Liberate the Marvin X 9/11 Tapes
It is a disappointment to me that there has not been more done by our community to facilitate the relinquishing of Marvin X's 9/11 Tapes, which are now in the possession of disgraced writer J.R. Valrey.
Even Nixon's White House tapes were finally released, even though they were tampered with (the infamous missing 18 minutes) and heavily dedacted, and even though there was incredible resistance by Nixon to keep the tapes from the people. But with activism and initiative on the part of people, who knew the significance of the tapes, the tapes were finally released.
Is J.R. Valrey Nixon? Maybe Nixonesque but far from having any real power to resist the power of the people if it ever came to us getting whatever we wanted. Does that mean that the people are lagging when it comes to the liberation of the Marvin X 9/11 Tapes?
Perhaps. Maybe it has not been said clearly enough that it is just as important for us as a people to take a look at the events of 9/11 from the vantage point of Marvin X ,as it would be to look at Watergate, Nixon, etc through the eyes of Woodward and Bernstein.
So I think the people should say loudly and clearly, "Come on J. R. Valrey! Give the people what they want! Let go of the Marvin X 9/11 Tapes!".
I want to see them, don't you?
--Zahieb Mwongozi
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Re: JR, Agent Provocateur
A conversation between Zahieb Wongozi, Tarika Lewis and Marvin X
Marvin X:
The duty of the writer, including journalists, is to uncover and reveal truth. The more revolutionary one is, the more truth we would expect, but when a writer/journalist covers the truth, hides murder suspects, he has crossed the line of journalism into fantasy land or the world of make believe reporting and clearly has another agenda other than truth, shall we call it spreading lies. Then we have to ask for whom? And why is the socalled friend of a fellow journalist talking with the murder suspects outside the victim's house hours before the murder yet does not call his friend to warn him that he is about to be hit? Is there no loyalty among fellow journalists, no loyalty among thieves?
And yes the white man can occasionally tell the truth. When Tarika Lewis testified in the pages of the Eastbay Express, did it tell her truth about Dr. Bey? Then why is it all of a sudden incapable of telling the truth about another community scoundrel, rat, snake who just coincidentally aligns himself with Dr. Devil's son? I call him Baby Devil and the Minister of Misinformation. Could there be a relationship between Bey IV, Officer Longmire and JR? If so, what is it, certainly it is beyond journalism! If there are two rats in the house, shouldn't we suspect there might be a third rat?
I have been waiting for a copy of the material JR and I produced during 9/11 in New York, Newark and Philly. He has thus far refused to give me a copy of our jointly produced work.
Again, I can only think he is trying to provoke me into assaulting or killing him. But my advisers told me not to kill a dead fly that is already dead. Before the Eastbay Express, the Chauncey Bailey Project asked why has not the OPD interrogated JR concerning his phone conversations with Bey IV on the morning of Chauncey's assassination. Maybe the police don't need to talk with the police!
Now that Bey IV is being indicted, Officer Longmire to be fired and possibly indicted, is JR next? Yes, just as Tarika Lewis had a personal ax to grind with Dr. Devil, I have a personal ax with Baby Devil or the Minister of Misinformation. Should I have told Tarika to shut up all the years she cried to the community about Dr. Devil? She wanted justice and I want justice. Is your justice more important than mine? Would you be silent when the thief has stolen from you, would you listen to someone who told you to shut up, don't discuss this online because the white man is listening? Tell me where ain't the white man listening. When you go take a shit he is listening so don't tell me don't discuss this online. I've tried to have the matter mediated in the community with my radical brothers and sisters and they have done nothing as they do with most matters of vital concern other than play reactionary to any terror the white man inflicts on the community, never are they pro-active with solutions to community problems, yet claim to be revolutionary.
--Marvin X
From Zahieb Mwongozi:
Salaam,
I'm sending this out to you with a couple of links that you should check out. Also, I promised to include the link to the J.R. Valrey the article. The original story on J.R. Valrey was in the Eastbay Express. The link for that is http://www.eastbaye xpress.com/ news/jr_valrey_ is_an_agent_ provocateur/ Content?oid= 958839
I wrote an article in response to the Express article which I posted on blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com , and the discussion that followed between myself and Tarika Lewis, plus Marvin X's email to me is what follows.But first, before I forget, I want to invite you to join the folowing groups:
www.livinginblack. com/zmwongozi
blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com
Join these groups.Then you can check out my blogs and some of my music by going to:
www.myspace. com/wonkagnome
www.myspace. com/poetbench
www.myspace. com/craig_ erving
This is a recent discourse between myself and Tarika Lewis concerning Marvin X's statements about J.R. Valrey. The discussion began after I posted an article I wrote titled "Truth in Journalism: Call a Spade a Spade" . There was a discussion afterwards.
Truth in Journalism: Call a Spade a Spade
Just what is an "Agent Provocateur" ? Wikapedia defines the term thusly: "Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act. More generally, the term may refer to a person or group that seeks to discredit or harm another either directly, or by provoking, enticing, or tricking that person into committing a wrong or rash action. The website goes on to say "An agent provocateur may be a police officer or a secret (or maybe even unwitting) agent of police who encourages suspects to carry out a crime under conditions where evidence can be obtained; or who suggests the commission of a crime to another, in hopes they will go along with the suggestion and be convicted of the crime."
Who could refute, except someone who does not, or has not observed the work as a "journalist" over the years of J.R. Valrey, or except someone in serious clinical/classic denial, that Valrey is anything other than an agent provocatuer? With mankind's history replete with an assortment of Judases and Benedict Arnolds, it should be very obvious to even the most common of thinkers who an agent provocatuer is when one shows themself. Though many of the most notable of these pitiful creatures throughout history have been unwitting or genuinely unwilling to do the thing that they do, they almost always are very maleable by personal or environmental circumstances which has made them predisposed to do the work that they do.
They seem to have been compromised in some way that makes them especially ready for the task. For example there is a book titled "The Police" which astutely suggests that those persons that make good police officers are persons who originally have low to moderate self esteem, are of mediocre intelligence, and have some propensity toward being dominated, so that they fit well into hierarchical structures that function on blind obedience.
Their handlers understand that, and once they are given a little taste of whatever it is that is used to control them, whether it is fear, greed, lust, or a stroke of the ego (such as being awarded for outstanding journalism as a teen), they need more and more of it until they reach the point where they would do almost anything, suffer the most excrutiatingly painful villifications to get the the attention they crave. This approval seeking behavior thrusts them into the netherworld of mixed allegiances. They also become immediately expendable to those by whom they are sent to do their nastiness.
This makes it a very warped situation for the agent in question. Their handlers have shamefully compromised them and until their usefulness is exhausted they must go back and forth between where they are from and where they long to be but will forever be unaccepted. It is in this twilight zone that they do their works. Sadly they are accepted, often as heroes and leaders by the people from the place of their origin. Look at how many people are willing to overlook the obvious about Valrey? The twist is that what brings people like this to the precipice of Judas-cism in the first place is their desire to get away from where they're from, in hopes of becoming unified with their master. Do you think Valrey wants to write for the fucking SF New Bayview? Why does he rant about the mainstream media, his alma mater, so much if it is not a reaction formation? What child curses his mother but a child scorned?
The agent Provocatuer? Alas, he is used up like a cheap whore and dispensed with once his village has been pillaged and burned. Equally sad is the way in which the AP's champions are usually from amongst those who the AP in fact essentially hates: Those who are most like themselves, or those whom they would like to be (Marvin X? Chauncey Bailey?) and these are those upon whom they seek to exact their self hatred upon first and foremost- the community they are from.
As to whether or not J.R. Valrey is a duck or a goose is not the point. Talking on the phone to Chauncey Bailey's assassins mere hours before the killing took place is bird brained shit anyway you look at it. Once bitten twice shy. I have news for anyone from the community who feels as though they could still trust Valrey to speak as the voice of the community: You need to read between the lines. History repeats itself as farce. You are a goddamn fool and it is the Judases and Valreys who will lead your asses over the abyss.
Craig 17x
From Tarika Lewis
So Craig 17X do you know JR personally? Have you spoken to him, e-mailed him and discussed your issues with him? He is easily accessible. Are you a witness to any crime he committed? Did anyone see JR set any fires or break any windows after the Fruitvale protest? Did you hear him urge the Bakery boys to murder Chauncey Bailey? Do you know the person who wrote the article in the Express newspaper? Has JR gotten anyone in the community arrested? Has he influenced African children to sell drugs or commit illegal acts? Has he deserted his family? Does he mistreat his significant other or cheat on her?
Journalist talk to everyone...that is their job...So what if Bob Butler talked to Charles Manson just before he committed his crime does that make him his co-conspirator? OK bad analogy... If JR is ballin like that, card carrying agent... why does he ride the bus...would' nt he have something to show for his status? Police officers get paid...
More questions... Do some Black people prefer to work for other Black people even though the pay may be less? Do the journalist for Muhammad Speaks Newspaper get paid a living wage or do they love where they work? Or are they just moonlighting and working for the New York Post.
I will not take the word of some unknown journalist of the Eastbay Express who is obviously trying to make a name for himself and sell papers...and I do appreciate alot of the investigative reporting they have done...some of their journalist actually follow up and document their sources without writing a disclaimer at the end of their articles.
Your finger may be pointed in the wrong direction. I will give JR the benefit of the doubt. Why are people hell bent upon this "rush to judgement?" Now there are those among us I will never trust near my family and that is Maulana Ron Karenga. He talks cultural nationalism, unity, kwanzaa, psychologist and yet he tied up a couple of sisters used hot soldering irons, extension chords, vice grips and hose up their vaginas for three days in his garage...But I've seen the scars and Karenga served three years in the penitentiary. ..
I will never trust any man or woman that violates little girls or little boys of any color...this includes anyone who defends the perpetrator and their honor.
Is it easier to make assumptions and to talk behind someone's back? Once I heard two Ministers on the radio one Sunday morning and they were talking about each other real bad and one said..."He got his nerve talking about me when he can't get the shine out of his own pants..." Clean up your own backyard, your house, your closet, your mind, your heart like MAAT make your heart balance against the feather of truth
How much time to do spend with youth, without pay, teaching and training, giving skills, mentoring... seeing their way to consciousness and college. Have you ever been embraced by Sister Clara Muhammad or the Honorable Elijah Muhammad? Have you ever been in the presence of Miles Davis, kissed on he cheek by Dizzy Gillespie, shook the hands of Nelson Mandela, hugged by Winnie Mandela walked with Huey P. Newton...dinned with the author of URUGU? Has Oprah come to see you...Did you ever march with Ceasar Chavez, clean air or a tree...gone to Alcatraz Island before dawn with the American Indian Movement...Do you know Dick Gregory or sat at the feet of Dr. John Henry Clark...Have more than a thousand Japanese bowed down to you...or a multitude smile and clap for you. How many mothers have you guided to a clean and sober life-style and reunited them with their children, fought for them in court and got jobs college entry... Are you an engaged, committed
parent..have you ever washed your mother's feet...Have you helped any political prisoner get out of jail...Did you feed any homeless people on New Years, last Christmas, last night or any day of the week...did you protest in behalf of Oscar Grant...have you prayed for JR and hope God raises him up dust him off...Fruit of Peace. Does your good character precede...do people acknowledge your greatness... just questions...
Craig 17x Replies:
Sister Tarika,
Yes I met the brother and have been around him a couple of times. Seemed kind of aloof to me, gave me the "my doo doo don't stink" vibe. But it is, that everybody's doo doo stinks because that's what doo doo do. If you remain around it long enough the stench will attach itself to you, play in it and it will get in your eyes. It's better to have clean hands...
More questions? I have sold advertisement, folded and tossed and wrote for papers that were published by us for us. Sometimes I got paid, sometimes I didn't. When I had other means of taking care of myself and my loved ones, I volunteered. When my primary job was to write I got paid. I often tell the youth around me that it is important to distinguish between work, job or career. The liberation of the oppressed is not a job to me but it has been an adventure.
When I wrote for "The Monroe Free Press" an African American weekly newspaper in Monroe, LA, some of the stories I wrote made significant improvements in the lives of our people there. I did a series of stories that in essence "installed" the first Black registrar of Voters in Ouachita Parish. This was important primarily because at that time in Louisiana, one had to go to the courthouse (read Sheriff) to register to vote. Ouachita Parish encompasses West Monroe, LA where the majority of Black and poor people lived. When issues that affected the very lives or rights of Blacks in that area had to be voted on, one can imagine the resistance these people would get just trying to register to vote or even the aversion some may have had toward going to the lion's den when attempting to register to vote before Sister Jessie McFarland became registrar. Ok, there were several other stories that I wrote that helped OUR people there; one of the stories I worked on
helped solve a double homicide (the "Moonlake Murders of 1988") - hell, the publisher of the Free Press was also the head of the local NAACP AND the largest Baptist church in Monroe, LA- my work as a writer with the paper came with an implied expectation from the people that we vended activism and support to the African community.
Which brings me to the issue of bias in journalism. When I started in journalism I believed all of that crap about fairness in journalism, non-bias, the fourth estate, etc. I still do. Yet when any other nation has a newspaper which goes against the beliefs or agenda of the US, the US press corps refer to that organ as "The state sponsored media, blah blah..." Is the New York Times THEIR state sponsored press?
You betcha. Would I write for "The Final Call" and moonlight at the Times? Hell no, because I'm chanting them down. Besides they wouldn't publish what I wrote anyway. But then again I am from the FUBU school of journalism (iF yoU, Be yoU). It's got to be about us, for us, and by us, like Ron Karenga has said and if he said that I agree with him. I don't however endorse the crimes against the state that he has been documented to have committed, and I believe that a lot of his ilk should fry for some of the things that they have done to further damage the people.
But, "Knowledge and wisdom belong to the believers, wherever they find it, it's theirs." So if the devil has the truth I will accept it from him, but I will stone his ass afterward. The East Bay Express doesn't sell papers, they sell advertisement and the SF Bayview does not have a stranglehold on the truth either. Fact is, the people can read between the lines and those that cannot should learn to. If you are a journalist and you are talking to an assassin several times, just mere hours before he kills a man, and you are friends with that man, what does that tell me about you?
Valrey had an ongoing relationship with these people. I can only imagine how the conversation went or what it was about, but then I have a very full and vivid imagination. Duck or goose, this was bird brained shit. He has inculcated himself and this shows terrible judgment. Especially since he has taken it upon himself to be some sort of protector of the people's interest. I could go on and on, and probably will but...
Further questions?
How much time do you spend with youth, without pay, teaching and training, giving skills, mentoring... seeing their way to consciousness and college?
I teach in an after school program. I live on 82nd and Mac Arthur Blvd where my sister's daughter was murdered in a drive-by shooting with her unborn fetus in her womb. I knew Louvelle Mixon and many of the Mixon family. Those are the people that respect me and my judgement on a whole range of issues.
Have you ever been embraced by Sister Clara Muhammad or the Honorable Elijah Muhammad?
She yes He no. But my first Savior's Day attendance was in 1970 at the Mosque in San Francisco. After the Resurrection I began worshipping at Masjid Muhammed and my son went to Sister Clara Muhammed School in Oakland, CA.
Have you ever been in the presence of Miles Davis, kissed on he cheek by Dizzy Gillespie?
Only in my dreams as a child as I got dizzy watching the records turn on the turn table as my father played their records as though they were sacred gospel music.
Shook the hands of Nelson Mandela, hugged by Winnie Mandela?
No but I worked with the divestment movement at Laney College under the auspices of the Laney BSU as the Vice President, the Secretary of the Laney Literary Guild, the vice president and president and co-founder of the Muslim Students Collective, and the creator and founder of the student club PISOA (People In Support Of Azania) from 1981 through 1982. The movement was successful.
Walked with Huey P. Newton?
Yep. This is why I wrote the song "Huey P. Newton Died For My Sins".
How many mothers have you guided to a clean and sober life-style and reunited them with their children, fought for them in court and got jobs college entry?
I have been married 7 times and five of these fit the above description. I am paying child support for a child that is not mine due to one of these endeavors.
Peace
From Tarika Lewis
Thank You Brother...I appreciate and respect your opinions. I wanted very much to keep a glimmer of hope..'say it isn't so, say'it isn't so!' The why part is still perplexing to me. The Bakery's finances were already being probed and exposed in court, public opiopn already swayed...what would have been the motivation-exposing Oakland's dirty cops/undercover agents...Longmire is perhaps the tip of the iceberg...You have a wonderful day brother and thank you for responding.. .In search of Truth ... Peace
From Craig 17x
Right on Sister Love. I guess I've become a cynic largely because things of the nature of which we speak have occurred continually over the years and I have gotten to the point where I can see it coming, or at least can recognize it for what it is immediately afterwards. In this case, Longmire was the handler, Bey IV and crew the pawns and fall guys, Chauncey the foil. Questions now range from, who handles Longmire to will Bey IV have the balls to dime him out and if he does, will Longmire turn? Will the shit roll uphill or downhill? We both know the gravity of the situation.
Peace
Marvin X Repied:
Craig (Zahieb) , you motherfucker, thank you for your comments but the subject here is not JR but the devil he works for either willingly or unwillingly. For sure, I treated him as my son as I have done you and many other young men in the Bay and throughout America. He crossed me as others have and I can see no other reason than the devil has his mind and has assigned him to me. Why would he keep my creative work other than to provoke me into either assaulting him or killling him. They on 9/ll we go to downtown Newark where an undercover agent is awaiting us and covers our every move as I interview people and JR videos. Then when we arrive back in Oakland, my Patron Leroy James is accosted by some Muslims who threaten to kill me and him for something I said. Where did they get such information from except JR who conversed with me on the plane to New York. Thus he spread information to provoke Muslims to kill me.
And then the phone calls outside Chauncey's house between JR and the murder suspects on the morning of the murder, yet all the while he maintains he is a friend of Chauncey's. Wouldn't a friend call a friend and tell him some hit men are outside his door? Etc.,etc.,etc. ,etc.
Salaam,
Marvin X
A conversation between Zahieb Wongozi, Tarika Lewis and Marvin X
Marvin X:
The duty of the writer, including journalists, is to uncover and reveal truth. The more revolutionary one is, the more truth we would expect, but when a writer/journalist covers the truth, hides murder suspects, he has crossed the line of journalism into fantasy land or the world of make believe reporting and clearly has another agenda other than truth, shall we call it spreading lies. Then we have to ask for whom? And why is the socalled friend of a fellow journalist talking with the murder suspects outside the victim's house hours before the murder yet does not call his friend to warn him that he is about to be hit? Is there no loyalty among fellow journalists, no loyalty among thieves?
And yes the white man can occasionally tell the truth. When Tarika Lewis testified in the pages of the Eastbay Express, did it tell her truth about Dr. Bey? Then why is it all of a sudden incapable of telling the truth about another community scoundrel, rat, snake who just coincidentally aligns himself with Dr. Devil's son? I call him Baby Devil and the Minister of Misinformation. Could there be a relationship between Bey IV, Officer Longmire and JR? If so, what is it, certainly it is beyond journalism! If there are two rats in the house, shouldn't we suspect there might be a third rat?
I have been waiting for a copy of the material JR and I produced during 9/11 in New York, Newark and Philly. He has thus far refused to give me a copy of our jointly produced work.
Again, I can only think he is trying to provoke me into assaulting or killing him. But my advisers told me not to kill a dead fly that is already dead. Before the Eastbay Express, the Chauncey Bailey Project asked why has not the OPD interrogated JR concerning his phone conversations with Bey IV on the morning of Chauncey's assassination. Maybe the police don't need to talk with the police!
Now that Bey IV is being indicted, Officer Longmire to be fired and possibly indicted, is JR next? Yes, just as Tarika Lewis had a personal ax to grind with Dr. Devil, I have a personal ax with Baby Devil or the Minister of Misinformation. Should I have told Tarika to shut up all the years she cried to the community about Dr. Devil? She wanted justice and I want justice. Is your justice more important than mine? Would you be silent when the thief has stolen from you, would you listen to someone who told you to shut up, don't discuss this online because the white man is listening? Tell me where ain't the white man listening. When you go take a shit he is listening so don't tell me don't discuss this online. I've tried to have the matter mediated in the community with my radical brothers and sisters and they have done nothing as they do with most matters of vital concern other than play reactionary to any terror the white man inflicts on the community, never are they pro-active with solutions to community problems, yet claim to be revolutionary.
--Marvin X
From Zahieb Mwongozi:
Salaam,
I'm sending this out to you with a couple of links that you should check out. Also, I promised to include the link to the J.R. Valrey the article. The original story on J.R. Valrey was in the Eastbay Express. The link for that is http://www.eastbaye xpress.com/ news/jr_valrey_ is_an_agent_ provocateur/ Content?oid= 958839
I wrote an article in response to the Express article which I posted on blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com , and the discussion that followed between myself and Tarika Lewis, plus Marvin X's email to me is what follows.But first, before I forget, I want to invite you to join the folowing groups:
www.livinginblack. com/zmwongozi
blackantiwar@ yahoogroups. com
Join these groups.Then you can check out my blogs and some of my music by going to:
www.myspace. com/wonkagnome
www.myspace. com/poetbench
www.myspace. com/craig_ erving
This is a recent discourse between myself and Tarika Lewis concerning Marvin X's statements about J.R. Valrey. The discussion began after I posted an article I wrote titled "Truth in Journalism: Call a Spade a Spade" . There was a discussion afterwards.
Truth in Journalism: Call a Spade a Spade
Just what is an "Agent Provocateur" ? Wikapedia defines the term thusly: "Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act. More generally, the term may refer to a person or group that seeks to discredit or harm another either directly, or by provoking, enticing, or tricking that person into committing a wrong or rash action. The website goes on to say "An agent provocateur may be a police officer or a secret (or maybe even unwitting) agent of police who encourages suspects to carry out a crime under conditions where evidence can be obtained; or who suggests the commission of a crime to another, in hopes they will go along with the suggestion and be convicted of the crime."
Who could refute, except someone who does not, or has not observed the work as a "journalist" over the years of J.R. Valrey, or except someone in serious clinical/classic denial, that Valrey is anything other than an agent provocatuer? With mankind's history replete with an assortment of Judases and Benedict Arnolds, it should be very obvious to even the most common of thinkers who an agent provocatuer is when one shows themself. Though many of the most notable of these pitiful creatures throughout history have been unwitting or genuinely unwilling to do the thing that they do, they almost always are very maleable by personal or environmental circumstances which has made them predisposed to do the work that they do.
They seem to have been compromised in some way that makes them especially ready for the task. For example there is a book titled "The Police" which astutely suggests that those persons that make good police officers are persons who originally have low to moderate self esteem, are of mediocre intelligence, and have some propensity toward being dominated, so that they fit well into hierarchical structures that function on blind obedience.
Their handlers understand that, and once they are given a little taste of whatever it is that is used to control them, whether it is fear, greed, lust, or a stroke of the ego (such as being awarded for outstanding journalism as a teen), they need more and more of it until they reach the point where they would do almost anything, suffer the most excrutiatingly painful villifications to get the the attention they crave. This approval seeking behavior thrusts them into the netherworld of mixed allegiances. They also become immediately expendable to those by whom they are sent to do their nastiness.
This makes it a very warped situation for the agent in question. Their handlers have shamefully compromised them and until their usefulness is exhausted they must go back and forth between where they are from and where they long to be but will forever be unaccepted. It is in this twilight zone that they do their works. Sadly they are accepted, often as heroes and leaders by the people from the place of their origin. Look at how many people are willing to overlook the obvious about Valrey? The twist is that what brings people like this to the precipice of Judas-cism in the first place is their desire to get away from where they're from, in hopes of becoming unified with their master. Do you think Valrey wants to write for the fucking SF New Bayview? Why does he rant about the mainstream media, his alma mater, so much if it is not a reaction formation? What child curses his mother but a child scorned?
The agent Provocatuer? Alas, he is used up like a cheap whore and dispensed with once his village has been pillaged and burned. Equally sad is the way in which the AP's champions are usually from amongst those who the AP in fact essentially hates: Those who are most like themselves, or those whom they would like to be (Marvin X? Chauncey Bailey?) and these are those upon whom they seek to exact their self hatred upon first and foremost- the community they are from.
As to whether or not J.R. Valrey is a duck or a goose is not the point. Talking on the phone to Chauncey Bailey's assassins mere hours before the killing took place is bird brained shit anyway you look at it. Once bitten twice shy. I have news for anyone from the community who feels as though they could still trust Valrey to speak as the voice of the community: You need to read between the lines. History repeats itself as farce. You are a goddamn fool and it is the Judases and Valreys who will lead your asses over the abyss.
Craig 17x
From Tarika Lewis
So Craig 17X do you know JR personally? Have you spoken to him, e-mailed him and discussed your issues with him? He is easily accessible. Are you a witness to any crime he committed? Did anyone see JR set any fires or break any windows after the Fruitvale protest? Did you hear him urge the Bakery boys to murder Chauncey Bailey? Do you know the person who wrote the article in the Express newspaper? Has JR gotten anyone in the community arrested? Has he influenced African children to sell drugs or commit illegal acts? Has he deserted his family? Does he mistreat his significant other or cheat on her?
Journalist talk to everyone...that is their job...So what if Bob Butler talked to Charles Manson just before he committed his crime does that make him his co-conspirator? OK bad analogy... If JR is ballin like that, card carrying agent... why does he ride the bus...would' nt he have something to show for his status? Police officers get paid...
More questions... Do some Black people prefer to work for other Black people even though the pay may be less? Do the journalist for Muhammad Speaks Newspaper get paid a living wage or do they love where they work? Or are they just moonlighting and working for the New York Post.
I will not take the word of some unknown journalist of the Eastbay Express who is obviously trying to make a name for himself and sell papers...and I do appreciate alot of the investigative reporting they have done...some of their journalist actually follow up and document their sources without writing a disclaimer at the end of their articles.
Your finger may be pointed in the wrong direction. I will give JR the benefit of the doubt. Why are people hell bent upon this "rush to judgement?" Now there are those among us I will never trust near my family and that is Maulana Ron Karenga. He talks cultural nationalism, unity, kwanzaa, psychologist and yet he tied up a couple of sisters used hot soldering irons, extension chords, vice grips and hose up their vaginas for three days in his garage...But I've seen the scars and Karenga served three years in the penitentiary. ..
I will never trust any man or woman that violates little girls or little boys of any color...this includes anyone who defends the perpetrator and their honor.
Is it easier to make assumptions and to talk behind someone's back? Once I heard two Ministers on the radio one Sunday morning and they were talking about each other real bad and one said..."He got his nerve talking about me when he can't get the shine out of his own pants..." Clean up your own backyard, your house, your closet, your mind, your heart like MAAT make your heart balance against the feather of truth
How much time to do spend with youth, without pay, teaching and training, giving skills, mentoring... seeing their way to consciousness and college. Have you ever been embraced by Sister Clara Muhammad or the Honorable Elijah Muhammad? Have you ever been in the presence of Miles Davis, kissed on he cheek by Dizzy Gillespie, shook the hands of Nelson Mandela, hugged by Winnie Mandela walked with Huey P. Newton...dinned with the author of URUGU? Has Oprah come to see you...Did you ever march with Ceasar Chavez, clean air or a tree...gone to Alcatraz Island before dawn with the American Indian Movement...Do you know Dick Gregory or sat at the feet of Dr. John Henry Clark...Have more than a thousand Japanese bowed down to you...or a multitude smile and clap for you. How many mothers have you guided to a clean and sober life-style and reunited them with their children, fought for them in court and got jobs college entry... Are you an engaged, committed
parent..have you ever washed your mother's feet...Have you helped any political prisoner get out of jail...Did you feed any homeless people on New Years, last Christmas, last night or any day of the week...did you protest in behalf of Oscar Grant...have you prayed for JR and hope God raises him up dust him off...Fruit of Peace. Does your good character precede...do people acknowledge your greatness... just questions...
Craig 17x Replies:
Sister Tarika,
Yes I met the brother and have been around him a couple of times. Seemed kind of aloof to me, gave me the "my doo doo don't stink" vibe. But it is, that everybody's doo doo stinks because that's what doo doo do. If you remain around it long enough the stench will attach itself to you, play in it and it will get in your eyes. It's better to have clean hands...
More questions? I have sold advertisement, folded and tossed and wrote for papers that were published by us for us. Sometimes I got paid, sometimes I didn't. When I had other means of taking care of myself and my loved ones, I volunteered. When my primary job was to write I got paid. I often tell the youth around me that it is important to distinguish between work, job or career. The liberation of the oppressed is not a job to me but it has been an adventure.
When I wrote for "The Monroe Free Press" an African American weekly newspaper in Monroe, LA, some of the stories I wrote made significant improvements in the lives of our people there. I did a series of stories that in essence "installed" the first Black registrar of Voters in Ouachita Parish. This was important primarily because at that time in Louisiana, one had to go to the courthouse (read Sheriff) to register to vote. Ouachita Parish encompasses West Monroe, LA where the majority of Black and poor people lived. When issues that affected the very lives or rights of Blacks in that area had to be voted on, one can imagine the resistance these people would get just trying to register to vote or even the aversion some may have had toward going to the lion's den when attempting to register to vote before Sister Jessie McFarland became registrar. Ok, there were several other stories that I wrote that helped OUR people there; one of the stories I worked on
helped solve a double homicide (the "Moonlake Murders of 1988") - hell, the publisher of the Free Press was also the head of the local NAACP AND the largest Baptist church in Monroe, LA- my work as a writer with the paper came with an implied expectation from the people that we vended activism and support to the African community.
Which brings me to the issue of bias in journalism. When I started in journalism I believed all of that crap about fairness in journalism, non-bias, the fourth estate, etc. I still do. Yet when any other nation has a newspaper which goes against the beliefs or agenda of the US, the US press corps refer to that organ as "The state sponsored media, blah blah..." Is the New York Times THEIR state sponsored press?
You betcha. Would I write for "The Final Call" and moonlight at the Times? Hell no, because I'm chanting them down. Besides they wouldn't publish what I wrote anyway. But then again I am from the FUBU school of journalism (iF yoU, Be yoU). It's got to be about us, for us, and by us, like Ron Karenga has said and if he said that I agree with him. I don't however endorse the crimes against the state that he has been documented to have committed, and I believe that a lot of his ilk should fry for some of the things that they have done to further damage the people.
But, "Knowledge and wisdom belong to the believers, wherever they find it, it's theirs." So if the devil has the truth I will accept it from him, but I will stone his ass afterward. The East Bay Express doesn't sell papers, they sell advertisement and the SF Bayview does not have a stranglehold on the truth either. Fact is, the people can read between the lines and those that cannot should learn to. If you are a journalist and you are talking to an assassin several times, just mere hours before he kills a man, and you are friends with that man, what does that tell me about you?
Valrey had an ongoing relationship with these people. I can only imagine how the conversation went or what it was about, but then I have a very full and vivid imagination. Duck or goose, this was bird brained shit. He has inculcated himself and this shows terrible judgment. Especially since he has taken it upon himself to be some sort of protector of the people's interest. I could go on and on, and probably will but...
Further questions?
How much time do you spend with youth, without pay, teaching and training, giving skills, mentoring... seeing their way to consciousness and college?
I teach in an after school program. I live on 82nd and Mac Arthur Blvd where my sister's daughter was murdered in a drive-by shooting with her unborn fetus in her womb. I knew Louvelle Mixon and many of the Mixon family. Those are the people that respect me and my judgement on a whole range of issues.
Have you ever been embraced by Sister Clara Muhammad or the Honorable Elijah Muhammad?
She yes He no. But my first Savior's Day attendance was in 1970 at the Mosque in San Francisco. After the Resurrection I began worshipping at Masjid Muhammed and my son went to Sister Clara Muhammed School in Oakland, CA.
Have you ever been in the presence of Miles Davis, kissed on he cheek by Dizzy Gillespie?
Only in my dreams as a child as I got dizzy watching the records turn on the turn table as my father played their records as though they were sacred gospel music.
Shook the hands of Nelson Mandela, hugged by Winnie Mandela?
No but I worked with the divestment movement at Laney College under the auspices of the Laney BSU as the Vice President, the Secretary of the Laney Literary Guild, the vice president and president and co-founder of the Muslim Students Collective, and the creator and founder of the student club PISOA (People In Support Of Azania) from 1981 through 1982. The movement was successful.
Walked with Huey P. Newton?
Yep. This is why I wrote the song "Huey P. Newton Died For My Sins".
How many mothers have you guided to a clean and sober life-style and reunited them with their children, fought for them in court and got jobs college entry?
I have been married 7 times and five of these fit the above description. I am paying child support for a child that is not mine due to one of these endeavors.
Peace
From Tarika Lewis
Thank You Brother...I appreciate and respect your opinions. I wanted very much to keep a glimmer of hope..'say it isn't so, say'it isn't so!' The why part is still perplexing to me. The Bakery's finances were already being probed and exposed in court, public opiopn already swayed...what would have been the motivation-exposing Oakland's dirty cops/undercover agents...Longmire is perhaps the tip of the iceberg...You have a wonderful day brother and thank you for responding.. .In search of Truth ... Peace
From Craig 17x
Right on Sister Love. I guess I've become a cynic largely because things of the nature of which we speak have occurred continually over the years and I have gotten to the point where I can see it coming, or at least can recognize it for what it is immediately afterwards. In this case, Longmire was the handler, Bey IV and crew the pawns and fall guys, Chauncey the foil. Questions now range from, who handles Longmire to will Bey IV have the balls to dime him out and if he does, will Longmire turn? Will the shit roll uphill or downhill? We both know the gravity of the situation.
Peace
Marvin X Repied:
Craig (Zahieb) , you motherfucker, thank you for your comments but the subject here is not JR but the devil he works for either willingly or unwillingly. For sure, I treated him as my son as I have done you and many other young men in the Bay and throughout America. He crossed me as others have and I can see no other reason than the devil has his mind and has assigned him to me. Why would he keep my creative work other than to provoke me into either assaulting him or killling him. They on 9/ll we go to downtown Newark where an undercover agent is awaiting us and covers our every move as I interview people and JR videos. Then when we arrive back in Oakland, my Patron Leroy James is accosted by some Muslims who threaten to kill me and him for something I said. Where did they get such information from except JR who conversed with me on the plane to New York. Thus he spread information to provoke Muslims to kill me.
And then the phone calls outside Chauncey's house between JR and the murder suspects on the morning of the murder, yet all the while he maintains he is a friend of Chauncey's. Wouldn't a friend call a friend and tell him some hit men are outside his door? Etc.,etc.,etc. ,etc.
Salaam,
Marvin X
Mixed Love
You had an avtomat Kalashnikova of ’47?
Assembled in minutes by children in the old USSR.
Kalashnikov and Heston are beaming with obscene pride:
In the efficiency of the automatic
In the accuracy of your aim
In hitting the Pig’s Eye
Four in a row!
You could have surrendered like Amadou Diallo
Raised your hands
Taken sixteen
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Except a wallet!
Or, heard the bells, like Sean Bell
“Made it to church on time”
Your wedding day now a funeral day
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Nothing!
Or, lay face down, a boot on your neck like Oscar Grant
And get it in the back
And be blamed
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Cuffed in steel.
You had an AK-47!
Easy to use
Easy to transport
Easy to kill
The AK has caused more deaths
Than Hiroshima
Than Nagasaki
Than HIV
Than the bubonic plague
Than malaria
Than all earthquakes
Than anything organic or synthetic, metal or chemical.
Kalashnikov’s automatic:
Won’t jam when dirty or wet
Has a feather trigger a child can pull
“Can turn a monkey into a combatant”
There’s pride in that…obscene pride
In the accuracy of a killer
The rehearsal on man-sized silhouettes
Dark shadows
The outline of a person
The will to kill.
The vulgar pride in:
The ABM
The drone
The nuke.
Hitting the pig’s eye.
All you needed was the will
The will to kill
The will to be free
Simply…Free
Not ideologically
Not intellectually
Not romantically
Not consciously
Not politically
Like Nat Turner
Like Malcolm X
Like Steve Biko
Like Fred Hampton
Not like that…simply
Not behind bars.
The repulsive, indecent respect some pay:
To the monsters created
To vindicate a people’s historical abuse
Surprised that the monsters
Dutifully designed
Consciously created
Meticulously molded
For the cities of Iraq
For the cities of Afghanistan
For the cities of America
Frankensteinesque
Should act other than
Monsteresque.
Is Fanon correct?
Is such violence redemptive?
Is it cleansing?
Is it a rebirth?
For a microsecond
For this generation
The score was evened.
Four pig’s eyes in a row!
Wow! How sick! This obscene pride.
Fritz Pointer
17 April 2009
You had an avtomat Kalashnikova of ’47?
Assembled in minutes by children in the old USSR.
Kalashnikov and Heston are beaming with obscene pride:
In the efficiency of the automatic
In the accuracy of your aim
In hitting the Pig’s Eye
Four in a row!
You could have surrendered like Amadou Diallo
Raised your hands
Taken sixteen
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Except a wallet!
Or, heard the bells, like Sean Bell
“Made it to church on time”
Your wedding day now a funeral day
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Nothing!
Or, lay face down, a boot on your neck like Oscar Grant
And get it in the back
And be blamed
And nothing in your “cold dead hands”
Cuffed in steel.
You had an AK-47!
Easy to use
Easy to transport
Easy to kill
The AK has caused more deaths
Than Hiroshima
Than Nagasaki
Than HIV
Than the bubonic plague
Than malaria
Than all earthquakes
Than anything organic or synthetic, metal or chemical.
Kalashnikov’s automatic:
Won’t jam when dirty or wet
Has a feather trigger a child can pull
“Can turn a monkey into a combatant”
There’s pride in that…obscene pride
In the accuracy of a killer
The rehearsal on man-sized silhouettes
Dark shadows
The outline of a person
The will to kill.
The vulgar pride in:
The ABM
The drone
The nuke.
Hitting the pig’s eye.
All you needed was the will
The will to kill
The will to be free
Simply…Free
Not ideologically
Not intellectually
Not romantically
Not consciously
Not politically
Like Nat Turner
Like Malcolm X
Like Steve Biko
Like Fred Hampton
Not like that…simply
Not behind bars.
The repulsive, indecent respect some pay:
To the monsters created
To vindicate a people’s historical abuse
Surprised that the monsters
Dutifully designed
Consciously created
Meticulously molded
For the cities of Iraq
For the cities of Afghanistan
For the cities of America
Frankensteinesque
Should act other than
Monsteresque.
Is Fanon correct?
Is such violence redemptive?
Is it cleansing?
Is it a rebirth?
For a microsecond
For this generation
The score was evened.
Four pig’s eyes in a row!
Wow! How sick! This obscene pride.
Fritz Pointer
17 April 2009
Sobriety and White Supremacy
Marvin X
A society founded upon slavery and white supremacy is hard to take clean and sober, for the oppressed and the oppressor, hence the multi-billion dollar illegal and legal drug industry. Even today when youth cannot obtain illegal drugs they are turning more and more to their parents medicine cabinet for prescription drugs. This is nothing new. In my youth I used to steal from my aunt's medicine cabinet, especially since she was a nurse.
I couldn't steal drugs at my house because my mother was a Christian Scientist who use no drugs whatsoever in healing from disease.
But consider the number one addiction in America is not oil, which is merely a byproduct of American greed or white supremacy domination of the world's natural resources, even though she is only 4% of the world's population, thus why should she consume 25% of the world's energy?
And then the historic injustices that still permeate every fabric of American culture, leading Attorney General Holder to call America a nation of cowards with respect to race, despite the election of Obama, are not be addressed because America is a classic case of the addictive personality, including the most clear symptom of the addict, denial! Don't talk about it, pretend it doesn't exist, don't say white supremacy, you're playing the race card, can't we all just get along--as in maintain the status quo, don't rock the boat, live with your fears, economic, health, justice and educational disparities.
