Huey Newton was born to Joseph Calvin and Daisy Ocie Newton in Oakland, California. He attended junior high school in Berkeley, CA. His father was a barber and his mother a domestic servant, working for the Toledos. Huey's childhood was spent in the Oakland, CA ghetto of West Oakland
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This was an extremely tough neighborhood for children to grow up in because of the high level of violence and drugs in the area. Huey is one of sixteen children. His father Joseph Newton left when he was very young and never came back.
Huey's mother worked hard to provide for her family by cleaning houses, doing laundry at hotels, and selling homemade fruit pies door-to-door. Huey's relationship with his mother was very close and strong throughout his life until her death in 1972. Huey attended Merritt Junior High School in Oakland after moving to Oakland in 1943, when he was in the ninth grade.
His interest in sports began at this time; he played football, basketball, and baseball while attending Merritt Junior High School. He continued his education at Merritt College (now Merritt College Prep) where he graduated from high school in 1945 at age 16.