Huey! (1968) [Black Panther Party Documentary Film] HD

Speaker 1: For our leader and minister of defense, Huey P. Newton, who's on the 10th floor of this building right here, being persecuted for allegedly shooting a police officer. And we're going to be here, and we're going to stay here, until Huey P. Newton is set free.

Bobby Seale: If he is not set free, this guy is going to die.

Speaker 3: On April 6th, members of the Black Panther Party were ambushed by the Oakland pigs. And when Lil Bobby was killed, he came out the house with his arms up. Pigs told him to run to the car, and they shot him down. Lil Bobby is only one example. He represents all the other black men and women who have been murdered and killed by the police. I'm here to say that I'm sorry. I feel throughout history, for the last 400 years, or when black people were first brought over here— He was dedicated. He was young. He was only 17. He was disciplined. He knew what he was fighting for. And he had his principles and the things he fought for. Maybe other black men didn't realize what was going on. And people still don't realize what little Bobby died for. He died for black people. He died for the revolution, so other black people and people of the Third World Can gain their freedom, their freedom which has been denied, say, for the last 400 years, when they promised us— said that we were free during— after the Civil War.

Speaker 4: The Oakland Police Department is a group of murderers and hard-nosed racists. And they are bent on wiping out the leadership of the Panther, and not only the leadership of the The Black Panther of anyone who will dissent in a political way against the status quo. One of the chief goals of the Black Panther is to drive this foreign troop out so that we would have the right to determine our own destiny. And as far as the police are concerned, we know before you have any Any freedom, first you're going to have security. You must have security. And this is one of the reasons that the Vietnamese people haven't petitioned the American government to give them civil rights or human rights or to modify the establishments or the institutions within Vietnam, because they realize that they must handle first things first. First, that they must drive the oppressor out, and then they can institute institutions that will be for the benefit of the people there.

Speaker 5: We are here to give praise to a man who symbolizes much of what has been happening over the past 7 or 8 years. And the mere fact that he is in prison today signifies that the black liberation struggle rose to a new tide of resistance in 1967. The fact that Brother Carmichael has consented to come and make his first appearance after being hailed in the revolutionary capitals. The fact that Brother Rap Brown has been under preventative house arrest on the island of Manhattan, and he himself is out here tonight to celebrate the birthday of Huey Newton. And let's give to the chairman of the Black Panther Party, Brother Seals, minister of information, and all these brothers that you see around here. Who have picked up the gun and said to the biggest cops in Oakland, no more occupation of our communities!

Speaker 1: Another thing we want the world to know is that the field niggers have gotten their thing together. We got it together. We're going to keep it together. Today is Brother Huey's birthday. Yesterday we went to see Brother Huey, and he told us to tell you that this is the happiest birthday that he's ever had. Now, those of you who've been going down to the courtroom, I'm sure that you've I've gained a great deal of respect for the attorney, Charles R. Gary, who's dealing with this. Well, he's here tonight. He's here tonight. He'll say a few words to you. Huey Newton stood before the court on Tuesday morning and intoned, I am not guilty. And that's going to be the verdict of the jury, if we get an impartial jury. Huey's mother's here with Newton. This is the black mother.

Speaker 6: But you have to understand.

Speaker 1: She has given us a great warrior, a great warrior, a leader of his people. And she wants to say a few words to you.

Speaker 3: I've been shedding tears ever since this incident. Tonight, it was a mixed emotion, sorrow and joy. I told my friend tonight, if it was just in my power, I could go one by one and hug and I want to kiss all of you and thank you for appearing tonight on my baby's birthday.

Speaker 6: Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: We've got to wage this struggle on many levels, brothers and sisters. We've got to wage the struggle on all levels. We want to announce that we are going to run Brother Huey P. Newton for Congress in the 7th Congressional District as the leader, as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. We're going to run him. We're going to run him as a write-in candidate in the name of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. And in this way, we can let the world know that we're behind Huey in that respect also, all the way down the line.

Stokely Carmichael: That's right.

Speaker 1: Now, the Democratic Party did not come forward To offer any support or aid for Huey P. Newton. The Republican Party didn't mumble. They grumbled. They don't dig this. But there's a Peace and Freedom Party in this area, and they have given us authentic help. Now, I'm going to bring you on now a member of the Peace and Freedom Party who has worked diligently On behalf of Brother Huey, I give you Bob Avakian.