So the lies become deeper and thus the need to medicate, to cover the pain of lack of simple honesty and fairness. When we don't tell the truth, we must medicate to cover the shame of needing to lie, to advance the mythology of superiority. In various parts of this country it is done differently.
In the South they have their own way of dealing with race relations since the ethnic groups have been entwined so long, over the centuries, especially in sexual relations with the resultant miscegenation and mulatto class of house negroes. But even the field negroes learn to adjust by not directly confronting the problem, after all it might endanger the entire family, relatives might get fired. One mother told her son from California he need to leave Texas because his attitude was a danger to the family, so he departed.
In the North it is more subtle, even interracial marriage are filled with vestiges and residue of racism. Berkeley, California is a good example.
It claims to be a liberal university city but the attitude of whites is racist and it is segregated as well, with most of whites living in the hills and the blacks in the flatland, the same for Oakland as well. The Northeast is clearly as segregated as any southern city, from schools to neighborhoods, except for the neo-colonial gentrification that has pushed blacks out of their native Harlem and is pushing them out of Brooklyn.
Some would say there is no plan to this but simply an aspect of natural growth and modernization, yet in San Francisco we know the whites have long coveted the beautiful hills, view and weather of Hunters Point. Today they have finally achieved their goal of "negro removal" with black unable to afford housing in their old neighborhood. And when home prices don't preclude, property taxes certainly do. A brother who owns property in the Fillmore told me his taxes are six thousand dollars every six months.
Blacks are now leaving the Bay Area in droves, moving inland to Sacramento and deeper into central valley towns such as Stockton, Modesto, Madera and Fresno. And of course the mental stress of migration only adds to the need to medicate, thus the drugs follow the immigrants are awaits their arrival.
The fierce battle for control of drug turf below the American border with Mexico will only get worse as the economy continues to meltdown and capitalism enters its final days, simply because the need to medicate will become greater as mental depression increases due to the falling employment and housing foreclosures, events that will cause families to collapse from lack of security which only adds tension to already fragile marriages. The Meth epidemic is an example of how drugs have impacted the white communities, while the black community has never recovered from the destructive Crack era, although the drug Ecstasy has become the hip hop drug of choice leading to increased homicide as the drug causes elation then depression, often making the user want to seek revenge for some past actions by his friends, to seek them out to kill. Young females have described to me the behavior of their male friends on Ecstasy, essentially, once they get high they want to kill, to avenge the death of a friend since everybody knows who's killing in the hood.
The only real solution to the drug crisis is to attack the root causes which is white supremacy. And we have prescribed a 13 Step program of recovery in my book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. People think they will be able to avoid a recovery program but we need only await more devastation in the economy that will heighten racial tension because soon Asians will be blamed for taking all those good American jobs to India and China. The 85% deaf, dumb and blind Americans are not told American corporations are doing the taking in their capitalist greed for cheap labor and cheap natural resources. Blaming the Asians, the Mexicans, the Blacks, will only further delude the thinking of ignorant Americans who will, in their disgust and despair, seek to medicate themselves even more to escape the reality of their sinking lifestyle of conspicuous consumption to perpetuate their world of white supremacy make believe.
The only real solution to drunkenness and despair is to change their personal and collective reality, to enter a detoxification program to rid themselves of all their delusional thinking and behavior, whether they institute total abstinence from such thinking and behavior or perhaps use the harm reduction model recently applied in recovery from chemical addictions. In short, since you are a coward, try to be less of a racist coward, try to lesson the need, want and desire to dominate and exploit the planet.
Marvin X
A society founded upon slavery and white supremacy is hard to take clean and sober, for the oppressed and the oppressor, hence the multi-billion dollar illegal and legal drug industry. Even today when youth cannot obtain illegal drugs they are turning more and more to their parents medicine cabinet for prescription drugs. This is nothing new. In my youth I used to steal from my aunt's medicine cabinet, especially since she was a nurse.
I couldn't steal drugs at my house because my mother was a Christian Scientist who use no drugs whatsoever in healing from disease.
But consider the number one addiction in America is not oil, which is merely a byproduct of American greed or white supremacy domination of the world's natural resources, even though she is only 4% of the world's population, thus why should she consume 25% of the world's energy?
And then the historic injustices that still permeate every fabric of American culture, leading Attorney General Holder to call America a nation of cowards with respect to race, despite the election of Obama, are not be addressed because America is a classic case of the addictive personality, including the most clear symptom of the addict, denial! Don't talk about it, pretend it doesn't exist, don't say white supremacy, you're playing the race card, can't we all just get along--as in maintain the status quo, don't rock the boat, live with your fears, economic, health, justice and educational disparities.
So the lies become deeper and thus the need to medicate, to cover the pain of lack of simple honesty and fairness. When we don't tell the truth, we must medicate to cover the shame of needing to lie, to advance the mythology of superiority. In various parts of this country it is done differently.
In the South they have their own way of dealing with race relations since the ethnic groups have been entwined so long, over the centuries, especially in sexual relations with the resultant miscegenation and mulatto class of house negroes. But even the field negroes learn to adjust by not directly confronting the problem, after all it might endanger the entire family, relatives might get fired. One mother told her son from California he need to leave Texas because his attitude was a danger to the family, so he departed.
In the North it is more subtle, even interracial marriage are filled with vestiges and residue of racism. Berkeley, California is a good example.
It claims to be a liberal university city but the attitude of whites is racist and it is segregated as well, with most of whites living in the hills and the blacks in the flatland, the same for Oakland as well. The Northeast is clearly as segregated as any southern city, from schools to neighborhoods, except for the neo-colonial gentrification that has pushed blacks out of their native Harlem and is pushing them out of Brooklyn.
Some would say there is no plan to this but simply an aspect of natural growth and modernization, yet in San Francisco we know the whites have long coveted the beautiful hills, view and weather of Hunters Point. Today they have finally achieved their goal of "negro removal" with black unable to afford housing in their old neighborhood. And when home prices don't preclude, property taxes certainly do. A brother who owns property in the Fillmore told me his taxes are six thousand dollars every six months.
Blacks are now leaving the Bay Area in droves, moving inland to Sacramento and deeper into central valley towns such as Stockton, Modesto, Madera and Fresno. And of course the mental stress of migration only adds to the need to medicate, thus the drugs follow the immigrants are awaits their arrival.
The fierce battle for control of drug turf below the American border with Mexico will only get worse as the economy continues to meltdown and capitalism enters its final days, simply because the need to medicate will become greater as mental depression increases due to the falling employment and housing foreclosures, events that will cause families to collapse from lack of security which only adds tension to already fragile marriages. The Meth epidemic is an example of how drugs have impacted the white communities, while the black community has never recovered from the destructive Crack era, although the drug Ecstasy has become the hip hop drug of choice leading to increased homicide as the drug causes elation then depression, often making the user want to seek revenge for some past actions by his friends, to seek them out to kill. Young females have described to me the behavior of their male friends on Ecstasy, essentially, once they get high they want to kill, to avenge the death of a friend since everybody knows who's killing in the hood.
The only real solution to the drug crisis is to attack the root causes which is white supremacy. And we have prescribed a 13 Step program of recovery in my book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. People think they will be able to avoid a recovery program but we need only await more devastation in the economy that will heighten racial tension because soon Asians will be blamed for taking all those good American jobs to India and China. The 85% deaf, dumb and blind Americans are not told American corporations are doing the taking in their capitalist greed for cheap labor and cheap natural resources. Blaming the Asians, the Mexicans, the Blacks, will only further delude the thinking of ignorant Americans who will, in their disgust and despair, seek to medicate themselves even more to escape the reality of their sinking lifestyle of conspicuous consumption to perpetuate their world of white supremacy make believe.
The only real solution to drunkenness and despair is to change their personal and collective reality, to enter a detoxification program to rid themselves of all their delusional thinking and behavior, whether they institute total abstinence from such thinking and behavior or perhaps use the harm reduction model recently applied in recovery from chemical addictions. In short, since you are a coward, try to be less of a racist coward, try to lesson the need, want and desire to dominate and exploit the planet.
Re: Ancestors
amen...?
o.k, amen
whoa....heavy
o.k, so for a second I was getting all caught up w/ the the language ....the words.... and I couldn't seem to get over this wal that was anging strong around my consciousness
deflectin' what you were trying to say (or what you were sayin' and I was tryin' not to get)... becuz' of whatever was comin' up for me around seeing and hearing the word "ancestors" being wrapped in this cloak of "motherfuckers...whores" et al....
so I was skimming through it all.....pickin' up pieces and depth here and there.
you have always been pretty heavy, so I was like..
"ok, here we go, ummm, I know.. he's gonna go there and I don't if i'm able or if I know if I can allow myself to go that deep."
then I had to consciously stop....and make myself read it all over again..
this time, line by line...
savoring it like quinine or some other bitter tonic.
and then actually,when I allowed myself to be and really sit w/ the discomfort of it... (as silly as that sounds) ...
I found it to be really beautiful...
a marvinx-esque like beautiful, but beautiful.
nonetheless.
thanks baba
--Omolade R. Roddy
--------------------
Ancestors
Ancestors
Who are the real motherfuckers
who fucked our fathers and mothers
off the land into the good ship jesus
into the door of no return
into the sea of blood and bones
sharks and wail
arriving in the carolinas for five hundred years
ancestors as king and queen
who sold us to the ghost
Baraka teaches us
ancestors we call you in the name of nigguhs
black nigguhs in the hoods of america
not pseudo black kemetic fakes and frauds
scared to see the new imperial king of the realm
too blind by the sun of Ra to find a bone at the Pyramid
yet they search in vain year after year
when the whole earth is ours
no matter Africa
no matter Arabia
no matter Asia
no matter the Americas
no matter Europe
the earth is the black man's land
Gullahland is Africa
hear the talk see the weave enjoy the land
we are in Africa in Mississippi Alabama Georgia
take claim to the land and forever hold your tongues
dig the pyramids of Louisiana and see the Moorish mounds
see the Seminoles of Florida
The Gullahs and Geeches up and down the coast
ancestors all
who were fucked by the motherfucker
king and queen motherfucker and son of a bitch
male rape and child rape and mother rape
allowed by the king and queen
ancestors all
guilty
and charged
Sun Ra said they got to pay
Africa got to pay like the white man devil
yeah, Africa pay
you got the gold diamonds precious metals everywhere
pay
stop paying europe and pay the negro
the motherfucker you made with the red flag
guiding him to the shore through the door of no return
that bitch warrior you allowed to be raped in front of his women and children
that whore who kept us alive while sexing the master
who wanted all the women men and children
greedy bastard
and talk of clean english
fuck the english language
fuck every word of it
and fuck you too
you speak it
and love it
and seek to purify it with you fake asses
claiming ancestor holiness
let the ancestors be cursed for their iniquities
and debaucheries
the selling of souls in the centuries of time
yet you call them holy
call Mississippi holy
call Alabama Georgia Louisiana Carolina's holy ground
the marsh swamp bayous rivers creeks
holy trees of strange fruit and blood wine
call the ancestors from the woods and forests
call them from the pine trees and moss wood swamps
call them from the rice canefields cotton
from plantation and city of death in the family
Clara said she wanted to put her head in the oven
in the detroit of her time
Elijah was drunk as a coot she said
when Master Fard came selling red silk
the same red we followed to the shore
when the king sold us to the ghost, Baraka said
he told us about the railroad in the bottom of ocean
filled with bones
ancestor bones who resisted and wailed cried and shitted
not only tongues but vile moans shouts screams to the motherfucker
the son of a bitch ancestor
who pitted tribe against tribe warrior against warrior
man against woman for trinkets and barrels of rum
and we yet praise them
in our abject ignorance
we praise the culture of madness and gold
madness and diamonds
madness and chopped hands clitoris legs
and there is no end even today
the kings and queens are alive and well
working overtime to feed themselves full
as we whore and rape each other into the night of the full moon
where the silence is aloud and heard the world over
the silence of hunger and disease
silence of ignorance and demands to be king for life
to never end the terror
to never avenge the righteous
to continue the plunder until the new kingdom comes
and the wicked are reduced to dust
and the motherfucker receives his fucking
Amen.
--Marvin X
4.17.09
amen...?
o.k, amen
whoa....heavy
o.k, so for a second I was getting all caught up w/ the the language ....the words.... and I couldn't seem to get over this wal that was anging strong around my consciousness
deflectin' what you were trying to say (or what you were sayin' and I was tryin' not to get)... becuz' of whatever was comin' up for me around seeing and hearing the word "ancestors" being wrapped in this cloak of "motherfuckers...whores" et al....
so I was skimming through it all.....pickin' up pieces and depth here and there.
you have always been pretty heavy, so I was like..
"ok, here we go, ummm, I know.. he's gonna go there and I don't if i'm able or if I know if I can allow myself to go that deep."
then I had to consciously stop....and make myself read it all over again..
this time, line by line...
savoring it like quinine or some other bitter tonic.
and then actually,when I allowed myself to be and really sit w/ the discomfort of it... (as silly as that sounds) ...
I found it to be really beautiful...
a marvinx-esque like beautiful, but beautiful.
nonetheless.
thanks baba
--Omolade R. Roddy
--------------------
Ancestors
Ancestors
Who are the real motherfuckers
who fucked our fathers and mothers
off the land into the good ship jesus
into the door of no return
into the sea of blood and bones
sharks and wail
arriving in the carolinas for five hundred years
ancestors as king and queen
who sold us to the ghost
Baraka teaches us
ancestors we call you in the name of nigguhs
black nigguhs in the hoods of america
not pseudo black kemetic fakes and frauds
scared to see the new imperial king of the realm
too blind by the sun of Ra to find a bone at the Pyramid
yet they search in vain year after year
when the whole earth is ours
no matter Africa
no matter Arabia
no matter Asia
no matter the Americas
no matter Europe
the earth is the black man's land
Gullahland is Africa
hear the talk see the weave enjoy the land
we are in Africa in Mississippi Alabama Georgia
take claim to the land and forever hold your tongues
dig the pyramids of Louisiana and see the Moorish mounds
see the Seminoles of Florida
The Gullahs and Geeches up and down the coast
ancestors all
who were fucked by the motherfucker
king and queen motherfucker and son of a bitch
male rape and child rape and mother rape
allowed by the king and queen
ancestors all
guilty
and charged
Sun Ra said they got to pay
Africa got to pay like the white man devil
yeah, Africa pay
you got the gold diamonds precious metals everywhere
pay
stop paying europe and pay the negro
the motherfucker you made with the red flag
guiding him to the shore through the door of no return
that bitch warrior you allowed to be raped in front of his women and children
that whore who kept us alive while sexing the master
who wanted all the women men and children
greedy bastard
and talk of clean english
fuck the english language
fuck every word of it
and fuck you too
you speak it
and love it
and seek to purify it with you fake asses
claiming ancestor holiness
let the ancestors be cursed for their iniquities
and debaucheries
the selling of souls in the centuries of time
yet you call them holy
call Mississippi holy
call Alabama Georgia Louisiana Carolina's holy ground
the marsh swamp bayous rivers creeks
holy trees of strange fruit and blood wine
call the ancestors from the woods and forests
call them from the pine trees and moss wood swamps
call them from the rice canefields cotton
from plantation and city of death in the family
Clara said she wanted to put her head in the oven
in the detroit of her time
Elijah was drunk as a coot she said
when Master Fard came selling red silk
the same red we followed to the shore
when the king sold us to the ghost, Baraka said
he told us about the railroad in the bottom of ocean
filled with bones
ancestor bones who resisted and wailed cried and shitted
not only tongues but vile moans shouts screams to the motherfucker
the son of a bitch ancestor
who pitted tribe against tribe warrior against warrior
man against woman for trinkets and barrels of rum
and we yet praise them
in our abject ignorance
we praise the culture of madness and gold
madness and diamonds
madness and chopped hands clitoris legs
and there is no end even today
the kings and queens are alive and well
working overtime to feed themselves full
as we whore and rape each other into the night of the full moon
where the silence is aloud and heard the world over
the silence of hunger and disease
silence of ignorance and demands to be king for life
to never end the terror
to never avenge the righteous
to continue the plunder until the new kingdom comes
and the wicked are reduced to dust
and the motherfucker receives his fucking
Amen.
--Marvin X
4.17.09
Friday, April 17, 2009
Ancestors
Ancestors
Who are the real motherfuckers
who fucked our fathers and mothers
off the land into the good ship jesus
into the door of no return
into the sea of blood and bones
sharks and wail
arriving in the carolinas for five hundred years
ancestors as king and queen
who sold us to the ghost
Baraka teaches us
ancestors we call you in the name of nigguhs
black nigguhs in the hoods of america
not pseudo black kemetic fakes and frauds
scared to see the new imperial king of the realm
too blind by the sun of Ra to find a bone at the Pyramid
yet they search in vain year after year
when the whole earth is ours
no matter Africa
no matter Arabia
no matter Asia
no matter the Americas
no matter Europe
the earth is the black man's land
Gullahland is Africa
hear the talk see the weave enjoy the land
we are in Africa in Mississippi Alabama Georgia
take claim to the land and forever hold your tongues
dig the pyramids of Louisiana and see the Moorish mounds
see the Seminoles of Florida
The Gullahs and Geeches up and down the coast
ancestors all
who were fucked by the motherfucker
king and queen motherfucker and son of a bitch
male rape and child rape and mother rape
allowed by the king and queen
ancestors all
guilty
and charged
Sun Ra said they got to pay
Africa got to pay like the white man devil
yeah, Africa pay
you got the gold diamonds precious metals everywhere
pay
stop paying europe and pay the negro
the motherfucker you made with the red flag
guiding him to the shore through the door of no return
that bitch warrior you allowed to be raped in front of his women and children
that whore who kept us alive while sexing the master
who wanted all the women men and children
greedy bastard
and talk of clean english
fuck the english language
fuck every word of it
and fuck you too
you speak it
and love it
and seek to purify it with you fake asses
claiming ancestor holiness
let the ancestors be cursed for their iniquities
and debaucheries
the selling of souls in the centuries of time
yet you call them holy
call Mississippi holy
call Alabama Georgia Louisiana Carolina's holy ground
the marsh swamp bayous rivers creeks
holy trees of strange fruit and blood wine
call the ancestors from the woods and forests
call them from the pine trees and moss wood swamps
call them from the rice canefields cotton
from plantation and city of death in the family
Clara said she wanted to put her head in the oven
in the detroit of her time
Elijah was drunk as a coot she said
when Master Fard came selling red silk
the same red we followed to the shore
when the king sold us to the ghost, Baraka said
he told us about the railroad in the bottom of ocean
filled with bones
ancestor bones who resisted and wailed cried and shitted
not only tongues but vile moans shouts screams to the motherfucker
the son of a bitch ancestor
who pitted tribe against tribe warrior against warrior
man against woman for trinkets and barrels of rum
and we yet praise them
in our abject ignorance
we praise the culture of madness and gold
madness and diamonds
madness and chopped hands clitoris legs
and there is no end even today
the kings and queens are alive and well
working overtime to feed themselves full
as we whore and rape each other into the night of the full moon
where the silence is aloud and heard the world over
the silence of hunger and disease
silence of ignorance and demands to be king for life
to never end the terror
to never avenge the righteous
to continue the plunder until the new kingdom comes
and the wicked are reduced to dust
and the motherfucker receives his fucking
Amen.
--Marvin X
4.17.09
Ancestors
Who are the real motherfuckers
who fucked our fathers and mothers
off the land into the good ship jesus
into the door of no return
into the sea of blood and bones
sharks and wail
arriving in the carolinas for five hundred years
ancestors as king and queen
who sold us to the ghost
Baraka teaches us
ancestors we call you in the name of nigguhs
black nigguhs in the hoods of america
not pseudo black kemetic fakes and frauds
scared to see the new imperial king of the realm
too blind by the sun of Ra to find a bone at the Pyramid
yet they search in vain year after year
when the whole earth is ours
no matter Africa
no matter Arabia
no matter Asia
no matter the Americas
no matter Europe
the earth is the black man's land
Gullahland is Africa
hear the talk see the weave enjoy the land
we are in Africa in Mississippi Alabama Georgia
take claim to the land and forever hold your tongues
dig the pyramids of Louisiana and see the Moorish mounds
see the Seminoles of Florida
The Gullahs and Geeches up and down the coast
ancestors all
who were fucked by the motherfucker
king and queen motherfucker and son of a bitch
male rape and child rape and mother rape
allowed by the king and queen
ancestors all
guilty
and charged
Sun Ra said they got to pay
Africa got to pay like the white man devil
yeah, Africa pay
you got the gold diamonds precious metals everywhere
pay
stop paying europe and pay the negro
the motherfucker you made with the red flag
guiding him to the shore through the door of no return
that bitch warrior you allowed to be raped in front of his women and children
that whore who kept us alive while sexing the master
who wanted all the women men and children
greedy bastard
and talk of clean english
fuck the english language
fuck every word of it
and fuck you too
you speak it
and love it
and seek to purify it with you fake asses
claiming ancestor holiness
let the ancestors be cursed for their iniquities
and debaucheries
the selling of souls in the centuries of time
yet you call them holy
call Mississippi holy
call Alabama Georgia Louisiana Carolina's holy ground
the marsh swamp bayous rivers creeks
holy trees of strange fruit and blood wine
call the ancestors from the woods and forests
call them from the pine trees and moss wood swamps
call them from the rice canefields cotton
from plantation and city of death in the family
Clara said she wanted to put her head in the oven
in the detroit of her time
Elijah was drunk as a coot she said
when Master Fard came selling red silk
the same red we followed to the shore
when the king sold us to the ghost, Baraka said
he told us about the railroad in the bottom of ocean
filled with bones
ancestor bones who resisted and wailed cried and shitted
not only tongues but vile moans shouts screams to the motherfucker
the son of a bitch ancestor
who pitted tribe against tribe warrior against warrior
man against woman for trinkets and barrels of rum
and we yet praise them
in our abject ignorance
we praise the culture of madness and gold
madness and diamonds
madness and chopped hands clitoris legs
and there is no end even today
the kings and queens are alive and well
working overtime to feed themselves full
as we whore and rape each other into the night of the full moon
where the silence is aloud and heard the world over
the silence of hunger and disease
silence of ignorance and demands to be king for life
to never end the terror
to never avenge the righteous
to continue the plunder until the new kingdom comes
and the wicked are reduced to dust
and the motherfucker receives his fucking
Amen.
--Marvin X
4.17.09
The Chauncey Bailey Killing and Others
Broussard's statement may help police clear two more killings
By Thomas Peele
The Chauncey Bailey Project
Posted: 04/17/2009 04:08:22 PM PDT
Updated: 04/17/2009 04:08:23 PM PDT
OAKLAND — On the order of Yusuf Bey IV, Devaughndre Broussard and Antoine Mackey in July 2007 lured a homeless man to a dark corner where he was shot dead after raising his hands over his head, according to a statement Broussard gave prosecutors last month.
Broussard also said Mackey admitted killing another man with an assault rifle and joking about it, describing himself as "Elmer Fudd" on a hunting trip.
Broussard, who admitted in the document to also killing journalist Chauncey Bailey, is scheduled to describe all three killings to an Alameda County grand jury next week as part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors then expect to charge Bey IV and Mackey with multiple murders.
For weeks, Broussard said, Bey IV, then the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery told him to follow the man, Odell Roberson, in preparation for killing him. The reason, he said, was revenge for the 2005 killing of Bey IV's brother, Antar Bey, by Roberson's nephew, Alonza Phillips.
On the night of July 8, 2007, Broussard, Mackey and Bey IV were "talking and chopping it up" when Bey IV suddenly gave the order: Roberson's time was up. Broussard told investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office he took Roberson to a dark spot on Herzog Street where Mackey passed him an assault rifle, according to a transcript of the interview.
"I took the safety off and pointed it at him," Broussard said. "He tried to break. I'm like, stop, then he turned around and put his hands up and I (shot) him ... . Then he probably turned and I know I just kept hitting him .... his body hopped off the ground and moved a couple of inches." Broussard is scheduled to tell a grand jury next week that he killed Roberson and journalist Chauncey Bailey at Bey IV's order. He also is to testify that Mackey killed another man, Michael Wills, on July 12, 2007.
Bey IV and Mackey are then expected to each be charged with multiple counts of murder. Broussard has agreed to please guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter. In exchange for his testimony, he would receive a prison sentence of about 25 years with a guaranteed release date.
Both Broussard's attorney, LeRue Grim, and Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lamiero have declined to comment on the testimony or plea agreement, which Broussard signed earlier this week.
His testimony comes more than 20 months after he shot and killed Bailey near downtown Oakland. He told Lamiero during questioning in preparation for grand jury testimony that Bey IV ordered Bailey killed because the reporter was working on a story about the bakery's financial problems and internal strife.
Bey IV remains uncharged in Bailey's killing. He is charged with a host of other crimes, including kidnapping and torture, and is jailed without bail and has denied involvement in Bailey's assassination.
In addition to detailing the killings of Bailey and Roberson, Broussard said in the interview that Bey IV kept a "hit list" of people he wanted killed for "revenge, retribution." Broussard said that Bey IV also told him to be ready to kill others in Phillips' family in retribution for the slaying of Antar Bey — plans that were still being developed when police raided the bakery Aug. 3, 2007, the day after Broussard killed Bailey.
Broussard also told investigators that Mackey told him he shot and killed Wills.
Broussard said he was at the bakery and heard shots. Moments later, Mackey and Bey IV rushed in. Broussard said he followed Mackey to his room where Mackey described the killing.
"He said the dude tried to run and then he shot him," Broussard said, adding that Mackey was laughing and described himself as the cartoon character Elmer Fudd out hunting.
"I ran over there and I went to look" at where the killing happened a few blocks from the bakery. "Yusuf was like, 'go look for your self.'" Broussard said he dressed in jogging clothes so he could claim he was just exercising if police stopped him. As he neared Wills body, he said he heard a woman yell "somebody killed that boy. Somebody killed that boy." Wills apparently was a random target chosen because he was white, according to the Broussard's account.
Broussard said Mackey told him he and Bey IV were discussing the 1970 Zebra Killings in San Francisco, where African Americans had killed whites, when they saw Wills, a chef who lived nearby, who was walking home from a convenience store after finishing work.
A few days later, Broussard said Bey IV "said we got a devil....He was cocky like." Both Bey IV and his late father, bakery founder Yusuf Bey have often referred to whites as "devils" while preaching racial hatred.
In telephone calls recorded from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and obtained by the Chauncey Bailey Project, Bey IV often makes similar statements, referring to "white and Jew devils" and "media devils" he claims are trying to destroy him.
Thomas Peele is an investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Reach him at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com. Visit Chaunceybaileyproject.org to learn more about the killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey.
.
Broussard's statement may help police clear two more killings
By Thomas Peele
The Chauncey Bailey Project
Posted: 04/17/2009 04:08:22 PM PDT
Updated: 04/17/2009 04:08:23 PM PDT
OAKLAND — On the order of Yusuf Bey IV, Devaughndre Broussard and Antoine Mackey in July 2007 lured a homeless man to a dark corner where he was shot dead after raising his hands over his head, according to a statement Broussard gave prosecutors last month.
Broussard also said Mackey admitted killing another man with an assault rifle and joking about it, describing himself as "Elmer Fudd" on a hunting trip.
Broussard, who admitted in the document to also killing journalist Chauncey Bailey, is scheduled to describe all three killings to an Alameda County grand jury next week as part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors then expect to charge Bey IV and Mackey with multiple murders.
For weeks, Broussard said, Bey IV, then the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery told him to follow the man, Odell Roberson, in preparation for killing him. The reason, he said, was revenge for the 2005 killing of Bey IV's brother, Antar Bey, by Roberson's nephew, Alonza Phillips.
On the night of July 8, 2007, Broussard, Mackey and Bey IV were "talking and chopping it up" when Bey IV suddenly gave the order: Roberson's time was up. Broussard told investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office he took Roberson to a dark spot on Herzog Street where Mackey passed him an assault rifle, according to a transcript of the interview.
"I took the safety off and pointed it at him," Broussard said. "He tried to break. I'm like, stop, then he turned around and put his hands up and I (shot) him ... . Then he probably turned and I know I just kept hitting him .... his body hopped off the ground and moved a couple of inches." Broussard is scheduled to tell a grand jury next week that he killed Roberson and journalist Chauncey Bailey at Bey IV's order. He also is to testify that Mackey killed another man, Michael Wills, on July 12, 2007.
Bey IV and Mackey are then expected to each be charged with multiple counts of murder. Broussard has agreed to please guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter. In exchange for his testimony, he would receive a prison sentence of about 25 years with a guaranteed release date.
Both Broussard's attorney, LeRue Grim, and Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lamiero have declined to comment on the testimony or plea agreement, which Broussard signed earlier this week.
His testimony comes more than 20 months after he shot and killed Bailey near downtown Oakland. He told Lamiero during questioning in preparation for grand jury testimony that Bey IV ordered Bailey killed because the reporter was working on a story about the bakery's financial problems and internal strife.
Bey IV remains uncharged in Bailey's killing. He is charged with a host of other crimes, including kidnapping and torture, and is jailed without bail and has denied involvement in Bailey's assassination.
In addition to detailing the killings of Bailey and Roberson, Broussard said in the interview that Bey IV kept a "hit list" of people he wanted killed for "revenge, retribution." Broussard said that Bey IV also told him to be ready to kill others in Phillips' family in retribution for the slaying of Antar Bey — plans that were still being developed when police raided the bakery Aug. 3, 2007, the day after Broussard killed Bailey.
Broussard also told investigators that Mackey told him he shot and killed Wills.
Broussard said he was at the bakery and heard shots. Moments later, Mackey and Bey IV rushed in. Broussard said he followed Mackey to his room where Mackey described the killing.
"He said the dude tried to run and then he shot him," Broussard said, adding that Mackey was laughing and described himself as the cartoon character Elmer Fudd out hunting.
"I ran over there and I went to look" at where the killing happened a few blocks from the bakery. "Yusuf was like, 'go look for your self.'" Broussard said he dressed in jogging clothes so he could claim he was just exercising if police stopped him. As he neared Wills body, he said he heard a woman yell "somebody killed that boy. Somebody killed that boy." Wills apparently was a random target chosen because he was white, according to the Broussard's account.
Broussard said Mackey told him he and Bey IV were discussing the 1970 Zebra Killings in San Francisco, where African Americans had killed whites, when they saw Wills, a chef who lived nearby, who was walking home from a convenience store after finishing work.
A few days later, Broussard said Bey IV "said we got a devil....He was cocky like." Both Bey IV and his late father, bakery founder Yusuf Bey have often referred to whites as "devils" while preaching racial hatred.
In telephone calls recorded from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and obtained by the Chauncey Bailey Project, Bey IV often makes similar statements, referring to "white and Jew devils" and "media devils" he claims are trying to destroy him.
Thomas Peele is an investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Reach him at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com. Visit Chaunceybaileyproject.org to learn more about the killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey.
.
A Writer’s Creed
I write to keep from killing, from slaughtering the guilty and the innocent. The choice is thus society’s, not mine, for either let my pen flow or blood shall flow upon this land because there are those who have wronged me, stolen from me, lied about me, banned me from employment, refused to invite me to their gatherings to celebrate life or even art, for that matter. So let my pen flow and do not disturb me for anything, especially some menial chore, some mundane exercise, simply leave me alone in the silence of my room. Let me think about the finer things of life, what words to say, what metaphors, what psycholinguistic turns of the mind, the sociology and history of a people, yes, let me dwell there or else there shall be chaos in the land and blood shall flow like a river, for my spirit shall be suppressed and shall seek an outlet in blood from the misery of my mind.
Yes, I am a killer in disguise, who appears in the persona of a writer for the good of society but continue to oppress me, suppress me, and I shall strike out in a moment of black madness and you who have wronged me shall see your guts spilled, your head smashed against the concrete, believe me, it is only a matter of time before I shall seek my revenge and come upon you in the night like a panther, and you shall cry out in horror and my knife shall be upon your throat and from thence to the splitting of your guts upon the ground. I shall walk away with laughter and joy only the devil himself shall understand and appreciate.
--Marvin X
April 17, 2009
I write to keep from killing, from slaughtering the guilty and the innocent. The choice is thus society’s, not mine, for either let my pen flow or blood shall flow upon this land because there are those who have wronged me, stolen from me, lied about me, banned me from employment, refused to invite me to their gatherings to celebrate life or even art, for that matter. So let my pen flow and do not disturb me for anything, especially some menial chore, some mundane exercise, simply leave me alone in the silence of my room. Let me think about the finer things of life, what words to say, what metaphors, what psycholinguistic turns of the mind, the sociology and history of a people, yes, let me dwell there or else there shall be chaos in the land and blood shall flow like a river, for my spirit shall be suppressed and shall seek an outlet in blood from the misery of my mind.
Yes, I am a killer in disguise, who appears in the persona of a writer for the good of society but continue to oppress me, suppress me, and I shall strike out in a moment of black madness and you who have wronged me shall see your guts spilled, your head smashed against the concrete, believe me, it is only a matter of time before I shall seek my revenge and come upon you in the night like a panther, and you shall cry out in horror and my knife shall be upon your throat and from thence to the splitting of your guts upon the ground. I shall walk away with laughter and joy only the devil himself shall understand and appreciate.
--Marvin X
April 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Oakland--the Death and Resurrection of A City
Marvin X
A city dies a natural death when it becomes morally bankrupt, politically effete, economically depraved and spiritually caught in the morass of the cross and lynching tree. Signs of moral bankruptcy are clear when the righteous are defamed and the guilty heralded in spite of clear evidence to the contrary. A city called Jerusalem was defamed when its citizens cried,
"Give us the thieves and away with the righteous man."
In such a city the voice of truth is crushed under foot and lies are raised to the level of facts and intelligence. For many years Oakland lived under the lies emanating from a businessman. Even though many people knew the truth of his business or rather the dark side of his business, he was raised high as the example of morality and community stability. Even though one of the abused women cried for years like the Eloquent Peasant of Egyptian literature, her cries went unheard, but finally she was vindicated.
But today Oakland is beset with problems of truth in the media, apathy and lack of taking authority in the Mayor's office. The Mayor was recently shamed before the nation when the family of slain OPD officers commanded he not speak at their funeral. The question is who runs the city, the OPD or the Mayor? We know the OPD is a gang of brute beasts in blue uniforms, and like any gang they rule through terror and intimidation. The Mayor submitted to them even though he is the one who represents the City of Oakland, not the OPD. And so he is guilty of lacking moral leadership as well as political stewardship, and so power flows down, lack of power as well.
In the media we see people projected as heroes who are pseudo revolutionaries that have been exposed as agent provocateurs, yet the people are in denial just as they were in denial about the businessman. The person is being defended even when evidence is presented to the contrary. The people are like starry eyed idealists believing in a balloon even though it has burst before their eyes and all the air dissipated.
What can save such people? Surely we know things go from bad to worse. In the hood things are at such a desperate level every man is armed and ready to kill at the drop of a hat. There is no conflict resolution, there is no healing for the traumatized families who must suffer their pain of loss in silence.
The church is on every corner, but it is like the liquor store adjacent to it, providing an opiate to tranquilize the people into more apathy and degeneracy, with church whores running amok and mothers paying tithes with money from dope dealing sons and daughters, and of course the preacher happily accepts the ill gotten gain to extend his lifestyle of conspicuous consumption while preaching a world of make believe and pie in the sky after you die.
The school system is a total sham and scam. They have become merely holding cells for the neo-slavery department of corrections, or simply a place where no learning takes place because half the children drop out and the other half are maintained on drugs to keep them from their attention deficit disorder caused not by any mental problem but by a totally boring white supremacy curriculum, making them unprepared to deal in the global economy with millions of jobs outsourced to India and China, yet the educators are not preparing them for the new economic era because they are not prepared themselves.
There are those conscious people who clamor for a more Afrocentric education but do not prepare their own people to become teachers, and when conscious teachers express any degree of Afrocentricity, they are immediately booted out and join the unemployment lines. In short, there are few black teachers today, not only in Oakland but throughout the state and nation. Thus the irrelevant classroom is turning girls to prostitution as young as twelve, thirteen and fourteen. On the streets they receive an education more exciting and glamorous than studying math and English. They can be seen nightly on Oakland's International Blvd. where they join the sex trade and become further abused and marginalized from society.
The so-called conscious community is so fractious that the very thought of unity is avoided because of ideological narrow-mindedness, whether from the pseudo conscious hip hop sector or the older ideologues steeped in ideological purity from the 60s, still dreaming of some Marxist heaven or Pan African paradise in Africa. Thus the conscious events are seldom events where the common people can gather for conscious knowledge and wisdom, political education that transcends the sect and cult.
And so things go from bad to worse as Murphy told us. More killings, more drugs to medicate the wounded souls trying to exist in a once valiant city with a revolutionary tradition that shook up the world, but now a wounded elephant shot with a tranquilizer gun into nothingness and dread.
No real radical solutions are presented because it would require radical action and the status quo must be maintained to allow the blood suckers of the poor to get their checks and continue their conspicuous consumption in their pitiful world of make believe.
We have suggested repeatedly offering micro loans to brothers and sisters in poverty so they can come up as millions of poor are doing around the world. To decrease the violence we have suggested the model used in Iraq to stem violence by allowing brothers and sisters to secure their own neighborhoods by paying them to do so. But no, the blood sucking businessmen want to hire armed guards to patrol the streets, and of course they want to increase the OPD with more foreign, alien officers full of racism and white supremacy notions of how the natives must be subdued, pacified, profiled and occupied. Then when the people react to the foreign army in their midst, they are criticized for their "obscene pride" as Dr. Fritz Pointer called the peoples reaction to the actions of Louvelle Mixon who chose death as freedom rather than return to the neo-slavery of the prison system and dire lack of employment opportunities, especially for a growing number of ex-felons, most convicted of the petty crimes and would not be incarcerated if they'd had proper legal representation.
The resurrection of Oakland can only begin by thinking out of the box of yesterday's worn-out ideas that have failed repeatedly although some have benefited and thus their resistance, such as those bureaucrats in city government who are resisting the Mayor's attempt to hire ex-felons by not putting their criminal past on the employment application.
The schools must be totally and radically revamped for education in the global economy. The present curriculum must be destroyed for the relic of a gone era that it is, and perhaps many teachers will be disposed of in the process of cleaning the educational house.
We call for peer teachers from among the bright students who can obviously explain lessons in the language of their peers. Even many of the socalled out of control students are in reality leaders who are simply bored and refuse to remain silent, thus they can be trained as peer teachers as well.
The spiritual community must simply preach a new way with a new message and mission of spiritual liberation and consciousness to become synchronized with the Information Age that will not permit dogmatism, sectarianism and religiosity to continue unchecked to the point of religious and culture wars across the planet. The religious community must be shaken out of its comfort zone, whether Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Rasta, Yoruba or Atheist.
Oakland cannot die except by continued self deception and denial that anything is radically wrong and anything less than a radical solution will resuscitate the dying body politic. When the media pundits from the right and the left are no longer guilty of perpetuating the world of make believe, the mighty Lazarus called Oakland will rise again to astound the world.
Marvin X
A city dies a natural death when it becomes morally bankrupt, politically effete, economically depraved and spiritually caught in the morass of the cross and lynching tree. Signs of moral bankruptcy are clear when the righteous are defamed and the guilty heralded in spite of clear evidence to the contrary. A city called Jerusalem was defamed when its citizens cried,
"Give us the thieves and away with the righteous man."
