''A Huey P. Newton Story'' is a 2001 American film adaptation directed by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

. The movie was created, written and performed, as a solo performance, by

Roger Guenveur Smith Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955) is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee. Early life Smith was born on July 27, 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and ...

at The

Joseph Papp Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

. In this performance, Smith creates a representation of the activist

Huey P. 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 leadershi ...

's life and time as a person, a citizen and an activist. During the performance, images are shown up-stage from activist movement era. The simple arrangement of Smith sitting in a chair stage-center makes the audience focus on the dialogue of the performer. Smith captures the attention of the audience throughout the film by putting into play his solo performance skills. Smith's idea for the performance originated in 1989 and took root as a stage play in 1996. Smith's performance attempted to show a shy individual that Huey P. Newton believed himself to be. He did not consider himself a charismatic person, although he had made many contributions to his community. Smith shows Newton as a conservative individual who is disgusted by having microphones and cameras close to him."Press"
''A Huey P.Newton Story'' website.

Nominations and awards

The story that brought Huey P. Newton to life in a single-person performance, and gave the opportunity to people to experience a little bit about his personality, was nominated and winner of various awards (see below), including two Drama Desk nominations: Helen Hayes Awards, Obie Awards, AUDELCO awards and three NAACP Awards. In addition, the movie received two NAACP Image Award nominations for being an Outstanding Television Movie. This award was honored around the world also for Mini-Series and Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie.

Film

The play

Huey P. Newton

The film is based for the most part on

's life. Newton grew up in Oakland after his family moved there from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

due to the military opportunities during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Co-founder of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

, Newton served as Minister of Defense, and in effect was the BPP's leader, writing the Party's 10-Point Platform and Program alongside co-founder

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...

. Convicted of voluntary manslaughter of a police officer in September 1968, Newton spent the next twenty months in prison before being released after his conviction was quashed on a technicality. The BPP had transformed itself in this period, and Newton struggled to cope with the demands placed on him, a situation that was not helped by his increasing consumption of drugs and alcohol. During the 1970s Newton studied at the

University of California Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

, where he obtained a PhD in the History of Consciousness program. On August 22, 1989, Newton was shot and killed in Oakland.

Production

The producers of the film created a project that went on to win various awards for their work. Both Smith and Lee brought to life the story of the activist and presented it on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. This movie is a production of BLACK STARZ! and Luna Ray Films in collaboration with

and the African Heritage Network. Smith’s performance is composed on a simple dark stage with a couple of screens in the back. The production incorporated a couple of cameras to capture different angles as well as different microphones so that scenes could be taken from various perspectives. The production that brought ''A Huey P. Newton Story'' presented the movie in San Francisco by KQED. The funding for the movie was possible thanks to BLACK STARZ!, PBS, The National Black Programming Consortium, The African Heritage Network (Frank Mercado Valdes), and the KQED Campaign for the Future.

References

External links

*
Official Film SiteBlack Panther ToursDr. Huey P. Newton FoundationRNN Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huey P. Newton Story, A 1997 plays 2001 films American films based on plays Films directed by Spike Lee Peabody Award-winning broadcasts 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films Films about the Black Panther Party African-American plays Docudrama plays 2000s English-language films