Bob Avakian: Now, I want to say that I wouldn't be on this stage, we wouldn't have been at the Oakland Induction Center, if it weren't for the courageous people, the masses of people and the leaders who led and participated in the black liberation struggle all these years, because they're the ones that taught us. They're the ones that forced us to face what the reality of America and this system was all about. And in this sense, we say that not only are black people a vanguard, but they're an inspiration. We don't expect them to liberate us. We have to do that for ourselves. But they have inspired us to begin that struggle to end this imperialist, racist, colonial system once and for all.

Speaker 9: On February the 20th, next Tuesday, Yes. At the Berkeley City Council, I will introduce the following 2-part resolution. As you know, a city councilman is the lowest politician in the world, but you can talk loud, and that's what I'm going to try to do. Whereas black people comprise a substantial segment of this community, and whereas the composition of our juries, and specifically the grand jury, Do not reflect the black community, and whereas this violates a black man's rights to be judged by his peers, and whereas at the grand jury level, Mr. Huey P. Newton, a black man, is the victim of a flagrant violation of the constitutional rights guaranteed to him under the Constitution of the United States, therefore be it resolved that this body go on record demanding that the case against Mr. Newton Huey P. Newton be judged unconstitutional and that he be freed immediately.

Bobby Seale: Explain to you who Brother Huey P. Newton is in his soul, I got to explain to you also your soul Your needs, your political desires and needs, because that is Huey's soul. When we first organized the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, Huey would say, Bobby, he says, we're going to draw up a basic platform, just basic, that black people can read. He says, we don't want to go real elaborate with all these essays and dissertations and all this stuff, because the A brother gonna look at that and he's gonna say, man, I ain't got time for that. I gotta go see what I can do for myself. It's just a basic platform that the mothers who struggle hard to raise us, that the fathers who've worked hard, that the young brothers in school who come out of school semi-illiterate— Huey say we want freedom, we want power to determine the destiny of our black community. Full employment for our people. Number 3, want housing fit for Decent housing fit for shelter of human beings. Number 4, we want all black men to be exempt from military service. Number 5— We want decent education for our black people in our community that teaches us the true nature of this decadent racist society and to teach black people Yes. And our young black brothers and sisters their place in society, because if they don't know their place in society and in the world, they can't relate to anything else. Number 6, we want an end to the robbery by the white racist businessmen of black people and black people in their communities. Number 7, we want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people. Number 8, we want all black men held in county, state, federal jails and prisons to be released because they have not had a fair trial because they've been tried by all-white juries, and that's just like being tried in Germany being a Jew. Number 8, we want black people— number 9— when brought to trial to be tried by members of their Right. And a peer being one who comes from the same economic, social, religious, historical, and racial background. If the United States government and the courts and the local courts did this, they would have to choose black people from the black community to sit up on the jury. They'd have to choose some of the mothers who've been working 20 years in Miss Ann's kitchen scrubbing floors Like my mother done done. They have to choose some of them hardworking fathers. They have to choose some of those brothers who stand on the block out there wondering where they're going to get a gig. They're going to have to choose these black people. And number 10, Huey said, let's just summarize it. We want housing. We want clothing. We want education. We want justice. And we want peace. This is a basic platform. In case you never knew it or not, of all the things that you've heard in the press, of all the derogatory statements that's been made in the press about Brother Huey P. Newton and I, of all these derogatory statements to guide you away from seeing this basic platform that Huey was talking about for his own people. We have to learn to look through the white press. We have to learn to see what's going on. Now out of this platform, Huey P. Newton realized that it was necessary for us to start working on these points, these 10 points, practically. Remember number 7? Want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people. This is very, very important. And here, whether you know it or not, is where you start dealing with the black revolution. When Huey says, every black man put a shotgun in your home, and once we let the man know, say, look, we armed from block to block, and we're going to patrol you from our windows, and we're not going to have you brutalizing none of our people in the streets. Do you realize what kind of power black people have then? Because you begin to neutralize that police force, because them cops going to start riding shaky and scared. In fact, we're in a position then to demand that they withdraw from our We hate cops. We hate cops in our community because they occupy our community just like a foreign troop occupies territory. Very important to understand. We hate cops beating black people over their heads and murdering them. That's what we hate. If you got enough energy to sit down and hate a white person just because The color of his skin, you're wasting a lot of energy. You better take that same energy and put it in some motion out there and start dealing with those oppressive conditions, and you're going to find out just what you hate and what you're going to stop. Black people, we are organizing to stop racism.

Speaker 3: You dig it?

Bobby Seale: When you stop racism, you stop brutality and murder of black people by the racist occupying army in our black community. That's what we're going to Stop. What's being done to us?

Speaker 1: You dig it?

