Bro. Dr. Huey Newton,  Ph. D.

While Brother Dr. Huey Newton, Ph. D. was a student at Merritt College in Oakland, he became involved in politics in the Bay Area. He joined the Afro-American Association, became a prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., via Beta Tau Chapter, and played a role in getting the first African-American history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. It was during his time at Merritt College that Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D. and Bobby Seale organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966. Based on a coin toss, Seale became Chairman and Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D., became Minister of Defense. In an effort to protect the African American community of Oakland from rampant police brutality, exercising the Second Amendment Right to bear arms became an essential tenet of the Black Panther Party’s platform. Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D., and other Black Panther members monitor ed police procedure, ensured that African-American citizens were not abused, advised African-Americans of their rights, and posted bail for those arrested. In addition to patrolling the police, Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D.,  and Seale were responsible for writing the Black Panther Party Platform and Program, a ten-point program for achieving liberation which included, among other things: a call for freedom, full employment, decent housing, education, military exemption for African-Americans, and literacy. Literacy and education were of particular concern for Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D. since he graduated from high school not knowing how to read. Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D.,  taught himself literacy by reading Plato's Republic. He would ultimately earn a Ph. D. in social philosophy from the University of California at Sant Cruz’s History of Consciousness program in 1980.

Under Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D.'s leadership, the Black Panther Party founded over 60 community support programs (renamed survival programs in 1971) including food banks, medical clinics, sickle cell anemia tests, prison busing for families of inmates, legal advice seminars, clothing banks, housing cooperates, and their own ambulance service. The most famous of these programs was the Free Breakfast for Children program which fed thousands of impoverished children daily during the early 1970s. Bro. Dr. Newton, Ph. D. also co-founded the Black Panther newspaper service which became one of America's most widely distributed African-American newspapers.