In such a city the voice of truth is crushed under foot and lies are raised to the level of facts and intelligence. For many years Oakland lived under the lies emanating from a businessman. Even though many people knew the truth of his business or rather the dark side of his business, he was raised high as the example of morality and community stability. Even though one of the abused women cried for years like the Eloquent Peasant of Egyptian literature, her cries went unheard, but finally she was vindicated.
But today Oakland is beset with problems of truth in the media, apathy and lack of taking authority in the Mayor's office. The Mayor was recently shamed before the nation when the family of slain OPD officers commanded he not speak at their funeral. The question is who runs the city, the OPD or the Mayor? We know the OPD is a gang of brute beasts in blue uniforms, and like any gang they rule through terror and intimidation. The Mayor submitted to them even though he is the one who represents the City of Oakland, not the OPD. And so he is guilty of lacking moral leadership as well as political stewardship, and so power flows down, lack of power as well.
In the media we see people projected as heroes who are pseudo revolutionaries that have been exposed as agent provocateurs, yet the people are in denial just as they were in denial about the businessman. The person is being defended even when evidence is presented to the contrary. The people are like starry eyed idealists believing in a balloon even though it has burst before their eyes and all the air dissipated.
What can save such people? Surely we know things go from bad to worse. In the hood things are at such a desperate level every man is armed and ready to kill at the drop of a hat. There is no conflict resolution, there is no healing for the traumatized families who must suffer their pain of loss in silence.
The church is on every corner, but it is like the liquor store adjacent to it, providing an opiate to tranquilize the people into more apathy and degeneracy, with church whores running amok and mothers paying tithes with money from dope dealing sons and daughters, and of course the preacher happily accepts the ill gotten gain to extend his lifestyle of conspicuous consumption while preaching a world of make believe and pie in the sky after you die.
The school system is a total sham and scam. They have become merely holding cells for the neo-slavery department of corrections, or simply a place where no learning takes place because half the children drop out and the other half are maintained on drugs to keep them from their attention deficit disorder caused not by any mental problem but by a totally boring white supremacy curriculum, making them unprepared to deal in the global economy with millions of jobs outsourced to India and China, yet the educators are not preparing them for the new economic era because they are not prepared themselves.
There are those conscious people who clamor for a more Afrocentric education but do not prepare their own people to become teachers, and when conscious teachers express any degree of Afrocentricity, they are immediately booted out and join the unemployment lines. In short, there are few black teachers today, not only in Oakland but throughout the state and nation. Thus the irrelevant classroom is turning girls to prostitution as young as twelve, thirteen and fourteen. On the streets they receive an education more exciting and glamorous than studying math and English. They can be seen nightly on Oakland's International Blvd. where they join the sex trade and become further abused and marginalized from society.
The so-called conscious community is so fractious that the very thought of unity is avoided because of ideological narrow-mindedness, whether from the pseudo conscious hip hop sector or the older ideologues steeped in ideological purity from the 60s, still dreaming of some Marxist heaven or Pan African paradise in Africa. Thus the conscious events are seldom events where the common people can gather for conscious knowledge and wisdom, political education that transcends the sect and cult.
And so things go from bad to worse as Murphy told us. More killings, more drugs to medicate the wounded souls trying to exist in a once valiant city with a revolutionary tradition that shook up the world, but now a wounded elephant shot with a tranquilizer gun into nothingness and dread.
No real radical solutions are presented because it would require radical action and the status quo must be maintained to allow the blood suckers of the poor to get their checks and continue their conspicuous consumption in their pitiful world of make believe.
We have suggested repeatedly offering micro loans to brothers and sisters in poverty so they can come up as millions of poor are doing around the world. To decrease the violence we have suggested the model used in Iraq to stem violence by allowing brothers and sisters to secure their own neighborhoods by paying them to do so. But no, the blood sucking businessmen want to hire armed guards to patrol the streets, and of course they want to increase the OPD with more foreign, alien officers full of racism and white supremacy notions of how the natives must be subdued, pacified, profiled and occupied. Then when the people react to the foreign army in their midst, they are criticized for their "obscene pride" as Dr. Fritz Pointer called the peoples reaction to the actions of Louvelle Mixon who chose death as freedom rather than return to the neo-slavery of the prison system and dire lack of employment opportunities, especially for a growing number of ex-felons, most convicted of the petty crimes and would not be incarcerated if they'd had proper legal representation.
The resurrection of Oakland can only begin by thinking out of the box of yesterday's worn-out ideas that have failed repeatedly although some have benefited and thus their resistance, such as those bureaucrats in city government who are resisting the Mayor's attempt to hire ex-felons by not putting their criminal past on the employment application.
The schools must be totally and radically revamped for education in the global economy. The present curriculum must be destroyed for the relic of a gone era that it is, and perhaps many teachers will be disposed of in the process of cleaning the educational house.
We call for peer teachers from among the bright students who can obviously explain lessons in the language of their peers. Even many of the socalled out of control students are in reality leaders who are simply bored and refuse to remain silent, thus they can be trained as peer teachers as well.
The spiritual community must simply preach a new way with a new message and mission of spiritual liberation and consciousness to become synchronized with the Information Age that will not permit dogmatism, sectarianism and religiosity to continue unchecked to the point of religious and culture wars across the planet. The religious community must be shaken out of its comfort zone, whether Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Rasta, Yoruba or Atheist.
Oakland cannot die except by continued self deception and denial that anything is radically wrong and anything less than a radical solution will resuscitate the dying body politic. When the media pundits from the right and the left are no longer guilty of perpetuating the world of make believe, the mighty Lazarus called Oakland will rise again to astound the world.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Chapter 34: My Friend the Devil--Eldridge Cleaver
Marvin X
And then along came Crack. It wasn't before long that it appeared that not only did the masses succumb to Crack but the liberation movement as well, including and especially its leaders. The same happened in the Black Arts Movement as well. Can we not say the entire black nation fell victim? Even black studies professors fell into the crack of Crack, even presidents of colleges, such as John Green, president of Merritt College in Oakland. The bourgeoisie was not exempt, nor the grass roots. The most beautiful women from every class of black society turned into Crack whores, toss ups or strawberries. And in reality the men were Crack whores too, even the children were literally sold to the dope man. Turned out mothers told their dope dealing sons they need not trade dope for sex with Crack hos, he could have sex with his mother so she could get the dope instead of the Crack ho.
The ghetto turned into a giant auction block. Men and women sold themselves to the highest bidder for Crack. When a husband and wife ran out of Crack, the husband would demand his wife give herself to the dope man for a package. Sometimes the wife never returned. Sometimes the husband would offer himself.
Yes, brothers who claimed they weren't homosexual performed homosexual acts for Crack. Women did the same for whomever had the package. Women who weren't lesbian performed lesbian sexual acts for the dope man or whomever had the package.
What caused such moral degeneration and desperation in the black nation? We know there are no mysteries, no mystery God. So let us turn to the US Government, and we can pinpoint the Crack epidemic to Freeway Rick and a Nicaraguan named Blandon, as documented in the American Gangster Series on BET. But also thanks to journalist Gary Webb who lost his career and ultimately lost his life chronicling the Crack epidemic and the source of it, which he uncovered was the US Government's use of Crack to buy weapons for the Nicaraguan Contras in their fight against the revolutionary Sandinista Government in Nicaragua. The black nation was turned into Crack hos to benefit the American Right Wing Revolution of President Ronald Reagan, supposedly the greatest Present we ever had, but Allah brought him down so low in his last days that they wouldn't show you his picture. He was so deranged he couldn't come to his own birthday party. We are certain he approached the madness of Shakespeare's King Lear for the retribution he deserved for destroying the black nation with Crack.
Does this excuse the revolutionaries, the black bourgeoisie, or the grass roots for falling victim to the white man's tricknology? No! We had knowledge he was the devil, Elijah told us this. And after Elijah Imam Khomeini told us America was the Great Satan, and after Khomeini President Chavez came to the United Nations telling us he smelled the Devil, meaning President Bush, and then the other day came President Lula of Brazil telling the president of France he and his blue eyed brothers and sisters are responsible for the world's troubles because of their white supremacy arrogance, thinking they are the world's most intelligent people while we can see clearly with the global financial meltdown that they lack the knowledge of the lowest imbecile or mentally retarded person awaiting the little yellow bus to stop outside his house to drive him to Special Ed. I give former President Bush credit for one thing he did positive: he got mental illness placed on par with physical illness with respect to insurance and health care. And we pray he takes advantage of the mental health component to check himself in to a mental health center to recover from his addiction to white supremacy. Let us hope other Americans, black and white, will do the same. After all, Attorney General Holder has told us the American people are cowards with respect to their unabashed racism, despite the election of Obama.
To the disgrace of our ancestors, our elders, parents and children,we fell victim to Crack, myself, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton, David Hilliard, and thousands of other radicals and revolutionaries. But we know, according to the Bible, there were two women in the field, God took one but left the other. Perhaps I am here to write this narrative because God spared me to tell this story. Thank you God!
Marvin X
And then along came Crack. It wasn't before long that it appeared that not only did the masses succumb to Crack but the liberation movement as well, including and especially its leaders. The same happened in the Black Arts Movement as well. Can we not say the entire black nation fell victim? Even black studies professors fell into the crack of Crack, even presidents of colleges, such as John Green, president of Merritt College in Oakland. The bourgeoisie was not exempt, nor the grass roots. The most beautiful women from every class of black society turned into Crack whores, toss ups or strawberries. And in reality the men were Crack whores too, even the children were literally sold to the dope man. Turned out mothers told their dope dealing sons they need not trade dope for sex with Crack hos, he could have sex with his mother so she could get the dope instead of the Crack ho.
The ghetto turned into a giant auction block. Men and women sold themselves to the highest bidder for Crack. When a husband and wife ran out of Crack, the husband would demand his wife give herself to the dope man for a package. Sometimes the wife never returned. Sometimes the husband would offer himself.
Yes, brothers who claimed they weren't homosexual performed homosexual acts for Crack. Women did the same for whomever had the package. Women who weren't lesbian performed lesbian sexual acts for the dope man or whomever had the package.
What caused such moral degeneration and desperation in the black nation? We know there are no mysteries, no mystery God. So let us turn to the US Government, and we can pinpoint the Crack epidemic to Freeway Rick and a Nicaraguan named Blandon, as documented in the American Gangster Series on BET. But also thanks to journalist Gary Webb who lost his career and ultimately lost his life chronicling the Crack epidemic and the source of it, which he uncovered was the US Government's use of Crack to buy weapons for the Nicaraguan Contras in their fight against the revolutionary Sandinista Government in Nicaragua. The black nation was turned into Crack hos to benefit the American Right Wing Revolution of President Ronald Reagan, supposedly the greatest Present we ever had, but Allah brought him down so low in his last days that they wouldn't show you his picture. He was so deranged he couldn't come to his own birthday party. We are certain he approached the madness of Shakespeare's King Lear for the retribution he deserved for destroying the black nation with Crack.
Does this excuse the revolutionaries, the black bourgeoisie, or the grass roots for falling victim to the white man's tricknology? No! We had knowledge he was the devil, Elijah told us this. And after Elijah Imam Khomeini told us America was the Great Satan, and after Khomeini President Chavez came to the United Nations telling us he smelled the Devil, meaning President Bush, and then the other day came President Lula of Brazil telling the president of France he and his blue eyed brothers and sisters are responsible for the world's troubles because of their white supremacy arrogance, thinking they are the world's most intelligent people while we can see clearly with the global financial meltdown that they lack the knowledge of the lowest imbecile or mentally retarded person awaiting the little yellow bus to stop outside his house to drive him to Special Ed. I give former President Bush credit for one thing he did positive: he got mental illness placed on par with physical illness with respect to insurance and health care. And we pray he takes advantage of the mental health component to check himself in to a mental health center to recover from his addiction to white supremacy. Let us hope other Americans, black and white, will do the same. After all, Attorney General Holder has told us the American people are cowards with respect to their unabashed racism, despite the election of Obama.
To the disgrace of our ancestors, our elders, parents and children,we fell victim to Crack, myself, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton, David Hilliard, and thousands of other radicals and revolutionaries. But we know, according to the Bible, there were two women in the field, God took one but left the other. Perhaps I am here to write this narrative because God spared me to tell this story. Thank you God!
Chapter 33: My Friend the Devil--Eldridge Cleaver
Marvin X
I hated to send Eldridge packing but enough was enough. I was tired of his focus on the phallus. I wanted to understand his fixation with this male organ that had caused him so much trouble throughout his life. What was the sexual psychology or pathology of this man? What was going on in the deep structure of his mind that over powered all other subjects and concerns. Obviously it was compulsive obsessive behavior. But didn't I suffer a sexual addiction as well, was not my polygamy merely the expression of a sexual addiction gone wild? After all, no matter how much sex I had it was never enough, I was never satisfied, and I am certain the women were never satisfied either, certainly not psychologically and probably not sexually since they are one--psycho-sexuality. I came to realize that my psycho-sexuality was nothing more than an expression of my addictive personality, that no matter what I did it would become an addiction, that I could never get enough, whether it was alcohol, weed or other drugs. There was no social drinking in my book, rather, my object was to drink to get drunk as possible, to smoke weed until there was no more, and to do the same with Crack which is called chasing the dragon that is forever eluding ones grasp.
So maybe Cleaver suffered a similar addictive personality, except that his was focused on his sexuality, and of course he went to the extreme with rape, actually a pathology that transcends sex into the realm of power and domination, and according to what he told me, it was not only to have power over the female but the male as well. He told me the process of the rapist. First, he would stalk the motel, lying in wait for a couple to check in and once they put the key in the door and opened it, he would charge into them, blocking the door with his foot. Then he would tie the man and woman and proceed to rape the woman while the man watched. He said his joy was not in having sex with the woman but in making the man watch his woman transform from resistance to acceptance of his sexual aggression.
Of course he told us in Soul on Ice that he practiced on black women and perfected with white women. And ultimately he served eighteen years in prison for his psychopathic behavior. Should we conclude that he was simply a sick puppy, yet thank him for whatever positive contribution he made to the liberation struggle. After all, he did not have to join the struggle, he could have been a very successful writer, but he chose social activism rather than commercial success, some might say to the detriment of many people or to the movement in general. But would it have been the same without Eldridge? Bobby Seale blames me for keeping Eldridge from the Panthers, then he blames me for introducing Eldridge to them. You can't have it both ways, Bobby!
But we can say the liberation was inundated with social psychopaths, or as Dr. Cornell West likes to say, "Those maladjusted to injustice." Yes, as in any liberation struggle, there are criminal psychopaths, hustlers, opportunists, agent provocateurs, snitches, uncle toms, along with the sincere, the honest, the romantics, idealists and dreamers. Sometimes they are in one personality, thus the complexity of some individuals and the simplicity of others.
I remember the night we were in Los Angeles during the Born Again days. We wanted to get served by prostitutes, so we were in the motel area near Sunset Strip. But as we were going into the motel with our ladies, we saw a blind man being led up the stairs by a sex worker. Eldridge acknowledged the sexual needs of the blind man and the service the worker was performing, thus he lambasted those who want to outlaw prostitution which has a social need as evidenced by the blind man. Would society deny the blind man satisfaction?
Marvin X
I hated to send Eldridge packing but enough was enough. I was tired of his focus on the phallus. I wanted to understand his fixation with this male organ that had caused him so much trouble throughout his life. What was the sexual psychology or pathology of this man? What was going on in the deep structure of his mind that over powered all other subjects and concerns. Obviously it was compulsive obsessive behavior. But didn't I suffer a sexual addiction as well, was not my polygamy merely the expression of a sexual addiction gone wild? After all, no matter how much sex I had it was never enough, I was never satisfied, and I am certain the women were never satisfied either, certainly not psychologically and probably not sexually since they are one--psycho-sexuality. I came to realize that my psycho-sexuality was nothing more than an expression of my addictive personality, that no matter what I did it would become an addiction, that I could never get enough, whether it was alcohol, weed or other drugs. There was no social drinking in my book, rather, my object was to drink to get drunk as possible, to smoke weed until there was no more, and to do the same with Crack which is called chasing the dragon that is forever eluding ones grasp.
So maybe Cleaver suffered a similar addictive personality, except that his was focused on his sexuality, and of course he went to the extreme with rape, actually a pathology that transcends sex into the realm of power and domination, and according to what he told me, it was not only to have power over the female but the male as well. He told me the process of the rapist. First, he would stalk the motel, lying in wait for a couple to check in and once they put the key in the door and opened it, he would charge into them, blocking the door with his foot. Then he would tie the man and woman and proceed to rape the woman while the man watched. He said his joy was not in having sex with the woman but in making the man watch his woman transform from resistance to acceptance of his sexual aggression.
Of course he told us in Soul on Ice that he practiced on black women and perfected with white women. And ultimately he served eighteen years in prison for his psychopathic behavior. Should we conclude that he was simply a sick puppy, yet thank him for whatever positive contribution he made to the liberation struggle. After all, he did not have to join the struggle, he could have been a very successful writer, but he chose social activism rather than commercial success, some might say to the detriment of many people or to the movement in general. But would it have been the same without Eldridge? Bobby Seale blames me for keeping Eldridge from the Panthers, then he blames me for introducing Eldridge to them. You can't have it both ways, Bobby!
But we can say the liberation was inundated with social psychopaths, or as Dr. Cornell West likes to say, "Those maladjusted to injustice." Yes, as in any liberation struggle, there are criminal psychopaths, hustlers, opportunists, agent provocateurs, snitches, uncle toms, along with the sincere, the honest, the romantics, idealists and dreamers. Sometimes they are in one personality, thus the complexity of some individuals and the simplicity of others.
I remember the night we were in Los Angeles during the Born Again days. We wanted to get served by prostitutes, so we were in the motel area near Sunset Strip. But as we were going into the motel with our ladies, we saw a blind man being led up the stairs by a sex worker. Eldridge acknowledged the sexual needs of the blind man and the service the worker was performing, thus he lambasted those who want to outlaw prostitution which has a social need as evidenced by the blind man. Would society deny the blind man satisfaction?
Friday, April 10, 2009
My Friend the Devil—Eldridge Cleaver
A Memoir
By Marvin X
Marvin X met Eldridge Cleaver on a visit to California’s Soledad Prison, 1966. Upon Cleaver’s release from prison in 1967, Marvin X was the first person he hooked up with.
They remained friends off and on until Cleaver’s death, May 1, 1998. Marvin did not attend his funeral in Los Angeles, but he organized and officiated a memorial service for Cleaver in Oakland, CA. Cleaver was a mercurial personality and Marvin experienced many of the changes with the author of the 60s classic Soul on Ice.
Marvin relies on his personal experience with Cleaver to describe the life of one of the most controversial men in America and the world. He recalls from memory Cleaver’s journey through Communism, Black Panthers, Christianity, Moonism, Mormonism, Crack addiction and death.
Marvin X introduced Cleaver to his old friends at Oakland’s Merritt College, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, co-founders of the Black Panther Party. Eldridge joined immediately, becoming Minister of Information. After a split in party ranks, Cleaver established his army on the East coast, Huey held down his troops on the West coast.
Internecine battles ensued, even while Cleaver fled the country to evade criminal charges stemming from a shootout with the Oakland police in which Lil Bobby Hutton was killed and Cleaver wounded. He became the international representative of the Black Panther Party, giving Black Americans diplomatic status with an embassy in Algeria, North Africa.
With astounding power of recall and vivid imagery, Marvin X describes a man ever on the search for knowledge and experience, delving into each experience with ineluctable energy.
This memoir is American history, African American history and world history.
Comments on My Friend the Devil by Marvin X
Wonderful appreciation of both Elijah and Clara. Rare perception nowadays, what with the Malcolm cult. The pendulum is swinging.
--John Woodford, former Editor, Muhammad Speaks
Editor, Michigan Today, Univ. of Mich.
Hallelujah! MX is reminiscing, I must say, entertainingly, about his historic dalliance w/ shaitan…rat on....
--Amiri Baraka, Newark, NJ
More and more I am convinced this work will be a best-seller. Though I have never read a Cleaver biography, a lot of this material seems to be new and if not factually new, it is from a novel perspective.
– Rudy Lewis, editor, Chickenbones: A Journal, Virginia
Thank you Marvin...get it all out...write it out...sweat it out...dance it out...cry it out, swear it out, walk it out...work it out....thank you for sharing ...respect.
--Joan Tarika Lewis, Violinist, Oakland
First female member of the Black Panther Party
Enjoyed your post about Cleaver. Very interesting. Contained vivid imagery.
--Martin Reynolds, Editor, Oakland Tribune
About the Author
Marvin X is one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement and the father of Muslim American literature. He has written poetry, plays, and novels. His play Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam was produced at the New Federal Theatre in New York last year.
His first play written as a student and produced by the drama department at San Francisco State College/now Univeristy, 1965, was produced recently in San Francisco and Oakland by the Lower Bottom Playaz. His drama One Day in the Life was the longest running Afro-American drama in Northern California from 1996 thru 2000. His books of essays include In the Crazy House Called America, Wish I Could Tell You the Truth,Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality and How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. His recent poetry is Love and War and Land of My Daughters.
Contact his agent:
Muhammida El Muhajir,
Sun in Leo Agency
145 Van Buren Street
Brooklyn, New York
11221
718-496-2305
A Memoir
By Marvin X
Marvin X met Eldridge Cleaver on a visit to California’s Soledad Prison, 1966. Upon Cleaver’s release from prison in 1967, Marvin X was the first person he hooked up with.
They remained friends off and on until Cleaver’s death, May 1, 1998. Marvin did not attend his funeral in Los Angeles, but he organized and officiated a memorial service for Cleaver in Oakland, CA. Cleaver was a mercurial personality and Marvin experienced many of the changes with the author of the 60s classic Soul on Ice.
Marvin relies on his personal experience with Cleaver to describe the life of one of the most controversial men in America and the world. He recalls from memory Cleaver’s journey through Communism, Black Panthers, Christianity, Moonism, Mormonism, Crack addiction and death.
Marvin X introduced Cleaver to his old friends at Oakland’s Merritt College, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, co-founders of the Black Panther Party. Eldridge joined immediately, becoming Minister of Information. After a split in party ranks, Cleaver established his army on the East coast, Huey held down his troops on the West coast.
Internecine battles ensued, even while Cleaver fled the country to evade criminal charges stemming from a shootout with the Oakland police in which Lil Bobby Hutton was killed and Cleaver wounded. He became the international representative of the Black Panther Party, giving Black Americans diplomatic status with an embassy in Algeria, North Africa.
With astounding power of recall and vivid imagery, Marvin X describes a man ever on the search for knowledge and experience, delving into each experience with ineluctable energy.
This memoir is American history, African American history and world history.
Comments on My Friend the Devil by Marvin X
Wonderful appreciation of both Elijah and Clara. Rare perception nowadays, what with the Malcolm cult. The pendulum is swinging.
--John Woodford, former Editor, Muhammad Speaks
Editor, Michigan Today, Univ. of Mich.
Hallelujah! MX is reminiscing, I must say, entertainingly, about his historic dalliance w/ shaitan…rat on....
--Amiri Baraka, Newark, NJ
More and more I am convinced this work will be a best-seller. Though I have never read a Cleaver biography, a lot of this material seems to be new and if not factually new, it is from a novel perspective.
– Rudy Lewis, editor, Chickenbones: A Journal, Virginia
Thank you Marvin...get it all out...write it out...sweat it out...dance it out...cry it out, swear it out, walk it out...work it out....thank you for sharing ...respect.
--Joan Tarika Lewis, Violinist, Oakland
First female member of the Black Panther Party
Enjoyed your post about Cleaver. Very interesting. Contained vivid imagery.
--Martin Reynolds, Editor, Oakland Tribune
About the Author
Marvin X is one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement and the father of Muslim American literature. He has written poetry, plays, and novels. His play Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam was produced at the New Federal Theatre in New York last year.
His first play written as a student and produced by the drama department at San Francisco State College/now Univeristy, 1965, was produced recently in San Francisco and Oakland by the Lower Bottom Playaz. His drama One Day in the Life was the longest running Afro-American drama in Northern California from 1996 thru 2000. His books of essays include In the Crazy House Called America, Wish I Could Tell You the Truth,Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality and How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy. His recent poetry is Love and War and Land of My Daughters.
Contact his agent:
Muhammida El Muhajir,
Sun in Leo Agency
145 Van Buren Street
Brooklyn, New York
11221
718-496-2305
Part 32: My Friend the Devil--Eldridge Cleaver
Marvin X
After the Black Men's Conference fizzled, I returned to the classroom, teaching theatre at Oakland's Laney College. Odell Johnson, President of the college, my homeboy from Fresno, hired me. But many of my theatre students couldn't read the script. Nevertheless, I put together a musical drama entitled In the Name of Love, a poetic drama that Eldridge Cleaver showed up to see several times. He loved it because he said it returned drama to the Shakespearean tradition of poetic theatre.
There were quite a few people who came to view it more than once. At first I couldn't figure out why they were returning, but soon it hit me that maybe the topic touched their lives as good drama should. My major topic was polygamy or plural marriage. This explains why Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery came with his entourage on several occasions. Betty King, known as the Mother Theresa of Oakland, came more than once. I found out that Betty had been in a relationship with a married man for several years so she was trying to understand some things that were going on in her life.
All during the production I was having problems with the technical staff as well as the theatre director, both of whom were Jews and had literally kept blacks from using one of the best theatres in the Bay. The Jews acted as if the theatre was their sacred turf and blacks should keep out. Well, as per usual, I came in kicking and screaming that their reign was over and we had every right to the space. The tech man warned me I might not have lights during the production, they might mysteriously cut off in the middle of a scene. I replied that I might put his lights out as well. And then one day he took items from my archives on display in the lobby and put them in his office. When I saw him in the hall I took a swing at his head but missed.
He called the dean of our department, Melvin Newton, yes, Huey Newton's brother, who had me arrested by campus police. I was later released and told to not return for a few days, but I ignored Melvin's order and returned a day or two later. He called the campus police again but I told them to call the President who overrode Melvin's order. If he ever did, Melvin has not liked me since. Actually, Melvin didn't like anyone associated with his brother, since he was nothing, certainly not the historic figure like his brother. During this time revolutionary sister Dessie X Woods (Rashida Muhammad, may she rest in peace--she has a street named in her honor downtown Oakland) came on campus to support me. She said of Melvin, "He and Huey didn't come from the same womb. Melvin came from a baboon's asshole."
I also taught a class at Merritt College called Manhood Training. I taught brother Rickey Clay (Bakari of Uhuru House) one on one. He had performed the role of Revolutionary Man in In the Name of Love at Laney. After my class he actually joined the revolutionary Uhuru House and has been there ever since. He is currently in charge of the local Uhuru Movement.
During this time the brothers from the Black Men's Conference wanted to support Dr. Nathan Hare for superintendent of Oakland Public Schools. We held a rally at Oakland High School, but when we discovered some negative background issues about Dr. Hare, we withdrew his name. But during that rally at Oakland High I met an English teacher named Marsha Satterfield who had studied my writings while a student at Southern University in Louisiana. She was highly intelligent and a dedicated teacher and soon we were living together. She became part of my polygamous family. She put up with my madness for quite some time, allowing me to subject her and my other women to much stress and abuse, verbal and physical. At a cast party, she and Hurriyah fought over whose time it was to be with me. The fight started when Marsha called Hurriyah a bitch, something Hurriyah didn't play, being a Chicago woman.
As director and writer, I took full advantage of the women, causing one dancer to tell me, "I'm not givin you no pussy, Marvin, you got enough already!"
One day I got a call from Dessie X to come rescue her from an abusive situation with a Muslim minister in San Francisco. I let her stay at my house and introduced her to Mustafa Abul Rahim, whose family had won the million dollars. Mustafa proceeded to abuse her as well, even though Dessie X had killed a white man in the South who tried to rape her and won release from prison after the Uhuru Movement came to her defense and spread propaganda about her cause. So I had to take her from Mustafa and put her under my care. When I got a temporary teaching job near Fresno, I took her with me until she started seeing ghosts while I was at work. Eldridge told me to be patient with her because she had only recently gotten out of prison and was still traumatized. I took his advice but Dessie made the mistake of calling my mother and telling her she was one of my wives. Mom told her she didn't want to hear anything about Marvin and his wives, please don't call her again.
I soon returned Dessie to the Bay Area and dropped her off at the Black Muslim Bakery where she hooked up with a brother and was married to him until she made her transition (may she rest in peace).
I was soon joined in Fresno by Eldridge Cleaver. This time he was not making dick pants but dick pots. He designed stone planters with a giant phallus at one end. When he brought People's magazine to my house for a story about his planters, I told him it was time to go and we parted again.
Marvin X
After the Black Men's Conference fizzled, I returned to the classroom, teaching theatre at Oakland's Laney College. Odell Johnson, President of the college, my homeboy from Fresno, hired me. But many of my theatre students couldn't read the script. Nevertheless, I put together a musical drama entitled In the Name of Love, a poetic drama that Eldridge Cleaver showed up to see several times. He loved it because he said it returned drama to the Shakespearean tradition of poetic theatre.
There were quite a few people who came to view it more than once. At first I couldn't figure out why they were returning, but soon it hit me that maybe the topic touched their lives as good drama should. My major topic was polygamy or plural marriage. This explains why Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery came with his entourage on several occasions. Betty King, known as the Mother Theresa of Oakland, came more than once. I found out that Betty had been in a relationship with a married man for several years so she was trying to understand some things that were going on in her life.
All during the production I was having problems with the technical staff as well as the theatre director, both of whom were Jews and had literally kept blacks from using one of the best theatres in the Bay. The Jews acted as if the theatre was their sacred turf and blacks should keep out. Well, as per usual, I came in kicking and screaming that their reign was over and we had every right to the space. The tech man warned me I might not have lights during the production, they might mysteriously cut off in the middle of a scene. I replied that I might put his lights out as well. And then one day he took items from my archives on display in the lobby and put them in his office. When I saw him in the hall I took a swing at his head but missed.
He called the dean of our department, Melvin Newton, yes, Huey Newton's brother, who had me arrested by campus police. I was later released and told to not return for a few days, but I ignored Melvin's order and returned a day or two later. He called the campus police again but I told them to call the President who overrode Melvin's order. If he ever did, Melvin has not liked me since. Actually, Melvin didn't like anyone associated with his brother, since he was nothing, certainly not the historic figure like his brother. During this time revolutionary sister Dessie X Woods (Rashida Muhammad, may she rest in peace--she has a street named in her honor downtown Oakland) came on campus to support me. She said of Melvin, "He and Huey didn't come from the same womb. Melvin came from a baboon's asshole."
I also taught a class at Merritt College called Manhood Training. I taught brother Rickey Clay (Bakari of Uhuru House) one on one. He had performed the role of Revolutionary Man in In the Name of Love at Laney. After my class he actually joined the revolutionary Uhuru House and has been there ever since. He is currently in charge of the local Uhuru Movement.
During this time the brothers from the Black Men's Conference wanted to support Dr. Nathan Hare for superintendent of Oakland Public Schools. We held a rally at Oakland High School, but when we discovered some negative background issues about Dr. Hare, we withdrew his name. But during that rally at Oakland High I met an English teacher named Marsha Satterfield who had studied my writings while a student at Southern University in Louisiana. She was highly intelligent and a dedicated teacher and soon we were living together. She became part of my polygamous family. She put up with my madness for quite some time, allowing me to subject her and my other women to much stress and abuse, verbal and physical. At a cast party, she and Hurriyah fought over whose time it was to be with me. The fight started when Marsha called Hurriyah a bitch, something Hurriyah didn't play, being a Chicago woman.
As director and writer, I took full advantage of the women, causing one dancer to tell me, "I'm not givin you no pussy, Marvin, you got enough already!"
One day I got a call from Dessie X to come rescue her from an abusive situation with a Muslim minister in San Francisco. I let her stay at my house and introduced her to Mustafa Abul Rahim, whose family had won the million dollars. Mustafa proceeded to abuse her as well, even though Dessie X had killed a white man in the South who tried to rape her and won release from prison after the Uhuru Movement came to her defense and spread propaganda about her cause. So I had to take her from Mustafa and put her under my care. When I got a temporary teaching job near Fresno, I took her with me until she started seeing ghosts while I was at work. Eldridge told me to be patient with her because she had only recently gotten out of prison and was still traumatized. I took his advice but Dessie made the mistake of calling my mother and telling her she was one of my wives. Mom told her she didn't want to hear anything about Marvin and his wives, please don't call her again.
I soon returned Dessie to the Bay Area and dropped her off at the Black Muslim Bakery where she hooked up with a brother and was married to him until she made her transition (may she rest in peace).
I was soon joined in Fresno by Eldridge Cleaver. This time he was not making dick pants but dick pots. He designed stone planters with a giant phallus at one end. When he brought People's magazine to my house for a story about his planters, I told him it was time to go and we parted again.
More on JR Valrey as Agent Provocateur
The final thing that convinced me JR was an agent provocateur was when we came back from 9/ll he began spreading outright lies about me throughout the hip hop and radical community: he told people I was smoking crack in New York or rather at the Hotel in Newark and that I was having sex with Crack hos. Now he did observe me talking with Crack ho's because I am a single man and if I like Crack hos that's my business--furthermore, if lesbians can be with lesbians and gays with gays, I can be with Crack hos and I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. As James Baldwin said to me, "I pay my rent, I do what I want."
But I couldn't figure out why JR would spread lies, bold face lies if he wasn't an agent using the Cointelpro disinformation and character assassination plan to destroy black leadership.
--Marvin X
The final thing that convinced me JR was an agent provocateur was when we came back from 9/ll he began spreading outright lies about me throughout the hip hop and radical community: he told people I was smoking crack in New York or rather at the Hotel in Newark and that I was having sex with Crack hos. Now he did observe me talking with Crack ho's because I am a single man and if I like Crack hos that's my business--furthermore, if lesbians can be with lesbians and gays with gays, I can be with Crack hos and I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. As James Baldwin said to me, "I pay my rent, I do what I want."
But I couldn't figure out why JR would spread lies, bold face lies if he wasn't an agent using the Cointelpro disinformation and character assassination plan to destroy black leadership.
--Marvin X
Part 31: My Friend the Devil--Eldridge Cleaver
Marvin X
After the Black Men's Conference dropped Eldridge, I did not see him for a few months. Meanwhile I was confronted with how to deal with the black men who came to the post-conference meetings to become a part of the organization. But we were not prepared to receive the men because all our time had been spent organizing the conference. John Douimbia tried to tell me to slow down but I was moving full steam ahead, about to sink into the chasm of black male political insanity. Not having the organizational structure in order was like inviting friends to dinner but having no food. People were anxious and ready for something to happen. They were pumped up from the conference and jockeying for power in the potentially new organization. I was confronted with three forces coming at me simultaneously: the progressive black bourgeoisie, the black intellectuals and the grass roots. When I saw that John had used me to organize the project for his comrades, the black bourgeoisie, I said no way was I going to deliver this organization to the so-called progressive black bourgeoisie who were basically sycophants for the Democratic Party.
I fell back on my black intellectual comrades but they failed me. When I called upon them to take things to the next level, all they wanted to do was meet around a conference table and sip coffee. I saw they were not about to do much more than talk. After all, they informed me they had families and jobs, thus no real time for the black men's conference as an organization.
The third element was the grass roots brothers who were sincere and energetic but simply ignorant, so I could not see delivering the conference to them either. I was thus in a dilemma of major proportions. I needed a way to bring the forces into functional unity, maybe some Machiavellian approach that would allow the unity of opposites.
Instead, when I saw John was determined to make the conference a black bourgeoisie organization, I simply dropped out and the ship of black men eventually sank. Fifteen years later, Farrakhan picked up the ball with the Million Man March, but clearly there is no organization of the Million Black Men. Maybe our negrocities (Baraka term) are simply overwhelming, and except for the Obama Drama we are into reverse evolution, dancing backwards like Michael Jackson.
Marvin X
After the Black Men's Conference dropped Eldridge, I did not see him for a few months. Meanwhile I was confronted with how to deal with the black men who came to the post-conference meetings to become a part of the organization. But we were not prepared to receive the men because all our time had been spent organizing the conference. John Douimbia tried to tell me to slow down but I was moving full steam ahead, about to sink into the chasm of black male political insanity. Not having the organizational structure in order was like inviting friends to dinner but having no food. People were anxious and ready for something to happen. They were pumped up from the conference and jockeying for power in the potentially new organization. I was confronted with three forces coming at me simultaneously: the progressive black bourgeoisie, the black intellectuals and the grass roots. When I saw that John had used me to organize the project for his comrades, the black bourgeoisie, I said no way was I going to deliver this organization to the so-called progressive black bourgeoisie who were basically sycophants for the Democratic Party.
I fell back on my black intellectual comrades but they failed me. When I called upon them to take things to the next level, all they wanted to do was meet around a conference table and sip coffee. I saw they were not about to do much more than talk. After all, they informed me they had families and jobs, thus no real time for the black men's conference as an organization.
The third element was the grass roots brothers who were sincere and energetic but simply ignorant, so I could not see delivering the conference to them either. I was thus in a dilemma of major proportions. I needed a way to bring the forces into functional unity, maybe some Machiavellian approach that would allow the unity of opposites.
Instead, when I saw John was determined to make the conference a black bourgeoisie organization, I simply dropped out and the ship of black men eventually sank. Fifteen years later, Farrakhan picked up the ball with the Million Man March, but clearly there is no organization of the Million Black Men. Maybe our negrocities (Baraka term) are simply overwhelming, and except for the Obama Drama we are into reverse evolution, dancing backwards like Michael Jackson.
On JR Valrey as Agent Provocateur
Marcel Diallo
Today at 4:37am
ReplyI saw this yesterday. I wonder if we can sue the east bay express for liable. Writing a hit piece is one thing...but calling JR an Agent Provocateur when there are really agent provocateurs out here among us in Oakland causing all types of confusion and endangering the lives of all of us who are standing up for what we believe in is another level of assault. The east bay express don't live a damn about self-determined Black people. A couple of years back, they tried to character assassinate me on the cover, just like they doing JR today, the thing that they don't realize is that all press is good press, and even when they try to fuck us, we come out on top. At the end of the day, they just driving more traffic to blockreportradio.com and to the issues that JR is bringing to the forefront.
But they made sure they threw a little salt on and made light of a term that we take very seriously in our community––"Agent Provocateur". The true Agent Provocateurs are the ones who work for the Oakland Police Department, The DEA and the FBI. They are the ones who start knife fights with tanks, and get everybody around them blew the fuck up. They killed Malcolm, Informed on Garvey, dismantled the Black Power movement, and they are currently running the Oakland Rebellion into the ground. To call someone such a loaded term on the cover of a weekly newspaper, is the same is the east bay express printing "JR Valrey is a Nigger" on their cover. Both terms are what are called "fighting words" and should be likened to committing a hate crime. If anyone reading this has immediate access to a lawyer, could you please ask them if we have grounds to sue.
Marvin X Jackmon
Today at 6:04am
As far as I'm concerned JR is indeed an agent provocateur and I can site several instances of his reactionary actions. Firstly, he was with me on 9/11 in New York, actually we were in Newark watching the twin towers fall from our hotel window. JR interviewed me with the twin towers in the background. He has refused to give me a copy of this footage. I asked community brothers to intervene but to no avail. I have wanted to give him a beat down, but how would that look--Marvin X beats down youth he's supposed to be saving. Anyway, we then go down to Broad and Market where an agent is awaiting us as in preplanned. As I interviewed people while JR filmed, the agent followed us inch for inch, toe to toe. When we moved up the street, he moved with us. When we crossed the street, he crossed with us. I think JR told this agent to meet him/us there. Again, JR has this footage and has refused to give me a copy of my and his work. Then when we return to the Bay a frend of mine was approached by some black Muslims who told him I had been saying some things about the Muslims and he should stay away from me. Now the only person I was talking with about Muslims was JR on the plane to New York. I don't know if he was bugged or not, but only JR could have told the Muslims what I said.
