Debut of Huey Newton bust spotlights an influential figure

By AARON MORRISON
Associated Press

A bust of Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Percy Newton is scheduled to be unveiled in Oakland, California, on Sunday, the first permanent public art piece honoring the party in the city of its founding. Newton remains a divisive figure. Many people still dismiss him as the leader of a band of beret-wearing, gun-toting hustlers — and no doubt would deplore the prospect of an American city memorializing him with a statue.  Still, many love him to this day, venerating him as a man who sought to unite all Black, impoverished and oppressed people against racism. His influence on the Black Lives Matter movement is undeniable.