Raymond "Masai" Hewitt (January 1, 1941 – March 2, 1988) was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

activist and one of the leaders of the Black Panther Party.

Black Panther

Previous to joining the Black Panther Party, Hewitt worked as a school teacher and had been a Marxist activist, working with a group called United Front, a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

organization which also taught self-defence to its members in the form of karate. Hewitt joined the Black Panther Party in 1967 and was given the title of Minister of Education. Hewitt was considered by the Panthers to have a strong understanding of political and Marxist theory.

Target of COINTELPRO

Hewitt was a target of

COINTELPRO COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counterintelligence, Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of Covert operation, covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ( ...

, a controversial

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

scheme intended to undermine radical organizations, which FBI Director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

had specifically directed to destroy the Black Panther Party. In 1970, the FBI created the false story, from a San Francisco-based informant, that he impregnated married actress

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half of her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless'' immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema. Seb ...

.Munn, Michael. Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. Robson, 1992, p. 90. Seberg was a supporter of the Black Panther Party, giving them a number of donations, and in the course of her interactions with the Panthers had befriended Hewitt. The story was reported by gossip columnist Joyce Haber of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', and was also printed by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' magazine. Seberg went into premature labor and, on August 23, 1970, gave birth to a baby girl. The child died two days later. She held a funeral in her hometown with an open casket that allowed reporters to see the infant's white skin, which disproved the rumors. Seberg and her husband later sued ''

'' for libel and defamation, asking for US$200,000 in damages. She contended she became so upset after reading the story, that she went into premature labor, which resulted in the death of her daughter. A Paris court ordered ''Newsweek'' to pay the couple US$10,800 in damages and ordered ''Newsweek'' to print the judgment in their publication, plus eight other newspapers.

Departure from the BPP

By January 1973, Hewitt had become critical of the ever-increasing domination of the Panthers by

Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...

. In a meeting of the Party's Central Committee, Hewitt suggested that the Central Committee by that point served only to confirm Newton's decisions: In return, Newton stripped Hewitt of his role as Minister of Education; within weeks Hewitt had left the party. Hewitt remained an activist for the rest of his life. He worked with the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civ ...

's Southern Africa Resource Center, the International Human Rights Coalition of Los Angeles, and the Philippine Support Committee.

Personal life

Hewitt fathered one daughter with fellow Black Panther leader

Elaine Brown Elaine Brown (born March 2, 1943) is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther Party chairwoman who is based in Oakland, California.Wheaton, Sarah (December 12, 2010)"Inmates in Georgia Prisons Use Contraband Phones ...

. Hewitt was married to activist Ester Soriano, with whom he had three sons.

Death

On March 2, 1988, Hewitt suffered a heart attack while he watched the Grammy Awards on television with his wife. He was taken to Midway Hospital where he died a short time later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Raymond 1941 births 1988 deaths African-American activists Activists for African-American civil rights African-American communists African-American Marxists Black Panther Party COINTELPRO targets Members of the Black Panther Party