Huey P. Newton :: Philosophy :: Electoral Politics

Functionally, the Black Panther Party was created in 1966 as a political organization. However, in the early years they were more street oriented in terms of their political activism. Huey Newton generally saw electoral politics as corrupt, and removed from the everyday life of the average working-class Black. In his opinion, it was more important to reach the “brother on the block,” and help him to survive and raise his consciousness than it was to pass a law that might or might not defend him. Since a teenager, Newton was in and out of trouble with the law, often defending himself in the courtroom. One problem that Huey often encountered in these situations was the racial and class makeup of the jury panel; “There is…an internal contradiction in a jury system that totally divides the accused and his jury. Different cultures and life styles in America use the same words with different shades of meaning." Seeing this as a problem for all Black defendants, Huey knew that more Blacks would have to register to vote in order to be eligible as jurors. The Black Panther Party was to make voter registration one of its main activities.

Newton wanted liberation for Blacks, but in order for liberation, he needed Blacks to have the power to determine their own destiny. For Newton, power could be defined as “the ability to define phenomenon and then in turn, make it act in a desired manner.” Blacks in America lacked power because they were unable to make the system act in a desired way. According to Huey, the reason for this was political and historical:

“When one operates in the political arena, it is assumed that he has power or represents power; he is symbolic of a powerful force. There are approximately three areas of power in the political arena: economic power, land power (feudal power), and military power. If black people at the time had received 40 acres and two mules, we would have developed a powerful force. Then we would have chosen a representative to represent us in the political arena. Because Black people did not receive the 40 acres and 2 mules, it was absurd to have a representative in the political arena…When Black people send a representative, he is somewhat absurd because he represents no political power. He does not represent land power because we do not own any land. He does not represent economic or industrial power because Black people do not own the means of production. The only way he can become political is to represent what is commonly called a military power-which the BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF DEFENSE calls Self-Defense power. Black People can develop self defense power by arming themselves from community to community, throughout the nation. Then we will choose a political representative and he will state to the power structure the desires of the black masses. If the desires are not met, the power structure will receive a political consequence. We will make it economically non-profitable for the power structure to go on with its oppressive ways. We will then negotiate as equals. There will be a balance between the people who are economically powerful and the pwople who are potentially economically destructive.”(Huey P. Newton, “Functional definition of politics”)

Nonetheless, the increasing politicization of the party resulted in Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown running for public office in 1972, for mayor and city councilwoman respectively. Although they lost, they would have more success in the future. Several years later,“Brown ran for Oakland public office again, this time garnering more than 44% of the vote along with the support of every labor union in the area. At the next city election in 1977, the Party supported and virtually installed Lionel Wilson as mayor of Oakland, the first black to hold that post in the 100 year history of the city”

By getting involved in local politics, many of the Panthers began to realize that taking part in the local political process could affect lives on a daily basis. However, Newton was never much of a public speaker, and never ran for any political positions himself.