American Gangsta: J. Edgar Hoover
BET must be congratulated for presenting a real American gansta: the FBI’s founder J. Edgar Hoover. Those of us in the movement know too well his activities with COINTELPRO or the counter-intelligence program to disrupt, destroy and neutralize the liberation movement. We suffered their spying, lying, murder and other activities during the 60s. For the hip hop and younger generation of today, we urge them to study this video as ardently as they have the socalled black American ganstas.
Even though we now have a black president, this fact doesn’t preclude the continuation of similar activities under the Patriot Act or fighting terrorism. Amiri Baraka has warned us, “In the end, Blacks will be the terrorist.” Black people must therefore be aware of snitches, agent provocateurs, and undercover black FBI and police agents out to destroy our liberation movement in the same manner and zeal as in the days of J. Edgar Hoover.
Watching American Gansta: J. Edgar Hoover brought tears to my eyes because I am so familiar with events during this time. Any person involved in black liberation was a subject for intelligence gathering. I remember being followed home by strange negroes on the bus while I was a student at San Francisco State College (now university).
While living on San Francisco’s infamous Haight Street, a strange negro came to my apartment asking what I wanted. Did I want guns, money, what? I looked at him and told him to get out of my motherfucking house.
During the time I was on the run and in exile for refusing to fight in Vietnam, the FBI came to my mother with photos of me in various situations, begging her to reveal my whereabouts. Mom refused, but later told me they had photos of me with my girlfriend at the time, Ethna X (now Hurriyah).
After my exile in Toronto, Canada, Mexico City, living underground in Chicago, Harlem and Philly, I was finally apprehended in Belize, Central America. At the ministry of home affair, my deportation order was read aloud: “Your presence is not beneficial to the welfare of the British Colony of Honduras. Therefore you are under arrest until a plane departs at 4pm for the United States.” I was taken to police headquarters and told to have a seat. Then suddenly I was surrounded by police who begged me to teach them about black power—the very reason I was being deported. The spies had reported to the government I was teaching black power and was therefore suspected of being a Communist. This was the label given to anyone fighting for liberation throughout the Americas, and one could be killed, jailed or deported for being a revolutionary.
After five months in federal prison, I was released and returned to Fresno, California, in time for the birth of my first daughter, Nefertiti, January 29, 1971. I began organizing a black theatre company that soon gathered youth together in great numbers. Even the rehearsals were packed with young people eager to participate in theatre. But we faced opposition from people who should have been supporters, such as the NAACP and the local black newspaper. The community center suddenly wanted us out, even though we were in full production on the musical version of my play Flowers for the Trashman, not titled Take Care of Business. With the concurrence of local black officials, a worker at the center was told to get a shotgun to get us out since we were supposedly trespassing.
He was the janitor but obtained a shotgun and shot our choir director in the back, killing him. Winfrey Streets was not only our choir director, but was one of the few conscious black people in town. He had been president of the Student Body at Edison High, wore the first natural haircut in town, and most importantly, was the local leader of the Black Panther Party. The black newspaper did a full page story labeling me the cause of my friend’s murder—actually they said I killed him. I believe this was part of the FBI’s Cointelpro activities in Fresno. As we know, J. Edgar Hoover said go after any leader, any potential leader, no matter how prominent. In spite of the murder of Winfrey, the show was performed.
Soon after I was told there was a hit on me because someone had insulted a white boy across told and supposedly the assaulter was associated with me. Actually, as the bogey man of the town, brothers would use my name to scare white people, especially after I came to Fresno in 1969 to teach at Fresno State College, now University. Then Gov. Ronald Reagan told the State College Board of Trustees to get me off campus by any means necessary. But Jack Kelly, one of the first black police officers in Fresno, told me, “Marvin, when you fought to teach at Fresno State College, you made it better for all of us, not only black students. Before you came to FSU, black police were not allowed to patrol the white side of town.” FYI, this was the same year Reagan kicked Angela Davis out of UCLA. The same year Bunchy Carter and John Huggins were murdered in the BSU meeting room at UCLA—as noted in the BET video, this was a COINTEPRO action, as well as the Black Panther shootout at their Los Angeles headquarters. When I came to Los Angeles on a speaking tour during my struggle to teach at FSU, students showed me the BSU room with blood and bullet holes still evident. Lil Joe was part of a group of Los Angeles students who gave me the tour and who supported me during my struggle to teach black studies at FSU.
