--- On Thu, 7/31/08, rudolph lewis wrote:

From: rudolph lewis
Subject: RE: [blackantiwar] I Apologize
To: "Marvin X Jackmon"
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 4:07 PM

I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head

Marvin, it is difficult to follow you. One minute you want to go with Farrakhan and separate, to God knows where. Then you want to follow Baraka and follow Obama. Then you paraphrase the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who saw no value in voting in elections at all.

Pray God, tell me, what value is an apology from an American government, which has on the whole neglected the plight of most African Americans for centuries? Don't we need something more substantive, first? Consider the following facts about the Negro condition from the research of Catholic Charities:



• The highest rates of poverty are among children, especially children of color. The poverty rate for white children is 10 percent, while it is 28 percent for Latino children, 27 percent for Native-American children, and 33 percent for African-American children.6



• African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans are about three times as

likely to live in poverty as are whites. While the poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites is 8

percent, the rate for African Americans is 24.1 percent, for Hispanics, 21.8 percent, and

for Native Americans, 23.2 percent.7



• The most extreme poverty in the United States is concentrated in specific geographical

areas such as the urban cores of major cities and Native American reservations. These areas of concentrated poverty are the result of decades of policies that confined the impoverished to these economically isolated areas.



• Finally, we also noted the stark racial disparity in the distribution of wealth in the United States . White families not only have on average 10 times the net worth of families of color, but also between 1998 and 2001, their wealth grew by 20 percent, while the net worth of African American households actually declined during that same period.8

Thus the major demographic shifts of the present and near future force us to confront the

unfinished business of our nation’s struggles for racial justice and inclusion. As one authoritative study notes, “The color question is pervasive in our lives, and it is an explicit tension or at least subtext in countless policy debates.”9

The ghosts of our legacy of racial inequality continue to haunt us. Incidents of racial violence and protests against alleged brutalities; the racial inequities in the nation’s criminal justice system; the racial disparities present in health care delivery and access; the continuing controversies over affirmative action; the flood of complaints to government agencies over racial discrimination in employment and promotion; the popularity of “English only” initiatives; the presence of “gated communities” in our residential neighborhoods; the acrimonious debates over immigration policy; and the hate crimes perpetrated against those deemed different provide ample evidence that managing our demographic transition and forging a new American identity will not be easy. We undertake this task burdened by a history of racial injustice, social intolerance, and cultural privilege.


http://www.catholic charitiesusa. org/NetCommunity /Document. Doc?id=614






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:47:51 -0700
From: jmarvinx@yahoo. com
Subject: Fw: Re: [blackantiwar] I Apologize
To: wade2woods@yahoo. com; wordslanger@ gmail.com; ramal.lamar@ gmail.com; reggiegeneral@ yahoo.com; ronald_bentley@ att.net; rraveneau@gmail. com; rudolphlewis@ hotmail.com; ibespirit@yahoo. com; goddess_isis_ loving@yahoo. com; drbemc@sbcglobal. net; florbella@earthlink .net; Sheenacj1@gmail. com; damon.powell@ comcast.net; kwan.Booth@gmail. .com; KALAMU@aol.com; nattyreb@comcast. net; sfocityboyfilms@ yahoo.com; simplyregal@ gmail.com; simplyrose2@ yahoo.com; alibobama3@comcast. net; weap@weap..org; mawusi777@sbcglobal .net; maybellesboy@ yahoo.com; Mrdaveyd@aol. com; mreynolds@bayareane wsgroup.com; el_my_7@yahoo. com; ebonique77@yahoo. com; drasheed2@aol. com; thesoulschool@ yahoo.com; bluepride@hotmail. com; kheperashani@ gmail.com; atouchoflife@ sbcglobal. net; lily-suzyg@hotmail. com; arrowhead5040@ yahoo.com; aryjenkins@att. net




--- On Thu, 7/31/08, Marvin X Jackmon wrote:

From: Marvin X Jackmon
Subject: Re: [blackantiwar] I Apologize
To: blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 3:11 PM

All nations move in their self interest except so-called Negroes--they are more concerned with others than themselves, thus their status on the lowest rung of humanity. For sure, Native Americans, Asians and others look out for themselves. Here in Oakland, the Latino city councilman looked out for his people and upgraded their neighborhood. After three black mayors, the black community is in chaos, mentally, physically and spiritually. The mayors sold out to white interests. As Sun Ra taught, you wanne be so right you wrong.But the so-called negro is so open hearted (the very reason we fell six thousand years ago .in Kemet, according to Chancellor Williams in Destruction of African Civilization) . We let all the strangers come into our house until they took it over. Remember how people let drug gangs use their houses then before they knew it the drug gangs threw them out and set up shop. On an idealistic, romantic and spiritual level it is proper to dream like Martin Luther King, Jr., but in the final analysis, the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad will prove more practical. Call it narrow minded nationalism, but who do you think the Chinese care about first? Do you think they give a damn if negroes get a gallon of gas? Do they care if Africans get any minerals from their own land? Marvin X

--- On Thu, 7/31/08, Gerald Ali. wrote:

From: Gerald Ali.
Subject: Re: [blackantiwar] I Apologize
To: blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 12:56 PM

Original Message ----- From: Marvin X Jackmon '''''But today America apologized for slavery, although the next step is reparations or payment for damages.'''' The European slaves, the Chinese slaves, the biggest group of all - the native Americans, and the Africans, that's a lot of reparations. ''''We suggest emptying the US treasury into the national bank of North American Africans''' And how do you suggest paying the rest ? Do you think there will come a time when you get beyond self centeredness ? What about the Africans, not only the ones in Africa, but also the ones in the Americas who also were slave sellers or holders ? What about all the European women, especially the British, the bonded slaves, from which many afro Americans are descended ? One can talk till king-dum-cum about ''black americans'' but lets remember that the majority are 'mixed'. [ Africans have searched the whole of Africa, looking for a person with actual 'black skin', never found one, every shade of brown, from the darkest to the lightest, they have searched everywhere for centuries, sent people out to scour the earth, looked in ever cave, climbed to the tops of ever mountain; the British colour coded the people throughout their imperial possessions, makes one wonder why so many are still British based in the way they think ] [If anyone does find a ''black skinned person'' please let the Africans know, it will lead to the biggest tourist boom ever seen or imagined, as multi millions of Africans sail the ocean to see the sight. It'll be the greatest fleet of boats ever seen on any ocean, the harbour of the Americas will be chock a block with boats.] So as they have ''European blood'' themselves, then they must also share the 'complicity in slavery', the inheritance from their euro ancestors. Cassius Clay, Mohammed Ali, Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, Michael Jackson [the original] and so on, all mixed. There is only one true way of full reparation for all, give the land back to its rightful owners, the native Americans, they held the land in common ownership, communists, then all other groups make their peace with them, and then let them guide, following the principles of communist society, as to how it shall be utilised by all. The alternative of course, is repatriation of all ''black americans'' to Africa, it would only be right to make amends to the native americans, would you like to live in Africa, do you have any skills that would help it to develope, remember that drugs and acohol are not part of African society in its majority, nor the loose women, or the transvestites, get your bags packed. '''white persons - refused - this passage aloud in peer group sessions. ???? Some were deeply offended that I would ask them to read such words since in their minds they have not benefited from white privilege, thus have nothing to apologize for.. But we know the truth and we know they are in denial, a clear symptom of the addictive personality. ''' You are also in denial.They weren't even born then, they have as much responsibility as children. Do you not also benefit from ''white privilege'', the lands belong to the native Americans, how did you get your academic education ?The native Americans had their lands stolen, but they were also stolen from the lands, stop self centred whining.Talk also about slavery in general, through the ages, but also specific to the Americas, the European slaves, the Chinese slaves, the biggest group of all - the native Americans, and the Africans and any others. In Peace to Marvin and all. Gerald.------------ --------- --------- --------- ----
----- Original Message ----- From: Marvin X Jackmon To: blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com ; Nathan Hare ; drjuliahare@ pacbell.net ; falim@aol.com ; Nefertitti Jackmon ; ajackmon@hotmail. com Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 7:48 AMSubject: [blackantiwar] I Apologize
Time is moving fast these days. On Sunday at the San Francisco Theater Festival, I lambasted white Americans from not apologizing for slavery and neo-slavery. I noted that Australia recently apologized for the genocide of the Aboriginals, and France apologized for colonialism, although she said there were benefits for the colonized, revealing her residue of white supremacy.