Bobby Seale: Can you dig the white power structure and its racist police force and how they've escalated the situation? That before Watts there was 1,300 cops, now there's 6,000 cops patrolling black people. That in Oakland they had 350 cops just 3 and a half years ago, now they got 1,000 cops patrolling black people. San Francisco's doubled its police force, and every area, major metropolis Where black people live all across this country, they've doubled, tripled, and quadrupled their police force, equipped them with tanks, all kinds—

Speaker 1: Uh-uh.

Bobby Seale: We got to stop it, brother. Let's get together and unify.

Speaker 10: Then they also carry the— everyone carries a shotgun now. You want to get a hold of that, Foster?

Bobby Seale: They have—

Speaker 10: all cars have those now, do they?

Stokely Carmichael: Yes, sir, we have.

Speaker 1: Every car has the riot gun.

Speaker 10: And then they— in addition to that, they carry— all cars carry that helmet, do they?

Bobby Seale: Yes, they do, they got it.

Speaker 10: That is— for what purpose do you use that for? In case we get into an area where there would be flying debris or for our own protection. In other words, in case of anywhere you might be where it might be any Violence or anything, you put that on your head to save your head. Yes, sir. We hope we never use any of this equipment, but we do prepare. Most of our fellows are Boy Scouts, these young men. They have that motto: Be prepared.

Speaker 6: Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that so far as we who have sponsored this meeting tonight are concerned, that the key is spelled out in four letters.

Speaker 11: Say so.

Speaker 6: The initial of each word. S-A-S-O. Say so. S standing for study, or inform yourself. We will be more than happy to keep in contact with those of you who are interested and keep the information Coming into you. A. SASO. S-A-S-O. A. Armed, ladies and gentlemen. Armed.

Speaker 10: Don't rush. Take your time. I think the people should be prepared. I think every person today under our Constitution has a right to bear arms for his own protection, and he should be prepared. He should have a gun. He should know how to shoot. He should be able to shoot straight and shoot to kill if necessary.

Speaker 11: And I mean, there were Jews who were in the top echelons in the government, and there were Jews who were rich and Jews who were living good. But Hitler said, Hitler said, when I start putting people in the gas chambers, I'm going to put all Jews in, and I am not concerned about anybody but Jews. So it didn't matter whether you had money or whether you were poor. They put everything that was Jewish in. And I think we've got to recognize that this is a racist society. It's racist to the core. And white people oppress black people. They oppress all black people.

Speaker 6: The white man is willing to take up arms before he recognizes us as being human, human beings, and just as intelligent as he is. Just as capable as he is of doing anything. He just wants to stop this. And I think that the man is willing to take up arms and just to go all out, you know, and get this thing on and get it over with before he recognizes us as being of the human race.

Speaker 11: The suburban areas around all the major cities in America are well armed against black people. I mean, they aren't playing. The John Birch Society, the Minutemen, they go out on rifle ranges. They go to the woods every weekend and they practice shooting, and they practice to shoot black people. And when they come into a community, they're not going to ask you, are you militant? Are you nice? Have you been good? They're going to say, are you black? And they're going to see that you're black and they're going to shoot you. And I mean, it's just that simple.

Bobby Seale: Black brothers and sisters, we're going to have some unity here. We're going to have some unity. Behind Brother Huey P. Newton, because Huey was trying to unify us to solve all of our problems. Huey was for us. The man has got Huey chained up. Watch where I point my finger. Did you see the building over there? Right in back, he's chained up in jail. Right across the street.

Speaker 6: I saw it.

Bobby Seale: When we announce Huey's court date appearances, you be there for an hour or hour and a half and show a standing support that we should have Huey P. Newton set free. Be there, brothers and sisters, and tell your friends. And explain to black people what Huey P. Newton was doing with the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, what kind of organization it was. Let people know that it is necessary, that we must unify on all levels. In all the areas of oppression, we must deal with them. That right here in the confines of racist America, racism must be stopped.

Speaker 6: Yes.

Speaker 1: Yes.