Also, JR has been recording important events for years but has not released the tapes, such as the Tupac Conferences, thus is guilty of withholding information, which is why I call him the Minister of Misinformation. He has also taken pictures of me at events with other radical brothers but when the pics appeared in the Bay View, he had cut me out of the picture. This I call the sin of ommision or Misinformation.
He has tried to provoke me into kicking his ass on several occasions in the public but I have resisted because I know he is a sick puppy on a mission from the devil.
Most importantly, his calls to Bey IV on the morning of Chauncey's murder must be explained, otherwise we can only think he was involved. How can he say he was Chauncey's friend when he is on the phone talking with the murder suspects in front of Chauncey's house a few hours before the murder? If he were Chauncey's friend, why didn't he inform Chauncey about what was getting ready to go down?
Again, my main fear has been of his association with Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr., that JR would set him up as the agent set up his father, Fred Hampton, Sr.
Now you romantic idealists can defend this negro but I am happy he has been exposed. Maybe the devil is setting him up for disposition. Perhaps he has outlived his usefulness.
--Marvin X
Marcel Diallo
Today at 4:37am
ReplyI saw this yesterday. I wonder if we can sue the east bay express for liable. Writing a hit piece is one thing...but calling JR an Agent Provocateur when there are really agent provocateurs out here among us in Oakland causing all types of confusion and endangering the lives of all of us who are standing up for what we believe in is another level of assault. The east bay express don't live a damn about self-determined Black people. A couple of years back, they tried to character assassinate me on the cover, just like they doing JR today, the thing that they don't realize is that all press is good press, and even when they try to fuck us, we come out on top. At the end of the day, they just driving more traffic to blockreportradio.com and to the issues that JR is bringing to the forefront.
But they made sure they threw a little salt on and made light of a term that we take very seriously in our community––"Agent Provocateur". The true Agent Provocateurs are the ones who work for the Oakland Police Department, The DEA and the FBI. They are the ones who start knife fights with tanks, and get everybody around them blew the fuck up. They killed Malcolm, Informed on Garvey, dismantled the Black Power movement, and they are currently running the Oakland Rebellion into the ground. To call someone such a loaded term on the cover of a weekly newspaper, is the same is the east bay express printing "JR Valrey is a Nigger" on their cover. Both terms are what are called "fighting words" and should be likened to committing a hate crime. If anyone reading this has immediate access to a lawyer, could you please ask them if we have grounds to sue.
Marvin X Jackmon
Today at 6:04am
As far as I'm concerned JR is indeed an agent provocateur and I can site several instances of his reactionary actions. Firstly, he was with me on 9/11 in New York, actually we were in Newark watching the twin towers fall from our hotel window. JR interviewed me with the twin towers in the background. He has refused to give me a copy of this footage. I asked community brothers to intervene but to no avail. I have wanted to give him a beat down, but how would that look--Marvin X beats down youth he's supposed to be saving. Anyway, we then go down to Broad and Market where an agent is awaiting us as in preplanned. As I interviewed people while JR filmed, the agent followed us inch for inch, toe to toe. When we moved up the street, he moved with us. When we crossed the street, he crossed with us. I think JR told this agent to meet him/us there. Again, JR has this footage and has refused to give me a copy of my and his work. Then when we return to the Bay a frend of mine was approached by some black Muslims who told him I had been saying some things about the Muslims and he should stay away from me. Now the only person I was talking with about Muslims was JR on the plane to New York. I don't know if he was bugged or not, but only JR could have told the Muslims what I said.
Also, JR has been recording important events for years but has not released the tapes, such as the Tupac Conferences, thus is guilty of withholding information, which is why I call him the Minister of Misinformation. He has also taken pictures of me at events with other radical brothers but when the pics appeared in the Bay View, he had cut me out of the picture. This I call the sin of ommision or Misinformation.
He has tried to provoke me into kicking his ass on several occasions in the public but I have resisted because I know he is a sick puppy on a mission from the devil.
Most importantly, his calls to Bey IV on the morning of Chauncey's murder must be explained, otherwise we can only think he was involved. How can he say he was Chauncey's friend when he is on the phone talking with the murder suspects in front of Chauncey's house a few hours before the murder? If he were Chauncey's friend, why didn't he inform Chauncey about what was getting ready to go down?
Again, my main fear has been of his association with Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr., that JR would set him up as the agent set up his father, Fred Hampton, Sr.
Now you romantic idealists can defend this negro but I am happy he has been exposed. Maybe the devil is setting him up for disposition. Perhaps he has outlived his usefulness.
--Marvin X
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Printed from the East Bay Express Web site:
JR Valrey Is an Agent Provocateur
The KPFA producer is not your typical police reporter. He grew close to accused criminal Yusuf Bey IV. He was arrested for arson in the Oakland riots. Now he's speaking up for cop killer Lovelle Mixon.
By Benjamin Taylor
April 8, 2009
Ali Thanawalla
KPFA producer JR Valrey has become as polarizing within the radio station as his journalism is within the Bay Area.
Ali Thanawalla
Valrey got the only interviews with accused torturer and liquor-store vandal Yusuf Bey IV by treating him like a respected member of the community.
Valrey has become the most prominent member of a growing anti-police movement.
On January 7, the streets of Oakland erupted into an orgy of property damage when a protest honoring murdered Hayward resident Oscar Grant turned violent. Helicopters buzzed over the downtown skyline, and you could feel tension in the air. Eyewitness accounts tell of protesters breaking store windows, setting cars on fire, and throwing bottles from rooftops. Videos show angry mobs trying to tip over police cars as officers in riot gear hung from the sides of an armored truck. By the time the rioting was quelled, more than one hundred people had been arrested. Journalist JR Valrey was among them.
One week before, in the early hours of New Year's Day, Grant had been shot in the back by BART cop Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale BART station. Cell-phone footage of the shooting was soon all over the Internet, and the protest was organized to demand justice for the slain 22-year-old and his family. Valrey attended not so much as an observer but as a participant.
Valrey is what you might call an advocacy journalist. With his KPFA radio segement The Block Report, his job as associate editor for San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and his position as the so-called "Minister of Information" for the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC), he has become known for covering police shootings. When he reached the protest, he did something no mainstream journalist would do: He took the mike and spoke to the crowd, demanding justice not just for Grant, but also for other victims of police violence.
"Why didn't people come out when Bay Area police officers murdered unarmed Terrence Mearis, unarmed Casper Bajo, unarmed Anita Gaye, unarmed Gary King, unarmed Gus Rugley, unarmed Cammerin Boyd, unarmed Idriss Stelley, or when the police terrorized fifteen-year-old unarmed Laronte Studesville, unarmed Randy Murphy, or unarmed Nadra Foster?" Valrey asked the crowd. "Is it because these cases were not caught on camera?"
By sunset the protest was dying down, and Valrey says he left to meet some friends. But about one hour later, he says he got a call that there was rioting downtown. When he returned, he saw dozens of police in a huge circle on 14th Street and Broadway, occupying the intersection in front of City Hall. According to his Bay View article "Oakland rebellion: Eyewitness report by POCC Minister of Information JR," protesters shouted slogans at the police as angry bands of people smashed car windshields and storefronts with skateboards, their feet, and other objects. Valrey said he began taking photographs.
Mayor Ron Dellums soon made an appearance, walking through the angry crowd, as Valrey put it, "like black Jesus." The mayor made his way across Broadway to the Civic Center area and then delivered a short speech in which he called for civility to prevail. Valrey says Dellums was swiftly booed off stage and retreated back to the safety of City Hall. The rioting soon resumed. Windows were smashed, cars and trash cans were set ablaze, and protesters taunted officers or lay down in front of police lines with their faces down and their hands behind their backs, mimicking the posture of Oscar Grant when he was shot. According to Valrey's article, the police began breaking into groups of six or seven and rushing rioters, tackling and arresting anyone in the vicinity.
Valrey says two officers chased and tackled him while he was taking photographs by the Federal Building. He spent the night in Santa Rita Jail and was charged with felony arson, which carries a possible sentence of three years in a state penitentiary. In all, 160 people were arrested on the night of January 7, mostly on misdemeanor charges. All but ten subsequently had the charges against them dropped. Just four people, including Valrey, are still facing felony charges.
Oakland police would not release information describing the events the leading up to his arrest. Valrey also declined to go into greater detail, claiming that he doesn't want to compromise his defense. But he insists that he is innocent. "I have no history of arson, when I was arrested there was no lighter, no matches, not even paper to light anything."
Valrey claims his arrest was payback for his years of covering police brutality. "I was covering it as a journalist," he said. "But one thing that's different about me from the rest of the rebels is that the Oakland police know me. ... I'm not a stranger to the power structure of Oakland, so I believe like many others that I was targeted politically. ... We were basically set up on trumped-up charges."
His lawyer, Marlon Monroe, says the case against Valrey is weak and will fail: "There's no physical evidence that they can pin on JR, despite the fact that there were several officers who witnessed the arrest, as well as news cameras."
In the meantime, the arrest has given Valrey plenty of fodder for The Block Report and the Bay View. In the weeks since the riots, he has written eyewitness accounts, interviewed people present at the rioting, and run radio shows interviewing family members of Oscar Grant. He hasn't hesitated to use the KPFA airwaves and pages of the Bay View to call for community support in fighting his felony charges.
But Valrey hasn't just covered the riots and their aftermath. He has participated in "town bizness meetings" focused on what Valrey calls "police terrorism." He has helped organize POCC political actions, including a boycott of BART on what would have been Grant's 23rd birthday. And he has defended the Oakland riots as a necessary means of getting the city's attention.
Valrey has become the mouthpiece of an anti-police movement that has grown since Grant's shooting. He even defends the actions of cop killer Lovelle Mixon as a "heroic day of resistance against the police." As unpopular as these sentiments make him in many quarters, he has become a beacon for the anger that smoulders among some members of Oakland's black community.
Perhaps emblematically, his voice can be heard at the end of a new song, "Fuck the Police, We Ain't Listening," by Oakland rapper Beeda Weeda. The song begins with sound bites from news reports about the rioting, and then the chorus kicks in, Fuck the police, we ain't listening, Beeda sings. Wanna push us? Wanna push us? Motherfucker, keep pushing. Burn this bitch to the ground and leave the whole city cooking. At the song's end, Valrey delivers a brief spiel before the fade-out:
This is POCC minister of information JR at BlockReportRadio.com. We changing what they call rioting into what we call rebelling. We wasn't just tearing shit up, we were rebelling against injustices. ... We don't need just one cop arrested, we need a whole new motherfucking system.
Clearly, JR Valrey is not your typical police reporter.
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Valrey is no stranger to controversy. The thirty-year-old has been voicing his often-confrontational opinions on The Block Report for five years now. The show began as a segment called "From the Belly of the Beast" on KPFA's Hard Knock Radio. It eventually moved to Flashpoints, a daily political news show hosted by Dennis Bernstein. Flashpoints airs The Block Report sporadically, typically once or twice a week. It also airs locally on KPOO, as well as on stations in Atlanta; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC; and elsewhere.
Valrey says he uses his journalism to "bring it to the powers that be." He ridicules so-called "kiss-ass journalists" who warn him that he is cutting his own throat by being so up-front about his allegiances.
"I get criticism all the time because the positions I take are not the popular ones that someone who wants a career in corporate journalism would take," Valrey said. "I get more praise for what I do though. Way more praise."
Some of Valrey's positions include justifying the vandalism of the "Oakland rebellions," speaking in defense of Your Black Muslim Bakery, and glorifying the actions of Lovelle Mixon, who murdered four Oakland police officers on March 21 before being gunned down himself in a shoot-out.
"To me, a great journalist is not somebody who has everyone agreeing with them, it's somebody who strikes a chord," he said. "Whether you like what I write or you hate what I write, I don't want you to feel indifferent about what I write."
Although his journalism didn't begin as overtly political, Oakland's history of black self-empowerment has been a clear influence on Valrey's politics and approach to journalism. "I was influenced politically by my grandmother, who talked a lot about the Black Panthers," he recalled. "A lot of the ideas of the Black Panthers, like communalism, and collectiveness, we practiced as a family in general. At the same time I was reading stuff like Huey Newton and Malcolm X."
His career in journalism began after he attended a summer journalism program at San Francisco State as an eleventh grader. While attending St. Joseph's Catholic School in Alameda, he wrote an article about the racism that he said he and other nonwhite students faced within the Catholic school system. The article was published in the San Francisco Examiner on the same day that O.J. Simpson was found not guilty, and consequently received a lot of attention. When a teacher mentioned in the article threatened to sue, several local journalists came to Valrey's defense.
"They came to my defense and I really saw the power of journalism in my own life," Valrey recalled. When the teacher in question learned he had the support of the Examiner's lawyers, Valrey says she had a "religious transformation" and decided not to sue. "When I had seen the power of journalism, I saw that I could use it in the interests of not just myself but to get justice for my community."
Since 2002, Valrey has been on the staff of the San Francisco Bay View, where he covers issues of concern to the black community. For the past two years, he has been the paper's associate editor. Managing Editor Willie Ratcliff stands behind Valrey and his work, which covers international issues like the war in the Congo and political turmoil in Haiti, as well as local issues such as prison activism and police harassment.
Ratcliff said the paper receives a lot of praise for Valrey's work, which he has helped to direct. "I've tried to teach him not to use things just to provoke people and make them mad," Ratcliff said plaintively. "When you use language like 'pig,' you're just gonna get people mad. But he's learning."
Valrey says both his writing and his radio show are vehicles for his work with the Prisoners of Conscience Committee, a self-proclaimed revolutionary organization founded by Fred Hampton Jr., the son of the assassinated Black Panther of the same name. The committee was conceived of during the 1990s, while Hampton Jr. spent nine years in jail for aggravated arson. The charge was related to the firebombing of a Korean grocery during the 1992 rioting following the acquittal of officers responsible for beating Rodney King.
The POCC describes itself as "an organization that consists of African Revolutionary Freedom Fighters whose agenda is to liberate the minds and hearts of African and colonized people." The committee refers to prisons as concentration camps, gentrification as "land grabbing," police enforcement as "police terrorism," and drugs and alcohol as "chemical and biological warfare."
It was that last viewpoint that led Valrey to take one of his more infamously controversial positions as a journalist — defending the vandalism of two Oakland liquor stores.
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In November 2005, about a dozen black men dressed in sharp suits and bow ties were caught on camera trashing a local liquor store. One of the men was identified from surveillance camera footage as then twenty-year-old Yusuf Bey IV. Bey was the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery, an Oakland business once known for encouraging black self-empowerment, but steadily gaining a reputation for violence and intimidation. The footage, which showed the men breaking bottles and smashing windows with golf clubs, was run on television news tirelessly. The story was front-page news across the Bay Area. But only one journalist was able to interview Bey. That was JR Valrey.
Yusuf Bey IV was the son of bakery founder Yusuf Bey, whose organization and followers have been implicated in a number of crimes dating as far back as 1968. In 2002, the elder Bey was charged with 27 counts of felony sex crimes, charges he never had to face in court because he succumbed to cancer prior to his pending trial. After his death, two successors were killed under mysterious circumstances before the younger Bey took the reins in 2005.
At the time of the vandalism, Valrey had known members of the extended Bey family for years. But, according to Valrey, it was the liquor store case that began his reporter/source relationship with Yusuf Bey IV.
Valrey got his interviews by treating Bey like a civic leader with a respectable platform and not like someone apparently caught on videotape ransacking two businesses. While other media outlets were asking how bakery leaders could have become so violent, Valrey avoided the question completely, and instead let Bey discuss the issue of liquor stores in poor black neighborhoods.
"The anti-liquor-store movement in Oakland is part of the new black-power era that is emerging in Oakland," Valrey said at the outset of the interview. "A few months ago, some brothers ran up in two liquor stores in North Oakland and threw all of the liquor that was being sold on the ground. That one action kicked off a movement that has Muslims from every faith involved."
Valrey: "What is the objective of the movement to get liquor stores out of the black community?"
Bey: "We had liquor stores in our community for a long period of time, and we know what goes on around these liquor stores. And one thing about it is, it's not just liquor stores. They sell crack around these liquor stores, they're able to buy crack and drugs from these liquor stores, and things like this are not supposed to be done by so-called Muslims. If you say you're a Muslim, you should have the action of a Muslim."
Most conventional journalists would have regarded Valrey's two softball interviews as a shameful case of pandering to an apparent criminal. But Valrey not only defends his right to interview Bey, but stands by his interview subject. He suggests that Bey is the victim of a racist media conspiracy.
"I did this interview with Yusuf Bey IV because I think that it is important for the black community to hear his voice through the barrage of malicious articles that the mainstream media has been putting out about him and his codefendants," Valrey wrote in the introduction to a Bay View transcription of his KPFA interview. "I'm not a judge or a jury but, as a journalist, I'm definitely not going to let the racist media bury someone that I have access to, without allowing him to say what he has to say. The mainstream media is not used to our community saying that we are going to make our minds up on what we believe independent of their white power media infrastructures."
In a recent interview with the East Bay Express, Valrey went further still. He appeared to endorse the very acts of vandalism that Bey and the other bakery members were suspected of committing.
"I thought that Yusuf Bey and the Black Muslim Bakery took a stand that local politicians haven't taken in decades, that being that the black community is drowning in liquor stores," Valrey said. "In a lot of places we don't have supermarkets but we have liquor stores on every corner, and it's an issue that has been talked about for decades and nobody dealt with it. They've never said anything to me as if they done it or didn't do it, but whoever did it, I support the fact that they did what local politicians couldn't do and they brought the issue front and center. To this day, nothing has been done to limit the amount of liquor stores in the black community, which we basically equate in the black community to biological warfare. If they were involved with that, I applaud."
And Valrey's relationship with Bey would eventually extend beyond his tacit support for acts of vandalism. It would eventually result in Valrey being implicated along with Bey in one of Oakland's highest-profile murder cases.
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The crime that forever changed the public's perception of the bakery was the August 2, 2007, murder of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey. Bailey was gunned down in front of witnesses who saw a black man shoot him with a shotgun before escaping in a white van. Since Bailey had been working on a story about the bakery, that institution was immediately suspected. Because of an unrelated investigation, the bakery's compound was soon raided, and several members were taken into custody, including Bey and employee Devaughndre Broussard. The latter confessed to Bailey's murder but later recanted, saying Bey had ordered him to confess. News coverage of the crime eventually called attention to a suspicious connection between the suspected mastermind and JR Valrey.
An October 25, 2008, story by the Chauncey Bailey Project — a team of reporters and news outlets created to investigate Bailey's murder — accused Oakland Police Detective Derwin Longmire of ignoring crucial evidence connecting Bey to the crime. Cell phone records and surveillance information available to Longmire evidently placed Bey outside Bailey's home just hours before his murder. During the fourteen minutes that Bey sat parked outside of Bailey's house in the early hours of August 2, he made a number of phone calls, mostly to bakery member Antoine Mackey. But the records show he also made calls to Valrey.
"During the fourteen minutes he was outside Bailey's apartment early Aug. 2, Bey IV received two calls from a person who had known Bailey for more than a decade," the article states, "JR Valrey, a blogger and activist then reporting for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, where Bailey sometimes contributed news items. Valrey is also affiliated with New America Media, a sponsor of the Chauncey Bailey Project.
"The records show that Bey IV called Valrey twice on Aug. 1, and that Valrey called Bey IV twice while Bey IV was parked outside Bailey's apartment on Aug. 2. The two calls totaled 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Six minutes after leaving Bailey's apartment, Bey IV called Valrey at 12:43 a.m. That call lasted nearly three minutes, the records show.
"Valrey refused to discuss the calls with the Bailey Project. '(It's) none of your business,' he said, and refused to answer other questions. 'I don't have nothing to say to you, man,' he said. 'You all are the anti-bakery project.'"
The article stated that police never interviewed Valrey regarding these conversations. But Valrey did subsequently address the accusations in the San Francisco Bay View.
"Last Sunday," he wrote, "the Oakland Tribune released an article from the Chauncey Bailey Project called 'Evidence Ignored,' which passed off misleading information as facts and omitted relevant information in apparent attempts at character assassination." Valrey proceeded to accuse the stories of containing errors and outright lies, "which have made many people outside of the self-congratulating walls of the journalism industry question its credibility, professionalism and sincerity." Valrey said he refused to answer the reporters' questions because he didn't believe they were working in his best interests, nor in those of the black community or Chauncey Bailey.
"Ever since its inception, it was never about honoring and continuing the work of the late journalist Chauncey Wendell Bailey Jr. and answering questions regarding his death, as it claims on its web site," Valrey wrote in a Bay View article. "The Project and the Oakland police seem to have more of a lynch mob mentality in their investigation. They seem to be trying to ensure that their reporting will result in some young black male or a group of them paying for the murder of Chauncey, even if they are innocent."
So what were the phone calls about? Valrey told the Express that he was calling Bey IV to talk about the case of one Laronte Studdesville, whom he described as a victim of police brutality. A meeting with Studdesville's father had been scheduled for the following day, and Valrey was inviting Bey to attend.
Valrey's editor, Mary Ratcliff, confirms that assertion. "What JR does is very much in the tradition of the Panthers," Ratcliff said. "He looks to the street — or gangs, as the police would call it — and sees that these guys are doing political organizing and they don't even know it. Maybe their intentions aren't always that great, but many of these gangs legitimately started out to protect their neighborhoods and their communities. If we could just politicize them, imagine what we could do. That's what JR's always tried to do, but that doesn't make him a gangster. I know that he had been trying to recruit Yusuf for months, telling him that there are better ways of doing things, and that's what those calls were about."
But if this was a business call, then why did it come so late at night?
"I don't remember it being around midnight," Valrey said. "It may have been around 10. We don't have a bedtime, neither me nor Yusuf Bey, as far as I know. To speak for myself, I don't have a bedtime, so we don't just stick to white business time, 9 to 5. I just don't make calls in those times and I don't think that calling someone at 12:00 implicates me in anything.
"I think that I effectively poked a lot of holes in where they were basically trying to implicate me in a murder that I'm not involved in, in any way," Valrey said. "But it also shows the weakness in their journalism, shows the laziness in their journalism. I did a very shallow investigation and poked holes all throughout what they were saying in the article I was in."
Valrey says he believes that Bey had nothing to do with Bailey's killing. "They're treating them as criminals and they're trying to be the judge and the jury."
The murder of Chauncey Bailey appears to most observers to have been based upon the notion that imminent reporting from Bailey would threaten the interests of the bakery. But Bailey was hardly a probing investigative reporter; in fact, he was widely criticized in journalism circles for how cozy he often was with his subjects. Valrey advances an equally improbable notion: that it was Bailey's ongoing efforts to expose Oakland police corruption that led to his death.
"At the time of his murder, Chauncey Bailey and Yusuf Bey were both in my phone," Valrey said, adding that he and Bailey had a good relationship. "I also know that Chauncey Bailey was working on a story dealing directly with the police."
Valrey maintains that the Chauncey Bailey Project hasn't done enough to pursue leads that Bailey was looking into police corruption at the time of his death, and has suggested not only that Bailey's murder was a police cover-up for which Bey was a scapegoat, but also that the Chauncey Bailey Project is in fact a front for the police.
Bob Butler, a reporter with the Chauncey Bailey Project and president of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association, denies Valrey's suggestion that the project is in cahoots with the police. He said the project has found no evidence implicating the Oakland police in the murder. "The last story Chauncey wrote was about the bakery. He may have been looking into possible police corruption, but we have seen no evidence to verify that claim," Butler said. "I'd be very interested to see evidence that the police were responsible for Chauncey Bailey's murder." Butler points out that the Chauncey Bailey Project published evidence last June showing that Bey admitted that he kept the shotgun used to kill Bailey in his closet after the murder. That information can be found at ChaunceyBaileyProject.org.
But this is not evidence enough for Valrey. "I think that the Chauncey Bailey Project really speaks to the disconnect between the journalist world and the real world," he said. "You have the bigwigs in mainstream journalism coming together and of course they're going to pat themselves on the back for doing a good job. But the question still remains: They did all this, and they wrote all this about Yusuf Bey, but he's not even charged yet, so really the question comes, how effective are you? Because you guys work hand-in-hand with the police, obviously. I'm not going to talk to the police, whether it's through the Chauncey Bailey Project or whether it's through a uniformed officer. If I have anything to say, I'll say it in the San Francisco Bay View or on Block Report Radio."
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KPFA has a long tradition of giving a voice to viewpoints otherwise ignored in the mainstream media. Like Valrey, many of the station's contributors have an agenda. Although some staffers dutifully adhere to the same journalistic standards embraced by mainstream journalists, others have less interest in reporting the news than in giving voice to the perceived underdog. Many of these advocacy journalists are, like Valrey, unpaid volunteer producers.
Unpaid staffers make up a political block of significance at KPFA and have the support of some paid staffers, including Dennis Bernstein, who has taken Valrey under his wing by giving him airtime on Flashpoints. As a member of its volunteer staff association, Valrey has been critical of KPFA management for some time.
Last year, station manager Lemlem Rijio curbed the influence of the often-unruly unpaid staffers. Rijio changed the rules to reduce the voting power of unpaid staffers, who for years enjoyed the same voting rights as paid staff members when it came to selecting board representation. Since around that time, Valrey has zeroed in on Rijio and other station managers.
Last August, while interviewing filmmaker Iana Jones about her documentary on black radio, Valrey used the topic as a platform to criticize Rijio. "Even today," he said, in an implied reference to KPFA, "there are black puppets put there to keep the status quo in place." He also said that the repression of black viewpoints at KPFA is being enforced "by black face, from the top." And Valrey made a point of noting with apparent disapproval — as he has done numerous times in his Bay View articles — that Rijio is from Ethiopia.
The interview was one of many times that Valrey has called for a black public affairs show on KPFA. "That has been one of my major campaigns," he said. "There's black music shows on the radio, but there's really no regular black public affairs show. KPFA has these types of programs for Asians, for Latinos, but not for black people. I would like to see The Block Report as a weekly or daily, or even a biweekly program," he said. "This really came to a head when the Nadra Foster thing happened."
Just three days after Valrey's interview with Jones, the long-running conflict between some of KPFA's volunteers and management once again came to a head when volunteer staffer Nadra Foster was arrested and removed from the station's studios by Berkeley police. Foster had reportedly been banned from KPFA for making long-distance calls on KPFA phone lines. However, she continued to work in the station's studios, coming in about three times a week. She claimed that she didn't think the ban was official, as she had never received anything in writing. When a staff member confronted her for using one of the studios, a manager called police to remove her. Foster, who had a prior criminal record, resisted her arrest, allegedly biting one of the officers during the melee. After more officers were called, Foster was forced to the ground, put in restraints, and hauled off to jail.
The Foster incident prompted Valrey to call for Rijio's resignation. However, a supporter of Rijio, who asked to remain nameless, said she was dealing with a family emergency at the time of the incident and played no role in calling the police.
More recently, Valrey again called for Rijio's resignation after several paid and unpaid staff members were reprimanded for supporting him on air after his arrest. Those reprimanded include paid staffer Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio, and volunteer Nina Serrano of La Raza Chronicles, who both read the following announcement: "We believe JR to be innocent of setting fires and causing physical damages, as he was professionally occupied covering this important story. ... People are showing their support by coming to his hearing Monday, February 23, at 9 a.m. at 661 Washington Street in Oakland."
Hanrahan defends her actions. "Management doesn't understand the tradition of Pacifica and why it's so important that we support and defend it," she said. "The guy is out there, and when you're out there as a journalist you get blowback, and you have to be supported. If the DA comes down on him, that probably means he's doing his job." Speaking of Valrey's call for Rijio's resignation, she said, "I want things to change at KPFA, and I support JR's right to say what he said. JR is a serious journalist doing important work. In my opinion we need ten JRs."
On the day after her announcement, Hanrahan said, she was given a formal notice of misconduct and asked to take a leave of absence. The notice, obtained by the Express, claimed violation of station policy in three regards: making a "direct call to action" over the air, broadcasting information without authorization from management, and neglecting to indicate that the information was "not the opinion or position of KPFA." Serrano said she was not given a written reprimand but warned verbally about her transgression. KPFA staffers were also given a memo reiterating these three rules and noting that their violation would lead to disciplinary action, Hanrahan said.
Valrey responded with an article in the Bay View. "KPFA was the first listener-sponsored station in the country when it went into business in 1949 and was seen as a beacon of audio resistance in Northern California. Sixty years later, East African-born General Manager Lemlem Rijio has had broadcasters reprimanded because of their support for me and the Oakland 100. All of this is some bullshit, considering that KPFA is constantly begging for money. Isn't that a 'call to action' or 'advocating action on the air'? ... We are urging everyone to call KPFA and tell them that you will not give them another cent until the General Manager Lemlem Rijio is fired or steps down. We need a constant inundation of calls to kick off this part of the campaign."
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On March 21, three Oakland police sergeants were shot and killed by parolee Lovelle Mixon. Another officer was severely injured and died the following day. Mixon, who had a warrant for his arrest for parole violation, had been pulled over on MacArthur Boulevard in what was described as a routine stop. After shooting Sergeants John Hege and Mark Dunakin, Mixon apparently walked over to the officers and shot them both again, execution-style. He then fled the scene and hid out in a nearby apartment building. Police raided the building after receiving a tip as to his whereabouts. From inside a closet, Mixon shot and killed S.W.A.T team members Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai with an AK-47 assault rifle. He was then killed by another officer.
While most of Oakland reeled in shock over one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement in California history, JR Valrey wrote an article for the Bay View that essentially justified Mixon's actions.
The article, headlined "Police 2, Oakland residents 4," described Mixon as "a suicide sniper who used a gun instead of a bomb to take out enemies of the community." It described the tragedy as one that "some in the black community see as a day of heroic resistance against the police." The article went on to suggest that street memorials for the fallen officers were police-created, and that reports of citizens attending them were media propaganda. "The reality is, when you go to the scene, which I did a number of times, you see very few residents of the area — especially young black males — with any sympathy for the officers."
Valrey referred to the incident as a "revolutionary suicide," and wrapped up his piece with a provocative question-cum-threat: "How does it feel when the rabbit has the gun? Welcome to East Oakland."
You can always find another side of the story at BlockReportRadio
JR Valrey Is an Agent Provocateur
The KPFA producer is not your typical police reporter. He grew close to accused criminal Yusuf Bey IV. He was arrested for arson in the Oakland riots. Now he's speaking up for cop killer Lovelle Mixon.
By Benjamin Taylor
April 8, 2009
Ali Thanawalla
KPFA producer JR Valrey has become as polarizing within the radio station as his journalism is within the Bay Area.
Ali Thanawalla
Valrey got the only interviews with accused torturer and liquor-store vandal Yusuf Bey IV by treating him like a respected member of the community.
Valrey has become the most prominent member of a growing anti-police movement.
On January 7, the streets of Oakland erupted into an orgy of property damage when a protest honoring murdered Hayward resident Oscar Grant turned violent. Helicopters buzzed over the downtown skyline, and you could feel tension in the air. Eyewitness accounts tell of protesters breaking store windows, setting cars on fire, and throwing bottles from rooftops. Videos show angry mobs trying to tip over police cars as officers in riot gear hung from the sides of an armored truck. By the time the rioting was quelled, more than one hundred people had been arrested. Journalist JR Valrey was among them.
One week before, in the early hours of New Year's Day, Grant had been shot in the back by BART cop Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale BART station. Cell-phone footage of the shooting was soon all over the Internet, and the protest was organized to demand justice for the slain 22-year-old and his family. Valrey attended not so much as an observer but as a participant.
Valrey is what you might call an advocacy journalist. With his KPFA radio segement The Block Report, his job as associate editor for San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and his position as the so-called "Minister of Information" for the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC), he has become known for covering police shootings. When he reached the protest, he did something no mainstream journalist would do: He took the mike and spoke to the crowd, demanding justice not just for Grant, but also for other victims of police violence.
"Why didn't people come out when Bay Area police officers murdered unarmed Terrence Mearis, unarmed Casper Bajo, unarmed Anita Gaye, unarmed Gary King, unarmed Gus Rugley, unarmed Cammerin Boyd, unarmed Idriss Stelley, or when the police terrorized fifteen-year-old unarmed Laronte Studesville, unarmed Randy Murphy, or unarmed Nadra Foster?" Valrey asked the crowd. "Is it because these cases were not caught on camera?"
By sunset the protest was dying down, and Valrey says he left to meet some friends. But about one hour later, he says he got a call that there was rioting downtown. When he returned, he saw dozens of police in a huge circle on 14th Street and Broadway, occupying the intersection in front of City Hall. According to his Bay View article "Oakland rebellion: Eyewitness report by POCC Minister of Information JR," protesters shouted slogans at the police as angry bands of people smashed car windshields and storefronts with skateboards, their feet, and other objects. Valrey said he began taking photographs.
Mayor Ron Dellums soon made an appearance, walking through the angry crowd, as Valrey put it, "like black Jesus." The mayor made his way across Broadway to the Civic Center area and then delivered a short speech in which he called for civility to prevail. Valrey says Dellums was swiftly booed off stage and retreated back to the safety of City Hall. The rioting soon resumed. Windows were smashed, cars and trash cans were set ablaze, and protesters taunted officers or lay down in front of police lines with their faces down and their hands behind their backs, mimicking the posture of Oscar Grant when he was shot. According to Valrey's article, the police began breaking into groups of six or seven and rushing rioters, tackling and arresting anyone in the vicinity.
Valrey says two officers chased and tackled him while he was taking photographs by the Federal Building. He spent the night in Santa Rita Jail and was charged with felony arson, which carries a possible sentence of three years in a state penitentiary. In all, 160 people were arrested on the night of January 7, mostly on misdemeanor charges. All but ten subsequently had the charges against them dropped. Just four people, including Valrey, are still facing felony charges.
Oakland police would not release information describing the events the leading up to his arrest. Valrey also declined to go into greater detail, claiming that he doesn't want to compromise his defense. But he insists that he is innocent. "I have no history of arson, when I was arrested there was no lighter, no matches, not even paper to light anything."
Valrey claims his arrest was payback for his years of covering police brutality. "I was covering it as a journalist," he said. "But one thing that's different about me from the rest of the rebels is that the Oakland police know me. ... I'm not a stranger to the power structure of Oakland, so I believe like many others that I was targeted politically. ... We were basically set up on trumped-up charges."
His lawyer, Marlon Monroe, says the case against Valrey is weak and will fail: "There's no physical evidence that they can pin on JR, despite the fact that there were several officers who witnessed the arrest, as well as news cameras."
In the meantime, the arrest has given Valrey plenty of fodder for The Block Report and the Bay View. In the weeks since the riots, he has written eyewitness accounts, interviewed people present at the rioting, and run radio shows interviewing family members of Oscar Grant. He hasn't hesitated to use the KPFA airwaves and pages of the Bay View to call for community support in fighting his felony charges.
But Valrey hasn't just covered the riots and their aftermath. He has participated in "town bizness meetings" focused on what Valrey calls "police terrorism." He has helped organize POCC political actions, including a boycott of BART on what would have been Grant's 23rd birthday. And he has defended the Oakland riots as a necessary means of getting the city's attention.
Valrey has become the mouthpiece of an anti-police movement that has grown since Grant's shooting. He even defends the actions of cop killer Lovelle Mixon as a "heroic day of resistance against the police." As unpopular as these sentiments make him in many quarters, he has become a beacon for the anger that smoulders among some members of Oakland's black community.
Perhaps emblematically, his voice can be heard at the end of a new song, "Fuck the Police, We Ain't Listening," by Oakland rapper Beeda Weeda. The song begins with sound bites from news reports about the rioting, and then the chorus kicks in, Fuck the police, we ain't listening, Beeda sings. Wanna push us? Wanna push us? Motherfucker, keep pushing. Burn this bitch to the ground and leave the whole city cooking. At the song's end, Valrey delivers a brief spiel before the fade-out:
This is POCC minister of information JR at BlockReportRadio.com. We changing what they call rioting into what we call rebelling. We wasn't just tearing shit up, we were rebelling against injustices. ... We don't need just one cop arrested, we need a whole new motherfucking system.
Clearly, JR Valrey is not your typical police reporter.
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Valrey is no stranger to controversy. The thirty-year-old has been voicing his often-confrontational opinions on The Block Report for five years now. The show began as a segment called "From the Belly of the Beast" on KPFA's Hard Knock Radio. It eventually moved to Flashpoints, a daily political news show hosted by Dennis Bernstein. Flashpoints airs The Block Report sporadically, typically once or twice a week. It also airs locally on KPOO, as well as on stations in Atlanta; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC; and elsewhere.
Valrey says he uses his journalism to "bring it to the powers that be." He ridicules so-called "kiss-ass journalists" who warn him that he is cutting his own throat by being so up-front about his allegiances.
"I get criticism all the time because the positions I take are not the popular ones that someone who wants a career in corporate journalism would take," Valrey said. "I get more praise for what I do though. Way more praise."
Some of Valrey's positions include justifying the vandalism of the "Oakland rebellions," speaking in defense of Your Black Muslim Bakery, and glorifying the actions of Lovelle Mixon, who murdered four Oakland police officers on March 21 before being gunned down himself in a shoot-out.
"To me, a great journalist is not somebody who has everyone agreeing with them, it's somebody who strikes a chord," he said. "Whether you like what I write or you hate what I write, I don't want you to feel indifferent about what I write."
Although his journalism didn't begin as overtly political, Oakland's history of black self-empowerment has been a clear influence on Valrey's politics and approach to journalism. "I was influenced politically by my grandmother, who talked a lot about the Black Panthers," he recalled. "A lot of the ideas of the Black Panthers, like communalism, and collectiveness, we practiced as a family in general. At the same time I was reading stuff like Huey Newton and Malcolm X."
His career in journalism began after he attended a summer journalism program at San Francisco State as an eleventh grader. While attending St. Joseph's Catholic School in Alameda, he wrote an article about the racism that he said he and other nonwhite students faced within the Catholic school system. The article was published in the San Francisco Examiner on the same day that O.J. Simpson was found not guilty, and consequently received a lot of attention. When a teacher mentioned in the article threatened to sue, several local journalists came to Valrey's defense.
"They came to my defense and I really saw the power of journalism in my own life," Valrey recalled. When the teacher in question learned he had the support of the Examiner's lawyers, Valrey says she had a "religious transformation" and decided not to sue. "When I had seen the power of journalism, I saw that I could use it in the interests of not just myself but to get justice for my community."
Since 2002, Valrey has been on the staff of the San Francisco Bay View, where he covers issues of concern to the black community. For the past two years, he has been the paper's associate editor. Managing Editor Willie Ratcliff stands behind Valrey and his work, which covers international issues like the war in the Congo and political turmoil in Haiti, as well as local issues such as prison activism and police harassment.
Ratcliff said the paper receives a lot of praise for Valrey's work, which he has helped to direct. "I've tried to teach him not to use things just to provoke people and make them mad," Ratcliff said plaintively. "When you use language like 'pig,' you're just gonna get people mad. But he's learning."
Valrey says both his writing and his radio show are vehicles for his work with the Prisoners of Conscience Committee, a self-proclaimed revolutionary organization founded by Fred Hampton Jr., the son of the assassinated Black Panther of the same name. The committee was conceived of during the 1990s, while Hampton Jr. spent nine years in jail for aggravated arson. The charge was related to the firebombing of a Korean grocery during the 1992 rioting following the acquittal of officers responsible for beating Rodney King.
