Huey P. Newton was the Co-founder, Minister of Defense, and
the Chief Theoretician in the Black Panther Party. He organized practices in self-defense,
minority community outreach and revolutionary socialism. He represented a revolutionary that embodied
the fury and frustration of the oppressed
African American Community at the time. Huey P. Newton gave back to the
community in hopes to show the youth that there was someone in society that
cared about their well-being. There were sixty-five programs that were offered
to the African American community: for example, the free shoe program, free
food program and the WIC program. These
were all to help the community establish a family and a place where help was
guaranteed.
I thought Huey P. Newton’s ability to develop and maintain
these programs for an extended period of time paid tribute to his leadership
skills. His philosophy was similar that of Malcom X: they both felt that
passive resistance would not be tolerated by the African American
community. This was interesting because
I always believe that all great minds think alike. They both had that ability to control the
audience that they were in front, getting them to listen and pay attention to
what they were saying.
The Black Child’s Pledge was created by the Black
Panther party. It was a way to give the children a sense of pride in their
community and race. The children growing up during the time of the Black
Panther movement witnessed a lot of unruly abuse of their race, through the
media and in public settings. This pledge was implemented so that there would
be a future in Black Nationalism, by passing there ideologies through the
youth. If I learned anything about Huey P. Newton it was that he was really
persistent in getting African Americans the same opportunities as white people
did. Anyone that fights for a cause
that represents an entire culture deserves to be remembered and honored for
deeds. I can honestly say I enjoyed
that Huey P. Newton was different, and at times what people in society considered
him to be an extremist. In the African American community it took the extremist and
people constant protesting to see results and this is exactly what Huey P.
Newton was doing for them.
As a leader you are expected to keep up a certain level of
decency within society, which is why in 1967 when Newton was convicted of
voluntary manslaughter in the death of a police officer, it was a detriment to
his character and idol stardom. His aim
at life was to promote Black Power. This all started when he got into politics
while he was staying in the Bay Area. It was from this day that his words would
empower masses of people to get up and commit to making change happen
themselves.
Roger Guenveur Smith as Huey P. Newton
After watching Spike Lee’s film of Roger Guenveur Smith’s
performance as Huey P. Newton, I began to question the leadership skills in
myself and how willing I am to stand up for a cause. It was obvious to me right
away that I felt passionate about particular things but I know I would think
twice if my life was on the line and people were following me around. To be a leader you have to be a trendsetter.
You can’t be unafraid of pushing the envelope as long as it is a positive
reflection of your purpose. I believe that there is a leader that’s in all of
us but it takes the right cause to bring it out of us.
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