably kill policemen in self-defense. I have a special fondness for Huey’s early rhetoric-he says exactly what he means in the most unambiguous, if admittedly colorful, language imaginable. Among other things it gave me a new appreciation for language. It’s about the most unlikely beginning for a gay book editor that I can think of, but the experience helped shape my work. But as Huey grew intellectually and became a world-renowned black liberation leader himself-the biggest, in fact, in his moment in time-that rhetorical influence became less apparent, the language still provocative but more academic, more sophisticated, less outright inflammatory. You can tell the quote comes early in Party history because Huey’s fiery rhetoric owes an obvious debt to Malcolm X, the spiritual father of the Party when it was established in 1966. He was cofounder and leader of the Black Panther Party, the largest black liberation movement in US history. “The racist dog policemen must withdraw from our communities, cease their wanton murder and brutality and torture of black people, or face the wrath of the armed people.” That’s Huey P. Newton: Reflections on The Black Panther Party In 1989, he was assassinated by a member of the Black Guerilla Family, an Oakland prison and street gang.Editing Huey P. Over the years, he was tried for a variety of violent offenses, including murder. In 1968, Newton was convicted in the shooting of an Oakland police officer although the conviction was later reversed. By 1970, the BPP had established 68 chapters nationwide with its message of militant racial and class struggle, combined with its Free Breakfast for School Children programs and a network of community health clinics. In 1966, he co-founded the Black Panther Party (BPP) with Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. Newton was a political activist, revolutionary, and author. The picture and audio were then reassembled at the Film & Media Archive. Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the original 16mm negative film were scanned and digitized to create 2K DPX files and the original 1/4" elements were digitized to create 24-bit 96kHz.Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.).Discussion centers on the Black Panther Party, Police-community relations in Oakland, California, Bobby Seale, and Fred Hampton. Newton conducted for Eyes on the Prize II.
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