Huey Newton Quotes

Black men and women who refuse to live under oppression are dangerous to white society because they become symbols of hope to their brothers and sisters, inspiring them to follow their example.

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 around them.

The task is to transform society; only the people can do that - not heroes, not celebrities, not stars.

The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.

Power is the ability to define phenomena, and make it act in a desired manner.

Laws should be made to serve the people. People should not be made to serve the laws.

Black Power is giving power to people who have not had power to determine their destiny.

I think what motivates people is not great hate, but great love for other people.

You can kill my body, and you can take my life but you can never kill my soul. My soul will live forever!

We have two evils to fight, capitalism and racism. We must destroy both racism and capitalism.

You can jail a Revolutionary, but you can't jail the Revolution.

I do not expect the white media to create positive black male images.

The policemen or soldiers are only a gun in the establishments hand. They make the racist secure in his racism.

You can only die once, so do not die a thousand times worrying about it.

The racist dog policemen must withdraw immediately from our communities, cease their wanton murder and brutality and torture of black people, or face the wrath of the armed people.

The nature of a panther is that he never attacks. But if anyone attacks or backs into a corner, the panther comes up to wipe that aggressor or that attacker out.

Any unarmed people are slaves, or are subject to slavery at any given moment.

There's no reason for the establishment to fear me. But it has every right to fear the people collectively - I am one with the people.

If you stop struggling, then you stop life.

To die for the racists is lighter than a feather, but to die for the people is heavier than any mountain and deeper than any sea.

By surrendering my life to the revolution, I found eternal life

I do not think that life will change for the better without an assault on the Establishment, which goes on exploiting the wretched of the earth.

Sometimes if you want to get rid of the gun, you have to pick the gun up.

The United States can hide behind a facade simply because it is sucking the blood of other people...The Third World people: Africa, Asia and Latin America.

I always said this and the people think it's a cute answer, but I say we have always been in the system and that's why we fight because we don't like the system. We are trying to transform it.

I have the people behind me and the people are my strength.

But before we die, how shall we live? I say with hope and dignity; and if premature death is the result, that death has a meaning reactionary suicide can never have. It is the price of self-respect.

Existence is violent, I exist, therefore I'm violent. . . in that way.

There will be no prison which can hold our movement down.

The walls, the bars, the guns and the guards can never encircle or hold down the idea of the people.

I had a lot of time and the first year I was in prison, I tried to get the party to stop the shooting, to stop the talk about the gun thing.

My fear was not of death itself, but a death without meaning. I wanted my death to be something the people could relate to, a basis for further mobilization of the community.

Revolutionary suicide does not mean that I and my comrades have a death wish; it means just the opposite.

I know sociologically that words, the power of the word, words stigmatize people.

When I was in the penitentiary after being accused of killing a policeman, I was more in the system in the penitentiary than ever.

We were trying to increase the conflict that was already happening... we felt that we would take the conflict to so high a level that some change had to come.

A rather honored guest of the Cuban government, so I wouldn't experience the problems. I think it would take a black Cuban to really articulate this because I'm being treated in a very generous way.

I wanted to leave high school in 1958 and join the Cuban revolution. So the only reason I did not come to join [Fidel] Castro was because my mother would not let me. I was only 16.

We always had a central committee. They were mesmerized by Eldridge Cleaver.

What I'm really trying to say is that I believed an armed insurrection could work. After I was shot and went to prison, that ended that illusion. I had time to think.

I don't want people to think he [Eldridge Cleaver] is so important - our party is important because our party works for the people and no individual is important in our party, including myself.

I knew how to influence the people, but it's really just one vote. But the party is being handled in a very good way .

I'm not ruling. I never ruled. I have one vote and I'm the leader of the party. I've always had a vote on the central committee. I always had more influence than that one vote. I'll admit that.

I would like to add I'm innocent. I am not guilty.

The United States is already antique.

The neighbors were more than neighbors [on Cuba]. They were like part of the family.

I think it's absurd to talk about - one time you were outside the system, now you are in the system - no, we fight, the cause of the fight is because the system is bad that we can't get out of it.

I didn't get trained by the school system like other kids, and when I did concentrate on learning, my mind was cluttered and locked by the programming of the system.

If you stop struggling then you stop life.

Youths are passed through schools that don’t teach. Then forced to search for jobs that don’t exist and finally left stranded to stare at the glamorous lives advertised around them.