But today America apologized for slavery, although the next step is reparations or payment for damages. We suggest emptying the US treasury into the national bank of North American Africans, along with the recognition of our people as sovereign, independent and free of these united snakes of america.


Below is the apology I presented in my book. It is Step Five of Thirteen Steps to recover from the addiction to white supremacy. To date, white persons have refused to read this passage aloud in peer group sessions. Some were deeply offended that I would ask them to read such words since in their minds they have not benefited from white privilege, thus have nothing to apologize for.. But we know the truth and we know they are in denial, a clear symptom of the addictive personality. Thus, someone must do an intervention because they are delusional and in need of detox. Maybe Tim Wise and others like him can assist white people from departing that airless room they live in. Perhaps the apology from the US House of Representatives is a start.



From How To Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy by Dr. M (Marvin X)




...I apologize for all the white people, those in the south and those in the north of the United States, for their centuries of white supremacy actions against innocent North American African children, adults and elders, whom they treated with hatred, contempt and scorn, and even today hold such feelings when the Africans have done nothing to earn their bitterness except try to be loyal citizens who have fought in every war since the American revolution to defend this do good, rotten, corrupt and hateful society against all its enemies, although her worse enemy is herself, yes, the man in the mirror.


I apologize for all the lynchingʼs, beatings and torture of Africans in jails and prisons throughout this land, which occurred because those in power were under the spell of white supremacy thinking and harbor within them a sick desire to dominate and exploit those under their care. We ask them to confess their sins and ask for mercy.


I apologize for lower class white people, so-called white trash or trailer house trash, who have been duped into thinking they are superior to blacks but are often treated worse than blacks by upper class whites. The poor whites need a healing and understanding that they can only end their class oppression by uniting with the blacks rather than continuing their ignorant racist behavior for the benefit of the upper class white supremacy rulers. Lower class whites suffer wage slavery and the outsourcing of jobs just as black workers, or for that matter, even middle class white workers. For them to maintain racist attitudes that blacks want their jobs or that white power will ever come to them in their ignorant condition is poppycock. White power or white supremacy is strictly a ruling class family affair. Lower class whites do not and never will control the economic reigns or the political reigns, for such power is securely in the hands of the most intelligent devils on the planet, with the exception of George Bush, a mentally retarded person who made it to the presidency through family connections. Even his mother decried his entry into politics. I apologize... .


How to Recover from the Addiction of White Supremacy is available from Black Bird Press, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley, CA 94702, $19.95..

REPLY;A TALE OF TWO SISTAS


Marvin, I like your analytical review very much. It speaks to my own sentiments. But many black women are unwilling to listen to such criticisms from black men. It is good that Ayodele and Julia are varying from the decades old black-man-attack syndrome. Feminist ideas, including notions of paternal oppression and sexism, have been used in drive-by male attack encounters muchtoo long, to the detriment of both genders. The black man from many quarters is viewed as Enemy No. 1. Hearing shuts down with charges of “excuses” and failure. Black male politics has no feet is believed too easily. Barack stated it: black women are heroes; black men are irresponsible. But it is a stereotype, reactionary politics, only a partial story.

The greater strategy is divide-and-conquer. The system and the laws and politicians have contributed to this I’m-better-off-without-you mode of thought. The only way a black man, unless they are their sons, can dialogue with many black women with respect is to have lots of money or lots of power or both, that is, if you are the Icon of Success. Thus the great popularity of Obama among the majority of black women; he has combined both—money and power. And Then there are the added spice of charm and beauty. He is the man lacking in their own personal psychology (fulfillment). The full package.

This gender excess--conflict--has thus brought us to this condition of “anorexia,” "death from starvation, i.e., the loss of desire" for one another. Black men also have their own form of this psychosexual disease, moocho macho, a denial of sensitivity, of softness--thus the popularity of being a G, a gangster, among so many young black boys. These reactionary modes of behavior abound in our communities. The social connectedness, the fabric of sociality across gender lines in our communities is exceedingly frayed. How we strengthen the quilt that is our lives, our culture begins with these kinds of open and honest looks at the behavior of black men with black men and black men with black women in our daily encounters. Greater retrenchment is not the answer, we must gather together the unwound threads and do the necessary patchwork.

I congratulate Ayodele and Julia Hare on their wonderful introspection.