The POCC describes itself as "an organization that consists of African Revolutionary Freedom Fighters whose agenda is to liberate the minds and hearts of African and colonized people." The committee refers to prisons as concentration camps, gentrification as "land grabbing," police enforcement as "police terrorism," and drugs and alcohol as "chemical and biological warfare."
It was that last viewpoint that led Valrey to take one of his more infamously controversial positions as a journalist — defending the vandalism of two Oakland liquor stores.
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In November 2005, about a dozen black men dressed in sharp suits and bow ties were caught on camera trashing a local liquor store. One of the men was identified from surveillance camera footage as then twenty-year-old Yusuf Bey IV. Bey was the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery, an Oakland business once known for encouraging black self-empowerment, but steadily gaining a reputation for violence and intimidation. The footage, which showed the men breaking bottles and smashing windows with golf clubs, was run on television news tirelessly. The story was front-page news across the Bay Area. But only one journalist was able to interview Bey. That was JR Valrey.
Yusuf Bey IV was the son of bakery founder Yusuf Bey, whose organization and followers have been implicated in a number of crimes dating as far back as 1968. In 2002, the elder Bey was charged with 27 counts of felony sex crimes, charges he never had to face in court because he succumbed to cancer prior to his pending trial. After his death, two successors were killed under mysterious circumstances before the younger Bey took the reins in 2005.
At the time of the vandalism, Valrey had known members of the extended Bey family for years. But, according to Valrey, it was the liquor store case that began his reporter/source relationship with Yusuf Bey IV.
Valrey got his interviews by treating Bey like a civic leader with a respectable platform and not like someone apparently caught on videotape ransacking two businesses. While other media outlets were asking how bakery leaders could have become so violent, Valrey avoided the question completely, and instead let Bey discuss the issue of liquor stores in poor black neighborhoods.
"The anti-liquor-store movement in Oakland is part of the new black-power era that is emerging in Oakland," Valrey said at the outset of the interview. "A few months ago, some brothers ran up in two liquor stores in North Oakland and threw all of the liquor that was being sold on the ground. That one action kicked off a movement that has Muslims from every faith involved."
Valrey: "What is the objective of the movement to get liquor stores out of the black community?"
Bey: "We had liquor stores in our community for a long period of time, and we know what goes on around these liquor stores. And one thing about it is, it's not just liquor stores. They sell crack around these liquor stores, they're able to buy crack and drugs from these liquor stores, and things like this are not supposed to be done by so-called Muslims. If you say you're a Muslim, you should have the action of a Muslim."
Most conventional journalists would have regarded Valrey's two softball interviews as a shameful case of pandering to an apparent criminal. But Valrey not only defends his right to interview Bey, but stands by his interview subject. He suggests that Bey is the victim of a racist media conspiracy.
"I did this interview with Yusuf Bey IV because I think that it is important for the black community to hear his voice through the barrage of malicious articles that the mainstream media has been putting out about him and his codefendants," Valrey wrote in the introduction to a Bay View transcription of his KPFA interview. "I'm not a judge or a jury but, as a journalist, I'm definitely not going to let the racist media bury someone that I have access to, without allowing him to say what he has to say. The mainstream media is not used to our community saying that we are going to make our minds up on what we believe independent of their white power media infrastructures."
In a recent interview with the East Bay Express, Valrey went further still. He appeared to endorse the very acts of vandalism that Bey and the other bakery members were suspected of committing.
"I thought that Yusuf Bey and the Black Muslim Bakery took a stand that local politicians haven't taken in decades, that being that the black community is drowning in liquor stores," Valrey said. "In a lot of places we don't have supermarkets but we have liquor stores on every corner, and it's an issue that has been talked about for decades and nobody dealt with it. They've never said anything to me as if they done it or didn't do it, but whoever did it, I support the fact that they did what local politicians couldn't do and they brought the issue front and center. To this day, nothing has been done to limit the amount of liquor stores in the black community, which we basically equate in the black community to biological warfare. If they were involved with that, I applaud."
And Valrey's relationship with Bey would eventually extend beyond his tacit support for acts of vandalism. It would eventually result in Valrey being implicated along with Bey in one of Oakland's highest-profile murder cases.
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The crime that forever changed the public's perception of the bakery was the August 2, 2007, murder of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey. Bailey was gunned down in front of witnesses who saw a black man shoot him with a shotgun before escaping in a white van. Since Bailey had been working on a story about the bakery, that institution was immediately suspected. Because of an unrelated investigation, the bakery's compound was soon raided, and several members were taken into custody, including Bey and employee Devaughndre Broussard. The latter confessed to Bailey's murder but later recanted, saying Bey had ordered him to confess. News coverage of the crime eventually called attention to a suspicious connection between the suspected mastermind and JR Valrey.
An October 25, 2008, story by the Chauncey Bailey Project — a team of reporters and news outlets created to investigate Bailey's murder — accused Oakland Police Detective Derwin Longmire of ignoring crucial evidence connecting Bey to the crime. Cell phone records and surveillance information available to Longmire evidently placed Bey outside Bailey's home just hours before his murder. During the fourteen minutes that Bey sat parked outside of Bailey's house in the early hours of August 2, he made a number of phone calls, mostly to bakery member Antoine Mackey. But the records show he also made calls to Valrey.
"During the fourteen minutes he was outside Bailey's apartment early Aug. 2, Bey IV received two calls from a person who had known Bailey for more than a decade," the article states, "JR Valrey, a blogger and activist then reporting for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, where Bailey sometimes contributed news items. Valrey is also affiliated with New America Media, a sponsor of the Chauncey Bailey Project.
"The records show that Bey IV called Valrey twice on Aug. 1, and that Valrey called Bey IV twice while Bey IV was parked outside Bailey's apartment on Aug. 2. The two calls totaled 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Six minutes after leaving Bailey's apartment, Bey IV called Valrey at 12:43 a.m. That call lasted nearly three minutes, the records show.
"Valrey refused to discuss the calls with the Bailey Project. '(It's) none of your business,' he said, and refused to answer other questions. 'I don't have nothing to say to you, man,' he said. 'You all are the anti-bakery project.'"
The article stated that police never interviewed Valrey regarding these conversations. But Valrey did subsequently address the accusations in the San Francisco Bay View.
"Last Sunday," he wrote, "the Oakland Tribune released an article from the Chauncey Bailey Project called 'Evidence Ignored,' which passed off misleading information as facts and omitted relevant information in apparent attempts at character assassination." Valrey proceeded to accuse the stories of containing errors and outright lies, "which have made many people outside of the self-congratulating walls of the journalism industry question its credibility, professionalism and sincerity." Valrey said he refused to answer the reporters' questions because he didn't believe they were working in his best interests, nor in those of the black community or Chauncey Bailey.
"Ever since its inception, it was never about honoring and continuing the work of the late journalist Chauncey Wendell Bailey Jr. and answering questions regarding his death, as it claims on its web site," Valrey wrote in a Bay View article. "The Project and the Oakland police seem to have more of a lynch mob mentality in their investigation. They seem to be trying to ensure that their reporting will result in some young black male or a group of them paying for the murder of Chauncey, even if they are innocent."
So what were the phone calls about? Valrey told the Express that he was calling Bey IV to talk about the case of one Laronte Studdesville, whom he described as a victim of police brutality. A meeting with Studdesville's father had been scheduled for the following day, and Valrey was inviting Bey to attend.
Valrey's editor, Mary Ratcliff, confirms that assertion. "What JR does is very much in the tradition of the Panthers," Ratcliff said. "He looks to the street — or gangs, as the police would call it — and sees that these guys are doing political organizing and they don't even know it. Maybe their intentions aren't always that great, but many of these gangs legitimately started out to protect their neighborhoods and their communities. If we could just politicize them, imagine what we could do. That's what JR's always tried to do, but that doesn't make him a gangster. I know that he had been trying to recruit Yusuf for months, telling him that there are better ways of doing things, and that's what those calls were about."
But if this was a business call, then why did it come so late at night?
"I don't remember it being around midnight," Valrey said. "It may have been around 10. We don't have a bedtime, neither me nor Yusuf Bey, as far as I know. To speak for myself, I don't have a bedtime, so we don't just stick to white business time, 9 to 5. I just don't make calls in those times and I don't think that calling someone at 12:00 implicates me in anything.
"I think that I effectively poked a lot of holes in where they were basically trying to implicate me in a murder that I'm not involved in, in any way," Valrey said. "But it also shows the weakness in their journalism, shows the laziness in their journalism. I did a very shallow investigation and poked holes all throughout what they were saying in the article I was in."
Valrey says he believes that Bey had nothing to do with Bailey's killing. "They're treating them as criminals and they're trying to be the judge and the jury."
The murder of Chauncey Bailey appears to most observers to have been based upon the notion that imminent reporting from Bailey would threaten the interests of the bakery. But Bailey was hardly a probing investigative reporter; in fact, he was widely criticized in journalism circles for how cozy he often was with his subjects. Valrey advances an equally improbable notion: that it was Bailey's ongoing efforts to expose Oakland police corruption that led to his death.
"At the time of his murder, Chauncey Bailey and Yusuf Bey were both in my phone," Valrey said, adding that he and Bailey had a good relationship. "I also know that Chauncey Bailey was working on a story dealing directly with the police."
Valrey maintains that the Chauncey Bailey Project hasn't done enough to pursue leads that Bailey was looking into police corruption at the time of his death, and has suggested not only that Bailey's murder was a police cover-up for which Bey was a scapegoat, but also that the Chauncey Bailey Project is in fact a front for the police.
Bob Butler, a reporter with the Chauncey Bailey Project and president of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association, denies Valrey's suggestion that the project is in cahoots with the police. He said the project has found no evidence implicating the Oakland police in the murder. "The last story Chauncey wrote was about the bakery. He may have been looking into possible police corruption, but we have seen no evidence to verify that claim," Butler said. "I'd be very interested to see evidence that the police were responsible for Chauncey Bailey's murder." Butler points out that the Chauncey Bailey Project published evidence last June showing that Bey admitted that he kept the shotgun used to kill Bailey in his closet after the murder. That information can be found at ChaunceyBaileyProject.org.
But this is not evidence enough for Valrey. "I think that the Chauncey Bailey Project really speaks to the disconnect between the journalist world and the real world," he said. "You have the bigwigs in mainstream journalism coming together and of course they're going to pat themselves on the back for doing a good job. But the question still remains: They did all this, and they wrote all this about Yusuf Bey, but he's not even charged yet, so really the question comes, how effective are you? Because you guys work hand-in-hand with the police, obviously. I'm not going to talk to the police, whether it's through the Chauncey Bailey Project or whether it's through a uniformed officer. If I have anything to say, I'll say it in the San Francisco Bay View or on Block Report Radio."
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KPFA has a long tradition of giving a voice to viewpoints otherwise ignored in the mainstream media. Like Valrey, many of the station's contributors have an agenda. Although some staffers dutifully adhere to the same journalistic standards embraced by mainstream journalists, others have less interest in reporting the news than in giving voice to the perceived underdog. Many of these advocacy journalists are, like Valrey, unpaid volunteer producers.
Unpaid staffers make up a political block of significance at KPFA and have the support of some paid staffers, including Dennis Bernstein, who has taken Valrey under his wing by giving him airtime on Flashpoints. As a member of its volunteer staff association, Valrey has been critical of KPFA management for some time.
Last year, station manager Lemlem Rijio curbed the influence of the often-unruly unpaid staffers. Rijio changed the rules to reduce the voting power of unpaid staffers, who for years enjoyed the same voting rights as paid staff members when it came to selecting board representation. Since around that time, Valrey has zeroed in on Rijio and other station managers.
Last August, while interviewing filmmaker Iana Jones about her documentary on black radio, Valrey used the topic as a platform to criticize Rijio. "Even today," he said, in an implied reference to KPFA, "there are black puppets put there to keep the status quo in place." He also said that the repression of black viewpoints at KPFA is being enforced "by black face, from the top." And Valrey made a point of noting with apparent disapproval — as he has done numerous times in his Bay View articles — that Rijio is from Ethiopia.
The interview was one of many times that Valrey has called for a black public affairs show on KPFA. "That has been one of my major campaigns," he said. "There's black music shows on the radio, but there's really no regular black public affairs show. KPFA has these types of programs for Asians, for Latinos, but not for black people. I would like to see The Block Report as a weekly or daily, or even a biweekly program," he said. "This really came to a head when the Nadra Foster thing happened."
Just three days after Valrey's interview with Jones, the long-running conflict between some of KPFA's volunteers and management once again came to a head when volunteer staffer Nadra Foster was arrested and removed from the station's studios by Berkeley police. Foster had reportedly been banned from KPFA for making long-distance calls on KPFA phone lines. However, she continued to work in the station's studios, coming in about three times a week. She claimed that she didn't think the ban was official, as she had never received anything in writing. When a staff member confronted her for using one of the studios, a manager called police to remove her. Foster, who had a prior criminal record, resisted her arrest, allegedly biting one of the officers during the melee. After more officers were called, Foster was forced to the ground, put in restraints, and hauled off to jail.
The Foster incident prompted Valrey to call for Rijio's resignation. However, a supporter of Rijio, who asked to remain nameless, said she was dealing with a family emergency at the time of the incident and played no role in calling the police.
More recently, Valrey again called for Rijio's resignation after several paid and unpaid staff members were reprimanded for supporting him on air after his arrest. Those reprimanded include paid staffer Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio, and volunteer Nina Serrano of La Raza Chronicles, who both read the following announcement: "We believe JR to be innocent of setting fires and causing physical damages, as he was professionally occupied covering this important story. ... People are showing their support by coming to his hearing Monday, February 23, at 9 a.m. at 661 Washington Street in Oakland."
Hanrahan defends her actions. "Management doesn't understand the tradition of Pacifica and why it's so important that we support and defend it," she said. "The guy is out there, and when you're out there as a journalist you get blowback, and you have to be supported. If the DA comes down on him, that probably means he's doing his job." Speaking of Valrey's call for Rijio's resignation, she said, "I want things to change at KPFA, and I support JR's right to say what he said. JR is a serious journalist doing important work. In my opinion we need ten JRs."
On the day after her announcement, Hanrahan said, she was given a formal notice of misconduct and asked to take a leave of absence. The notice, obtained by the Express, claimed violation of station policy in three regards: making a "direct call to action" over the air, broadcasting information without authorization from management, and neglecting to indicate that the information was "not the opinion or position of KPFA." Serrano said she was not given a written reprimand but warned verbally about her transgression. KPFA staffers were also given a memo reiterating these three rules and noting that their violation would lead to disciplinary action, Hanrahan said.
Valrey responded with an article in the Bay View. "KPFA was the first listener-sponsored station in the country when it went into business in 1949 and was seen as a beacon of audio resistance in Northern California. Sixty years later, East African-born General Manager Lemlem Rijio has had broadcasters reprimanded because of their support for me and the Oakland 100. All of this is some bullshit, considering that KPFA is constantly begging for money. Isn't that a 'call to action' or 'advocating action on the air'? ... We are urging everyone to call KPFA and tell them that you will not give them another cent until the General Manager Lemlem Rijio is fired or steps down. We need a constant inundation of calls to kick off this part of the campaign."
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On March 21, three Oakland police sergeants were shot and killed by parolee Lovelle Mixon. Another officer was severely injured and died the following day. Mixon, who had a warrant for his arrest for parole violation, had been pulled over on MacArthur Boulevard in what was described as a routine stop. After shooting Sergeants John Hege and Mark Dunakin, Mixon apparently walked over to the officers and shot them both again, execution-style. He then fled the scene and hid out in a nearby apartment building. Police raided the building after receiving a tip as to his whereabouts. From inside a closet, Mixon shot and killed S.W.A.T team members Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai with an AK-47 assault rifle. He was then killed by another officer.
While most of Oakland reeled in shock over one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement in California history, JR Valrey wrote an article for the Bay View that essentially justified Mixon's actions.
The article, headlined "Police 2, Oakland residents 4," described Mixon as "a suicide sniper who used a gun instead of a bomb to take out enemies of the community." It described the tragedy as one that "some in the black community see as a day of heroic resistance against the police." The article went on to suggest that street memorials for the fallen officers were police-created, and that reports of citizens attending them were media propaganda. "The reality is, when you go to the scene, which I did a number of times, you see very few residents of the area — especially young black males — with any sympathy for the officers."
Valrey referred to the incident as a "revolutionary suicide," and wrapped up his piece with a provocative question-cum-threat: "How does it feel when the rabbit has the gun? Welcome to East Oakland."
You can always find another side of the story at BlockReportRadio
Part 30: My Friend the Devil or Hell on Ice
Marvin X
A few months after organizing the Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights, my elder and mentor, John Douimbia came to me with an idea he'd been carrying around with him for over twenty years, the Black Men's Conference which would become a secular organization of black men to deal with our myriad issues absent religiosity and across political and class lines, a healing project that would allow us to take control of our community as men, with a women's component but with men taking authority of all issues relating to our survival and thrival. John had presented his plan to many brothers in the Bay but many of them ran from it or stole from it. He first suggested it to the brothers at Mosque #26 in San Francisco but they were swimming in religiosity and weren't evolved enough to think out of the box. One might say John saw what his old friend from his hustling days in Harlem saw once he departed the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, that we needed a spiritual organization, i.e., Muslim Mosque, Inc., and a secular organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Sadly, Malcolm was cut down before either of these organizations became functional. But John saw the need as Malcolm did--of course Malcolm had run into his old friend from Harlem when he was released from prison and began organizing Mosques for the NOI. He asked John to help invigorate the San Francisco temple and John agreed to do so when he returned from his job in the merchant marines. But John yet dreamed of the secular project but got nowhere until he ran into me and I told him let's go for it. So we began planning and organizing the Black Men's Conference which eventually took place, November, 1980, at the Oakland Auditorium, attended by a thousand black men, including a session organized by women.
But during the planning and organizing, John gave me lessons in man-hood training during the many one on one meetings we held to discuss how to put the conference together and what were the objectives. One objective what the Elders Council, the seat of community power and conflict resolution, whether street or domestic violence, police violence or whatever. Male/female relations was a topic, but most importantly, male to male relations: how do we respect each other as men? How do we train the boys into manhood. What rituals do they need to signal their maturation since we can no longer send them into the jungle for initiation by confronting the lions and tigers. The tragedy is that in the absence of this grouping of men, the gangs have taken over. Even in his madness, Eldridge Cleaver used to say, "Where the boy scouts end, the gangs begin." Imagine, murder is the initiation rite for gang membership. Instead of hunting the lion we hunt each other.
John taught me to always have a balance when promoting the conference, a balance of male and female energy. He demanded when I promoted the conference on the media to always have a female with me to speak. Indeed, the women became the most energetic promoters of the conference, mainly because she wanted her man, father, and sons to evolve from the patriarchal domination of females into a more balanced symbiosis.
As an example of male interpersonal relations and conflict resolution, John wanted Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton to reconcile with each other, despite all the pain and suffering, all the blood and bones, these two brothers had subjected the brotherhood and sisterhood coast to coast. He recognized them both for the good they did in advancing black liberation, he recognized their failings. But in the spirit of black unity and especially in terms of black male unity, he wanted them to come together. The response came from Huey's brother Melvin Newton, who told us Huey said, "There was too much blood on the path between him and Eldridge, that with respect to those comrades who had lost loved ones in the internecine warfare, he could not reconcile with Eldridge, even though on the personal level he wanted to do so."
I should add that Dr. Nathan Hare wanted the two brothers to come together as well. Hare was one of the principle supporters of the Black Men's Conference and he too felt it would have gone a long way toward black unity if they had resolved their differences. And example of what we wanted occurred when Geronimo Pratt was released from prison after twenty seven years: we understand that he forgave Ron Karenga of the US organization that had violent and death dealing encounters with the Panthers in Los Angeles, including the death of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins in the BSU meeting room on the campus of UCLA. We understand when Ron Karenga came to prison for torturing black women he suspected of being agents, Geronimo saved Karenga from retaliation. He ordered the brothers not to kill Karenga. This is the type of spirit we wanted the Black Men's Conference to emulate, agape or unconditional love and forgiveness. But it didn't happen and opinion in the Bay was so negative against Eldridge that we ultimately had to ask him to drop from participation in the conference. I know this hurt him and it hurt me to tell him he could not be a part of the brotherhood we were organizing, but there was a consensus of opinion that he was bad news. And this lack of ability to reconcile has implications for the present strife and violence in our communities coast to coast. We call ourselves conscious black men and women, but we harbor petty hatreds long after it is time to let them go. It it a sign of political and spiritual immaturity that we must overcome. We see white men and women in the congress who hate each others guts, yet they unite for the common good. This is what we wanted to achieve with the Black Men's Conference. The concept was taken up fifteen years later by Minister Farrakhan with the Million Man March. Yet, just as the Black Men's Conference failed to morph into a secular organization, the MMM has apparently gone nowhere, caught between religiosity and the secular dream, unable to resolve the contradiction.
Marvin X
A few months after organizing the Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights, my elder and mentor, John Douimbia came to me with an idea he'd been carrying around with him for over twenty years, the Black Men's Conference which would become a secular organization of black men to deal with our myriad issues absent religiosity and across political and class lines, a healing project that would allow us to take control of our community as men, with a women's component but with men taking authority of all issues relating to our survival and thrival. John had presented his plan to many brothers in the Bay but many of them ran from it or stole from it. He first suggested it to the brothers at Mosque #26 in San Francisco but they were swimming in religiosity and weren't evolved enough to think out of the box. One might say John saw what his old friend from his hustling days in Harlem saw once he departed the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, that we needed a spiritual organization, i.e., Muslim Mosque, Inc., and a secular organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Sadly, Malcolm was cut down before either of these organizations became functional. But John saw the need as Malcolm did--of course Malcolm had run into his old friend from Harlem when he was released from prison and began organizing Mosques for the NOI. He asked John to help invigorate the San Francisco temple and John agreed to do so when he returned from his job in the merchant marines. But John yet dreamed of the secular project but got nowhere until he ran into me and I told him let's go for it. So we began planning and organizing the Black Men's Conference which eventually took place, November, 1980, at the Oakland Auditorium, attended by a thousand black men, including a session organized by women.
But during the planning and organizing, John gave me lessons in man-hood training during the many one on one meetings we held to discuss how to put the conference together and what were the objectives. One objective what the Elders Council, the seat of community power and conflict resolution, whether street or domestic violence, police violence or whatever. Male/female relations was a topic, but most importantly, male to male relations: how do we respect each other as men? How do we train the boys into manhood. What rituals do they need to signal their maturation since we can no longer send them into the jungle for initiation by confronting the lions and tigers. The tragedy is that in the absence of this grouping of men, the gangs have taken over. Even in his madness, Eldridge Cleaver used to say, "Where the boy scouts end, the gangs begin." Imagine, murder is the initiation rite for gang membership. Instead of hunting the lion we hunt each other.
John taught me to always have a balance when promoting the conference, a balance of male and female energy. He demanded when I promoted the conference on the media to always have a female with me to speak. Indeed, the women became the most energetic promoters of the conference, mainly because she wanted her man, father, and sons to evolve from the patriarchal domination of females into a more balanced symbiosis.
As an example of male interpersonal relations and conflict resolution, John wanted Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton to reconcile with each other, despite all the pain and suffering, all the blood and bones, these two brothers had subjected the brotherhood and sisterhood coast to coast. He recognized them both for the good they did in advancing black liberation, he recognized their failings. But in the spirit of black unity and especially in terms of black male unity, he wanted them to come together. The response came from Huey's brother Melvin Newton, who told us Huey said, "There was too much blood on the path between him and Eldridge, that with respect to those comrades who had lost loved ones in the internecine warfare, he could not reconcile with Eldridge, even though on the personal level he wanted to do so."
I should add that Dr. Nathan Hare wanted the two brothers to come together as well. Hare was one of the principle supporters of the Black Men's Conference and he too felt it would have gone a long way toward black unity if they had resolved their differences. And example of what we wanted occurred when Geronimo Pratt was released from prison after twenty seven years: we understand that he forgave Ron Karenga of the US organization that had violent and death dealing encounters with the Panthers in Los Angeles, including the death of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins in the BSU meeting room on the campus of UCLA. We understand when Ron Karenga came to prison for torturing black women he suspected of being agents, Geronimo saved Karenga from retaliation. He ordered the brothers not to kill Karenga. This is the type of spirit we wanted the Black Men's Conference to emulate, agape or unconditional love and forgiveness. But it didn't happen and opinion in the Bay was so negative against Eldridge that we ultimately had to ask him to drop from participation in the conference. I know this hurt him and it hurt me to tell him he could not be a part of the brotherhood we were organizing, but there was a consensus of opinion that he was bad news. And this lack of ability to reconcile has implications for the present strife and violence in our communities coast to coast. We call ourselves conscious black men and women, but we harbor petty hatreds long after it is time to let them go. It it a sign of political and spiritual immaturity that we must overcome. We see white men and women in the congress who hate each others guts, yet they unite for the common good. This is what we wanted to achieve with the Black Men's Conference. The concept was taken up fifteen years later by Minister Farrakhan with the Million Man March. Yet, just as the Black Men's Conference failed to morph into a secular organization, the MMM has apparently gone nowhere, caught between religiosity and the secular dream, unable to resolve the contradiction.
Part 28: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
As a result of the rally and a press release I sent out demanding five million dollars for the family of Melvin Black, the NAACP lawyer, Nathaniel Calley demanded a million dollars for the family, but since he was an associate of Mayor Lionel Wilson, moved to have the venue changed from Oakland to Sacramento where the case was buried until the statue of limitations almost ran out. The Melvin Black family contacted me to rev up the case so I did a PR campaign on their behalf, putting the case back in the news after Nathaniel Calley purposely buried it at the compliance of the the Mayor in a black bourgeoisie conspiracy against the grass roots people of Oakland.
But I had an agreement with Mustafa and the Black family that I would receive a commission for my efforts at getting a just compensation for the family. When they hired a new lawyer, he eventually was able to get an $800,000 law suit against the City of Oakland. The family gave me nothing for my effort although I did not pressure them for anything. Never the less when they won their suit I did not receive a thank you note or a chicken wing dinner. I did not press the issue since I saw the family was ignorant and had no sense of how to compensate someone who had helped them win a nearly million dollar law suit. If fact, Mustafa and his family hated me for helping them in their hour of need. This only showed my Mom was right when she told me to leave nigguhs alone, that they were only using my mind. Mustafa and I nearly had a shootout at his house in the projects on Union Street across the street from Acorn Projects. Eldridge had to intervene between us to stop us from violence.
This revealed to me that you simply cannot help some people because of their ignorance, envy and jealousy. They will actually hate you for helping them. But no matter the Black family had won their lawsuit after my energy and effort and that of other community brothers and sisters. They took the money and ran into their darkness. The mother bought a condo by Lake Merritt and she gave each of her children ten thousand dollars which several of them spent on Crack.
My mother said I deserved something for my efforts in their behalf but I let it go and Allah continued to bless me in ways that I didn't need anything from the Black family. As the Qur'an says, "Leave them alone in their inordinancy, blindly wandering on." And it says further, "We feed you for Allah's pleasure, we desire from you neither reward nor thanks."
Marvin X
As a result of the rally and a press release I sent out demanding five million dollars for the family of Melvin Black, the NAACP lawyer, Nathaniel Calley demanded a million dollars for the family, but since he was an associate of Mayor Lionel Wilson, moved to have the venue changed from Oakland to Sacramento where the case was buried until the statue of limitations almost ran out. The Melvin Black family contacted me to rev up the case so I did a PR campaign on their behalf, putting the case back in the news after Nathaniel Calley purposely buried it at the compliance of the the Mayor in a black bourgeoisie conspiracy against the grass roots people of Oakland.
But I had an agreement with Mustafa and the Black family that I would receive a commission for my efforts at getting a just compensation for the family. When they hired a new lawyer, he eventually was able to get an $800,000 law suit against the City of Oakland. The family gave me nothing for my effort although I did not pressure them for anything. Never the less when they won their suit I did not receive a thank you note or a chicken wing dinner. I did not press the issue since I saw the family was ignorant and had no sense of how to compensate someone who had helped them win a nearly million dollar law suit. If fact, Mustafa and his family hated me for helping them in their hour of need. This only showed my Mom was right when she told me to leave nigguhs alone, that they were only using my mind. Mustafa and I nearly had a shootout at his house in the projects on Union Street across the street from Acorn Projects. Eldridge had to intervene between us to stop us from violence.
This revealed to me that you simply cannot help some people because of their ignorance, envy and jealousy. They will actually hate you for helping them. But no matter the Black family had won their lawsuit after my energy and effort and that of other community brothers and sisters. They took the money and ran into their darkness. The mother bought a condo by Lake Merritt and she gave each of her children ten thousand dollars which several of them spent on Crack.
My mother said I deserved something for my efforts in their behalf but I let it go and Allah continued to bless me in ways that I didn't need anything from the Black family. As the Qur'an says, "Leave them alone in their inordinancy, blindly wandering on." And it says further, "We feed you for Allah's pleasure, we desire from you neither reward nor thanks."
Part 29: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
Rev. Moon wanted "Paul" to speak at a Moonie Conference in Jamaica. Cleaver asked me to handle the negotiations. My counterpart was Rev. Moon's right hand man, Col. Pak, publisher of the Washington Times, although I don't think it was out at this time, 1979. At first Col. Pak was only going to pay for Cleaver's ticket, but as per usual, Cleaver wanted me to travel with him, so since Col. Pak was resisting, I refused to answer his phone calls or return calls for several weeks. He left messages saying I was a very difficult man to contact. But I was being difficult on purpose. When we finally conversed again, he agreed that I should go, additionally he wanted Mrs. Cleaver as well. We agreed but this presented a crisis since the Cleavers were separated or divorced by this time. We tried telling Col. Pak Mrs. Cleaver wasn't available but they insisted she come, so we told them we'd get back to them on this matter while we figured out what to do. We came up with Hurriyah's friend, Nzingha, a fairly light skinned sister who might pass for Kathleen--all Negroes look alike, right? When it was almost departure time Col. Pak called to say we could take a delegation of six people, so I scrambled together a crew of six, including Cleaver, Nzingha,Hurriyah, Hasan James, Rasul Taifa and myself. The brothers had two or three days to get their passports and meet us at the airport. We landed in Montego Bay and checked in at the conference hotel Royce Hall. As per the African American tradition, once checked in, we wanted to find the dope as in ganja, so we sought out the brothers on the periphery of the hotel who were "bald head" dred because they didn't want trouble from Babylon police, so they cut their hair but they were Rasta just the same and they had all the dope we wanted and then some. They also had art work which Cleaver began to purchase. We told them we were writers and that I had a suitcase full of books I'd brought to trade. They told me to go get my books on black consciousness and I could get all the ganja I wanted. Thereafter they called me "culture teacher" and wanted me share knowledge with them and didn't want me to leave Jamaica because they said they needed culture teachers.
These were young brothers so I reflected on youth back in the US who were sometimes difficult to reach with conscious knowledge. Elijah Muhammad used to say he could teach blacks outside of America in six months while it would take six years to reach and teach black Americans because they were hard headed, stiff necked, deaf, dumb and blind and in their arrogance perceive they know everything, yet they know nothing. As Khalid Muhammad said once (may he rest in peace), "How can Jesse Jackson say I am somebody when he doesn't know who he is, so how can he be somebody?"
But I must say lately that black American youth are seeking conscious knowledge. I've had young men and women spend thirty and forty dollars to purchase my books. And I was shocked and proud. One young brother held me up in a fish cafe for at least two hours questioning me on a variety of topics. He said he did so because he didn't know when he was going to see me again. He also said he quit his girlfriend because she didn't like to read and he was a reader.
Meanwhile back in Jamaica, Eldridge spoke in the "Hellfire" Room at the hotel. It was a great speech, so powerful all the hotel workers stopped in to listen intently. Essentially he asked why have Christians allowed Communists to be the Good Samaritans of Latin America? He said you cannot blame the people for turning to Communism when the Communists are the ones who've given them the rope to climb out of the hole of poverty, ignorance and disease. The Jamaican hotel workers applauded loudly, but at breakfast the next morning, which was soon a private conversation between Col. Pak and myself, everyone else was asked to leave, including Cleaver, Col Pak said, "Mr. Jackmon, you tell Mr. Cleaver his speech too radical, too radical." I just laughed to myself. And then he and I got down to the business at hand: Rev. Moon wanted "Paul" to make a world tour condemning Communism, but when I presented our figures for doing such a tour, Col. Pak said, "Mr. Jackmon, your figures are unacceptable, unacceptable!" I informed him that Mr. Cleaver could not and would not risk his life making a global tour to condemn his old friends in the Communist world for pennies. The more our conversation continued, the more Col. Pak repeated this line, "Mr. Jackmon, you very difficult to deal with, very difficult.
And you were a very hard man to reach, Mr. Jackmon, very hard man." Thus ended our negotiations on the world tour.
Nzingha and Hurriyah wanted to visit Kingston. I refused to go because I had seen enough poverty in Mexico and Central America. I mean how much do you need to see of people suffering before you understand what's really going on. But Hurriyah was in the process of adopting a child whose family could not afford to feed him, so she had good reason to visit Kingston. The ladies took off for Kingston since we would be in Jamaica six days. I think Cleaver finally told the Moonies Nzingha was not Mrs. Cleaver. They didn't trip. After the Jamaica conference, Eldridge phased out his association with the Moonies. It appears after Rev. Moon couldn't get Eldridge to be a whore for his anti-Communist agenda, we next see him developing an association with Minister Farrakhan.
Farrakhan's Million Family March was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle as "a Rev. Moon sponsored event." I have no doubt that every Asian pictured in the video of the event was a Moonie. Certainly the group marriages performed were a Moonie ritual. After having experienced Rev. Moon, I was shocked to see Farrakhan associating with him. If anyone was the devil it was Rev. Moon who has a world following of brainwashed people, enslaved to his unification theology. Rev. Moon not only tells them when they can marry but when they can have sex after marriage. I condemned Farrakhan in an essay called Rev. Farrakhan Moon, although my objective was to attack Moon more than Farrakhan. But after the article appeared on line and in my book In The Crazy House Called America, Farrakhan sent me a message by way of Akbar Muhammad, his international representative, someone I've known since I met him and the minister in 1968 at Mosque #7 in Harlem. Farrakhan told Akbar, "Tell Marvin I love him but he raked me over the coals in his article about me. Tell him the next time he wants to write something about me, please call me first to get my side of the story."
Marvin X
Rev. Moon wanted "Paul" to speak at a Moonie Conference in Jamaica. Cleaver asked me to handle the negotiations. My counterpart was Rev. Moon's right hand man, Col. Pak, publisher of the Washington Times, although I don't think it was out at this time, 1979. At first Col. Pak was only going to pay for Cleaver's ticket, but as per usual, Cleaver wanted me to travel with him, so since Col. Pak was resisting, I refused to answer his phone calls or return calls for several weeks. He left messages saying I was a very difficult man to contact. But I was being difficult on purpose. When we finally conversed again, he agreed that I should go, additionally he wanted Mrs. Cleaver as well. We agreed but this presented a crisis since the Cleavers were separated or divorced by this time. We tried telling Col. Pak Mrs. Cleaver wasn't available but they insisted she come, so we told them we'd get back to them on this matter while we figured out what to do. We came up with Hurriyah's friend, Nzingha, a fairly light skinned sister who might pass for Kathleen--all Negroes look alike, right? When it was almost departure time Col. Pak called to say we could take a delegation of six people, so I scrambled together a crew of six, including Cleaver, Nzingha,Hurriyah, Hasan James, Rasul Taifa and myself. The brothers had two or three days to get their passports and meet us at the airport. We landed in Montego Bay and checked in at the conference hotel Royce Hall. As per the African American tradition, once checked in, we wanted to find the dope as in ganja, so we sought out the brothers on the periphery of the hotel who were "bald head" dred because they didn't want trouble from Babylon police, so they cut their hair but they were Rasta just the same and they had all the dope we wanted and then some. They also had art work which Cleaver began to purchase. We told them we were writers and that I had a suitcase full of books I'd brought to trade. They told me to go get my books on black consciousness and I could get all the ganja I wanted. Thereafter they called me "culture teacher" and wanted me share knowledge with them and didn't want me to leave Jamaica because they said they needed culture teachers.
These were young brothers so I reflected on youth back in the US who were sometimes difficult to reach with conscious knowledge. Elijah Muhammad used to say he could teach blacks outside of America in six months while it would take six years to reach and teach black Americans because they were hard headed, stiff necked, deaf, dumb and blind and in their arrogance perceive they know everything, yet they know nothing. As Khalid Muhammad said once (may he rest in peace), "How can Jesse Jackson say I am somebody when he doesn't know who he is, so how can he be somebody?"
But I must say lately that black American youth are seeking conscious knowledge. I've had young men and women spend thirty and forty dollars to purchase my books. And I was shocked and proud. One young brother held me up in a fish cafe for at least two hours questioning me on a variety of topics. He said he did so because he didn't know when he was going to see me again. He also said he quit his girlfriend because she didn't like to read and he was a reader.
Meanwhile back in Jamaica, Eldridge spoke in the "Hellfire" Room at the hotel. It was a great speech, so powerful all the hotel workers stopped in to listen intently. Essentially he asked why have Christians allowed Communists to be the Good Samaritans of Latin America? He said you cannot blame the people for turning to Communism when the Communists are the ones who've given them the rope to climb out of the hole of poverty, ignorance and disease. The Jamaican hotel workers applauded loudly, but at breakfast the next morning, which was soon a private conversation between Col. Pak and myself, everyone else was asked to leave, including Cleaver, Col Pak said, "Mr. Jackmon, you tell Mr. Cleaver his speech too radical, too radical." I just laughed to myself. And then he and I got down to the business at hand: Rev. Moon wanted "Paul" to make a world tour condemning Communism, but when I presented our figures for doing such a tour, Col. Pak said, "Mr. Jackmon, your figures are unacceptable, unacceptable!" I informed him that Mr. Cleaver could not and would not risk his life making a global tour to condemn his old friends in the Communist world for pennies. The more our conversation continued, the more Col. Pak repeated this line, "Mr. Jackmon, you very difficult to deal with, very difficult.
And you were a very hard man to reach, Mr. Jackmon, very hard man." Thus ended our negotiations on the world tour.
Nzingha and Hurriyah wanted to visit Kingston. I refused to go because I had seen enough poverty in Mexico and Central America. I mean how much do you need to see of people suffering before you understand what's really going on. But Hurriyah was in the process of adopting a child whose family could not afford to feed him, so she had good reason to visit Kingston. The ladies took off for Kingston since we would be in Jamaica six days. I think Cleaver finally told the Moonies Nzingha was not Mrs. Cleaver. They didn't trip. After the Jamaica conference, Eldridge phased out his association with the Moonies. It appears after Rev. Moon couldn't get Eldridge to be a whore for his anti-Communist agenda, we next see him developing an association with Minister Farrakhan.
