Retired basketball player Matt Barnes is spending his free time in the movie business. With biopics dropping every other minute on some of our favorite black leaders, the former athlete took to Instagram this weekend to announce plans for a biopic on the one and only Huey P. Newton.
On Sunday (Feb. 11), Barnes announced the project presumably titled Power To The People has been greenlit. At the moment there’s no known production company behind it, but Barnes is looking to lead the project. He also tagged The New Edition Story star Keith Powers in the post, hinting that he’ll play the Black Panther leader. Powers played Ronnie DeVoe in the BET biopic and recently starred on Freeform’s drama series Famous In Love.
Newton was the co-founder and defense minster of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960’s. As one of the first leaders of democratic socialism, Newton’s views on black independence and community service was met with love from the black community and criticism from mainstream.
After spending time in Cuba, he returned to the states to complete a Ph.D. in social philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1980. In his later years, he struggled with drugs which led to his death.
Barnes is good for sharing important news on social media. In December 2017, he announced his retirement after playing for nine teams in the span of 14 years. He alluded that he’ll still be making moves off the court, saying he’ll be a billionaire before reaching 50.
“You telling me I can dress like this for business meetings & make more money off the court than I made ON?? & spend more time with my kids??!!” he said.
We’ll be waiting to hear more info on this interesting project.
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