— Rudy

bsu book project

The fact that this project has taken forty years tells me a few things. First, no academic negro can be trusted to do this since it did not take rocket scientists to understand the value of history--and do we not have a plethora of negroes with phds in history? What is the excuse? The fact is that the white academics have written our history better than we have, e.g., Smithurst's The Black Arts Movement. I don't know any revolutionary scholars, maybe you do, but where is a revolutionary black studies program in America or Africa for that matter, or the Caribbean? Then to add insult to injury to your own revolutionary tradition of do for self, you are determined to have the white man publish your book. This is an insult to the grass roots nature of our struggle. If you are not planning to write something in the tradition of David Walker's Appeal, I want no part of this project. Right, I care nothing about the academic tradition of WEB, though I honor him and cannot ignore his contribution. The project smells of a sense of inferiority on the part of you founders and a need to be accepted by the very negroes who are guilty of gross revisionism and sold out the struggle for tenure and whatever sexual favors come with it. So unless you are prepared to write a revolutionary text in the manner of David Walker or Malcolm X, leave me alone. I would rather see the book written in ebonics than academic gobbledygook just to sound intelligent. These negroes have enough material right now to free our people, enough books, enough videos, but they have no intention to freely distribute this material in the hood, to the prisons and on the street corners so the boys and girls in the hood can join the struggle to free themselves from themselves. Even our brother from SFSU who recently joined the ancestors, Asa HIlliard, was of this mentality when I questioned him in the presence of Wade Nobles at the celebration of Nobles'30 years fucking up black studies. No, they rejected the attitude of Ayatola Khomani who sent free literature from Paris to Iran enabling the revolution to happen. We have the power to spread consciousness in the same manner but negroes are concerned about royalities not consciousness and freedom. So go for it. Join up with the rats and be remembered with them as such. Marvin X

My Dear, Barbara Ann Teer


Barbara Ann Teer was among the pioneers of the Black Arts Movement, especially as one of the theoreticians of ritual theatre, that attempt to Africanize and thus spiritualize black theatre in the West. Ritual theatre sought to elicit the same energy in theatre that is created in the Christian, Islamic and traditional African religions, the same call and response, the merging of actors and audience, removing the separation, the suit and tie mentality of those who imagine theatre an exercise of the mind but not the soul and body.

The Last Poets came together at her Harlem loft back in 1968. We were all there, Sonia, Amiri, Askia, Haki, June Jordan, Mae Jackson, Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders, Milford Graves, the Aylers,Don Pullins, Babatunde, Serjiman. What the New Lafayette Theatre created under director Robert MacBeth and playwright Ed Bullins, was similar to what Barbara did at her National Black Theatre. It was the type of drama I created in my myth-ritual Resurrection of the Dead. And Barbara, as we all were, was influenced by the myth/ritual theatre of Sun Ra. And Amiri Baraka showed us the power of ritual drama in Slave Ship and A Black Mass. And who better than Milford Graves taught us the power of the ritual drum?



Barbara stayed the course after many of us threw in the towel. Her productions were transformations of the human spirit. The idea of a national black theatre is yet needed as we aspire to salvage the North American African in the last days of the West. She has given us an idea and an institution upon which to build our national theatre. She even has a street named in her honor. So let us rekindle her spirit of theatre as ritual, of theatre as consciousness raiser.

--Marvin X

www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
--- On Fri, 7/25/08, TheBlackList[Kwasi Akyeampong] wrote:


From: TheBlackList[Kwasi Akyeampong]
Subject: [TheBlackList] Honoring Dr. Barbara Ann Teer (Sun & Mon)
To: "theblacklist2"
Date: Friday, July 25, 2008, 2:07 PM






Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's
Pioneering Vision Leaves a Cultural Legacy

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, Founder, Visionary and CEO of the National Black Theatre , Inc., made her transition peacefully at home Monday, July 21, 2008. Dr. Teer was an icon in the healing art of Black Theatre. Leaving behind a lucrative show business career in 1967, she came to Harlem in 1968 and founded the National Black Theatre (NBT). This began a 40-year passion that changed the cultural landscape of the theatrical world. She created a new cultural art form by blending cultural appreciation, performing arts and community advocacy. In 1983, she expanded that vision with the purchase of a 64,000 sq ft building located at 125 Street & Fifth Avenue. There she created a thriving cultural and business complex housing the largest New Sacred Yoruba Art collection in the western hemisphere. Through a commitment to her vision and purpose, the National Black Theatre is a world-class institution that inspires cultural transformation, social change, human re-development, historic relevance, and futuristic innovation.

Throughout her life, she was always on the cutting edge as the world paced one step behind her trail blazing vision and provocative stage productions. As a former dancer, actress, producer, director, writer, cultural entrepreneur, and more recently officially an African Chieftain, she has won countless awards and received numerous Honorary Doctorate Degrees. However, what mattered most to her was spiritual, self-empowerment. She was known for providing a cultural incubator and training forum for artists in all walks of life. Her commitment through the National Black Theater was to offer an alternative learning environment where she attracted people from around the world whose work she impacted and showcased.

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer loved Harlem and took a stand for it against the odds. As much as she loved Harlem, she loved her birth home, East St. Louis, Illinois. Dr. Teer leaves in spirit and love two children: Sade and Michael Lythcott and a host of long-term staff, friends and family. Owens Funeral Home will host her transition in New York. She will be released in perpetuity when returned to her home town for her interment with her family who preceded her. In her own words: "The only thing you can take to the bank is love." Love is the currency, the vibratory frequency that Dr. Teer's spirit leaves for us to continue. She's given the world her legacy as a treasure chest of authentic, unprecedented achievements that will stand forever as a tribute to her vision and tireless work. Now and forever more, her legacy and love will live on to impact generations to come. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the National Black Theatre, Inc.

Dr. Teer will lie in state at the National Black Theatre's headquarters at 2031 Fifth Avenue (between 125th & 126th Streets, in Harlem, NY) where the public can pay their final respects starting at 1:00 pm on Sunday, July 27, 2008.

On Monday, July 28, 2008 at 1:00pm there will be a procession from the National Black Theatre to Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive (between 120th and 122nd Streets). Services will begin at 3:00pm.

In Dr. Teer's honor, at 9:00pm there will be a fireworks display by the Grucci Family on the Hudson River near Riverside Church.

For more information: www.nationalblacktheatre.org


Special Note:
Sonia Sanchez and Amiri Baraka
will speak at the service
Monday, July 28, 2008

The Black Arts Movement in San Francisco Theatre Festival


As we in the Black Arts Movement mourn and celebrate the transition of our sister, Barbara Ann Teer, to the ancestors, it is merely a coincidence--if you believe in such things--that the West coast BAM will perform a variety of works at the San Francisco Theatre Festival, Sunday, July 27, from 11am til 5 pm. It was a son of BAM, Geoffrey Grier of Recovery Theatre San Francisco who urged the producers of the festival to include elements of BAM and its descendants, so we have scenes from Geoffrey’s play The Spot, Ayodele Nzinga's Death by Love, Amiri Baraka's Sisyphus Syndrome, and Marvin X free-style monologue based on his book HOW TO RECOVER FROM THE ADDICTION TO WHITE SUPREMACY.

Grier and Nzinga are products of Marvin X's Recovery Theatre production of his One Day In The Life. Grier portrayed Black Panther cofounder Huey P. Newton and Nzinga co-directed and was the Crack Ho, in this docudrama of addiction and recovery based on the life of Marvin X.

His actors, as he urged them to do, have gone on to establish their own theatres in the BAM tradition of theatre as therapy and healing. Grier, after learning of Sister Teer's transition, called Marvin X to tell him her passing made him realize his mission that X tried to teach him for several years. He is rededicating himself to the original mission of X's Recovery Theatre. In fact, Grier's The Spot deals with blacks in the hood and those caught in the criminal justice system. Yes, a subject and problem in need of healing solutions.