Farrakhan's Million Family March was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle as "a Rev. Moon sponsored event." I have no doubt that every Asian pictured in the video of the event was a Moonie. Certainly the group marriages performed were a Moonie ritual. After having experienced Rev. Moon, I was shocked to see Farrakhan associating with him. If anyone was the devil it was Rev. Moon who has a world following of brainwashed people, enslaved to his unification theology. Rev. Moon not only tells them when they can marry but when they can have sex after marriage. I condemned Farrakhan in an essay called Rev. Farrakhan Moon, although my objective was to attack Moon more than Farrakhan. But after the article appeared on line and in my book In The Crazy House Called America, Farrakhan sent me a message by way of Akbar Muhammad, his international representative, someone I've known since I met him and the minister in 1968 at Mosque #7 in Harlem. Farrakhan told Akbar, "Tell Marvin I love him but he raked me over the coals in his article about me. Tell him the next time he wants to write something about me, please call me first to get my side of the story."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Part 27: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
And then shit hit the fan in Oakland. For several months I would read the San Francisco Chronicle to keep up on news in the Bay. The OPD had been killing a black man month and I was getting disgusted reading about it. After all, I was on a magic carpet ride in Reno, living the life of a licentious fool, taking a break from revolution, but one morning I saw the headlines about yet another black man killed by the OPD. I threw the newspaper down in disgust, but picked it up later for some reason, then turned to the back page to find my friend and best Arabic student, Mustafa Abdul Rahim in a photo with his sister, Charla Black. They were protesting the OPD murder of their 15 year old brother, Melvin Black. I was horrified and screamed. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was totally crushing because the photo revealed the pain and sorrow on the face of my friend and his sister.
I made a call to our mutual friend in the Bay, Rasul Taifa, who told me it was time for revolution and to bring my ass back to the Bay ASAP. He let me know the pain my friend and his family were experiencing, especially since Melvin Black was the baby boy of the family. "Come on, Marvin X, it's time to get down for Black Nationalism, leave them KKK alone in Reno and get yo ass down here!" I said, "Ok, Taifa, I'll get back to you." I knew my party was over in Reno and soon I was on the road back to the Bay. When I arrived I saw that all the brothers were ready to do something in revenge.
We talked with Julian Richardson of Marcus Books and he told us to exact revenge and that we were cowards if we did not. Well, to Julian's disgust, we did not. Instead we organized a human rights rally at Oakland Auditorium. I called Minister Farrakhan to attend and he agreed. I called Angela Davis, Oba T'Shaka, Paul Cobb, Desey Woods-Jones, JoNina Abrams, editor of the BPP newspaper. And of course Eldrdige wanted to attend since he knew Mustafa. When I approached Huey Newton he initially agreed only if he could speak before or after Eldridge. Angela Davis didn't want to be on the stage with him. Huey Never showed but we gathered five thousand blacks into the auditorium from 12 noon to midnight without incident.
Eldridge gave a powerful speech after the heckling died down, in fact, he was applauded for his remarks denouncing Oakland's first black mayor, Lionel Wilson for not attending. He denounced Congressman Ron Dellums as well, tracing the history of Democratic party Negro sycophants.
All the speakers denounced the OPD as racist pigs, some calling for a police review board which was later established but is weak as water even today. The main speaker was minister Farrakhan, but he was preceded by Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansur who went on and on about establishing a Pan African state in South Africa. I was forced to grab the mike from Al Mansur (aka Donald Warden) after Farakhan called me into the green room and told me if I didn't get Al Mansur off the mike he was was leaving immediately for Chicago. So I went to Mansur and gently eased the mike from his hand and told the audience the minister was about the speak and the crowd exploded with applause. The minister was escorted on stage by Khalid Muhammad and Minister Billy X (Rabb Muhammad). The minister reiterated the words of Eldridge, lambasting the absent mayor and congressman, calling them pitiful examples of black leadership in a time when the people are suffering. Following the words of Julian Richardson, Farrakhan said there comes a time when the temperature of water reaches the boiling point and the black people of Oakland had reached that point and would be justified in executing revenge. The crowd applauded loudly.
Mysteriously, after the Melvin Black Human Rights Forum, the OPD killing of blacks ceased, but what followed was the appearance of Uzis and Crack cocaine on the streets of Oakland, including drive by killings that have continued to this day.
I have called for employing young men to secure their community, similar to the model used in Iraq to pacify the insurgents, especially in Anbar Province.
I have additionally called for setting up a program of micro loans to help the impoverished young men and women come up. A few hundred dollars can put a brother on the road up from poverty. This concept is being used around the world to bring people out of poverty. The founder of the concept, Muhammad Uniss, was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It is obvious to any thinking person that more police and armed guards who are not from the hood will not suffice.
Marvin X
And then shit hit the fan in Oakland. For several months I would read the San Francisco Chronicle to keep up on news in the Bay. The OPD had been killing a black man month and I was getting disgusted reading about it. After all, I was on a magic carpet ride in Reno, living the life of a licentious fool, taking a break from revolution, but one morning I saw the headlines about yet another black man killed by the OPD. I threw the newspaper down in disgust, but picked it up later for some reason, then turned to the back page to find my friend and best Arabic student, Mustafa Abdul Rahim in a photo with his sister, Charla Black. They were protesting the OPD murder of their 15 year old brother, Melvin Black. I was horrified and screamed. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was totally crushing because the photo revealed the pain and sorrow on the face of my friend and his sister.
I made a call to our mutual friend in the Bay, Rasul Taifa, who told me it was time for revolution and to bring my ass back to the Bay ASAP. He let me know the pain my friend and his family were experiencing, especially since Melvin Black was the baby boy of the family. "Come on, Marvin X, it's time to get down for Black Nationalism, leave them KKK alone in Reno and get yo ass down here!" I said, "Ok, Taifa, I'll get back to you." I knew my party was over in Reno and soon I was on the road back to the Bay. When I arrived I saw that all the brothers were ready to do something in revenge.
We talked with Julian Richardson of Marcus Books and he told us to exact revenge and that we were cowards if we did not. Well, to Julian's disgust, we did not. Instead we organized a human rights rally at Oakland Auditorium. I called Minister Farrakhan to attend and he agreed. I called Angela Davis, Oba T'Shaka, Paul Cobb, Desey Woods-Jones, JoNina Abrams, editor of the BPP newspaper. And of course Eldrdige wanted to attend since he knew Mustafa. When I approached Huey Newton he initially agreed only if he could speak before or after Eldridge. Angela Davis didn't want to be on the stage with him. Huey Never showed but we gathered five thousand blacks into the auditorium from 12 noon to midnight without incident.
Eldridge gave a powerful speech after the heckling died down, in fact, he was applauded for his remarks denouncing Oakland's first black mayor, Lionel Wilson for not attending. He denounced Congressman Ron Dellums as well, tracing the history of Democratic party Negro sycophants.
All the speakers denounced the OPD as racist pigs, some calling for a police review board which was later established but is weak as water even today. The main speaker was minister Farrakhan, but he was preceded by Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansur who went on and on about establishing a Pan African state in South Africa. I was forced to grab the mike from Al Mansur (aka Donald Warden) after Farakhan called me into the green room and told me if I didn't get Al Mansur off the mike he was was leaving immediately for Chicago. So I went to Mansur and gently eased the mike from his hand and told the audience the minister was about the speak and the crowd exploded with applause. The minister was escorted on stage by Khalid Muhammad and Minister Billy X (Rabb Muhammad). The minister reiterated the words of Eldridge, lambasting the absent mayor and congressman, calling them pitiful examples of black leadership in a time when the people are suffering. Following the words of Julian Richardson, Farrakhan said there comes a time when the temperature of water reaches the boiling point and the black people of Oakland had reached that point and would be justified in executing revenge. The crowd applauded loudly.
Mysteriously, after the Melvin Black Human Rights Forum, the OPD killing of blacks ceased, but what followed was the appearance of Uzis and Crack cocaine on the streets of Oakland, including drive by killings that have continued to this day.
I have called for employing young men to secure their community, similar to the model used in Iraq to pacify the insurgents, especially in Anbar Province.
I have additionally called for setting up a program of micro loans to help the impoverished young men and women come up. A few hundred dollars can put a brother on the road up from poverty. This concept is being used around the world to bring people out of poverty. The founder of the concept, Muhammad Uniss, was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It is obvious to any thinking person that more police and armed guards who are not from the hood will not suffice.
Part 26: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
As opposed to the Christian mafia, the Mormon mafia in Reno, Nevada treated me royally, laying out the red carpet. With respect to the white girls at UNR, my department head called me in to inform me I had been observed dining with Mary 2 at Harrah's Steak House. Mary 2 had a break down because I hit on one of her girlfriends, so she snitched to the English department about it. Of course I denied having anything to do with her. The chair told me they didn't mind me dating graduate students, but leave the freshmen alone. I agreed.
As I was saying, the Mormon mafia supported my activities in Reno. Through the Nevada Humanities Committee, I was awarded two planning grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce two conferences mainly for the black community of Reno or Washoe County which had a population of 2,000 in 1978 as opposed to the much larger black population in Las Vegas. The first conference was Excellence in Education which featured Dr. Yacoub, (fat head Harry Edwards), and the devil himself, Eldridge Cleaver. The conference was well attended by the community and Eldridge wanted to hang around Reno afterward. Actually a black preacher, Rev. Vincent donated twenty acres of land to Eldridge a few miles from Reno beside Lake Lahonton, Silver Springs, Nevada. The Rev. was married to a rich white woman and she agreed to support Eldridge. Eldridge announced to the world media that he was going to build a spiritual center on the land and began planning his project, but was soon the subject of controversy when the local residents objected to his presence. At the community planning meeting, I had to speak in his place about his plans. The locals were up for a hanging and were very disappointed he didn't show.
They began putting pressure on Rev. Vincent and his wife to withdraw the land deal and ultimately he did, somewhat fearful of his life.
As I said, the Mormons were treating me royally until the devil appeared, and even then their wrath was not upon me but on him. Nevertheless, before long he moved in with me, bringing with him a metal trunk full of guns.
I continued teaching and working at the Community Services Agency. I was running though a lot of money partying at my house and inviting other blacks up from the Bay, including Cynthia Mack and brother Mustafa Abdul Rahim, my top Arabic student when I taught elementary Arabic to brothers in the hood in Oakland. Eldridge and Mustafa ate and drank on me but I appreciated their company. My father had gone back to the Bay at the first snow and my brother Ollie had departed for Seattle with his white girl who bought him a new Cadillac when he arrived.
The second conference I planned and produced was cultural. Participants included Dr. Wade Nobles, the Wajumbe Dance troop of San Francisco, including Nantizi Cayou, Janice Cobb (now Dr. Ahimsa Sumchi); Fahizah Alim of the Sacramento Bee, writer/critic Sherley Ann Williams and the devil. Sherley and Eldridge didn't get along too well after she saw him and Mary 2 together. She told him he was disgusting for cheating on Kathleen, although Kathleen was long gone, had separated and in the process of divorcing him. Sherley didn't know I'd given Mary 2 to Cleaver. If she had she really would have been through with me. As it was, she told people about our relationship, "Marvin and I are friends and sometimes we fuck." And on this occasion we fucked and the next morning Cleaver jammed Sherley since she had jammed him for adultery. He charged her with fornication after hearing her screams in the night. Sherley shut up messing with Eldridge after that.
One day my boss at the CSA called me in to tell me he had just left a meeting with state officials who told him to inform me that if Eldridge Cleaver did not leave the State of Nevada they were going to kill him. I gave Eldridge the message and he soon packed up and returned to California.
Eldridge had gone from the Christians to the Moonies, Rev. Moon's cult of brainwashed children fleeing from sexual abuse in Christian homes. Rev. Moon had a powerful theology that taught the unification of world religions with him as the new messiah. He wanted Cleaver to be his point man to the Americans because he said the black man was going to one day rule the world again, but with Asian tutelage, himself, directed from Paradise, i.e. South Korea. I had gone to a few Moonie meetings with Eldridge and observed their brainwashing process, directed by a crew of Jewish psychologists trained in behavior modification. First they approached a victim on the street with the love bomb, warmly hugging the person and rubbing him/her softly, making them feel there was possibilities of sex if they would come to the "house," which was actually a Moonie indoctrination center. When the person arrived at the house looking for sex, they would instead be ushered into a meeting room with a lecturer teaching Moon's theology. While the invitee listened, the invitor would again apply the love bomb to the person by sitting next to him/her and hugging and rubbing them as they sat there fascinated at the heavy knowledge the Moonie lecturer was dropping.
The person would soon become attracted to the unification theology and afterward would be fed a delicious Moonie meal of crap food, but the person would be so excited and uplifted by the new theology and the love bomb they would be ready for the next stage, a visit to the Moonie retreat center in northern California at Boonesville. Boonesville is where they subjected the person to intensive brainwashing night and day until they broke down and accepted Rev. Moon as their savior. Part of the brainwashing included deprivation of sleep, a well known technique, even used by pimps to turn out whores.
Eldridge was subjected to the entire process but it had no effect on him because he had experienced behavior modification in the California prison system and observed it while visiting Communist North Korea. His daughter Joju was born there, hence her Korean name. So Eldridge was able to resist their brainwashing, although he did allow them to give him a new name, Paul, as in the Bible. Saul turned to Paul when he had a miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Moon said Cleaver had had a similar life, going from Communist Christian hater to Christian convert. Moon was extending his spiritual journey. But Cleaver realized what Moon was doing to the children of America and attempted to reverse the process. When the Moonie girls gave him the love bomb, Cleaver applied it back to them, essentially turning them out and rescuing them from Moon's cult. He actually saved several lost and turned out white youth, reconnecting them with their parents. Sometimes the parents paid Eldridge for kidnapping their children and returning them. Of course there was first a detoxing process which mainly involved letting them sleep since they lacked and were deprived of sleep in the process of becoming a Moonie. They were also never left alone. I observed the Moonies following Eldridge into the restroom at his house. The objective is to never leave the person alone so they can think about what's happening to them. Needless to say, when Rev. Moon learned Cleaver was turning out his people he was very upset, especially when Cleaver seduced his brainwashed white girls. What do you expect when you allow the fox to guard the hen house?
Marvin X
As opposed to the Christian mafia, the Mormon mafia in Reno, Nevada treated me royally, laying out the red carpet. With respect to the white girls at UNR, my department head called me in to inform me I had been observed dining with Mary 2 at Harrah's Steak House. Mary 2 had a break down because I hit on one of her girlfriends, so she snitched to the English department about it. Of course I denied having anything to do with her. The chair told me they didn't mind me dating graduate students, but leave the freshmen alone. I agreed.
As I was saying, the Mormon mafia supported my activities in Reno. Through the Nevada Humanities Committee, I was awarded two planning grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce two conferences mainly for the black community of Reno or Washoe County which had a population of 2,000 in 1978 as opposed to the much larger black population in Las Vegas. The first conference was Excellence in Education which featured Dr. Yacoub, (fat head Harry Edwards), and the devil himself, Eldridge Cleaver. The conference was well attended by the community and Eldridge wanted to hang around Reno afterward. Actually a black preacher, Rev. Vincent donated twenty acres of land to Eldridge a few miles from Reno beside Lake Lahonton, Silver Springs, Nevada. The Rev. was married to a rich white woman and she agreed to support Eldridge. Eldridge announced to the world media that he was going to build a spiritual center on the land and began planning his project, but was soon the subject of controversy when the local residents objected to his presence. At the community planning meeting, I had to speak in his place about his plans. The locals were up for a hanging and were very disappointed he didn't show.
They began putting pressure on Rev. Vincent and his wife to withdraw the land deal and ultimately he did, somewhat fearful of his life.
As I said, the Mormons were treating me royally until the devil appeared, and even then their wrath was not upon me but on him. Nevertheless, before long he moved in with me, bringing with him a metal trunk full of guns.
I continued teaching and working at the Community Services Agency. I was running though a lot of money partying at my house and inviting other blacks up from the Bay, including Cynthia Mack and brother Mustafa Abdul Rahim, my top Arabic student when I taught elementary Arabic to brothers in the hood in Oakland. Eldridge and Mustafa ate and drank on me but I appreciated their company. My father had gone back to the Bay at the first snow and my brother Ollie had departed for Seattle with his white girl who bought him a new Cadillac when he arrived.
The second conference I planned and produced was cultural. Participants included Dr. Wade Nobles, the Wajumbe Dance troop of San Francisco, including Nantizi Cayou, Janice Cobb (now Dr. Ahimsa Sumchi); Fahizah Alim of the Sacramento Bee, writer/critic Sherley Ann Williams and the devil. Sherley and Eldridge didn't get along too well after she saw him and Mary 2 together. She told him he was disgusting for cheating on Kathleen, although Kathleen was long gone, had separated and in the process of divorcing him. Sherley didn't know I'd given Mary 2 to Cleaver. If she had she really would have been through with me. As it was, she told people about our relationship, "Marvin and I are friends and sometimes we fuck." And on this occasion we fucked and the next morning Cleaver jammed Sherley since she had jammed him for adultery. He charged her with fornication after hearing her screams in the night. Sherley shut up messing with Eldridge after that.
One day my boss at the CSA called me in to tell me he had just left a meeting with state officials who told him to inform me that if Eldridge Cleaver did not leave the State of Nevada they were going to kill him. I gave Eldridge the message and he soon packed up and returned to California.
Eldridge had gone from the Christians to the Moonies, Rev. Moon's cult of brainwashed children fleeing from sexual abuse in Christian homes. Rev. Moon had a powerful theology that taught the unification of world religions with him as the new messiah. He wanted Cleaver to be his point man to the Americans because he said the black man was going to one day rule the world again, but with Asian tutelage, himself, directed from Paradise, i.e. South Korea. I had gone to a few Moonie meetings with Eldridge and observed their brainwashing process, directed by a crew of Jewish psychologists trained in behavior modification. First they approached a victim on the street with the love bomb, warmly hugging the person and rubbing him/her softly, making them feel there was possibilities of sex if they would come to the "house," which was actually a Moonie indoctrination center. When the person arrived at the house looking for sex, they would instead be ushered into a meeting room with a lecturer teaching Moon's theology. While the invitee listened, the invitor would again apply the love bomb to the person by sitting next to him/her and hugging and rubbing them as they sat there fascinated at the heavy knowledge the Moonie lecturer was dropping.
The person would soon become attracted to the unification theology and afterward would be fed a delicious Moonie meal of crap food, but the person would be so excited and uplifted by the new theology and the love bomb they would be ready for the next stage, a visit to the Moonie retreat center in northern California at Boonesville. Boonesville is where they subjected the person to intensive brainwashing night and day until they broke down and accepted Rev. Moon as their savior. Part of the brainwashing included deprivation of sleep, a well known technique, even used by pimps to turn out whores.
Eldridge was subjected to the entire process but it had no effect on him because he had experienced behavior modification in the California prison system and observed it while visiting Communist North Korea. His daughter Joju was born there, hence her Korean name. So Eldridge was able to resist their brainwashing, although he did allow them to give him a new name, Paul, as in the Bible. Saul turned to Paul when he had a miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Moon said Cleaver had had a similar life, going from Communist Christian hater to Christian convert. Moon was extending his spiritual journey. But Cleaver realized what Moon was doing to the children of America and attempted to reverse the process. When the Moonie girls gave him the love bomb, Cleaver applied it back to them, essentially turning them out and rescuing them from Moon's cult. He actually saved several lost and turned out white youth, reconnecting them with their parents. Sometimes the parents paid Eldridge for kidnapping their children and returning them. Of course there was first a detoxing process which mainly involved letting them sleep since they lacked and were deprived of sleep in the process of becoming a Moonie. They were also never left alone. I observed the Moonies following Eldridge into the restroom at his house. The objective is to never leave the person alone so they can think about what's happening to them. Needless to say, when Rev. Moon learned Cleaver was turning out his people he was very upset, especially when Cleaver seduced his brainwashed white girls. What do you expect when you allow the fox to guard the hen house?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Part 25: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
Reno, the Biggest Little Mississippi in the World! A few months after I arrived in Reno, Nevada, the bastion of conservative America, headquarters of the Reagan Revolution, the devil would appear, but let me lay the groundwork for the devil’s appearance. I came to Reno looking for work and there was plenty work, help wanted signs were everywhere, especially in the hotels and casinos. After no luck in that area I sought out work at the University of Nevada and got a part time job lecturing in English, then was hired to teach Technical Writing at Nevada Community College, then was hired at UNR in the Upward Bound program. But I still needed more money so I contacted the two people I recommend every one should know when they enter a town: the banker and the preacher. The banker is good to know because if he becomes your friend you might be able to be overdrawn and still withdraw money—ask the Wall Street robber barons about their banker friends, and the preacher is the man to know because he knows everyone. The preacher directed me to a full time job as a community planner with Cloyd Phillips at his Community Services Agency. I wrote proposals for grant funding. The job taught me about details in life. Details will kill you. I remember when my sister Debbie had a bar-b-que but forgot one thing: toothpicks. Details. As a planner, I was forced to deal with details. Actually it helped my writing skills.
But when I first arrived it was a joy being with my dad and brother, since it had been quite a few years since we’d been together, my brother so often in and out of prison since his teenage years when he began visits to the California Youth Authority, then graduated to the Department of Corrections. Not long ago I was rapping with my homeboy from Fresno, Willie Sundiata Tate about my brother, Ollie. He said the last time he saw Ollie was San Quentin, 1968. Wille Tate is one of the San Quentin Six.
Anyway, Ollie was doing his thing pimping white girls in Reno. He had an apartment and briefly dad and I moved in with him until we found a room and later an apartment. Dad had come looking for work as well, but in reality dad came to do his favorite pastime, gambling, mainly playing that old folk’s game, KENO. Dad would stay up all night, sometimes in the bathroom going over KENO tickets.
My brother did nothing all day while his white girl worked two or three jobs. Eventually Ollie got a job out of boredom, although he would often be found at the Casino playing Poker. Gambling did not interest me, especially after losing a few rounds at the blackjack table, partly due to the free drinks and the dealers changing every thirty minutes. I knew I had to stay out of the casinos before I caused a riot after losing and realizing I was a sucker.
At the University I was one of three blacks and most of my students where white except for the Upward Bound students. My white students treated me royally and since I had a class full of young white girls, it wasn’t long before I began dating one, after all these girls used to sit on the front row with their legs gapped so I could not avoid seeing their panties or private parts if and when they failed to wear panties. How could I concentrate on teaching English under such adverse conditions? And I could tell they were upper class as they came to class in silk blouses and adorned with gold chains. One student would soon become an intern for Senator Laxalt, Ronald Reagan’s best friend.
The girl that was “assigned” to me was Mary whom I called Mary 2 since that was on her car license plate. When I invited Mary 2 to my brother’s apartment, he was shocked that I was cohabiting with a white girl since he knew me as a Black Muslim who called white girls the devil and the skunk of the planet earth. But I saw that Mary 2 was fighting the racism of her family—her father was a professor at UNR and her mother taught her “niggers are bad news.”
Mary and her girlfriends had discovered quite the contrary: they found the black athletes were very good news and so she was fighting to overcome her addiction to white supremacy. She informed me how the black athletes were treated at UNR. She said she saw them being given plates of cocaine and other gifts by the friends of the UNR, in particular older white women, under instructions of their white brothers. I had one of the star black basketball players in my class who was totally illiterate but instructors were ordered to pass them since they were a source of income for the university, in short, they were slaves. This goes all in all American colleges and universities: athletes, especially blacks, are a major source of funding for the universities, with coaches paid millions as opposed to the poor righteous teachers.
I moved into my own apartment with dad— but he soon returned to California at the first snow, also because I was shacking which he opposed, believing in the old school marriage.
Before I started shacking with a sister, Mary 2 used to come over. I soon discovered her cooking skills were abysmally lacking, along with her skills at giving head. The poor girl couldn’t boil water without burning the pot! But let’s not be racist about girls and their cooking skills. That summer my children came to visit and they met all my “women.” I had a black sister who came over to visit and every time I asked her to cook would burn shit up and set off the fire alarm. I don’t know what was wrong with Ifetayo, except totally insane yet trying to helpful.
My oldest daughter, Nefertiti, who was seven or eight at the time cried, “Dad, please don’t let Ifetayo cook, she burns up everything.” Nefertiti also commented on my licentious lifestyle, “Dad, you take one and bring another!” And when she saw Bernice from the Upward Bound program, Nefertiti said, “Dad, she’s just a baby!” although she was eighteen. But Bernice was a another basket case, traumatized as the result of being raped by her father and brother in law. When we tried to have sex her body went into contractions. I had moved her in with me briefly, teddy bears and all. She soon returned home but called me in the middle of the night to come get her because she was about to commit suicide. I drove over a hundred miles to pick her up.
When I was finally visited by Eldridge Cleaver, first thing he said was, “Marvin, you have picked all the lilies in the field.” As a present, I gave him Mary 2, since she lacked the skills I loved, but I told Eldridge she had a hot head, since I knew he loved head. He had told me that Elaine Brown had the hottest head in the world, that she had served him on every continent. You know how players play! And if you don’t know, as they say in Houston, Texas, “You better ax somebody!”
Marvin X
Reno, the Biggest Little Mississippi in the World! A few months after I arrived in Reno, Nevada, the bastion of conservative America, headquarters of the Reagan Revolution, the devil would appear, but let me lay the groundwork for the devil’s appearance. I came to Reno looking for work and there was plenty work, help wanted signs were everywhere, especially in the hotels and casinos. After no luck in that area I sought out work at the University of Nevada and got a part time job lecturing in English, then was hired to teach Technical Writing at Nevada Community College, then was hired at UNR in the Upward Bound program. But I still needed more money so I contacted the two people I recommend every one should know when they enter a town: the banker and the preacher. The banker is good to know because if he becomes your friend you might be able to be overdrawn and still withdraw money—ask the Wall Street robber barons about their banker friends, and the preacher is the man to know because he knows everyone. The preacher directed me to a full time job as a community planner with Cloyd Phillips at his Community Services Agency. I wrote proposals for grant funding. The job taught me about details in life. Details will kill you. I remember when my sister Debbie had a bar-b-que but forgot one thing: toothpicks. Details. As a planner, I was forced to deal with details. Actually it helped my writing skills.
But when I first arrived it was a joy being with my dad and brother, since it had been quite a few years since we’d been together, my brother so often in and out of prison since his teenage years when he began visits to the California Youth Authority, then graduated to the Department of Corrections. Not long ago I was rapping with my homeboy from Fresno, Willie Sundiata Tate about my brother, Ollie. He said the last time he saw Ollie was San Quentin, 1968. Wille Tate is one of the San Quentin Six.
Anyway, Ollie was doing his thing pimping white girls in Reno. He had an apartment and briefly dad and I moved in with him until we found a room and later an apartment. Dad had come looking for work as well, but in reality dad came to do his favorite pastime, gambling, mainly playing that old folk’s game, KENO. Dad would stay up all night, sometimes in the bathroom going over KENO tickets.
My brother did nothing all day while his white girl worked two or three jobs. Eventually Ollie got a job out of boredom, although he would often be found at the Casino playing Poker. Gambling did not interest me, especially after losing a few rounds at the blackjack table, partly due to the free drinks and the dealers changing every thirty minutes. I knew I had to stay out of the casinos before I caused a riot after losing and realizing I was a sucker.
At the University I was one of three blacks and most of my students where white except for the Upward Bound students. My white students treated me royally and since I had a class full of young white girls, it wasn’t long before I began dating one, after all these girls used to sit on the front row with their legs gapped so I could not avoid seeing their panties or private parts if and when they failed to wear panties. How could I concentrate on teaching English under such adverse conditions? And I could tell they were upper class as they came to class in silk blouses and adorned with gold chains. One student would soon become an intern for Senator Laxalt, Ronald Reagan’s best friend.
The girl that was “assigned” to me was Mary whom I called Mary 2 since that was on her car license plate. When I invited Mary 2 to my brother’s apartment, he was shocked that I was cohabiting with a white girl since he knew me as a Black Muslim who called white girls the devil and the skunk of the planet earth. But I saw that Mary 2 was fighting the racism of her family—her father was a professor at UNR and her mother taught her “niggers are bad news.”
Mary and her girlfriends had discovered quite the contrary: they found the black athletes were very good news and so she was fighting to overcome her addiction to white supremacy. She informed me how the black athletes were treated at UNR. She said she saw them being given plates of cocaine and other gifts by the friends of the UNR, in particular older white women, under instructions of their white brothers. I had one of the star black basketball players in my class who was totally illiterate but instructors were ordered to pass them since they were a source of income for the university, in short, they were slaves. This goes all in all American colleges and universities: athletes, especially blacks, are a major source of funding for the universities, with coaches paid millions as opposed to the poor righteous teachers.
I moved into my own apartment with dad— but he soon returned to California at the first snow, also because I was shacking which he opposed, believing in the old school marriage.
Before I started shacking with a sister, Mary 2 used to come over. I soon discovered her cooking skills were abysmally lacking, along with her skills at giving head. The poor girl couldn’t boil water without burning the pot! But let’s not be racist about girls and their cooking skills. That summer my children came to visit and they met all my “women.” I had a black sister who came over to visit and every time I asked her to cook would burn shit up and set off the fire alarm. I don’t know what was wrong with Ifetayo, except totally insane yet trying to helpful.
My oldest daughter, Nefertiti, who was seven or eight at the time cried, “Dad, please don’t let Ifetayo cook, she burns up everything.” Nefertiti also commented on my licentious lifestyle, “Dad, you take one and bring another!” And when she saw Bernice from the Upward Bound program, Nefertiti said, “Dad, she’s just a baby!” although she was eighteen. But Bernice was a another basket case, traumatized as the result of being raped by her father and brother in law. When we tried to have sex her body went into contractions. I had moved her in with me briefly, teddy bears and all. She soon returned home but called me in the middle of the night to come get her because she was about to commit suicide. I drove over a hundred miles to pick her up.
When I was finally visited by Eldridge Cleaver, first thing he said was, “Marvin, you have picked all the lilies in the field.” As a present, I gave him Mary 2, since she lacked the skills I loved, but I told Eldridge she had a hot head, since I knew he loved head. He had told me that Elaine Brown had the hottest head in the world, that she had served him on every continent. You know how players play! And if you don’t know, as they say in Houston, Texas, “You better ax somebody!”
Part 24: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
Many months passed before I would see the devil again after one of our frequent mutual partings, the first being at the fall of Black House. Departing my duties as organizer of his ministry, I retired to my hometown of Fresno CA for a little R and R, which gave me a chance to see my children, siblings and Mom. Mom was a follower of Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science, so she was blessed with spiritual insight which told her Eldridge Cleaver was the worst of all possible persons, and she didn't believe him for one moment. She found him disgusting as a person claiming to represent God, Jesus Christ or anyone else. Mom couldn't understand why I was associated with any of my radical or artistic friends, several of whom she had met, including Bobby Seale, Sun Ra, Eldridge Cleaver and others. She said, upon looking at them, they weren't nothing, had no class and why in the world was I hanging around with them? "I thought I taught you to have more intelligence than that, boy?"
She told me I didn't need them nigguhs, them nigguhs needed me and they were just using my mind. She said, "Boy, use the mind God gave YOU!" and leave them nigguhs alone. Of course it was hard for me to take Mom seriously because her real estate business was 99% black people, so how could she tell me to leave nigguhs alone? Damn near every black person in Fresno will tell you they bought their first house from Mom and Dad during the late 40s or early 50s, ( until Dad lost his license for misappropriating funds from their real estate business to feed his gambling habit.)
At the same time they published the Fresno Voice, one of the first black newspapers in the central valley. My father (who married my mother when she was twenty and he was forty) was a Race Man who had heard Marcus Garvey in Los Angeles, sometime during the the 1920s. Dad claimed he was born in 1900 and fought in WWI. He was born in Kentucky so we grew up eating rice instead of grits. Obviously he passed some of his consciousness on to Mom, even though she had grown up in Fowler, nine miles south of Fresno, a nearly all white farming community of raisin growers, with cotton nearby. My maternal grandparents were cotton pickers, my mom and even I picked a few pounds but found it difficult. Now I enjoyed cutting grapes, at least you could eat them while cutting. That's how children in the valley earned money for school clothes. Today in the valley very few blacks are involved in agribusiness, even though California's central valley is the richest agricultural area in the world. I call it the Neo-Nile Valley. How can we live in such an area and not be involved in farming and growing? Something has to be wrong with our heads, and I blame our leadership, especially black educators. What if we lived in a gold producing area yet were not involved in mining? We are a nation of forty million people totally dependent on others for our food supply. Black farmers are rapidly going the way of the dinosaur.
Mom attended a nearly all white church, but never allowed white people in her house. She employed white men to do work for her real estate business but never allowed them in her house. But as a result of her white Christian Science which she subjected many of her children to(except my older brother and myself who rejected outright her message, even though it affected us subliminally because every word from Mom's mouth was Christian Science), several of them mated with whites, to the great disappointment of Mom. When one of my sisters started dating a white man, Mom was horrified because he was a "broke white man." She wanted to know what the hell my sister knew about white men that would make her desire to date and later marry one who continued to call her "his nigger bitch," even to my face, but how could I protest when my six sisters referred to themselves as bitches and of course I picked up their language in my socialization.
But the most important event that occurred during my R and R in Fresno was meeting and hooking up with one of my childhood friends, Karen James, one of my sister's friends but I was not interested in my sister's friends since everything was based on ones age grade, just as I did not associate with my brother's friends, even though my brother is only a year older than I am. So I paid little attention to my sister's friends even though they were beautiful--in truth I had my eyes on them as they later told me they had their eyes on me, and Karen was no exception.
During my RR we hooked up and became mad lovers, although I only had six months with her as her man was about to get out of prison and he was a gangster who was busted for operating a nationwide drug dealing syndicate. Yes, I fell in love with a gangsta's bitch, as they say. This was obviously a dangerous affair which only meant that I continued living on the edge as I've done throughout my life, the razor's edge to be precise.
But aside from Sherley Williams, Karen was one of the smartest women I met in my life, she argued with me toe to toe on every point. I have told of her in my autobiography Somethin Proper, so there is no need to repeat what I said there, but Karen challenged me, especially when I made the glaring generalities that I'm known for. And after six months her man was released and she had to submit to him and cut me loose since she was a material girl and I was a poor poet. After a few months of playing the other man and engaging in quickies while on her way to the store, I left Karen and Fresno broken hearted and found my way to Reno, Nevada searching for employment and being in the company of my brother Ollie and father. It would be the last time the three of us would be together in this life.
Marvin X
Many months passed before I would see the devil again after one of our frequent mutual partings, the first being at the fall of Black House. Departing my duties as organizer of his ministry, I retired to my hometown of Fresno CA for a little R and R, which gave me a chance to see my children, siblings and Mom. Mom was a follower of Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science, so she was blessed with spiritual insight which told her Eldridge Cleaver was the worst of all possible persons, and she didn't believe him for one moment. She found him disgusting as a person claiming to represent God, Jesus Christ or anyone else. Mom couldn't understand why I was associated with any of my radical or artistic friends, several of whom she had met, including Bobby Seale, Sun Ra, Eldridge Cleaver and others. She said, upon looking at them, they weren't nothing, had no class and why in the world was I hanging around with them? "I thought I taught you to have more intelligence than that, boy?"
She told me I didn't need them nigguhs, them nigguhs needed me and they were just using my mind. She said, "Boy, use the mind God gave YOU!" and leave them nigguhs alone. Of course it was hard for me to take Mom seriously because her real estate business was 99% black people, so how could she tell me to leave nigguhs alone? Damn near every black person in Fresno will tell you they bought their first house from Mom and Dad during the late 40s or early 50s, ( until Dad lost his license for misappropriating funds from their real estate business to feed his gambling habit.)
At the same time they published the Fresno Voice, one of the first black newspapers in the central valley. My father (who married my mother when she was twenty and he was forty) was a Race Man who had heard Marcus Garvey in Los Angeles, sometime during the the 1920s. Dad claimed he was born in 1900 and fought in WWI. He was born in Kentucky so we grew up eating rice instead of grits. Obviously he passed some of his consciousness on to Mom, even though she had grown up in Fowler, nine miles south of Fresno, a nearly all white farming community of raisin growers, with cotton nearby. My maternal grandparents were cotton pickers, my mom and even I picked a few pounds but found it difficult. Now I enjoyed cutting grapes, at least you could eat them while cutting. That's how children in the valley earned money for school clothes. Today in the valley very few blacks are involved in agribusiness, even though California's central valley is the richest agricultural area in the world. I call it the Neo-Nile Valley. How can we live in such an area and not be involved in farming and growing? Something has to be wrong with our heads, and I blame our leadership, especially black educators. What if we lived in a gold producing area yet were not involved in mining? We are a nation of forty million people totally dependent on others for our food supply. Black farmers are rapidly going the way of the dinosaur.
Mom attended a nearly all white church, but never allowed white people in her house. She employed white men to do work for her real estate business but never allowed them in her house. But as a result of her white Christian Science which she subjected many of her children to(except my older brother and myself who rejected outright her message, even though it affected us subliminally because every word from Mom's mouth was Christian Science), several of them mated with whites, to the great disappointment of Mom. When one of my sisters started dating a white man, Mom was horrified because he was a "broke white man." She wanted to know what the hell my sister knew about white men that would make her desire to date and later marry one who continued to call her "his nigger bitch," even to my face, but how could I protest when my six sisters referred to themselves as bitches and of course I picked up their language in my socialization.
But the most important event that occurred during my R and R in Fresno was meeting and hooking up with one of my childhood friends, Karen James, one of my sister's friends but I was not interested in my sister's friends since everything was based on ones age grade, just as I did not associate with my brother's friends, even though my brother is only a year older than I am. So I paid little attention to my sister's friends even though they were beautiful--in truth I had my eyes on them as they later told me they had their eyes on me, and Karen was no exception.
During my RR we hooked up and became mad lovers, although I only had six months with her as her man was about to get out of prison and he was a gangster who was busted for operating a nationwide drug dealing syndicate. Yes, I fell in love with a gangsta's bitch, as they say. This was obviously a dangerous affair which only meant that I continued living on the edge as I've done throughout my life, the razor's edge to be precise.
But aside from Sherley Williams, Karen was one of the smartest women I met in my life, she argued with me toe to toe on every point. I have told of her in my autobiography Somethin Proper, so there is no need to repeat what I said there, but Karen challenged me, especially when I made the glaring generalities that I'm known for. And after six months her man was released and she had to submit to him and cut me loose since she was a material girl and I was a poor poet. After a few months of playing the other man and engaging in quickies while on her way to the store, I left Karen and Fresno broken hearted and found my way to Reno, Nevada searching for employment and being in the company of my brother Ollie and father. It would be the last time the three of us would be together in this life.
Monday, April 6, 2009
A Birthday Prayer for Marvin X
Love
Be It. Live It. Speak It.
Let its words become the light of your consciousness.
Let its music render you always a harmonious tune.
Let its energy move freely within and touch every part of you, awakening your mind, heart, body, and soul. And in doing so, may you become God’s song, spoken and sung, that uplifts the soul of all creation.
This is my prayer for you…
By Dana Rondel
April 6, 2009
Love
Be It. Live It. Speak It.
Let its words become the light of your consciousness.
Let its music render you always a harmonious tune.
Let its energy move freely within and touch every part of you, awakening your mind, heart, body, and soul. And in doing so, may you become God’s song, spoken and sung, that uplifts the soul of all creation.
This is my prayer for you…
By Dana Rondel
April 6, 2009
Comments on My Friend the Devil by Marvin X
Simply riveting!
--Fahizah Alim
Marvin X (El Muhajir)you are doing a tremendous service telling our history in
our own words. This is why I am proud to be one of your students.
--Ramal Lamar (storyteller in training)
Wonderful appreciation of both Elijah and Clara. Rare perception nowadays,
what with the Malcolm cult. The pendulum is swinging.
--John Woodford, former Editor, Muhammad Speaks
Editor, Michigan Today, Univ. of Mich.
Hallelujah! Meanwhile MX is reminiscing, I must say, entertainingly, about
his historic dalliance w/ shaitan rat on...
--Amiri Baraka, Newark, NJ
Excellent!
--Eric Rhodes, Houston, TX
Great stuff, man, priceless….
--Rudi Mwongozi, Pianist, Oakland CA
More and more I am convinced this work will be a best-seller. Though I have
never read a Cleaver biography, a lot of this material seems to be new and
if not factually new, it is from a novel perspective.
