but dropped out. However, what he had learned, in the little time he spent in class, would help him through out his career as a political activist. Newton went back to school, this time at Merrit College, and joined the Afro-American Association. It was here that he met Bobby Seale and the pair quickly bonded over the veiws and frustrations they shared. Soon after, he went on to found the Black Panthers. Some things don't change, though. Even with the responsibility of leading a revolution, Newton often had run-ins with the law, and very few of them were minor offenses. In 1967, Newton was arrested for allegedly stabbing officer John Frey to death, during a traffic stop. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced 2 to 15 years. His case was eventually dropped after 2 retrials, brought on by the pressure from the "Free Huey!" riots that were sparked by his imprisonment. Later, in 1970, Huey became involved in drugs, as the Black Panthers' glory started to unravel. He was faced with even more criminal charges and eventually fled to Cuba for 3 years to avoid persecution. Tragically, in 1989, Huey Percival Newton, was shot in his own street by 25 year old Tyronne Johnson, a drug dealer, who told the police that he killed him out of self defense. His involvement with drugs had come back to haunt him, and the power he once sought out, destroyed him.
"I expected to die. At no pintbefore the trial did i expect to escape with my life. Yet being executed in the gas chamber did not neccessarily mean defeat. It could be one more step to bring the community closdr to a higher level of consciousness."
PARTNER IN CRIME
"Youths are passed through schools that don't teach, then forced to search for jobs that don't exist and finally left stranded in the street to stare at the glamorous lives advertised aro0und them."
"Black Power is giving power to people who have not had power to determine their own destiny."