Ayodele's subject is AIDS and how it impacts the family. Thus, these children of BAM are squarely in the tradition whether they know it or not. Sometimes artists get caught in their egos and forget the origin of their mission. Ayodele may be more humble than Grier in acknowledging their mentor, Marvin X. She is doing her PhD thesis on his role in the Black Arts Movement.

Other North American Africans in the Festival include Michael Lange (brother of Love Boat’s Ted Lange) and Afro-Solo, a black gay company.

If you can’t make the festival, catch Marvin X next Saturday, August 2, 4pm in Oakland at the African American Library/Museum, 14th and Martin Luther King, Jr., downtown Oakland. He will discuss and sign his latest book HOW TO RECOVER FROM THE ADDICTION TO WHITE SUPREMACY, A PAN AFRICAN 12 STEP MODEL. Call 510-355-6339 for more information. Call if you would like to know when the next Pan African Mental Health Peer Group meets.

The San Francisco Theatre Festival is at the Yerba Buena Gardens, 3rd and Mission, downtown San Francisco. The event is free.

Lil Joe Replies to Amiri Baraka On the Wiemar Republic


Hello Marvin,

I am presently doing research and analysis of the so-called International
Court as an agency of U.S./EU imperialism, along with G6 and the UN
Security Council in attacking Sudan. I will however present a few thoughts
pn the subject raised concerning the traditional historical comparison of
Germany in the 1900s and early 30s to the U.S. today.

For the moment, I will say this, that both the German Social-Democratic Party
and the Communist Party of Germany were created by the working class and
based on trade unions. Thus, I will show the Social-Democratic Party in
Germany in contrast to the U.S. Democratic Party, that has always been
a capitalist class party.

The Democratic Party was originated by slave owners, capitalists
has never been in the Democratic Party the equivalents of the Social -
Democratic Labor Party, the Independent Socialist Party, or the
Communist Party of Germany. Predicated upon their respective class
and national basis, there were never members and leaders in the
Democratic Party comparable to Social Democrat and Communist
party's leaders and authors such as August Bebel, Wilhelm Liebknecht,
Eduard Bernstein, Karl Kautsky, Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemberg,
Clara Zetkin, Paul Levy, Karl Korsch ...

According to German workers and socialists of the time, the problem
wasn't that the German Social-Democrats leadership refused to
form a united front with the Communist Party &0r its Trotskyist,
in a working class common front against the bourgeois class, and
its political representative Bruning government of the bourgeois State.
The problem was that the Social-Democrats instead campaigned
for Hindenburg as the lesser evil vis-a-vis the Nazis and Hitler:

"In those years (1930-32) the German Socialists, and the trade
unions that they controlled, were addicted to the disastrous policy
of the 'lesser evil'. Instead of mobilising the working class against
the growing threat of Fascist dictatorship, they tried to keep Hitler
out of office by supporting the reactionary Brüning administration,
and by conniving at the anti-democratic measures of that government.
In the presidential elections of March 1932 they helped to bring about
the re-election of Hindenburg, who less than a year later sold out to
Hitler." http://marxists. anu.edu.au/ history/etol/ revhist/backiss/
vol3/no1/kisexp. html

The Democratic Party has never been the working class party
-On the contrary, the Democratic Party was founded by the capitalist James
Madison and the slave owner Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was the principle
author of the Declaration of Independence, based on Locke's political
philosophy of right of rebellion, but Madison was the principle author of the
Constitution of the United States, which reversed the revolutionary sounding
rhetoric of the Declaration of independence and became the legal document
of dominance of American politics by bourgeois and slave holders class
property formations.

Of course you know the Constitution, based on Montesquieu's political
arguments for the myth of "separation of powers" that gave the masses a
semblance of political power by sending people to the House of Representatives
by affordable campaigns, which the Senate and Office of the Presidency could
only be won by the rich and their political representatives, and the Judiciary
comes from these same classes of wealth and power, with the Senate having
Constitutional authority to cancel House legislation. And the President has
Constitutional authority to veto. To guarantee that the American republic
never become a democracy - mob-rule - the Judiciary hierarchy is established
to "defend the rights of the minority" [read: the property rights of the top 1-20%
that today own 84% of the nations wealth, leaving 16% spread among the
bottom 80%]. To prevent the "tyranny of the majority", the founders of the
Democratic Party set up this political system of subordination of authority,
and by the writing of their Constitution, set up the judiciary generally and the
Supreme Court in particular to knock down any threat as "unconstitutional".

It was the Democratic Party of Thomas Jefferson which came up with the
"principle of states rights. The next major Democrat was the slave owner
and Indian killer Andrew Jackson. Prior to the American Civil War, Stephen
A. Douglas, of Illinois represented the slave power in the Senate, and opposed
After the Civil War the Democrats were the Dixiecrats, and at the same time
were reactionary racists in the North. In 1924, of the years Baraka mentioned
concerning the civil war in Germany in which political parties had armed
detachments fighting in the streets, the American Democratic Party convention
could not even pass a resolution denouncing the Ku Klux Klan!

The German Social-Democratic Party and German Communist Party were
both socialist parties with the same historical and theoretical basis in
the International Working-Men's Association and Marxist socialism, which
was the basis of their ideological and political splits in the 1920s-30s. It
was on this basis that the United Front between them in opposition to
the NAZI party was even possible. They were two working class parties
fighting the capitalist state. The differences between the Social-Democrats,
the Communists and the Trotskyists was how to correctly fight the
economic disintegration ( (depression, inflation) and the capitalist class
and their bureaucratic- military state machine.

That was the bureaucratic military state taken over by the Nazis. The "fall"
of the Germany's Wiemar Republic only meant that the already existing
bourgeois bureaucratic- military state was given to the Nazi Party to
govern/ manage on behalf of these capitalists, officially when Germany'
President, Paul von Hindenburg handed the authority to govern that
state by the Nazis, in 1933 by making Adolph Hitler the government
Chancellor. The same members of the bureaucratic- military state in
existence being governed by the Wiemar Republican government was
the one governed by the Nazis - the same state bureaucries and military
hierarchal chain of command.

The most powerful, economically dominate class is the most powerful,
politically dominate class. The bureaucratic- military machine is the
state. Whether the government formation is monarchy or so-called
dictatorship, aristocracy or oligarchy, timocracy or democracy, is
determined by the nature of State, depending upon the needs of the
economically dominate class. In other words the class content of
which a society is composed determine the political form of the state's
forms government.



In Germany the working class left cadres formed the Communist Party,
The Social-Democratic Party was base on the trade union bureaucracy,
though to the right of the Communist Party, it was a party with working
class legitimacy, and that was the basis for a united front with Communists .

