'Sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth'

Huey P.Newton was co-founder of the Black Panthers in 1966. On this day in 1970, he gave a speech to his macho membership about embracing women and the gay community.

The Black Panthers were devoted to the teachings of Malcolm X, and in particular to the idea that racial and social justice would not be achieved without revolutionary struggle, or at least the threat of violence. This stands in contrast to Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who believed passionately in non violence, and was tormented by the violence on American streets in 1968, the year of his assassination.

Huey Newton was named for Huey Long, the 1930s politician who ran to the left of FDR’s New Deal, and who was the architect of the Share Our Wealth movement. Long’s speech, ‘Every Man a King’ is on Speakola and is something of a classic. There’s even a Randy Newman song with that title.

Huey Long, Every Man a King

Newton founded the BPP in October 1966. Newton proclaimed the guiding philosophy of Black Power as ‘revolutionary humanism’ and certainly many of the goals in the BPP’s Ten Point Program were about improving lives — better housing, jobs and education for African Americans.

The speech below is Newton’s appeal to Black Panther members to embrace revolutionary comrades in the women’s and gay rights movements. It’s an interesting speech (containing some derogatory terms that I’ll leave in, because they are being denounced, and the speech is of its time). It is essentially an appeal from Newton to macho, predominantly male Panthers that they set aside bigotry and prejudice, in favour of broadening their revolutionary movement.

We should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms “faggot” and “punk” should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such as [Richard] Nixon or [John] Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people.

We should try to form a working coalition with the gay liberation and women’s liberation groups. We must always handle social forces in the most appropriate manner. And this is really a significant part of the population, both women, and the growing number of homosexuals that we have to deal with.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Newton was a philosopher, an orator, and a man with deep community convictions. That said, he was also had violent inclinations and we can hear those inclinations in the speech below - ‘'Sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth'. Even more troubling, there are assault and murder allegations that chased him throughout his life, including the murder of a 17 year old prostitute Kathleen Smith. There were two deadlocked trials. Newton was never convicted.

Huey Newton was himself murdered in 1989, aged 46 . The hit was probably drug turf related, and his murderer is up for his next parole hearing in November 2028. There is a statue on the Oakland corner where he fell honouring Newton’s contribution to the civil rights movement.

I read his Wikipedia entry and wondered how there isn’t a Hollywood movie about Huey P. Newton.

Huey P Newton: 'The women’s liberation front and gay liberation front are our friends', Black Panther rally - 1970

15 August 1970, New York City, New York, USA

During the past few years strong movements have developed among women and among homosexuals seeking their liberation. There has been some uncertainty about how to relate to these movements.

Whatever your personal opinions and your insecurities about homosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as oppressed groups), we should try to unite with them in a revolutionary fashion.

I say ”whatever your insecurities are” because as we very well know, sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet. We want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and we want to hit the women or shut her up because we are afraid that she might castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have to start with.