A Huey P. Newton Story

Ever since the murder of Huey P. Newton in 1989 in Oakland, actor/writer Roger Guenveur Smith has been busy studying the life of this cofounder of the Black Panthers. He acquired exclusive access to certain archives. He used the material he collected to compile a theatre monologue, an offBroadway production that he very successfully performed 600 times. Smith never wrote down the piece word for word: it developed itself as he performed it.Throughout the monologue Roger Guenveur Smith sits in an armchair smoking and talking quickly. He only stands up occasionally, for instance for a bout of shadow boxing. The text mainly comprises Newton’s own words, but in order to stress the continuing difficulties of AfroAmericans today, Smith also added several later events in his monologue, such as the death of the Notorious B.I.G. and the murder of an African immigrant in 1999 by the New York police.After Smith had acted in seven of Spike Lee’s films, Lee saw Smith’s theatre production, and they soon agreed that this heritage of the charismatic Newton should be made accessible to a larger audience. This (TV) film is the result. The theatre registration has been intercut with historical archive footage and music.