The debates among workers at the taverns polemics in the various worker's
socialist and communist press was how the proletariat should respond to the
depression engendered mass unemployment and market inflation, that
was making life hell for the working classes and panic in the bourgeois
classes - the industrial bourgeoisie, the owners of natural resources and
mines that fed those industries with raw materials, and the masses of the
petty-bourgeoisie were all in a fit of fear of the working classes, even more
so than the losses in production and distribution resulting from depression and
inflation.

At the more superficial levels the issue was alternatives to the German political
crisis, it was superficial in that it leveled in the superstructure seperate and
apart from the natural, industrial and finance capital - the economic base.

The Democratic Party in the United States cannot be
compared to Socialist and Communist workers parties in
Germany. Rather, based both upon its origin and history,
and the capitalists who finance it against workers class parties,
the Democratic Party is more comparable to the German Nazi Party,
in that they are both Capitalist class parties. In 1924, the Democratic
Party national Convention was as racist and anti-Semitic as the
German Nazi Party, in that they couldn't even successfully
pass a resolution denouncing the Ku Klux Klan.
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Klanbake

Yet, even if were were to play along with the Democratic Party is needed
to defend communist and socialist workers and minorities from the
Republican "fascists", still, Baraka could no more defend the American
workers from the Republican Party than Hindenburg "defended" the Wiemar
Republic. Rather, like Hindenburg Baraka will do what is in the interest
of the capitalist class to do - including turning the reins of government over
to a "fascist dictator".

This in brief this is my response, Marvin.
Take care.

Lil Joe

Plato Negro Gives Dollars to Oakland Poor


Plato arrived at his 14th and Broadway open air classroom and was soon inundated with people in need of one dollar or two at most. He didn't hesitate to reach into his pocket and hand them a dollar. Plato, who is poor himself, wondered why people think he has money to give out, since he is hustling himself, although he probably gives away more books than he sells, and his motto is, "Don't hustle the hustler." But when the people continued to come in need of a dollar, he didn't refuse them. Some wanted a dollar to buy a hamburger from Burger King, some wanted money for bus fare.

Plato thought about what his elder, John Douimbia, told him about people during the depression of the 1930s. He said people would tell him they needed money, so he told them to meet him on a certain corner. When they met, John said fear would overcome them so rather than go hustle with John, they would ask for thirty cents to buy a bowl of chili beans and go their way, afraid to hustle in a big way. John noted that not every one was poor and without during the depression, the hustlers drove new cars and wore new suits because they were fearless.

Paul Cobb, publisher of the Oakland Post came by while Plato was talking with attorney Walter Riley, father of rapper Boots Riley of Boots and the Coup. When Paul was informed the San Francisco Bayview Newspaper was going out of print, Paul said he had a plan if the publishers would contact him. Riley called the editors but they were adamant about doing the paper online. Riley came back by from his law office and Plato told him he had been giving out dollars. Riley handed him a twenty to give out.

Author Timothy Reed stopped by with her man friend, Alex. Timothy, who suffers manic depression, is the daughter of Ishmael Reed. Plato is empathetic since his son committed suicide as a result of manic depression. Fanon and Dr. Nathan Hare say manic depression is a situational disorder caused by oppression. Timothy is a fighter who is working on her second book.


A man came to Plato’s table saying he had just broken up with his wife of 18 years. He said she has been stealing from him all these years but he finally caught her hands in his pocket. She is a Crack head and he was too for a time, but he has had enough. He stood around the table because he didn’t want to go home, but couldn’t figure out what else to do. He mentioned getting with another woman but felt she would be the same just have a different name. He said he needed a drink, then maybe he could go home to face “the music.” Plato gave him a DVD of his recovery drama One Day In the Life, and told him to show it to his wife.

Obama & The Tragic Errors of The Weimar Republic
By Amiri Baraka
Jul 16, 2008, 15:04






The post Word War I journey of Germany from an empire, which was overthrown, and then a democratic republic, and finally the overthrow of that republic and the emergence and domination of Hitler’s Nazi fascism, is important for us to understand. Because some of the facts of these years still apply to the contemporary United States.


With the withering Depression that had set in in the late 20’s in addition to Germany’s war losses, when the international stock market collapsed (U.S. Wall St.) in 1929, a worldwide Depression of staggering proportions set in. And it is this Depression and the rise and fall of governments in Germany that set the stage for the final takeover by Hitler and the fascists—and finally the beginning of WW2.


Although McCain’s adviser Gramm says this is a “mental recession,” unless he’s referring to himself and McCain, today’s depression in the U.S. is not just mental. We shd also factor in the outright theft of the last two elections, the general public bankruptcy of the Republican party, which has been playing and still are playing a “White card”. (The Democrats have not won the majority of White male voters since John Kennedy!)


There is the spreading foreclosure menace of the subprime (fraud ridden) mortgages, now at 6,000 foreclosures a day, the closing of the huge banking mortgage regime, Bear-Sterns. The Bush cabal has agreed to revalue Bear Stearns stocks so that the historically infamous speculator JPMorgan can get a better payday. No aid for the people losing their homes at terrifying rates. Today the government announced it had a new plan to save more banks. If there’s no recession why the plan to save “unthreatened” banks?


Suffice it to say there is a deepening Depression in the US, with the nation going from a surplus at the end of the Clinton regime to today’s deficit, much of it caused by the $10-billion- a-month war in Iraq. Even many straight-up backward Americans are convinced of the bold corruption that is the real cause of the war and spiraling gas prices since it is the oil swindlers who hold state power in the U.S. While they talk bad about the “Arabs,” the Bush group is clearly in bed with the Saudis, Arab Emirates, with Dubai now becoming a financial capital to compete with Wall St. and London.


There is no doubt that U.S. forces are losing in the Middle East, just as they got wasted in Viet Nam. The whole ugly scam of removing oil billions from Iraq ( all those contracts for privatization of Iraqi oil went to the big US oilies) based on the 911 episode, the reality of which is still covered with crude lies. But now at scam’s end, with a raging depression setting in and a war-incurred deficit climbing into the trillions, the stage is set for stunning rightward surge that will perhaps bring street fighting to the U.S. and a final toppling that will make the current shrinking of the dollar, .60 per Euro, seem mild. China already holds U.S. paper, the U.S. is China’s top debtor. IndyMac Bank has just failed in California.


So this is a time much like that in Germany, during the last phase of the Weimar Democratic Republic. Ostensibly a democratic republic, the Depression caused widespread unemployment and great public unrest. And as the curtain began to rise for fascist takeover, (See Brecht’s Berlin) the country, especially the large cities like Berlin, were inundated with pornography, sex crimes, business and political scandals and street fighting, usually between the rising fascists and the communists.


What brought the democratic era to an end was a split between the communists and the social democrats, i.e., the left and the near left and the liberals, which permitted Hitler’s National Socialists in a coalition with the conservatives and nationalists to win the election, even though the left-center coalition had more voters objectively. It was the split which allowed the right to consolidate power.


