Huey Newton was not an exceptionally bright man. As he acknowledges his IQ was ranked at 74 (albeit, the ability of the IQ test to really get at the ingenious essence of man is dubious). His philosophy, and philosophizing, is frequently superficial, layman, and lacking depth. To top it off, one would have to be extremely credulous to walk away from this book believing a lot of the things Huey Newton says, ranging from his deep understanding of analytic philosophy, to dialectical materialism guiding his praxis, from his lack of toleration for all drugs, and his ability to keep calm in the face of pressure, I can safely say, I disbelieve all of it.
But what I don't disbelieve is that blacks in the United States have grown up under violently racist conditions, treated as barbarians, ignoramuses, and 3rd class citizens, barely worthy of anything tangible outside of slave shackles. Blacks have been and are tar and feathered in a school system that has no patience for them, and ridiculed and sacked in a capitalist market that only exploits racism as a means for paying whites less because a black men will do the work for less than subsistence wages. This is a system that thrives off inhumane forces that quell any chance of autonomy and dignity, and Huey Newton was first and foremost a victim, before he was a revolutionary.
The real exceptional fact of Newton's life is that, as he remarks, despite his Fathers three jobs (of which he always losing and being hired on to new ones), and his seven or eight siblings, he had a loving family, and parents who were committed to doing the best they possibly could, with means they never had enough of. Huey grew up in the kitchen; that was his room, and yet for him, this was totally normal.
Unsurprisingly given the racist country he lived in, with the exploitative market that surrounded him, where the only sense of gratification can be found in consumption after exploitative production, and a worthless education where he never learned to read, Newton was basically a delinquent, fighting, stealing cars, hustling, etc. Then he had the bright idea to force himself to read Plato, ten times, until he felt he was both literate, and able to comprehend the material, albeit superficially.
The spark reading gave Huey, the craving for more, of something better (which is really all philosophy is), turned him into a passionate revolutionary, who although no erudite, warrants nothing but praise for surmounting insurmountable circumstances, and creating the Black Panther Party.
Huey actively taught his community, and black communities outside his own city, how to legally arm themselves, learn the law, and defend themselves - as a community - from police brutality, and malfeasance.
This book is a memoir of his struggles, before and during the creation of the Black Panther Party, and his constant trials, and stints in jail. Again, as an intellectual, Huey does not rank highly, but as a serious committed revolutionary, of action, focused solely on results, he ranks amongst the highest and most effective, especially given his circumstances.
Read this book. Learn some valuable history, and maybe, go out and arm your godamn community with knowledge and....
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Know your history! Learn your people
"For more than 350 years Black men in this country have been dying with courage and dignity for causes they believe in. This aspect of our history has always been known to Black people, but for many the knowledge has been vague. We knew the names of a few of our martyrs and heroes, but often we were not acquainted with the circumstances or the precise context of their lives. White America has seen to it that Black history has been suppressed in schools and in American history books. The bravery of hundreds of our ancestors who took part in slave rebellions has been lost in the mists of time, since plantation owners did their best to prevent any written accounts of uprisings. Millions of Black schoolchildren never learned about two great Black heroes in the nineteenth century, Denmark Vesey and Nat "The Prophet" Turner, who died for freedom.White people had good reason to destroy our history. Black men and women who refuse to live under oppression are dangerous to white society because they become symbols of hope to their brothers and sisters, inspiring them to follow their example. In our time, Malcolm X is the supreme example. His life and accomplishments galvanized a generation of young Black people; he has helped us take a great stride forward with a new sense of ourselves and our destiny. But meaningful as his life was, his death had great significance, too. A new militant spirit was born when Malcolm died. It was born of outrage and a unified Black consciousness, out of the sense of a task left undone.In light of this, I was able to stand back a little and consider my own death. The Black Panther Party had been formed in the spirit of Malcolm; we strove for the goals he had set for himself. When Black people saw Black Panthers being killed not only by the police but also by the judicial system, they would feel the circled closing around them and take another step forward. In this sense, my death would not be meaningless." - Huey P Newton.
Top reviews from other countries
- TAIMOURReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2012
Tremendous and open account of a revolutionary
- AddyReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2020
Vital reading for black history in America