--Rudy Lewis, editor, Chickenbones: A Journal, Virginia
Thank you Marvin...get it all out...write it out...sweat it out...dance it
out...cry it out, swear it out, walk it out...work it out....thank you for
sharing ...respect.
--Joan Tarika Lewis, Violinist, Oakland
First female member of the Black Panther Party
Enjoyed your post about Cleaver. Very interesting. Contained vivid imagery.
--Martin Reynolds, Editor, Oakland Tribune
Simply riveting!
--Fahizah Alim
Marvin X (El Muhajir)you are doing a tremendous service telling our history in
our own words. This is why I am proud to be one of your students.
--Ramal Lamar (storyteller in training)
Wonderful appreciation of both Elijah and Clara. Rare perception nowadays,
what with the Malcolm cult. The pendulum is swinging.
--John Woodford, former Editor, Muhammad Speaks
Editor, Michigan Today, Univ. of Mich.
Hallelujah! Meanwhile MX is reminiscing, I must say, entertainingly, about
his historic dalliance w/ shaitan rat on...
--Amiri Baraka, Newark, NJ
Excellent!
--Eric Rhodes, Houston, TX
Great stuff, man, priceless….
--Rudi Mwongozi, Pianist, Oakland CA
More and more I am convinced this work will be a best-seller. Though I have
never read a Cleaver biography, a lot of this material seems to be new and
if not factually new, it is from a novel perspective.
--Rudy Lewis, editor, Chickenbones: A Journal, Virginia
Thank you Marvin...get it all out...write it out...sweat it out...dance it
out...cry it out, swear it out, walk it out...work it out....thank you for
sharing ...respect.
--Joan Tarika Lewis, Violinist, Oakland
First female member of the Black Panther Party
Enjoyed your post about Cleaver. Very interesting. Contained vivid imagery.
--Martin Reynolds, Editor, Oakland Tribune
Part 23: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
After seven months on the road with Cleaver, I was exhausted from travel and the stress of dealing with the Born Again racists who could justify the cross and the lynching tree by claiming to be saved by grace. When Bill Moyers asked Rev. Cone how can your people still love God, Rev. Cone flipped the question, "That's not the question. The question is how can they still love you!"
And so I departed the Cleaver Crusade, a little wiser on what's really going on in the deep structure of America. I was thankful for the experience but it was time to move on, although I would hook up with the devil again before too long. Jet Magazine did a story on my departure from Mr. Soul on Ice. Khalid Muhammad and other radical friends were horrified to discover I had worked for Cleaver, they thought I had gone stone crazy. But I knew God had taken me down into the devil's dungeon for a reason and I appreciated the knowledge. How many other so-called Negroes had the opportunity to associate with the likes of Charles Colson, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Donald Rumsfeld, Pat Robertson, Jim and Tammy Baker? And there would be more to come when I reconnected with Cleaver further on down the road.
Meanwhile, if the devil wasn't through with the Born Again crowd, they were surely through with him after he declared his independence from them by designing and marketing his infamous "dick pants."
Eldridge clearly had a fixation with the penis or phallus. He saw the gun as the extension of his phallus, some would say. But taking a page from fashion history, he designed pants with the codpiece, emphasizing the area of the male sexual organ. Believe it or not, after all the hoopla was through, he had revolutionized fashion history because thereafter there would be more focus on the genital area in fashioning men's briefs and pants. Of course Frederick's of Hollywood stole his idea and ran for a touchdown.
Truth is that traditional Western men's pants are uncomfortable in that area as they lack a resting place for the genitals. Cleaver's pants provided that space, but the Born Again crowd went berserk. They sent Watergate crook, now Born Again King, Charles Colson, to consult with Cleaver. But by this time it was too late, Cleaver had made his decision to separate himself from the Christians. And his pants symbolized his defiance and freedom from them.
Around this time or soon after, Kathleen separated herself from her loving husband, eventually enrolling in Yale law school. After graduation, her first case was divorcing Eldridge. It was after a visit with his children in New Haven that Eldridge told me about a Negro intellectual at Yale, Skip Gates who would describe the Black Arts Movement as the shortest literary movement in history. He failed to add that it was the most powerful, radicalizing the teaching of not only black literature but ethnic and gender literature.
For sure, Eldridge was a media master and his pants were the talk of the nation if not the world. When he moved his fashion operation out of Hollywood back to the Bay, I spend a little time with him. He hired my friend, Cynthia Mack, to help manufacture the pants. I'd hired Cynthia to work with us during his Born Again days. She was a beautiful black woman who had been taught to hate herself by, among other people, her grandmother who told her she was black and ugly. Eldridge loved Cynthia and tried to hit on her, being the sexual psychopath that he was. Now if I had hit on Kathleen that Negro would have killed me.
When Cleaver tired of his fashion trip, he gave Cynthia the four industrial sewing machines he owned. Cynthia deserved them as she was a designer herself, she made her own clothes since childhood. Cynthia had been helpful on the road with us since she was psychic and could tell when "somebody" had been in our hotel room and searched through our luggage.She was our intelligence officer, plus the white Christian women could not stand her because she matched their racism with her unforgivable blackness and hatred of white women. We can imagine what white women are going through now that a black Gullah woman is in the White House.
Marvin X
After seven months on the road with Cleaver, I was exhausted from travel and the stress of dealing with the Born Again racists who could justify the cross and the lynching tree by claiming to be saved by grace. When Bill Moyers asked Rev. Cone how can your people still love God, Rev. Cone flipped the question, "That's not the question. The question is how can they still love you!"
And so I departed the Cleaver Crusade, a little wiser on what's really going on in the deep structure of America. I was thankful for the experience but it was time to move on, although I would hook up with the devil again before too long. Jet Magazine did a story on my departure from Mr. Soul on Ice. Khalid Muhammad and other radical friends were horrified to discover I had worked for Cleaver, they thought I had gone stone crazy. But I knew God had taken me down into the devil's dungeon for a reason and I appreciated the knowledge. How many other so-called Negroes had the opportunity to associate with the likes of Charles Colson, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Donald Rumsfeld, Pat Robertson, Jim and Tammy Baker? And there would be more to come when I reconnected with Cleaver further on down the road.
Meanwhile, if the devil wasn't through with the Born Again crowd, they were surely through with him after he declared his independence from them by designing and marketing his infamous "dick pants."
Eldridge clearly had a fixation with the penis or phallus. He saw the gun as the extension of his phallus, some would say. But taking a page from fashion history, he designed pants with the codpiece, emphasizing the area of the male sexual organ. Believe it or not, after all the hoopla was through, he had revolutionized fashion history because thereafter there would be more focus on the genital area in fashioning men's briefs and pants. Of course Frederick's of Hollywood stole his idea and ran for a touchdown.
Truth is that traditional Western men's pants are uncomfortable in that area as they lack a resting place for the genitals. Cleaver's pants provided that space, but the Born Again crowd went berserk. They sent Watergate crook, now Born Again King, Charles Colson, to consult with Cleaver. But by this time it was too late, Cleaver had made his decision to separate himself from the Christians. And his pants symbolized his defiance and freedom from them.
Around this time or soon after, Kathleen separated herself from her loving husband, eventually enrolling in Yale law school. After graduation, her first case was divorcing Eldridge. It was after a visit with his children in New Haven that Eldridge told me about a Negro intellectual at Yale, Skip Gates who would describe the Black Arts Movement as the shortest literary movement in history. He failed to add that it was the most powerful, radicalizing the teaching of not only black literature but ethnic and gender literature.
For sure, Eldridge was a media master and his pants were the talk of the nation if not the world. When he moved his fashion operation out of Hollywood back to the Bay, I spend a little time with him. He hired my friend, Cynthia Mack, to help manufacture the pants. I'd hired Cynthia to work with us during his Born Again days. She was a beautiful black woman who had been taught to hate herself by, among other people, her grandmother who told her she was black and ugly. Eldridge loved Cynthia and tried to hit on her, being the sexual psychopath that he was. Now if I had hit on Kathleen that Negro would have killed me.
When Cleaver tired of his fashion trip, he gave Cynthia the four industrial sewing machines he owned. Cynthia deserved them as she was a designer herself, she made her own clothes since childhood. Cynthia had been helpful on the road with us since she was psychic and could tell when "somebody" had been in our hotel room and searched through our luggage.She was our intelligence officer, plus the white Christian women could not stand her because she matched their racism with her unforgivable blackness and hatred of white women. We can imagine what white women are going through now that a black Gullah woman is in the White House.
Subject: The Other Devil and His brother, Dr. Devil
WoW Marvin, you opened that door...so you heard about the altercation on the steps of the east Oakland Mosque! A footnote...I was a good student of Byrun Yung who taught Tai Kwon Do. I think a couple of folks still walk with a little dip in their stride, not because they're trying to be cool...they attacked Captain Nisa rendering her unconscious, sending her to the hospital. Men posing behind suits and bow ties pushed her backwards down the concrete stairs. They were from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara,people from outside of Oakland with other agendas, heavily infiltrated by Cointelpro and negros with psychotic behavior led to its downfall. Yes the Messenger shut down this site.
--Lt. Joan Tarika Lewis
Part 21: My Friend the Devil
There were weeks while on the Born Again circuit that we saw no black people. Eldridge was only giving his testimony in white Churches. He appeared more than once at Rev. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power television show at the Crystal Cathedral--actually I think the Cathedral was under construction so he spoke at the old building. We were in the dressing room with Dr. Schuller as he prepared to go on the air. There were numerous back yard bar-b-ques where thousands of dollars were raised for Eldridge's defense since he was still facing charges from the April 8,1968 shootout in Oakland, at which the OPD murdered little Bobby Hutton in cold blood before a crowd of onlookers who were horrified at what they witnessed.
At one affair there was a black present, O.J. Simpson's black wife who was Born Again. O.J. wasn't present.
But again, there were weeks of preaching, praying and eating with only white Christians. Sometimes a black preacher would be present but most black preachers had no status especially if they had not graduated from an accredited theological seminary, such as Fuller's. A black preacher who said he got called one Tuesday night did not work with the Born Again crowd. And nor did most black gospel groups who were simply too strong for the whites who couldn't stand that strong black gospel sound. Only Andre Crouch was acceptable at the time. There was no Yolanda Adams, although the Edwin Hawkins singers might perform on a program with Eldridge occasionally.
The white Christians were forever trying to control Eldridge, control him from becoming completely independent of them by establishing his own ministry, which was the main reason he hired me.
He had me fire the Jewish booking agent because he was working Eldridge to death, wanted him to speak in Minnesota during a terrible snow storm. We were in Florida where it was snowing and read about a man freezing to death in Minnesota. He told me to call the booking agent, Harry Walker, and tell him to go to hell, he was not going to Minnesota. Harry was angry Cleaver refused to go since it was thousands of dollars involved, including Harry's 30%. Cleaver refused to talk with him, after all, he was paying me to talk for him.
And then there was those nice Christian white girls who were beating down Eldridge's hotel door before we got there. Enough said!
After weeks of urging, I finally convinced him to speak at a black church. He had refused all requests to speak at black churches for a number of reasons, most of them financial. But there were other reasons such as sound system, air conditioning and the usual second class treatment blacks live under and relate to each other with. But finally he relented after Rev. Ernestine Reems of Oakland's Center of Hope begged me to get Eldridge to her church on MacArthur, a few blocks from the recent killing of four police and the suspect Louvelle Mixon.
Before speaking, she wanted us to visit her facility, so we did. The first thing she did was point us to the ceiling, showing us bullet holes from the previous renters, the Nation of Islam under Minister Billy X or Rabb Muhammad, brother of Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery. We don't know why Minister Billy shot into the ceiling, maybe he was angry about having to move since he had a history of not paying rent. This is the same brother who had some men attack sister Nisa Islam when she brought him a message from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad saying that he must step down. Outside this building now occupied by Sister Reems, Nisa claims she and her lieutenants were attacked and beaten. She says she was saved from death only because Lt. Joan (Tarika Lewis) blocked the blows to her head.
Anyway, Pastor Reems convinced Eldridge to give his testimony. After that, he continued speaking at black churches, including Rev. Don Green's San Francisco Center, and on this occasion Cleaver's mother was in attendance. But on the whole, going into the black church was a negative except for the music which was awesome, compared to music in the white churches which was totally boring. Black sacred music is beyond this world, except for the mythology of pie in the sky after you die. It is a message on one level reflecting our slavery teachings but on a deeper level it is rooted in Egyptian or African mythology, as is Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Read Dr. Ben.
But as I've said, the black church was a step down for Cleaver. Today there are mega black churches but circa 1977, the churches where he delievered his testimony often lacked proper sound equipment and most especially air conditioning. One Negro preacher had Cleaver speak in a high school gym where the temp outside was over one hundred degrees, yet no air conditioning inside. Cleaver almost fainted while speaking.
And the black church worked Cleaver like a Hebrew slave or rather American slave. They would make him speak at service after service, and then come up with a love offering of a few hundred dollars. Of course the preacher had to dip in the pot, as they say. I would sometimes go into a room with the pastor to count the money, and when I would see the amount it was laughable, compared to the white church. No wonder Eldridge had wanted to avoid the black church, but I had insisted he do so, after all, I was exhausted from the Born Again whites. I mean, have you ever listened to a white man pray, then compared it with a black man? Have you ever listened to white people sing, then compared it with black singing? The only church I know where white people sing like black people is San Francisco's Glide Church, under Rev. Cecil Williams. He has niggerized his mostly white congregation.
WoW Marvin, you opened that door...so you heard about the altercation on the steps of the east Oakland Mosque! A footnote...I was a good student of Byrun Yung who taught Tai Kwon Do. I think a couple of folks still walk with a little dip in their stride, not because they're trying to be cool...they attacked Captain Nisa rendering her unconscious, sending her to the hospital. Men posing behind suits and bow ties pushed her backwards down the concrete stairs. They were from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara,people from outside of Oakland with other agendas, heavily infiltrated by Cointelpro and negros with psychotic behavior led to its downfall. Yes the Messenger shut down this site.
--Lt. Joan Tarika Lewis
Part 21: My Friend the Devil
There were weeks while on the Born Again circuit that we saw no black people. Eldridge was only giving his testimony in white Churches. He appeared more than once at Rev. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power television show at the Crystal Cathedral--actually I think the Cathedral was under construction so he spoke at the old building. We were in the dressing room with Dr. Schuller as he prepared to go on the air. There were numerous back yard bar-b-ques where thousands of dollars were raised for Eldridge's defense since he was still facing charges from the April 8,1968 shootout in Oakland, at which the OPD murdered little Bobby Hutton in cold blood before a crowd of onlookers who were horrified at what they witnessed.
At one affair there was a black present, O.J. Simpson's black wife who was Born Again. O.J. wasn't present.
But again, there were weeks of preaching, praying and eating with only white Christians. Sometimes a black preacher would be present but most black preachers had no status especially if they had not graduated from an accredited theological seminary, such as Fuller's. A black preacher who said he got called one Tuesday night did not work with the Born Again crowd. And nor did most black gospel groups who were simply too strong for the whites who couldn't stand that strong black gospel sound. Only Andre Crouch was acceptable at the time. There was no Yolanda Adams, although the Edwin Hawkins singers might perform on a program with Eldridge occasionally.
The white Christians were forever trying to control Eldridge, control him from becoming completely independent of them by establishing his own ministry, which was the main reason he hired me.
He had me fire the Jewish booking agent because he was working Eldridge to death, wanted him to speak in Minnesota during a terrible snow storm. We were in Florida where it was snowing and read about a man freezing to death in Minnesota. He told me to call the booking agent, Harry Walker, and tell him to go to hell, he was not going to Minnesota. Harry was angry Cleaver refused to go since it was thousands of dollars involved, including Harry's 30%. Cleaver refused to talk with him, after all, he was paying me to talk for him.
And then there was those nice Christian white girls who were beating down Eldridge's hotel door before we got there. Enough said!
After weeks of urging, I finally convinced him to speak at a black church. He had refused all requests to speak at black churches for a number of reasons, most of them financial. But there were other reasons such as sound system, air conditioning and the usual second class treatment blacks live under and relate to each other with. But finally he relented after Rev. Ernestine Reems of Oakland's Center of Hope begged me to get Eldridge to her church on MacArthur, a few blocks from the recent killing of four police and the suspect Louvelle Mixon.
Before speaking, she wanted us to visit her facility, so we did. The first thing she did was point us to the ceiling, showing us bullet holes from the previous renters, the Nation of Islam under Minister Billy X or Rabb Muhammad, brother of Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery. We don't know why Minister Billy shot into the ceiling, maybe he was angry about having to move since he had a history of not paying rent. This is the same brother who had some men attack sister Nisa Islam when she brought him a message from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad saying that he must step down. Outside this building now occupied by Sister Reems, Nisa claims she and her lieutenants were attacked and beaten. She says she was saved from death only because Lt. Joan (Tarika Lewis) blocked the blows to her head.
Anyway, Pastor Reems convinced Eldridge to give his testimony. After that, he continued speaking at black churches, including Rev. Don Green's San Francisco Center, and on this occasion Cleaver's mother was in attendance. But on the whole, going into the black church was a negative except for the music which was awesome, compared to music in the white churches which was totally boring. Black sacred music is beyond this world, except for the mythology of pie in the sky after you die. It is a message on one level reflecting our slavery teachings but on a deeper level it is rooted in Egyptian or African mythology, as is Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Read Dr. Ben.
But as I've said, the black church was a step down for Cleaver. Today there are mega black churches but circa 1977, the churches where he delievered his testimony often lacked proper sound equipment and most especially air conditioning. One Negro preacher had Cleaver speak in a high school gym where the temp outside was over one hundred degrees, yet no air conditioning inside. Cleaver almost fainted while speaking.
And the black church worked Cleaver like a Hebrew slave or rather American slave. They would make him speak at service after service, and then come up with a love offering of a few hundred dollars. Of course the preacher had to dip in the pot, as they say. I would sometimes go into a room with the pastor to count the money, and when I would see the amount it was laughable, compared to the white church. No wonder Eldridge had wanted to avoid the black church, but I had insisted he do so, after all, I was exhausted from the Born Again whites. I mean, have you ever listened to a white man pray, then compared it with a black man? Have you ever listened to white people sing, then compared it with black singing? The only church I know where white people sing like black people is San Francisco's Glide Church, under Rev. Cecil Williams. He has niggerized his mostly white congregation.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Greetings, Bro. Marvin,
Your series is incredible, it's the realest piece i've ever read on the Black Liberation Movement during that time period.
i've seen the various Parts all around and wanted to ask permission to post them at www.assatashakur. org? i would
include your footer w/your blogspot, request for comments, and nathanielturner. com.
Thanks, either way, for sharing so much information!
Struggle,
Sis. Marpessa.
Your series is incredible, it's the realest piece i've ever read on the Black Liberation Movement during that time period.
i've seen the various Parts all around and wanted to ask permission to post them at www.assatashakur. org? i would
include your footer w/your blogspot, request for comments, and nathanielturner. com.
Thanks, either way, for sharing so much information!
Struggle,
Sis. Marpessa.
Part 22: My Friend the Devil
Cleaver's legal problems were not over and were costing him many thousand dollars. John Keker was his lawyer for a time. But then came the Senator Church hearings on the role of Cointelpro or the Counter Intelligence Program of the FBI, especially with respect to the Black Liberation Movement, including the Civil Rites struggle. The Church hearings revealed how J. Edger Hoover tried to destroy the Civil Rites struggle, including Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. In fact, the FBI had been spying on blacks, whites and other American citizens since its founding around 1914. The most recent documentary one should see is BET's American Gangstar series on J. Edger Hoover as an American Gangstar.
He had spied on Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad, trying to disrupt and destroy both men's activities. With the help of jealous and envious Negroes he was able to imprison then deport Garvey. Garvey told us to look for him in the whirlwind for surely the day would come of Africa's redemption.
We know the Nation of Islam was sugar-coated with FBI agents. One such agent, John Ali, became the National Secretary of NOI. Of course there were agents who posed as Malcolm's bodyguards, helping to carry out his assassination.
And then the Panthers were well infiltrated. The most wretched example was how Fred Hampton was set up and murdered with the help of an agent posing as his body guard. And clearly the FBI and LA police were involved with the murder of Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggins at the Black Student Union meeting room on the campus of UCLA. Ron Karenga's US organization was blamed for their murder. Bunchy was Cleaver's right hand man in prison and became the Los Angeles leader of the BPP. I don't recall how Cleaver felt about Bunchy's murder, but the FBI played into it to highten the rivalry between US and the Panthers. And then when Geronimo Pratt replaced Bunchy, he was set up by the FBI and the LAPD on murder charges, causing him to spend 27 years in prison, even though the FBI had phone records and other intelligence that he was in Oakland at the time of the murder. For years the BPP would not support G because of his association with Eldridge. I do know that Eldridge maintained communication with G throughout his time in prison. I was informed that another Panther sister who visited G during his imprisonment was working for the FBI. I won't reveal her name because she confessed to G upon his release and he forgave her.
After the Church hearings, Eldridge told me of his plan to help his case which involved producing a pamphlet based on the Church hearings and distributing it throughout California. He had me hire a crew of Muslims to travel from the Bay to San Diego distributing the pamphlet which I helped edit. We, which included Brother Hasan, Brother Ishmalah and I, traveled through the central valley towns dropping off pamphlets like we were Johnny Appleseed. We stopped in little towns like Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield, then Los Angeles and San Diego. Not long after this adventure, Cleaver's case was dismissed. We know the power of propaganda and though we don't know how much it may have swayed the DA to drop charges, but we are convinced it played a role, certainly it didn't hurt.
Cleaver's legal problems were not over and were costing him many thousand dollars. John Keker was his lawyer for a time. But then came the Senator Church hearings on the role of Cointelpro or the Counter Intelligence Program of the FBI, especially with respect to the Black Liberation Movement, including the Civil Rites struggle. The Church hearings revealed how J. Edger Hoover tried to destroy the Civil Rites struggle, including Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. In fact, the FBI had been spying on blacks, whites and other American citizens since its founding around 1914. The most recent documentary one should see is BET's American Gangstar series on J. Edger Hoover as an American Gangstar.
He had spied on Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad, trying to disrupt and destroy both men's activities. With the help of jealous and envious Negroes he was able to imprison then deport Garvey. Garvey told us to look for him in the whirlwind for surely the day would come of Africa's redemption.
We know the Nation of Islam was sugar-coated with FBI agents. One such agent, John Ali, became the National Secretary of NOI. Of course there were agents who posed as Malcolm's bodyguards, helping to carry out his assassination.
And then the Panthers were well infiltrated. The most wretched example was how Fred Hampton was set up and murdered with the help of an agent posing as his body guard. And clearly the FBI and LA police were involved with the murder of Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggins at the Black Student Union meeting room on the campus of UCLA. Ron Karenga's US organization was blamed for their murder. Bunchy was Cleaver's right hand man in prison and became the Los Angeles leader of the BPP. I don't recall how Cleaver felt about Bunchy's murder, but the FBI played into it to highten the rivalry between US and the Panthers. And then when Geronimo Pratt replaced Bunchy, he was set up by the FBI and the LAPD on murder charges, causing him to spend 27 years in prison, even though the FBI had phone records and other intelligence that he was in Oakland at the time of the murder. For years the BPP would not support G because of his association with Eldridge. I do know that Eldridge maintained communication with G throughout his time in prison. I was informed that another Panther sister who visited G during his imprisonment was working for the FBI. I won't reveal her name because she confessed to G upon his release and he forgave her.
After the Church hearings, Eldridge told me of his plan to help his case which involved producing a pamphlet based on the Church hearings and distributing it throughout California. He had me hire a crew of Muslims to travel from the Bay to San Diego distributing the pamphlet which I helped edit. We, which included Brother Hasan, Brother Ishmalah and I, traveled through the central valley towns dropping off pamphlets like we were Johnny Appleseed. We stopped in little towns like Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield, then Los Angeles and San Diego. Not long after this adventure, Cleaver's case was dismissed. We know the power of propaganda and though we don't know how much it may have swayed the DA to drop charges, but we are convinced it played a role, certainly it didn't hurt.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Part 21: My Friend the Devil
There were weeks while on the Born Again circuit that we saw no black people. Eldridge was only giving his testimony in white Churches. He appeared more than once at Rev. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power television show at the Crystal Cathedral--actually I think the Cathedral was under construction so he spoke at the old building. We were in the dressing room with Dr. Schuller as he prepared to go on the air. There were numerous back yard bar-b-ques where thousands of dollars were raised for Eldridge's defense since he was still facing charges from the April 8,1968 shootout in Oakland, at which the OPD murdered little Bobby Hutton in cold blood before a crowd of onlookers who were horrified at what they witnessed. At one affair there was a black present, O.J. Simpson's black wife who was Born Again. O.J. wasn't present.
But again, there were weeks of praying and eating with only white Christians. Sometimes a black preacher would be present but most black preachers had no status especially if they had not graduated from an accredited theological seminary, such as Fuller's. A black preacher who said he got called one Tuesday night did not work with the Born Again crowd. And nor did most black gospel groups who were simply too strong for the whites who couldn't stand that strong black gospel sound. Only Andre Crouch was acceptable at the time. There was no Yolanda Adams, although the Edwin Hawkins singers might perform on a program with Eldridge occasionally.
The white Christians were forever trying to control Eldridge, control him from becoming completely independent of them by establishing his own ministry, which was the main reason he hired me.
He had me fire the Jewish booking agent because he was working Eldridge to death, wanted him to speak in Minnesota during a terrible snow storm. We were in Florida where it was snowing and read about a man freezing to death in Minnesota. He told me to call the booking agent, Harry Walker, and tell him to go to hell, he was not going to Minnesota. Harry was angry Cleaver refused to go since it was thousands of dollars involved, including Harry's 30%. Cleaver refused to talk with him, after all, he was paying me to talk for him.
And then there were those nice Christian white girls who were beating down Eldridge's hotel door before we got there. Enough said!
After weeks of urging, I finally convinced him to speak at a black church. He had refused all requests to speak at black churches for a number of reasons, most of them financial. But there were other reasons such as sound system, air conditioning and the usual second class treatment blacks live under and relate to each other with. But finally he relented after Rev. Ernestine Reems of Oakland's Center of Hope begged me to get Eldridge to her church on MacArthur, a few blocks from the recent killing of four police and the suspect Louvelle Mixon.
Before speaking, she wanted us to visit her facility, so we did. The first thing she did was point us to the ceiling, showing us bullet holes from the previous renters, the Nation of Islam under Minister Billy X or Rabb Muhammad, brother of Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery. We don't know why Minister Billy shot into the ceiling, maybe he was angry about having to move since he had a history of not paying rent. This is the same brother who had some men attack sister Nisa Islam when she brought him a message from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad saying that he must step down. Outside this building now occupied by Sister Reems, Nisa claims she and her lieutenants were attacked and beaten. She says she was saved from death only because Lt. Joan (Tarika Lewis) blocked the blows to her head.
Anyway, Pastor Reems convinced Eldridge to give his testimony. After that, he continued speaking at black churches, including Rev. Don Green's San Francisco Center, and on this occasion Cleaver's mother was in attendance. But on the whole, going into the black church was a negative except for the music which was awesome, compared to music in the white churches which was totally boring. Black sacred music is beyond this world, except for the mythology of pie in the sky after you die. It is a message on one level reflecting our slavery teachings but on a deeper level it is rooted in Egyptian or African mythology, as is Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Read Dr. Ben.
But as I've said, the black church was a step down for Cleaver. Today there are mega black churches but circa 1977, the churches where he delievered his testimony often lacked proper sound equipment and most especially air conditioning. One Negro preacher had Cleaver speak in a high school gym where the temp outside was over one hundred degrees, yet no air conditioning inside. Cleaver almost fainted while speaking.
And the black church worked Cleaver like a Hebrew slave or rather American slave. They would make him speak at service after service, and then come up with a love offering of a few hundred dollars. Of course the preacher had to dip in the pot, as they say. I would sometimes go into a room with the pastor to count the money, and when I would see the amount it was laughable, compared to the white church. No wonder Eldridge had wanted to avoid the black church, but I had insisted he do so, after all, I was exhausted from the Born Again whites. I mean, have you ever listened to a white man pray, then compared it with a black man? Have you ever listened to white people sing, then compared it with black singing? The only church I know where white people sing like black people is San Francisco's Glide Church, under Rev. Cecil Williams. He has niggerized his mostly white congregation.
There were weeks while on the Born Again circuit that we saw no black people. Eldridge was only giving his testimony in white Churches. He appeared more than once at Rev. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power television show at the Crystal Cathedral--actually I think the Cathedral was under construction so he spoke at the old building. We were in the dressing room with Dr. Schuller as he prepared to go on the air. There were numerous back yard bar-b-ques where thousands of dollars were raised for Eldridge's defense since he was still facing charges from the April 8,1968 shootout in Oakland, at which the OPD murdered little Bobby Hutton in cold blood before a crowd of onlookers who were horrified at what they witnessed. At one affair there was a black present, O.J. Simpson's black wife who was Born Again. O.J. wasn't present.
But again, there were weeks of praying and eating with only white Christians. Sometimes a black preacher would be present but most black preachers had no status especially if they had not graduated from an accredited theological seminary, such as Fuller's. A black preacher who said he got called one Tuesday night did not work with the Born Again crowd. And nor did most black gospel groups who were simply too strong for the whites who couldn't stand that strong black gospel sound. Only Andre Crouch was acceptable at the time. There was no Yolanda Adams, although the Edwin Hawkins singers might perform on a program with Eldridge occasionally.
The white Christians were forever trying to control Eldridge, control him from becoming completely independent of them by establishing his own ministry, which was the main reason he hired me.
He had me fire the Jewish booking agent because he was working Eldridge to death, wanted him to speak in Minnesota during a terrible snow storm. We were in Florida where it was snowing and read about a man freezing to death in Minnesota. He told me to call the booking agent, Harry Walker, and tell him to go to hell, he was not going to Minnesota. Harry was angry Cleaver refused to go since it was thousands of dollars involved, including Harry's 30%. Cleaver refused to talk with him, after all, he was paying me to talk for him.
And then there were those nice Christian white girls who were beating down Eldridge's hotel door before we got there. Enough said!
After weeks of urging, I finally convinced him to speak at a black church. He had refused all requests to speak at black churches for a number of reasons, most of them financial. But there were other reasons such as sound system, air conditioning and the usual second class treatment blacks live under and relate to each other with. But finally he relented after Rev. Ernestine Reems of Oakland's Center of Hope begged me to get Eldridge to her church on MacArthur, a few blocks from the recent killing of four police and the suspect Louvelle Mixon.
Before speaking, she wanted us to visit her facility, so we did. The first thing she did was point us to the ceiling, showing us bullet holes from the previous renters, the Nation of Islam under Minister Billy X or Rabb Muhammad, brother of Dr. Yusef Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery. We don't know why Minister Billy shot into the ceiling, maybe he was angry about having to move since he had a history of not paying rent. This is the same brother who had some men attack sister Nisa Islam when she brought him a message from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad saying that he must step down. Outside this building now occupied by Sister Reems, Nisa claims she and her lieutenants were attacked and beaten. She says she was saved from death only because Lt. Joan (Tarika Lewis) blocked the blows to her head.
Anyway, Pastor Reems convinced Eldridge to give his testimony. After that, he continued speaking at black churches, including Rev. Don Green's San Francisco Center, and on this occasion Cleaver's mother was in attendance. But on the whole, going into the black church was a negative except for the music which was awesome, compared to music in the white churches which was totally boring. Black sacred music is beyond this world, except for the mythology of pie in the sky after you die. It is a message on one level reflecting our slavery teachings but on a deeper level it is rooted in Egyptian or African mythology, as is Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Read Dr. Ben.
But as I've said, the black church was a step down for Cleaver. Today there are mega black churches but circa 1977, the churches where he delievered his testimony often lacked proper sound equipment and most especially air conditioning. One Negro preacher had Cleaver speak in a high school gym where the temp outside was over one hundred degrees, yet no air conditioning inside. Cleaver almost fainted while speaking.
And the black church worked Cleaver like a Hebrew slave or rather American slave. They would make him speak at service after service, and then come up with a love offering of a few hundred dollars. Of course the preacher had to dip in the pot, as they say. I would sometimes go into a room with the pastor to count the money, and when I would see the amount it was laughable, compared to the white church. No wonder Eldridge had wanted to avoid the black church, but I had insisted he do so, after all, I was exhausted from the Born Again whites. I mean, have you ever listened to a white man pray, then compared it with a black man? Have you ever listened to white people sing, then compared it with black singing? The only church I know where white people sing like black people is San Francisco's Glide Church, under Rev. Cecil Williams. He has niggerized his mostly white congregation.
Part 20: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
I am so thankful for having had a relationship with Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. They taught me how to get my nuts out the sand and represent myself as a black man on the planet. Eldridge, as minister of information, taught me how to write with force and power, as did Elijah Muhammad and Mao, and of course Amiri Baraka. But Eldridge taught us how to resist this devil in our midst, even though he might have been a devil himself--sometimes we must fight fire with fire, so he showed us how to move beyond rhetoric to action, violent action if and when necessary.
It might be true that the pen of a scholar is worth a thousand ignorant worshipers, but there does come a time to resist oppression with violence.
On the other hand, Martin Luther King, Jr. showed how to use non-violence as a tactic to defeat the enemy. Malcolm solved our conundrum with, "Any means necessary."
But isn't it amazing how a group of mostly young brothers from Oakland backed the pigs up off the backs of black people? They were intellectuals as well, well read with fearlessness in face of the beast, and Eldridge was of this lot, no matter his social psycho pathologies. Eldrdige, Huey, Bobby and thousands of other Panthers gave their all to the liberation struggle here in the belly of the beast.
Oakland is today suffering from being under the occupation of racist pig gansters who operate under the color of law. What shall be the response today, especially after Oscar Grant and Louvelle Mixon? What do the intellectuals have to say, or more importantly, what shall they do? Shall they give a mickey mouse response like that of Attorney John Burris, and I say this even though I consider him a friend, but the truth is the black people of Oakland should not have allowed Mayor Ron Dellums to be disrepected at the funeral of those racist brute beasts in blue uniforms.
I abhor violence in any form, but there is a time for everything, and it is indeed sad to see the streets of Oakland turned into a war zone, an internal war between the brothers and an external war with the pigs. It is a dangerous place to be these days and I am happy to be away for a few days.
Clearly, as in the 60s, the leadership must arise from below and not from above. The present leaders are part of the problem, not part of the solution, something we heard from the Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver.
Marvin X
I am so thankful for having had a relationship with Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. They taught me how to get my nuts out the sand and represent myself as a black man on the planet. Eldridge, as minister of information, taught me how to write with force and power, as did Elijah Muhammad and Mao, and of course Amiri Baraka. But Eldridge taught us how to resist this devil in our midst, even though he might have been a devil himself--sometimes we must fight fire with fire, so he showed us how to move beyond rhetoric to action, violent action if and when necessary.
It might be true that the pen of a scholar is worth a thousand ignorant worshipers, but there does come a time to resist oppression with violence.
On the other hand, Martin Luther King, Jr. showed how to use non-violence as a tactic to defeat the enemy. Malcolm solved our conundrum with, "Any means necessary."
But isn't it amazing how a group of mostly young brothers from Oakland backed the pigs up off the backs of black people? They were intellectuals as well, well read with fearlessness in face of the beast, and Eldridge was of this lot, no matter his social psycho pathologies. Eldrdige, Huey, Bobby and thousands of other Panthers gave their all to the liberation struggle here in the belly of the beast.
Oakland is today suffering from being under the occupation of racist pig gansters who operate under the color of law. What shall be the response today, especially after Oscar Grant and Louvelle Mixon? What do the intellectuals have to say, or more importantly, what shall they do? Shall they give a mickey mouse response like that of Attorney John Burris, and I say this even though I consider him a friend, but the truth is the black people of Oakland should not have allowed Mayor Ron Dellums to be disrepected at the funeral of those racist brute beasts in blue uniforms.
I abhor violence in any form, but there is a time for everything, and it is indeed sad to see the streets of Oakland turned into a war zone, an internal war between the brothers and an external war with the pigs. It is a dangerous place to be these days and I am happy to be away for a few days.
Clearly, as in the 60s, the leadership must arise from below and not from above. The present leaders are part of the problem, not part of the solution, something we heard from the Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver.
Public Slight-A Lost Opportunity for Oakland-Dellums & Lee Dissed by OPD
Public Slight-A Lost Opportunity for Oakland
by Attorney John Burris (lawyer for Oscar grant family)
As an Oaklander watching the memorial services for the four slain Oakland police officers, I was astonished and disturbed when Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums did not speak at the service. I could not imagine a situation where the entire nation is watching and law enforcement officers are attending in force yet the Mayor of the City in mourning does not speak. I later came to understand that several of the officers' families requested that the Mayor not participate in the ceremony and that the Mayor honored their wishes. It was disappointing to learn that such a request was made.
At a time of such public tragedy, it is unfortunate that the families and or members of the Department would encourage and condone such a public humiliation of the Mayor. After all, this was a public event, paid for with public funds attended by thousands many of whom came from across the country to pay respect for their fellow officers. To expressly preclude the Mayor, whose eloquence is unmatched, from speaking was essentially a public slap in the face. How could this happen, particularly when comments from family, friends and fellow officers stated how much the fallen officers loved being Oakland police officers.
I can only imagine that the men must have expressed their discontent with the Mayor's policies toward the Department. Notwithstanding such expressions, this was truly a time for healing and not for carrying out political and personal vendettas. The better angels in those families and their advisors should have ensured that this is a time for healing, and that everyone in the City, especially the Mayor should be embraced.
This public slight was even more pronounced when state-wide political leaders such as Attorney General Jerry Brown, and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were given prominent speaking roles during the ceremony yet Oakland's highest ranking public officials, the Mayor and Congresswoman Barbara Lee did not speak. To add insult to injury, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus, was present on the platform yet she also did not speak, nor was she even acknowledged. To their credit both the Mayor and the Congresswoman stayed for the entire ceremony.
The memorial service was a fine tribute to the officers' who lost their lives while working for the people of Oakland. Of course the planners of the event were certainly entitled to have the ceremony of their choice, particularly if it was paid for with private funds; but to the extent that public funds were being utilized there should have been acknowledgment of the City's leaders who made it possible.
This was a golden opportunity to bridge the gap between the Oakland police department, the community and Oakland public officials, particularly at a time when everyone in the city is feeling the pain of this tragedy. Ron Dellums is Oakland's Mayor in both the good and bad times and he should have been allowed to bring greetings and to express his thoughts on behalf of the residents of Oakland. Unfortunately this was a lost opportunity.
John Burris,
Attorney and Oakland Resident
Burris@lmi.net; john.burris@johnburrislaw.com
Marvin X Jackmon at 3:54pm April 4
I think John Burris and others need to realize the OPD is a white supremacy gang of mostly foreigners who come into Oakland to occupy the city much like the US army in Baghdad.
They have shown no respect for the black Mayor, the black Congresswoman or the black citizens for ages. They are a gang of thugs, hoodlums and murderers under the color of law. Mayor Dellums should have gone to the funeral with a gang of brothers with pants sagging and gold grills.
It should be clear to everyone that Mixon said to hell with your American Gulags and choose death as his way to freedom. The choice for every black man is to go down on his back like poor Oscar Grant or go down fighting to the last drop of blood. See the poem If We Must Die. I agree with Dr. Fritz Pointer, "There is an obscene pride on the streets of Oakland for Mixson."