Recently in the U.S. presidential campaign we have seen two tendencies, the one to vilify and distort Obama from the right, e.g., the recent New Yorker cover described as “satirical” with Obama as a Muslim, his wife as a machine toting militant with an American flag in the fireplace and Osama bin laden in a portrait of honor on the wall. It is objectively a message from McCain, the U.S. Right and the Israelis.


But as well there is the tendency on the presumed left and the social democrats and people styling themselves “progressives” to attack Obama for moving to the right, thereby disappointing some very vocal would-be Obama voters. One woman publicized prominently in the NY Times said now she “hated him.” But as I have said repeatedly this is an imperialist country, with two imperialist parties and a media controlled directly by the 6/10ths of 1 percent of the people that own the land wealth factories, the means of production.


There is no way Obama is even in the presidential race condemning Israel or embracing Cuba. Not to know this is not to know where you are or where you have been for the last 40 years. But even with this clear motion to the center for the purposes of the general election, McCain is still a more backward and a more dangerous candidate and exactly the kind of right leaning militarist that would fit the paradigm for the weak chancellors during Weimar’s last throes that President Hindenburg removed and then appointed Hitler.


It is this split between the left and near left that is being exploited by the right with war and Depression threatening to dump this whole nation on its head, so that Obama will be defeated, McCain elected and with the McCain opening plummet the country headlong into the far, far right. Bush 2 has already obviously set the stage for this. Those elections were stolen out of desperation. The fact that Gore and Kerry were such weak liberals, tied clearly and obviously to the ruling class of this imperialist state allowed that theft to take place with minimum real struggle.


So that is the real struggle unfolding before us.. First, to oppose the empty idealism which allows the elitist base to claim to represent the masses but actually have as little to do with them as possible. Allowing seemingly intelligent people to throw their votes away on McKinney or even the racial chauvinist, Nader, thus formalizing a hole in an actual progressive constituency, which allowed Bush 2 to seize power in 2000.


We must also oppose the absolutising of Obama’s progressive stance and,with that, drawing away from him as he gets closer to the general election and tacks toward the middle. This would be the other aspect of the tragic Weimar breakup of the fragile democratic coalition that caused millions to die in fascist purges, concentration camps, or World War 2.


On the other hand, it should be part of our campaign tasks to create a document of planks of progressive character to submit to Obama and publish and popularize this as well, to exert what pressure we can bring to bear on the campaign and publicly for a reversal of Bush’s neo-fascist creations, war, Depression, unemployment, violation of democratic rights, diplomatic isolation from the rest of the world, a general weakening morally and politically and economically of the country.

Plato Negro On Amiri Baraka


If Baraka's analysis and comparison of Germany's Weimar Republic with coming events in America is correct, we are in for some dark days and need to do some serious planning for a post-fascist United States, if such is the will of the people. I will rely on Lil Joe to confirm the accuracy of Baraka's comparison, although I don't doubt for a moment Baraka's reading of history. Of course the priority is to get Obama elected and protected by the masses in a united front, otherwise the fascists will slip into power and become entrenched before our very eyes while we engage in Left wing polemics and get lost in the morass of ideological purity. Indeed, the winds of change are rapidly altering national and international events, especially global finance and the new technology. Thus, we must move cautiously in the political arena, making sure we are not guilty of starry eyed idealism and romanticism.

We must understand how infantile thinking and actions can derail the political football that has suddenly dropped into our hands with the Obama drama. He may not be the perfect man, but he is the man with the eyes of the world upon him, thus we may be in for a paradigm shift if we move carefully and conscious of political history as Baraka suggests.

We cannot be reactionary regarding every move Obama makes as he breaks into the glass ceiling of white supremacy. Of course it is a dangerous game he is playing, and know for a certainty the devils are not playing, they are serious about maintaining white power, and even if he wins, they will do all they can to make him white in black face, i.e., to carry out the agenda of imperialism. We must therefore prop him up with a solid Left front, checking his blatant reactionary moves but understanding his political pragmatism.

Plato Negro as Grandfather





Plato was a pitiful father. The theme of his tenure as father and husband was abandonment and neglect. And even when his children came around, they found him in a marijuana stupor, if not in a deep sleep while they visited. One child said, "Dad you got too many newspapers and too much smoke in yo house." In the miracle his baby mamas made of his children, Plato never had to physically discipline them nor raise his voice to admonish them. They were perfect children. Of course the mothers and children could have used his support. But he was lost in revolutionary thought. Some call it spaced out. In short, he was not able to make a balance of parental responsibility and social activism. And for over a decade drugs took a toll on him. His dad said he was so smart he outsmarted himself.



But he gave his children wisdom. When he taught at the university and community college, his middle school daughters graded his English grammar class papers. He taught his children Arabic. His son Abdul (now deceased, pbuh) graduated in Arabic and Near Eastern Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Damascus, Syria and a grad student at Harvard. Abdul El Muhajir was the physical and intellectual clone of Plato. Plato will never reach closure on the transition of his son. He has mentored many young men to fill the emptiness in his heart. And his daughters have made him proud as progressive, independent women. Even his estranged son, Marvin, is a success as well.



Plato has been blessed with four grandsons and a granddaughter. Some he rarely sees, but he has spent time with James, a little smart mouth who calls Plato a grumpy old man. Did James get his smart mouth from his grandfather? Well his mother, Nefertiti, is known to tell people exactly what she thinks. And his father is a lawyer who worked for ENRON before it fell. Kevin, who lives in Austria, was born on Plato’s birthday, May 29. Jordan is a reader, Jazmin, a track star. Jahmiel just made a year old. He too is Gemini, May 31. Plato has been around Jahmiel since he was born and finds him a joy. He is a happy child who bounces at the sound of music. His mother, Amira, is a lawyer, so God only knows what kind of smart mouth he shall be. Jahmiel has helped Plato heal from the grief of losing his son. His son was a world traveler who spent time in Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Egypt, Israel, Syria, and Europe. Plato cannot imagine what his grandchildren shall become. He can only look at them and wonder. But he can see by his own children that his grandchildren will not be limited by glass or any other ceilings. May the Ancestors be pleased.

Plato on Politics

Politics is a dirty, filthy game of self interest. There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests, and sometimes interests may become like the shifting desert sands, but certainly friends can and will be disposed depending on the moment. We saw how Mr. Obama dismissed his friend of twenty years, Rev. Wright. We saw him tie his nuts to the Israeli lobby. And there is more to come with each passing moment, yet what is the Left agenda for him, what do we want since he is destined toward the white house--or will it become the black house?

Of course, if the Left were politically correct, it would vote for sister Cynthia McKinney of the Green party. But politics is also pragmatic and practical, so voting for the sister would be neither. It would be correct but idealistic and a waste of energy. As Sun Ra taught, sometimes you can be so right you wrong. Would not a vote for McKinney possibly enable Bush III (McCain) to slip into the white house by a slim margin?

