Radio Rootz' This Day in History

• produced by Arturo Contreras
• in

Black activist Huey P. Newton was shot dead while walking along a street in Oakland, California. Newton had become involved with campus activism while attending Oakland City College years earlier. After connecting with Bobby Seale, the two organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in 1966. The organization's radical views against the oppressive social structure of the American Government and its confrontation of Oakland's racist police force gained them a quick reputation with the FBI. After his release from a short stint in prison, Newton renounced political violence and focused his activism on beneficial community outreach programs.