--Marvin X
Public Slight-A Lost Opportunity for Oakland
by Attorney John Burris (lawyer for Oscar grant family)
As an Oaklander watching the memorial services for the four slain Oakland police officers, I was astonished and disturbed when Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums did not speak at the service. I could not imagine a situation where the entire nation is watching and law enforcement officers are attending in force yet the Mayor of the City in mourning does not speak. I later came to understand that several of the officers' families requested that the Mayor not participate in the ceremony and that the Mayor honored their wishes. It was disappointing to learn that such a request was made.
At a time of such public tragedy, it is unfortunate that the families and or members of the Department would encourage and condone such a public humiliation of the Mayor. After all, this was a public event, paid for with public funds attended by thousands many of whom came from across the country to pay respect for their fellow officers. To expressly preclude the Mayor, whose eloquence is unmatched, from speaking was essentially a public slap in the face. How could this happen, particularly when comments from family, friends and fellow officers stated how much the fallen officers loved being Oakland police officers.
I can only imagine that the men must have expressed their discontent with the Mayor's policies toward the Department. Notwithstanding such expressions, this was truly a time for healing and not for carrying out political and personal vendettas. The better angels in those families and their advisors should have ensured that this is a time for healing, and that everyone in the City, especially the Mayor should be embraced.
This public slight was even more pronounced when state-wide political leaders such as Attorney General Jerry Brown, and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were given prominent speaking roles during the ceremony yet Oakland's highest ranking public officials, the Mayor and Congresswoman Barbara Lee did not speak. To add insult to injury, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus, was present on the platform yet she also did not speak, nor was she even acknowledged. To their credit both the Mayor and the Congresswoman stayed for the entire ceremony.
The memorial service was a fine tribute to the officers' who lost their lives while working for the people of Oakland. Of course the planners of the event were certainly entitled to have the ceremony of their choice, particularly if it was paid for with private funds; but to the extent that public funds were being utilized there should have been acknowledgment of the City's leaders who made it possible.
This was a golden opportunity to bridge the gap between the Oakland police department, the community and Oakland public officials, particularly at a time when everyone in the city is feeling the pain of this tragedy. Ron Dellums is Oakland's Mayor in both the good and bad times and he should have been allowed to bring greetings and to express his thoughts on behalf of the residents of Oakland. Unfortunately this was a lost opportunity.
John Burris,
Attorney and Oakland Resident
Burris@lmi.net; john.burris@johnburrislaw.com
Marvin X Jackmon at 3:54pm April 4
I think John Burris and others need to realize the OPD is a white supremacy gang of mostly foreigners who come into Oakland to occupy the city much like the US army in Baghdad.
They have shown no respect for the black Mayor, the black Congresswoman or the black citizens for ages. They are a gang of thugs, hoodlums and murderers under the color of law. Mayor Dellums should have gone to the funeral with a gang of brothers with pants sagging and gold grills.
It should be clear to everyone that Mixon said to hell with your American Gulags and choose death as his way to freedom. The choice for every black man is to go down on his back like poor Oscar Grant or go down fighting to the last drop of blood. See the poem If We Must Die. I agree with Dr. Fritz Pointer, "There is an obscene pride on the streets of Oakland for Mixson."
--Marvin X
Friday, April 3, 2009
Part 18: My Friend the Devil
Dancing with the devil had some lighter moments. Going with Cleaver to the PTL Club (praise the Lord) was one such occasion. It was a mind blower to arrive in Charlotte, NC and get picked up by a white limo driver. It almost made me paranoid. Where is he taking us, to a lynching and are we the ones to be lynched? How did the descendant of slaves get to be driven by the slave master's son? A friend's mother would say because we deserve it, had long ago paid for it and we must enjoy it, if not for ourselves, then for our ancestors.
We were driven onto the plantation of Jim and Tammy Baker, two Born Again superstars who eventually fell from grace for stealing from the Lord. But while it lasted, PTL had a great time, living high on the hog. When we got to the house that was the television studio there was no doubt the White Man's Heaven is a Black Man's Hell. The place was lavishly laid out, the carpet so soft one could hardly walk, gold trimmings and ornaments everywhere, especially the bathroom. Of course Tammy was decked with thick makeup, looking more like Dolly Pardon than Dolly. But we noticed that these Christian women wore long dresses like Muslims. And when the men hugged, it was Muslim style, on both sides of the face. Jim's sideman grabbed me with a hug that lifted me off the ground as he was a big fellow and I was a small guy at the time. I saw Cleaver crack up and he never let me forget how that big white man hugged me. Cleaver gave his "moon shot" or "golden shower," which ever you prefer, Cleaver preferred the later to describe his testimony. Of course only EC would title his testimony the "golden shower."
After the show we retired to the big house for the meal, laid out as only Southerners can do. And the food was so good they had to introduce us to the cook. You know she was Mama Africa.
And then Cleaver was ushered into another room. Of course I accompanied him as per his request. In the other room a man stepped forward and introduced himself. He said he was a former FBI agent who was there in Oakland the night of the shootout in which Lil Bobby Hutton was murdered and Cleaver wounded. He said he had found the Lord and didn't hate black people anymore. He and Cleaver embraced. And the crowd shouted PTL
or Praise the Lord.
During my time with the devil, there were many occasions when former or current law officers confessed their previous hatred of black people but said since being born again they no longer hated. We were told this in Sacramento at a luncheon with Christian businessmen. A man stood up to tell Eldridge he was all over the world tailing Eldridge, in every country EC visited he was there observing his movement. But he found the Lord and no longer hated. There were police officers in the Bay Area who confessed they had murder squads killing Panthers in particular and black people in general. Supposedly, these officers found the Lord and Cleaver embraced them.
What I observed was that there were other white Christians who said they could still hate after receiving the grace of Jesus Christ. As long as they were born again they could do almost anything, even murder. Perhaps this is the majority of Christians. And perhaps this is the reason Rev. James Cone told Bill Moyers all Christians must come to an understanding of the cross and the lynching tree. Obviously white Christians felt they could lynch black people and still be righteous Christians.
Dancing with the devil had some lighter moments. Going with Cleaver to the PTL Club (praise the Lord) was one such occasion. It was a mind blower to arrive in Charlotte, NC and get picked up by a white limo driver. It almost made me paranoid. Where is he taking us, to a lynching and are we the ones to be lynched? How did the descendant of slaves get to be driven by the slave master's son? A friend's mother would say because we deserve it, had long ago paid for it and we must enjoy it, if not for ourselves, then for our ancestors.
We were driven onto the plantation of Jim and Tammy Baker, two Born Again superstars who eventually fell from grace for stealing from the Lord. But while it lasted, PTL had a great time, living high on the hog. When we got to the house that was the television studio there was no doubt the White Man's Heaven is a Black Man's Hell. The place was lavishly laid out, the carpet so soft one could hardly walk, gold trimmings and ornaments everywhere, especially the bathroom. Of course Tammy was decked with thick makeup, looking more like Dolly Pardon than Dolly. But we noticed that these Christian women wore long dresses like Muslims. And when the men hugged, it was Muslim style, on both sides of the face. Jim's sideman grabbed me with a hug that lifted me off the ground as he was a big fellow and I was a small guy at the time. I saw Cleaver crack up and he never let me forget how that big white man hugged me. Cleaver gave his "moon shot" or "golden shower," which ever you prefer, Cleaver preferred the later to describe his testimony. Of course only EC would title his testimony the "golden shower."
After the show we retired to the big house for the meal, laid out as only Southerners can do. And the food was so good they had to introduce us to the cook. You know she was Mama Africa.
And then Cleaver was ushered into another room. Of course I accompanied him as per his request. In the other room a man stepped forward and introduced himself. He said he was a former FBI agent who was there in Oakland the night of the shootout in which Lil Bobby Hutton was murdered and Cleaver wounded. He said he had found the Lord and didn't hate black people anymore. He and Cleaver embraced. And the crowd shouted PTL
or Praise the Lord.
During my time with the devil, there were many occasions when former or current law officers confessed their previous hatred of black people but said since being born again they no longer hated. We were told this in Sacramento at a luncheon with Christian businessmen. A man stood up to tell Eldridge he was all over the world tailing Eldridge, in every country EC visited he was there observing his movement. But he found the Lord and no longer hated. There were police officers in the Bay Area who confessed they had murder squads killing Panthers in particular and black people in general. Supposedly, these officers found the Lord and Cleaver embraced them.
What I observed was that there were other white Christians who said they could still hate after receiving the grace of Jesus Christ. As long as they were born again they could do almost anything, even murder. Perhaps this is the majority of Christians. And perhaps this is the reason Rev. James Cone told Bill Moyers all Christians must come to an understanding of the cross and the lynching tree. Obviously white Christians felt they could lynch black people and still be righteous Christians.
Part 17: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
The Christians provided the Cleavers with a nice home in Atherton, near Palo Alto and Stanford University. Atherton is one of the most affluent areas in California if not America. Since I was living in Oakland, Cleaver asked me to move in with them so I could be more accessible, especially since the San Francisco Airport was only a short distance from Atherton. Even then we would often be late for a flight, so I would sometimes drive a hundred miles an hour getting to the airport, and then we had to run like O.J. Simpson's ad to make the flight. Sometimes our lateness was due to Cleaver insisting we do a few lines of cocaine and smoke a joint before leaving to the airport. And then there were times when we would take turns going to the restroom aboard the plane to do a few more lines. Yes, we were flying high in the friendly sky!
Kathleen would usually stay home after I came aboard. The Cleavers were under a lot of stress from all the difficulties they had experienced during their revolutionary days and post-revolution. Being in the house with them exposed me to their marital tension and stress that would ultimately cause them to divorce. I remember their children, Maceo and Joju, asking if it was Christian for a man to beat his wife, since they had observed their parents fighting. Yes, I saw Kathleen get slam dunked a few times. Of course I was not innocent of domestic violence in my life. Now sometimes Kathleen, a most beautiful woman who stuck by her man through endless difficulties, was simply out of line. The occasion I remember most was an interview at their home with European media. Eldridge was in the middle of an interview when Kathleen came into the house and interrupted his interview with her comments. Cleaver had to cut the interview and take Kathleen into another room to get her out of his business. Please do not think I endorse domestic or partner violence. It is totally unnecessary and does absolutely no good. All it does is drain the love out of a relationship until like the sands in an hour glass, all the love is gone, gone, gone. Today I advocate the language of love in male/female communication: keep the voice low, stay away from the bass. The verbal is usually a precursor to the physical violence. And then the children are watching the drama, usually seeing their dad plummet their mother, making them hate their father and wanting revenge. And of course the children will come to see violence as the answer to their male/female problems. As the Cleaver children asked their parents, where is the love of Jesus Christ you preach about?
Marvin X
The Christians provided the Cleavers with a nice home in Atherton, near Palo Alto and Stanford University. Atherton is one of the most affluent areas in California if not America. Since I was living in Oakland, Cleaver asked me to move in with them so I could be more accessible, especially since the San Francisco Airport was only a short distance from Atherton. Even then we would often be late for a flight, so I would sometimes drive a hundred miles an hour getting to the airport, and then we had to run like O.J. Simpson's ad to make the flight. Sometimes our lateness was due to Cleaver insisting we do a few lines of cocaine and smoke a joint before leaving to the airport. And then there were times when we would take turns going to the restroom aboard the plane to do a few more lines. Yes, we were flying high in the friendly sky!
Kathleen would usually stay home after I came aboard. The Cleavers were under a lot of stress from all the difficulties they had experienced during their revolutionary days and post-revolution. Being in the house with them exposed me to their marital tension and stress that would ultimately cause them to divorce. I remember their children, Maceo and Joju, asking if it was Christian for a man to beat his wife, since they had observed their parents fighting. Yes, I saw Kathleen get slam dunked a few times. Of course I was not innocent of domestic violence in my life. Now sometimes Kathleen, a most beautiful woman who stuck by her man through endless difficulties, was simply out of line. The occasion I remember most was an interview at their home with European media. Eldridge was in the middle of an interview when Kathleen came into the house and interrupted his interview with her comments. Cleaver had to cut the interview and take Kathleen into another room to get her out of his business. Please do not think I endorse domestic or partner violence. It is totally unnecessary and does absolutely no good. All it does is drain the love out of a relationship until like the sands in an hour glass, all the love is gone, gone, gone. Today I advocate the language of love in male/female communication: keep the voice low, stay away from the bass. The verbal is usually a precursor to the physical violence. And then the children are watching the drama, usually seeing their dad plummet their mother, making them hate their father and wanting revenge. And of course the children will come to see violence as the answer to their male/female problems. As the Cleaver children asked their parents, where is the love of Jesus Christ you preach about?
Part 16: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
My duties included secretary, driver, body guard, editor of his newsletter and photographer. As body guard he gave me a 45 automatic which I carried in my camera bag. Cleaver did not fear anyone, certainly not his former radical comrades, but we came to not trust the white Christian mafia we were dealing with. We realized we were dealing with gangsters and began to act accordingly. Even Art DeMoss, the rich white Christian who bailed out Eldridge with his stock, was a "former" mafioso. And Billy Zeoli, a producer of Christian films was "former" mafia. When he came to speak in San Diego, I invited Sherely Williams to attend. When she saw the white Christians seated on the podium with Cleaver, she whispered, "Those guys look like gangsters." And sometimes they used aggressive tactics, especially in regard to the love offering. Of course they "dipped into the pot," as all Christian officials are known to do. And often there was a delayed accounting of the offering. Sometimes they would send us plastic bags full of money taken after his testimony. Of course we didn't know the actual amount of the offering. When he appeared on Jerry Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour, after repeated long distance calls, they finally gave us an accounting of forty thousand dollars, but they didn't want to send Eldridge the checks because they could add the names to their mailing lists for more money--rather than us do the same to expand our list and become independent. They wanted the power of attorney to cash the checks. We had to send a man back to Lynchburg, VA to get the money--I don't think we got the checks.
In short, we didn't trust them, just as they didn't trust us. On a visit to Canada we were searched several times reentering the US. Now understand it was impossible to make a distinction between the Christians and government agents since they were/are one and the same. During slavery were not all white men deputized to arrest black men and women, especially runaway slaves or those breaking the black codes, i.e., three or more standing around doing nothing as in plotting or conspiring a revolt?
When we arrived in Seattle from a speech he'd given in Canada we were taken into a room at the airport and searched and searched again when we arrived at San Francisco airport. Apparently the Christians and the Government (which are one) didn't really know what Cleaver was about and weren't taking any chances. They didn't know if he was an agent of some Communist nation such as North Korea, China, Russia or what, even though he had professed belief in Jesus Christ. Sometimes a Christian would accompany us on the road and we knew he was reporting to the police. He was a racist devil who stole family pictures from Cleaver's house that later appeared in the book Soul on Fire. This Christian devil was an associate of Mr. Clean Christian, Pat Boone. Cleaver wanted to kill him, especially when a picture of his mother appeared in the book, but Papa Rage restrained himself.
The Christians suspected I was his body guard even though he was twice my size. They would say to me, "You're not his photographer, are you?" I would reply, "Of course I am, what makes you think otherwise?" Hell, I was merely an actor, trained in the Black Arts Movement. My attitude was too hell with these white Christians, they've lied to us for four hundred years. And as James Baldwin said to me in our 1968 interview, "Our condition proves the lie of everything these Christians say."
The sight of my camera really brought out their racism, envy and jealousy. When Cleaver asked me to be his photographer, I told him to get me the best camera in the world, Leica, the Rolls Royce of Cameras. He went down to Brook's Cameras in San Francisco and paid $2,000.00 for my camera. Kathleen was mad at her husband for wasting money like that, but the white devils were even angrier that a nigguh had such a camera. They would turn red when they saw the label. It got so uncomfortable I had to put tape over the label to escape their evil vibes. During our travels I photographed General MacArthur, Donald Rumsfeld, Senator Frank Church, Charles Colson, Jim and Tammy Baker and others.
But their constant question was, "Is he for real? Did he really see Jesus in the moon? Was he on drugs?" I would reply, "Sure, he's for real." And of course they would ask me when I found the Lord? This usually happened at dinners after his testimony. Since I was usually silent, eventually they would turn to me with the question. I would reply, "One Tuesday night!" They seemed relieved and continued their conversation and socializing with Cleaver.
Marvin X
My duties included secretary, driver, body guard, editor of his newsletter and photographer. As body guard he gave me a 45 automatic which I carried in my camera bag. Cleaver did not fear anyone, certainly not his former radical comrades, but we came to not trust the white Christian mafia we were dealing with. We realized we were dealing with gangsters and began to act accordingly. Even Art DeMoss, the rich white Christian who bailed out Eldridge with his stock, was a "former" mafioso. And Billy Zeoli, a producer of Christian films was "former" mafia. When he came to speak in San Diego, I invited Sherely Williams to attend. When she saw the white Christians seated on the podium with Cleaver, she whispered, "Those guys look like gangsters." And sometimes they used aggressive tactics, especially in regard to the love offering. Of course they "dipped into the pot," as all Christian officials are known to do. And often there was a delayed accounting of the offering. Sometimes they would send us plastic bags full of money taken after his testimony. Of course we didn't know the actual amount of the offering. When he appeared on Jerry Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour, after repeated long distance calls, they finally gave us an accounting of forty thousand dollars, but they didn't want to send Eldridge the checks because they could add the names to their mailing lists for more money--rather than us do the same to expand our list and become independent. They wanted the power of attorney to cash the checks. We had to send a man back to Lynchburg, VA to get the money--I don't think we got the checks.
In short, we didn't trust them, just as they didn't trust us. On a visit to Canada we were searched several times reentering the US. Now understand it was impossible to make a distinction between the Christians and government agents since they were/are one and the same. During slavery were not all white men deputized to arrest black men and women, especially runaway slaves or those breaking the black codes, i.e., three or more standing around doing nothing as in plotting or conspiring a revolt?
When we arrived in Seattle from a speech he'd given in Canada we were taken into a room at the airport and searched and searched again when we arrived at San Francisco airport. Apparently the Christians and the Government (which are one) didn't really know what Cleaver was about and weren't taking any chances. They didn't know if he was an agent of some Communist nation such as North Korea, China, Russia or what, even though he had professed belief in Jesus Christ. Sometimes a Christian would accompany us on the road and we knew he was reporting to the police. He was a racist devil who stole family pictures from Cleaver's house that later appeared in the book Soul on Fire. This Christian devil was an associate of Mr. Clean Christian, Pat Boone. Cleaver wanted to kill him, especially when a picture of his mother appeared in the book, but Papa Rage restrained himself.
The Christians suspected I was his body guard even though he was twice my size. They would say to me, "You're not his photographer, are you?" I would reply, "Of course I am, what makes you think otherwise?" Hell, I was merely an actor, trained in the Black Arts Movement. My attitude was too hell with these white Christians, they've lied to us for four hundred years. And as James Baldwin said to me in our 1968 interview, "Our condition proves the lie of everything these Christians say."
The sight of my camera really brought out their racism, envy and jealousy. When Cleaver asked me to be his photographer, I told him to get me the best camera in the world, Leica, the Rolls Royce of Cameras. He went down to Brook's Cameras in San Francisco and paid $2,000.00 for my camera. Kathleen was mad at her husband for wasting money like that, but the white devils were even angrier that a nigguh had such a camera. They would turn red when they saw the label. It got so uncomfortable I had to put tape over the label to escape their evil vibes. During our travels I photographed General MacArthur, Donald Rumsfeld, Senator Frank Church, Charles Colson, Jim and Tammy Baker and others.
But their constant question was, "Is he for real? Did he really see Jesus in the moon? Was he on drugs?" I would reply, "Sure, he's for real." And of course they would ask me when I found the Lord? This usually happened at dinners after his testimony. Since I was usually silent, eventually they would turn to me with the question. I would reply, "One Tuesday night!" They seemed relieved and continued their conversation and socializing with Cleaver.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Part 15: My Friend the Devil
After avoiding him like the plague for weeks or months, don't know how long, then one day I ran into the devil crossing Market Street near First. I was probably on a lunch break from doing temp work in the financial district. I was working at PG&E, typing correspondence between engineers at the nuclear power plant down the coast at San Luis Obisbo. The engineers were attempting to prove to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that PG&E's plant would withstand an earthquake of a certain magnitude. I could hardly understand the technical language I was typing but I had enough common sense to know their explanations and rationalizations sounded like poppycock.
But there he was coming at me across the street, a giant of a man, especially compared to my one hundred and fifty pounds at the time. I couldn't have avoided him if I wanted so I greeted my old friend, in spite of his negrocities (Baraka term). He wanted to talk but I told him I was on lunch break so we agreed to meet for breakfast soon. I could see the years had aged him since the last time I saw him speaking in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, introducing Fannie Lou Hamer, 1968. It was now sometime during 1977, nearly ten years had passed and I could see the stress on his face and the pounds he'd gained, quite a change from the tall, lean Panther of yesterday.
When we finally met for breakfast at a spot on Geary Blvd near Divisadero, he told me of his need for an administrative assistant. He knew I had office skills since I had served as secretary of Black House. It was then that I learned the importance of a secretary in organizations: they control the flow of information. And hence they can block information. I used to do so when whites called Black House, especially his woman Beverly Axelrod and a mad white boy named Bob Avakian, who now heads the RCP or Revolutionary Communist Party. Eldridge was his god and he called constantly for advice. But most of us at Black House were black nationalists so we tried to cut Cleaver off from the whites. Amina Baraka likes to recall at one party how my woman, Ethna (Hurriyah), told a white woman she couldn't enter the party. When the white woman said she was part Native American, Ethna told her the Native American part of her could come in but the white had to go.
Anyway, Cleaver wanted an AA, and since I wasn't doing anything substantial at the time, I agreed to work with him. I hadn't been able to land a full time teaching job, except serving as visiting professor at UC San Diego at the invitation of my childhood friend and high school lover, poet Sherley A. Williams. After teaching at Fresno State University, I'm certain I was blacklisted even though I went on to teach briefly at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Mills College. Not only was I blacklisted but my friend Angela Davis as well.. At San Francisco State she asked me to see if Black Studies would hire her. When I gave the message to the chair of Black Studies, she looked at me as if to say, "I don't think so." Eventually Angela was hired to teach in Women's Studies at SFSU. So what was worse: working for some reactionary uncle tom boot licking black studies department or for a boot licking uncle tom sellout Negro? If Eldridge Cleaver was getting money from the government to pay me, was it any different than the money the black studies professors received--were they not agents of the state, certainly they behaved as such since they had been put into position to block the radicals from teaching. I saw this happen at SFSU, UC Berkeley and Fresno State University where I almost lost my life fighting to teach. At all three campuses the radical faculty was removed and replaced with pliant Negroes who are still there today.
One of the most important things Eldridge insisted upon when I began conducting his affairs with white Christians was that we must be treated first class, especially in terms of travel and lodging. But the first task he gave me was not dealing with the Christians but instead the Jews who were his publicist and booking agent. He told me to fire them immediately because he was tired and frustrated from dealing with them.
I learned the Jews had a communication line that stretched coast to coast, so it was Jewish news coast to coast that a black Muslim had taken over the administration of Cleaver's affairs. They wanted to know what was up with him, had he gone crazy, how could he cut them out of the action? But I soon discovered that Christians only tolerate Jews on the surface. In the deep structure of the Christian mind is a hatred of Jews for killing Jesus.
What Cleaver actually wanted me to do was organize his ministry, the Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, similar to the Billy Graham Crusades or maybe the Crusades of the Middle Ages. He wanted to hire black Christians but we couldn't find any bold enough to join his "crusade." The black Christians were scared to death the white man was going to kill Cleaver for running a game on them, and they might get killed for associating with him. In the end I had to hire a staff of fearless black Muslims to work with us which became an embarrassment to Cleaver but he was determined to establish his own ministry since he saw how the Christians were robbing him in the name of Jesus. Charles Colson, Jerry Falwell, and their gang of thieves were constantly having secret meetings about Cleaver, mainly how to keep him under their control. Cleaver joked the Christians had more secret meetings than the Communists. Naturally they were highly upset about his staff of Black Muslims, although Cleaver fronted us off as his first converts and referred to us as heathens. We accepted his drama, laughing all the way to the bank. Cleaver was a hard worker and soon I had lost all my girlfriends from being on the road 24/7. Kathleen said once, "Marvin, the girls used to call here for you, but they don't call anymore." Don't no woman want no man who works 24/7. Often I didn't have time to cash my check or get my clothes out the cleaners as we were on the road from city to city giving his testimony about finding Jesus in the moon.
After avoiding him like the plague for weeks or months, don't know how long, then one day I ran into the devil crossing Market Street near First. I was probably on a lunch break from doing temp work in the financial district. I was working at PG&E, typing correspondence between engineers at the nuclear power plant down the coast at San Luis Obisbo. The engineers were attempting to prove to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that PG&E's plant would withstand an earthquake of a certain magnitude. I could hardly understand the technical language I was typing but I had enough common sense to know their explanations and rationalizations sounded like poppycock.
But there he was coming at me across the street, a giant of a man, especially compared to my one hundred and fifty pounds at the time. I couldn't have avoided him if I wanted so I greeted my old friend, in spite of his negrocities (Baraka term). He wanted to talk but I told him I was on lunch break so we agreed to meet for breakfast soon. I could see the years had aged him since the last time I saw him speaking in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, introducing Fannie Lou Hamer, 1968. It was now sometime during 1977, nearly ten years had passed and I could see the stress on his face and the pounds he'd gained, quite a change from the tall, lean Panther of yesterday.
When we finally met for breakfast at a spot on Geary Blvd near Divisadero, he told me of his need for an administrative assistant. He knew I had office skills since I had served as secretary of Black House. It was then that I learned the importance of a secretary in organizations: they control the flow of information. And hence they can block information. I used to do so when whites called Black House, especially his woman Beverly Axelrod and a mad white boy named Bob Avakian, who now heads the RCP or Revolutionary Communist Party. Eldridge was his god and he called constantly for advice. But most of us at Black House were black nationalists so we tried to cut Cleaver off from the whites. Amina Baraka likes to recall at one party how my woman, Ethna (Hurriyah), told a white woman she couldn't enter the party. When the white woman said she was part Native American, Ethna told her the Native American part of her could come in but the white had to go.
Anyway, Cleaver wanted an AA, and since I wasn't doing anything substantial at the time, I agreed to work with him. I hadn't been able to land a full time teaching job, except serving as visiting professor at UC San Diego at the invitation of my childhood friend and high school lover, poet Sherley A. Williams. After teaching at Fresno State University, I'm certain I was blacklisted even though I went on to teach briefly at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Mills College. Not only was I blacklisted but my friend Angela Davis as well.. At San Francisco State she asked me to see if Black Studies would hire her. When I gave the message to the chair of Black Studies, she looked at me as if to say, "I don't think so." Eventually Angela was hired to teach in Women's Studies at SFSU. So what was worse: working for some reactionary uncle tom boot licking black studies department or for a boot licking uncle tom sellout Negro? If Eldridge Cleaver was getting money from the government to pay me, was it any different than the money the black studies professors received--were they not agents of the state, certainly they behaved as such since they had been put into position to block the radicals from teaching. I saw this happen at SFSU, UC Berkeley and Fresno State University where I almost lost my life fighting to teach. At all three campuses the radical faculty was removed and replaced with pliant Negroes who are still there today.
One of the most important things Eldridge insisted upon when I began conducting his affairs with white Christians was that we must be treated first class, especially in terms of travel and lodging. But the first task he gave me was not dealing with the Christians but instead the Jews who were his publicist and booking agent. He told me to fire them immediately because he was tired and frustrated from dealing with them.
I learned the Jews had a communication line that stretched coast to coast, so it was Jewish news coast to coast that a black Muslim had taken over the administration of Cleaver's affairs. They wanted to know what was up with him, had he gone crazy, how could he cut them out of the action? But I soon discovered that Christians only tolerate Jews on the surface. In the deep structure of the Christian mind is a hatred of Jews for killing Jesus.
What Cleaver actually wanted me to do was organize his ministry, the Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, similar to the Billy Graham Crusades or maybe the Crusades of the Middle Ages. He wanted to hire black Christians but we couldn't find any bold enough to join his "crusade." The black Christians were scared to death the white man was going to kill Cleaver for running a game on them, and they might get killed for associating with him. In the end I had to hire a staff of fearless black Muslims to work with us which became an embarrassment to Cleaver but he was determined to establish his own ministry since he saw how the Christians were robbing him in the name of Jesus. Charles Colson, Jerry Falwell, and their gang of thieves were constantly having secret meetings about Cleaver, mainly how to keep him under their control. Cleaver joked the Christians had more secret meetings than the Communists. Naturally they were highly upset about his staff of Black Muslims, although Cleaver fronted us off as his first converts and referred to us as heathens. We accepted his drama, laughing all the way to the bank. Cleaver was a hard worker and soon I had lost all my girlfriends from being on the road 24/7. Kathleen said once, "Marvin, the girls used to call here for you, but they don't call anymore." Don't no woman want no man who works 24/7. Often I didn't have time to cash my check or get my clothes out the cleaners as we were on the road from city to city giving his testimony about finding Jesus in the moon.
Part 14: My Friend the Devil
And so the day arrived when Soul on Ice returned to his beloved America. He flew in from Paris to land safely in an Alameda County jail cell. When Judge Lionel Wilson (soon to become Oakland's first black mayor, partly the result of organizing by the Black Panther Party) was asked to lower Cleaver's bail, Judge Wilson said Cleaver was a flight risk and therefore raised the bail instead of lowering it. Cleaver shot back that Lionel had made a career of sending blacks to San Quintin prison and other Department of Correction hell holes. Of course the Left immediately denounced Cleaver as a sell out, counter revolutionary, snitch, agent provocateur and a host of other epithets, mostly unprintable.
One person who came out in support of Cleaver was Dr. Nathan Hare. Dr. Nathan Hare said he supported Cleaver because he had fought the white man once and a man who had fought once might fight again (Dr. Hare being a boxer while teaching at Howard University). On the other hand, a lot of his critics had never fought the white man and had no intention to do so, but simply ran their mouths talking loud but saying nothing, in the words of ancestor James Brown. I believe Dr. Hare was part of the Cleaver support committee.
After a short time Cleaver was able to make bail when a rich Christian insurance man, Art DeMoss, came to town with a brief case full of stock.
Once out on bail, the Christians swooped Cleaver up and onto the Born Again circuit, joining other Born Again superstars such as Charles Colson of Watergate fame, Pat Boone, Hal Lindsey, Jim and Tammy Baker, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the Grand Master, Rev. Billy Graham.
Cleaver was paid four thousands a shot to give his testimony about how he saw Jesus Christ in the moon. He called it his "moon shot," but later changed the title to "The Golden Shower," or I pissed on you.
I observed Cleaver from afar, disgusted as were most other revolutionaries with Cleaver's crawling back on the plantation like a runaway slave too fearful to enjoy freedom. We clearly understand that he left because he refused to return prison after serving eighteen years. Could his attitude be similar to Louvell Mixson's, who killed four OPD police because he refused to go back to prison on a parole violation? Mixon found freedom in death, Cleaver in exile, so perhaps he was ungrateful he had escaped since there are other Panthers in exile who probably will never come home, certainly not in the manner of Cleaver, e.g. Asata Shakur, Pete O'Neil and Donald Cox.
But Cleaver rode high on the Born Again circuit, speaking to thousands at Christian events throughout America. The Christians rushed into publication a book entitled Soul on Fire. A brother in the hood remarked that after Soul on Ice and Soul on Fire, his next book should have been titled Soul Out!
------
For earlier sections of this narrative, go to www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com or www.nathanielturner.com.
And so the day arrived when Soul on Ice returned to his beloved America. He flew in from Paris to land safely in an Alameda County jail cell. When Judge Lionel Wilson (soon to become Oakland's first black mayor, partly the result of organizing by the Black Panther Party) was asked to lower Cleaver's bail, Judge Wilson said Cleaver was a flight risk and therefore raised the bail instead of lowering it. Cleaver shot back that Lionel had made a career of sending blacks to San Quintin prison and other Department of Correction hell holes. Of course the Left immediately denounced Cleaver as a sell out, counter revolutionary, snitch, agent provocateur and a host of other epithets, mostly unprintable.
One person who came out in support of Cleaver was Dr. Nathan Hare. Dr. Nathan Hare said he supported Cleaver because he had fought the white man once and a man who had fought once might fight again (Dr. Hare being a boxer while teaching at Howard University). On the other hand, a lot of his critics had never fought the white man and had no intention to do so, but simply ran their mouths talking loud but saying nothing, in the words of ancestor James Brown. I believe Dr. Hare was part of the Cleaver support committee.
After a short time Cleaver was able to make bail when a rich Christian insurance man, Art DeMoss, came to town with a brief case full of stock.
Once out on bail, the Christians swooped Cleaver up and onto the Born Again circuit, joining other Born Again superstars such as Charles Colson of Watergate fame, Pat Boone, Hal Lindsey, Jim and Tammy Baker, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the Grand Master, Rev. Billy Graham.
Cleaver was paid four thousands a shot to give his testimony about how he saw Jesus Christ in the moon. He called it his "moon shot," but later changed the title to "The Golden Shower," or I pissed on you.
I observed Cleaver from afar, disgusted as were most other revolutionaries with Cleaver's crawling back on the plantation like a runaway slave too fearful to enjoy freedom. We clearly understand that he left because he refused to return prison after serving eighteen years. Could his attitude be similar to Louvell Mixson's, who killed four OPD police because he refused to go back to prison on a parole violation? Mixon found freedom in death, Cleaver in exile, so perhaps he was ungrateful he had escaped since there are other Panthers in exile who probably will never come home, certainly not in the manner of Cleaver, e.g. Asata Shakur, Pete O'Neil and Donald Cox.
But Cleaver rode high on the Born Again circuit, speaking to thousands at Christian events throughout America. The Christians rushed into publication a book entitled Soul on Fire. A brother in the hood remarked that after Soul on Ice and Soul on Fire, his next book should have been titled Soul Out!
------
For earlier sections of this narrative, go to www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com or www.nathanielturner.com.
John Woodford Replies to Part 13
Baraka has never sold out. Change is one thing; change for the worse--that is, change so as to align with the racist-imperialists, is something else. No one should accept pipedream utopias or idolize persons and systems, because humans can tarnish even the best principles.
But instead of noting Black sellouts, and treating such shifts as natural, why not point to the many great other Black men and women who have never sold out and who have never put a price on their allegiance or accepted efforts to buy them into the ranks of opportunists and apologists for the hypocritical, murderous and hate-driven policies of imperialists.
When it gets down to it, petty-bourgeois nationalists slide into reaction and accommodation with the big bourgeosie of the oppressor group, because they share the same class interests and inclinations.
john woodford
johnwood@umich.edu
Baraka has never sold out. Change is one thing; change for the worse--that is, change so as to align with the racist-imperialists, is something else. No one should accept pipedream utopias or idolize persons and systems, because humans can tarnish even the best principles.
But instead of noting Black sellouts, and treating such shifts as natural, why not point to the many great other Black men and women who have never sold out and who have never put a price on their allegiance or accepted efforts to buy them into the ranks of opportunists and apologists for the hypocritical, murderous and hate-driven policies of imperialists.
When it gets down to it, petty-bourgeois nationalists slide into reaction and accommodation with the big bourgeosie of the oppressor group, because they share the same class interests and inclinations.
john woodford
johnwood@umich.edu
Part 13: My Friend the Devil
Marvin X
Before proceeding with the Prodigal Son's Return to America, we need to pause to consider what caused this radical change in Cleaver. Many will say it was simply a tactic to get back to the US: since the Left would not help him, he switched to the Right, following Malcolm's dictum of "any means necessary." The revolutionary puritans would argue getting in bed with the enemy is over the top, yet did not Muslim women prostitute themselves in the Battle of Algiers? The Shia say tell your enemy anything he wants to hear to achieve your objective. I will say that Cleaver was, among other things, suffering from exile-itis, an inflammation of the heart from homesickness. Baldwin talked about how Richard Wright's exile caused him to become detached from his roots. Exile is a wretched psychological state that only those who have done so can fully understand. Of course Cleaver's state was more complicated than simple exile. As I noted in an earlier section, his MO was to have an experience then critique it to the max, so maybe he was indeed exhausted from revolution, then after revealing its contradictions, had the sincere need to move on. Did not Amiri Baraka change from socalled cultural nationalism and electural politics to Communism? Everything must change, as the song says, although some changes are more radical than others. In terms of Communism, he had studied it long and hard in prison, then experienced it first hand from Cuba to China, North Korea, Africa and Europe. Certainly after the fall of the Soviet Union, we must admit Cleaver was not all wrong. And as we see with the ANC in South Africa, Communists have the ability to suddenly switch sides to become super capitalists:private planes,Swiss bank accounts and European women.
If the reader has not already found this narrative disgusting, I'm afraid what follows will not be pleasing, especially to the radical brothers and sisters. I will only try to tell the truth as I recall it. As far as Cleaver being a sellout, I heard Dr. Ben (or was it Dr. Clarke) say, "If they paid me enough money I would sell out too." I don't know how much Cleaver was paid, but in the end, he rejected all his benefactors and the feeling was mutual when they realized they could not control this mercurial personality.
Of course the election of Obama is something Cleaver would have been proud to see since embracing America is what he came back teaching.
On the other hand, there are now a plethora of Cleaver-minded politicos that echo some of the right wing ranting that Cleaver came home espousing, such as support for the US military (Haki Madhubuti) and other conservative items, especially from black Republicans such as Michael Steele. In short, much of Cleaver's post-revolutionary philosophy might fit in perfectly with the present Post-Black era.
Marvin X
Before proceeding with the Prodigal Son's Return to America, we need to pause to consider what caused this radical change in Cleaver. Many will say it was simply a tactic to get back to the US: since the Left would not help him, he switched to the Right, following Malcolm's dictum of "any means necessary." The revolutionary puritans would argue getting in bed with the enemy is over the top, yet did not Muslim women prostitute themselves in the Battle of Algiers? The Shia say tell your enemy anything he wants to hear to achieve your objective. I will say that Cleaver was, among other things, suffering from exile-itis, an inflammation of the heart from homesickness. Baldwin talked about how Richard Wright's exile caused him to become detached from his roots. Exile is a wretched psychological state that only those who have done so can fully understand. Of course Cleaver's state was more complicated than simple exile. As I noted in an earlier section, his MO was to have an experience then critique it to the max, so maybe he was indeed exhausted from revolution, then after revealing its contradictions, had the sincere need to move on. Did not Amiri Baraka change from socalled cultural nationalism and electural politics to Communism? Everything must change, as the song says, although some changes are more radical than others. In terms of Communism, he had studied it long and hard in prison, then experienced it first hand from Cuba to China, North Korea, Africa and Europe. Certainly after the fall of the Soviet Union, we must admit Cleaver was not all wrong. And as we see with the ANC in South Africa, Communists have the ability to suddenly switch sides to become super capitalists:private planes,Swiss bank accounts and European women.
If the reader has not already found this narrative disgusting, I'm afraid what follows will not be pleasing, especially to the radical brothers and sisters. I will only try to tell the truth as I recall it. As far as Cleaver being a sellout, I heard Dr. Ben (or was it Dr. Clarke) say, "If they paid me enough money I would sell out too." I don't know how much Cleaver was paid, but in the end, he rejected all his benefactors and the feeling was mutual when they realized they could not control this mercurial personality.
Of course the election of Obama is something Cleaver would have been proud to see since embracing America is what he came back teaching.
On the other hand, there are now a plethora of Cleaver-minded politicos that echo some of the right wing ranting that Cleaver came home espousing, such as support for the US military (Haki Madhubuti) and other conservative items, especially from black Republicans such as Michael Steele. In short, much of Cleaver's post-revolutionary philosophy might fit in perfectly with the present Post-Black era.
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