Is this satisfactory to the Left? As Baraka noted, it is shameful to see so-called intellectuals and politicos running after the people they are supposed to be guiding and directing. No matter what, the socalled Negro is inspired by the Obama Drama, so perhaps we should get on board the freedom train and see where it's going, maybe we can add some insight and direction to its path.

We know Obama is being sucked into the white hole of imperialism--but so is every Negro with a job with the white man contributing to imperialism, so who is pure, name one and the whole town may be saved.

Plato in the Bar


Plato was invited to read poetry at Dorsey's Locker, a bar in North Oakland known for it's Blue Candle poetry nites. Plato had resisted attending as he rarely reads his poems in public. (His last public reading was with Amiri Baraka at UC Berkeley: go to www.ucberkeley/hollowaypoetryseries/amiribaraka.) But the MC is one of his students, President Davis, an up and coming actor/poet Plato has encouraged and mentored.

President revealed his talent as Sisyphus in Baraka's Opera of the same name. So finally, Plato made his way to Dorsey's on a Tuesday night. President was elated to see him finally show up and said the first drink was on him. President brought him his favorite drink: Hennessy mixed with Baileys. He told President to taste it. Hmmm, President said. Plato warned him, "This is not a milkshake, this is not a milkshake, this is not a milkshake." President said ok and continued setting up the venue. He later came back with the same drink for himself.

Seated at the bar in front of Plato was a brother talking loudly about his exploits as a bomber in the US Air Force during the war in Kosovo. He was ranting at the top of his voice about the greatness of the American planes and how they bombed the Serbs into the Stone Age. He spoke of the pitiful Russian Migs the Serbs used to defend themselves and how the technically superior Americans outgunned the Serb pilots. He spoke about his skills as a pilot, sounding and behaving like the hero in Hancock, especially in his drunkenness. He admitted he was retired from the Air Force due to alcoholism. Plato was disturbed by the ranting of this sick man, even more so because he was so loud. Plato has been suffering from Vertigo so the man's voice hurt his ears. But then he thought about how loud he has been known to be after a few drinks of Hennessy and Baileys. He hoped he was not as embarrassing and disgusting as this man. The man ordered drink after drink, while Plato sipped his. When the man turned around to engage Plato in his mad monologue, Plato dropped his head, then turned away, saying to himself, "Nigguh, don't say shit to me. I'm not going to converse with you and your right wing bullshit."

Plato ordered a dinner of chicken wings and thought about the article he read in the morning paper on veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan drugged out, having bar fights and domestic violence, partly because there are not enough mental health workers to serve them. It was clear the man before him was a very sick puppy and needed healing for his crimes against humanity. Was not his ranting a cry for help, letting the world know the depth of his sickness and sorrow? Plato decided to move to another table far away from the man. But as he downed the chicken wings, the man followed him, stopping at a customer not far from Plato. Plato said to himself, “I’ll be damn, this nigguh won’t leave me alone.” The man was in his face now, repeating his story. Plato looked at the man and said, “Fuck America! Why don’t you black nigguhs in the Air Force drop your bombs on America?” The man was silent. Yes, Plato had hit him with a low blow. He tried to come back by saying there were some brothers in the Air Force “doing things.” Plato said nothing. The man walked back to his seat.

Plato finished his chicken wings. When the reading began, Plato was finally called. He read several poems, then departed.

The classroom is at 14th and Broadway, in front of Walgreen's drug store. Across the street is city hall, also a now-vacant Gap store. Across from Walgreen's is Rite Aide. You see we are so sick mentally and physically, we must have legal and illegal drugs to make it through the day. De Lauer's books is down the block from me, recently bought by some Ethiopians after one hundred years of ownership by the De Lauer family. The area is populated by the poor, the sick and ignorant, young weed dealers who deal in front of the police who are often posted on both sides of Broadway. They tell me at night the area is now flooded with gays, lesbians and transvestites, mostly young blacks.

--Dr. M

Plato in the classroom

Plato was at his classroom today, at 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. It was Friday, July 11, 2008. Minister Keith Muhammad of Muhammad's Mosque came by on his way to a meeting to address the issue of thirty brothers arrested for drug dealing in the ACORN Projects of West Oakland. As the Minister talked with Plato, he explained his view that the brothers were victims of white supremacy. Plato listened as he does with all who come by his way. The minister admitted he had rehearsed his speech on Plato. Plato sold him a book and the minister departed. Then came the eye witness to the assassination of journalist Chauncey Bailey who asked Plato for two dollars which Plato gave to him. The eye witness said the publisher of the Oakland Post, Paul Cobb, said too much. Plato said what do you expect of the publisher of a newspaper?

Plato's angel appeared as he often does to assist Plato in his daily round of teaching the people. The angel will often purchase a book for those without money who are sincere. But the angel wasn't around the last few days while Plato gave out at least three thousand dollars in books to the poor at 14th and Broadway.

But the angel was there when writer Ishmael Reed came by with his daughter, author Timothy Reed. Plato introduced Ishmael and his daughter to the angel. Ishmael said he has just released a book on the media and told the angel he retired from teaching after 35 years at UC Berkeley. Plato informed Ishmael that he sees his daughter often as she is part of the street people who pass by his class room.

A sister came by in a state of rage because she felt insulted by a white woman. The sister wanted to kill the white woman but Plato urged her not to kill the woman who owed her $25.00. Plato gave the enraged woman who was skilled in martial arts twenty dollars and told her to chill out, please don't go kill the white woman.

A young writer came by who is about to have twins. He has a book out but is unemployed thus under great stress since he knows not how is to get milk and Pampers for his babies.Plato told him to focus on the matter of obtaining milk and Pampers.

A young sister came by who could hardly walk. She said the doctor told her to get a wheelchair but she was unable to do so, so she was walking in a strain from some type of infection. There was little Plato could do for her.



A brother came by complaining because a church had young girls on the street selling candy. Plato had observed the girls for several days, so he knew the situation. He told the brother to take the matter up with the church people who came to pick the girls up each day. A sister stopped by who was formerly a Muslim but was now a Christian. She wanted Plato to read the Bible on putting on the armor of God. Plato told her to read it to him, so she did. And so it is.

--Dr. M

The Negro



The Negro is comic

but ain't nothing funny

tell him he is the solution to the problem

he is confounded

but he is the solution to his problem

nothing can save him but himself

no God, no Jesus, no Allah, no Marx/Lenin

The Negro

so-called

yes

because he is better than Negro

tool and fool

better than black

better than African

way better than American

mass murderer American

ask the natives is he kind democratic

ask the Cubans Haitians

Japanese when he dropped the bomb

was he then kind and gentle

he aspires to thug life

like his master

pimp life

like his master

arrogant and dominant

like his master

pride before the fall

like his master.