H. Rap Brown: See, Lyndon Johnson, he can always raise an argument about law and order because he never talks about justice. But black people fall for that same argument, and they go around talking about lawbreakers. We did not make the laws in this country. We are neither morally nor legally confined to those laws. Those laws that keep them up keep us down. You've got to begin to understand that. For 400 years, she taught you white nationalism. That's white nationalism. That's white nationalism, and you lapped it up. You taught it to your children. You had your children thinking that everything black was bad. Black cows don't give good milk. Black hens don't lay eggs. Black for funerals, white for weddings. That's white nationalism. Santa Claus, a white honky who slides down a black chimney and comes out white. We tend to equate progress with concessions. We can no longer make that mistake. You see, when they gave us that nigger astronaut, you say we were making progress, but I told you they were going to lose him in space. He didn't get that far. You put Adam Clayton Powell in office, and you couldn't keep him. What you think they're going to do with Thurgood Marshall when they get tired of him? They gave you Walter Washington of Washington, D.C., and you said we were making progress. That's not progress. See, it's no in-between. You're either free or you're a slave. There's no such thing as second-class citizenship. That's like telling me you can be a little bit The only politics in this country that's relevant to black people today is the politics of revolution, none other. The only thing that's going to free Huey is gunpowder, black powder.

Speaker 6: Black power! Yes!

H. Rap Brown: When black people become serious about the revolutionary struggle that they are caught up in, whether they recognize it or not, when they begin to go down and knock off people who are oppressing them and begin to render these people impotent, that's when the revolutionary struggle unfolds. Not until we are fighting enemies of the people. They tell you your problem is unemployment. Well, I got a program that can employ every black person in this country overnight.

Stokely Carmichael: We're here to celebrate Brother Huey P. Newton's birthday. We're not here to celebrate it as Huey Newton the individual, but as Huey Newton part and parcel of Yeah! And so, in talking about Brother Huey Newton tonight, we have to talk about the struggle of black people not only in the United States but in the world today, and how he becomes part and parcel of that struggle, how we move on so that our people will survive America. Now why is it necessary for us to talk about the survival of our people? Many of us feel, many of our generation feel, that they're getting ready to commit genocide against us. Now many people say that's a horrible thing to say about anybody, but if it is a horrible thing to say, then we should do as Brother Malcolm says, we should examine history. The birth of this nation was conceived in the genocide of the red man. Genocide of the red man. Of the red man. In order for this country to come about, the honky had to completely exterminate the red man, and he did it. And he did it. He did it. And he did it where he does not He's not even feeling sorry, but he romanticizes it by putting it on television with cowboys and Indians. Cowboys and Indians. If you do not think he's capable of committing genocide against us, check out what he's doing to our brothers in Vietnam. Check out what he's doing in Vietnam. Develop an undying love as is personified in Brother Huey P. Newton. If we do not do that, we will be wiped out. Our slogan will become, first our people, then and only then me and you as individuals. Our people first. Our people first. The concept of a black man is one who recognizes his cultural, his historical, and the roots of his great ancestors who were the greatest warriors on the face of this earth. Africans, Africans, Africans. Many of our people's minds have been whitewashed. If a Negro comes up to you and you turn your back on him, He's got to run to the honky. We're going to take time and patience with our people, because they're ours. They're ours. All of the Uncle Toms, we're going to sit down, and we're going to talk. And when they slap, we're going to bow. And when they slap, we're going to bow. And we're going to try to bring them home. And if they don't come home, we're going to off them. That's all. We have to recognize who our major enemy is. The major enemy is not your brother, flesh of your flesh and blood of your blood. The major enemy is the honky and his institutions of racism. That's the major enemy. That is the major enemy. A lot of people in the bourgeoisie tell me they don't like Rap Brown when he says, I'm gonna burn the country down. But every time Rap Brown says, I'm gonna burn the country down, they get a poverty program.

Speaker 1: They get a poverty program.

Stokely Carmichael: A lot of people say to me, we don't like the Black Panthers for self-defense, walking around with guns. I tell you now, if the honkies in San Francisco take off the fighters who happen to represent the Black Panthers for self-defense, ain't nobody in this community prepared to fight right now. Everybody gets offed. And that's what we have to understand today, so that everything goes out the window What are you talking about? We talk about survival. That's all. They can cut all that junk about poverty program, education, housing, welfare. We talking about survival. And brothers and sisters, we gonna survive America. We gonna survive America. We gonna survive America.

Speaker 5: We need each other.

Stokely Carmichael: We have to have each other for our survival. It's survival. We have to have each other, from the revolutionaries to the conservatives. A black united front is what we're about. A black united front is what we're about. I want to read a statement that Brother Huey P. Newton wrote yesterday when I saw him in jail. He says, as the racist police escalate Against the war in our communities against black people, we reserve the right to self-defense and maximum retaliation. Understand this concept. Understand this concept. When they offed Brother Malcolm, we did nothing. If they offed Brother Huey, we got to retaliate. We got to retaliate. We must retaliate. We must Fight for humanity. It is our humanity that is at stake. All we say, brother Huey will be set free or else.