Now on to Obama drama

imperialism in black face

is kinder gentler

ask Zimbabwe

South Africa

Nigeria

Sudan

Kenya Rwanda Congo

is black beautiful

so wonderful

who invented the devil

who is the devil's father

surely he can be devil two.

have no illusions, tell no lies

"black ain't black

white ain't white

beware the day

beware the night."

--m

The Door of No Return



This door swings wide

allowing no escape

we prepare by degrees

at the site of friends lovers

this is the meaning

of their passing

to let us know what comes to all

we are from Allah and to Him we return.

so do not connect to illusions or material things

we see husbands, lovers, children may go on their time

we love them but no attachments but to God

all things shall go from us no matter what

naked we come naked we go

we cannot cling for love

for love shall go in the end

and where are we

lost in the heart

wondering why

when we should know

all is illusion

there is no meaning in the physical

a mirage

shifting mirrors in the sun

blinding us to the real

behind the real.

so live my friend

enjoy the moment

it is all there is.

-m

On May 25, 2007, at 10:04 PM, Marvin X wrote:

Memorial Day, 2007
I am a veteran
Not of foreign battlefields
Like my father in world war one
My uncles in world war two
And Korea
Or my friends from Vietnam
And even the Congo “police action”
But veteran none the less
Exiled and jailed because I refused
To visit Vietnam as a running dog for imperialism
So I visited Canada, Mexico and Belize
Then Federal prison for a minute
But veteran I am of the war in the hood
The war of domestic colonialism and neo-colonialism
White supremacy in black face war
Fighting for black power that turned white
Or was always white as in the other white people
So war it was and is
Every day without end no RR no respite just war
For colors like kindergarten children war
For turf warriors don’t own and run when popo comes
War for drugs and guns and women
War for hatred jealousy
Dante got a scholarship but couldn’t get on the plane
The boyz in the hood met him on the block and jacked him
Relieved him of his gear shot him in the head because he could read
Play basketball had all the pretty girls a square
The boyz wanted him dead like themselves
Wanted him to have a shrine with liquor bottles and teddy bears
And candles
Wanted his mama and daddy to weep and mourn at the funeral
Like all the other moms and dads and uncle aunts cousins
Why should he make it out the war zone
The blood and broken bones of war in the hood
No veterans day no benefits no mental health sessions
No conversation who cares who wants to know about the dead
In the hood
the warriors gone down in the ghetto night
We heard the Uzi at 3am and saw the body on the steps until 3 pm
When the coroner finally arrived as children passed from school
I am the veteran of ghetto wars of liberation that were aborted
And morphed into wars of self destruction
With drugs supplied from police vans
Guns diverted from the army base and sold 24/7 behind the Arab store.
Junior is 14 but the main arms merchant in the hood
He sells guns from his backpack
His daddy wants to know how he get all them guns
But Junior don’t tell cause he warrior
He’s lost more friends than I the elder
What can I tell him about death and blood and bones
He says he will get rich or die trying
But life is for love not money
And if he lives he will learn.
If he makes it out the war zone to another world
Where they murder in suits and suites
And golf courses and yachts
if he makes it even beyond this world
He will learn that love is better than money
For he was once on the auction block and sold as a thing
For money, yes, for the love of money but not for love
And so his memory is short and absent of truth
The war in the hood has tricked him into the slave past
Like a programmed monkey he acts out the slave auction
The sale of himself on the corner with his homeys
Trying to pose cool in the war zone
I will tell him the truth and maybe one day it will hit him like a bullet
In the head
It will hit him multiple times in the brain until he awakens to the real battle
In the turf of his mind.
And he will stand tall and deliver himself to the altar of truth to be a witness
Along with his homeys
They will take charge of their posts
They will indeed claim their turf and it will be theirs forever
Not for a moment in the night
But in the day and in the tomorrows
And the war will be over
No more sorrow no more blood and bones
No more shrines on the corner with liquor bottles teddy bears and candles.

--Marvin X
25 May 2007
Brooklyn NY

Presidents for Life Club
--- On Sat, 7/5/08, nwaakwukwo wrote:

Bro. Marvin,

Term limits do not necessarily reflect power. The Queen of England is on the throne for life, but she is impotent because Parliment governs the country. The Supreme Court, on the other hand , serve for life and excercise enormous power, that often rendering changes that impact the lifestyle of Americans. Ex. Roe vs Wade, Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka.

You are correct in saying that the west is a prominent compenent in Africa's problems and Zimbabwe's in particular. It is the west that is raping the continent of Africa, African "sycophants" , as you call them don't get nearly what western companies make in profit of African resources.

You are sadly mistaken if you think that outsting Mugabe is the agenda of the US and Britain.

When apartheid was oppressing southern Africa, kicking Botha out of office was not the agenda, but, dismantling apartheid.

Like wise, getting Mugabe out of office is not the agenda, but, dismantling the land reform program, the Zimbabwean Constitution and enabling the land and resource to return to the hands of agribusinesses and western corporations.

There is much more to be said... but do you see my points, thus far? Your thoughts?

Adaoma

Reply by Marvin X:

Of course, the African sycophants receive crumbs for the rape of their lands, sometimes the crumbs are in the billions (ANC billionaires! ). Imagine the suffering of Mandela and the masses to end apartheid, only to open the box of black apartheid under the reactionary Mbeki--or Zimbabwe under the revolutionary man of the hour, Mugabe. Why did he wait twenty years to institute land reform? How much land reform has occurred in South Africa since the end of apartheid? What irony to hold the AU summit in Egypt, the land of Pharaoh Mubarak, who is working with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the USA to keep Iraq destabilized while they plan an attack on Iran to halt the rise of Shia Islam. Remember that old devil Rumsfeld, "There will not be a Shia goverment in Iraq!" The USA has armed 80,000 Sunnis to challenge the Shia gov.

--Marvin X

The Presidents for Life Club

The African Union is clearly the presidents-for-life club. They cannot condemn Mugabe because to do so would condemn themselves. Shall Bongo rule Gabon for eternity--shall Pharaoh Mubarak crown his son to continue his reign of terror with western support until his regime is finally overthrown by the Muslim Brotherhood? Nothing of peace shall come to Darfur until the AU's connection with the Arab League is disengaged--yet this will not happen since the Africans and Arabs both suck the West's behind while the masses continue their suffering, wallowing in poverty, ignorance and disease, all the while rich in natural resources that are raped from their lands by the West and her African sycophants.

--Marvin X

Silence

It has come to this
After rage
Silence
After power and glory
Silence
After storm and rain
Silence
The work is done
Sacrifice
Time for silence
Like the stone mountain
The wind
pines standing tall
Silence
All that can be is
What can’t be is not
Silence
No need to talk endlessly
Wasting air
Energy
Save it for the next world
Silence
Walk still in the night
Silence
Let the wind be still
the waves
time for growth
New crops
New spirits
Silent as the night
We are pleased
We fought the good fight
No overkill
Enough for the knock out
Stand
Walk away
Silence.
--m
6.1.08