Although I was fearless concerning the hit, my friends encouraged me to leave Fresno for the Bay area, so I departed and organized my Black Educational Theatre (BET) in San Francisco’s Fillmore. Sun Ra and his Arkestra worked with me as he had done on the East coast. In fact, Sun Ra encountered the hit man outside my theatre. He said the hit man showed him a photo of myself. Sun Ra claimed he used his Ra power to dismiss the hit man. Truth is, after Sun Ra’s encounter, I never heard anymore about the hit. Sun Ra gave me another prophecy. He was teaching in black studies at UC Berkeley. One day he said, “Maavin, you gonna teach at UC Berkeley.” I told him he was crazy, since I had been kicked out of FSU by Gov. Reagan. But Sunny was right: a few weeks later I was invited to lecture in Black Studies with the same qualifications that were used to deny my lectureship at FSU. But in a matter of months, not only myself, but almost the entire black studies faculty was removed and replaced with a passive crew who would do the administration’s bidding, meaning an end to radical, black nationalist based ideology and instruction. This was not unique to UCB but occurred nationwide: radical instructors who had fought to expand black studies and relate it more directly with the community, were removed and replaced with house negroes. At UCB it was professor Bill Banks and his crew of sycophants. A reading of UCB documents from the chancellor’s office will reveal it was a concerted move to eliminate black radicals from the faculty, in line with Cointelpro. Forty years later, black studies is weak, passive and pitiful, although black studies faculty will attempt to defend themselves of such charges as they did recently at the 40th anniversary of the BSU/Third World Strike at San Francisco State University.
Bottom line, Cointelpro is alive and well. We were privy to a meeting between a US Marshall and Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb. The officer was there as a private security company person to discuss providing security for Paul Cobb who has been threatened since his editor Chauncey Bailey was assassinated in broad daylight downtown Oakland. The officer revealed that he was also a minister and informed us that there were many ministers who are official FBI and police agents.
And with respect to the assassination of journalist Chauncey Bailey, we call for the investigation of the investigators of the investigators! Mayor Ron Dellums has called upon California Attorney General Jerry Brown to investigate the Oakland Police investigators of the Chauncey Bailey murder—the suspects being young black Muslims.
But the lead police investigator has had a personal relationship with the young Muslims and yet continues on the case, even though he refused to interrogate an eye witness at the crime scene. And as Mayor, Jerry Brown instigated the firing of Chauncey Bailey from the Oakland Tribute because “the nigger was snooping around city hall and the police department.” Jerry Brown’s internet records disappeared when he departed to become attorney general, so how can he investigate the investigators when he himself needs to be investigated?
--Marvin X
Brooklyn, NY
22 November 2008
jmarvinx@yahoo.com/www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Plato Negro's Parable of the Weather
Sutter County Jail
Yuba City CA
10.1.08
And the Holy Spirit spoke to me through the night, saying speak to them, my servant, about the weather. Tell them they are unaware of the coming weather. The weather station is telling of conditions in nature but the people are ignorant, thus they shall be destroyed. They do not listen to the news but are preoccupied with music, games of chance, idol gossip, lustful sex, mind altering drugs and material gain, usually at the expense of the poor. They cannot see the coming storm on the horizon that shall consume them. “Oh, the Calamity, what will make thee know the Calamity?”
If they would only peek outside the window, they would see the coming storm. They would then prepare themselves, secure the doors, the windows, tie the horses and cows, but the people are in a mind-altered state, medicated against the pain of life. They will not stop dancing to put on their boots, but wink and blink at each other as the sun fades behind the clouds, and the thunder roars, yet they hear it not, for they are consumed in the moment.
Put on your trench coat, carry your umbrella, a voice admonishes them, but they are deaf, dumb and blind, so the storm proceeds to consume them.
And then they wail as the water approaches and their children are broken from their grasp. Oh, they cry, only if we had known the storm was coming. Only if we had listened to the weather station, we might have avoided the Calamity! We might have grabbed our silver and gold and fled to higher ground. We would have gathered our children, our wives and taken them to safety. But in our hard-headedness, we heeded not the warnings and prepared not for the danger. We partied like the fools on the Titanic, until the ocean swallowed the great ship.
And so it is with the economic weather. Any fool knows things go up and then come down—nothing lasts forever. But the greedy persist until the end. They are like children in the candy store who can never get enough of the sweet stuff until they eat themselves sick, then cry to Mama they have a stomach ache.
Now their bank accounts are empty, homes in foreclosure, life savings blown to the winds of chance. What shall we do now, they wail, where shall we go? They join the army of the homeless and the hungry, pushing shopping carts through the streets. No more Hennessey and Champagne. They join the poor drinking rot gut wine to quench their thirst. Oh, if we had not been greedy, if we had not become addicted to games of chance. Oh, if we had listened to the weather man. But we were too busy dancing, drinking, winking and blinking. Now we must suffer the water and the fire.
From Up From Ignorance, the Soulful Musings of a North American African, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2009. www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com. jmarvinx@yahoo.com.
Sutter County Jail
Yuba City CA
10.1.08
And the Holy Spirit spoke to me through the night, saying speak to them, my servant, about the weather. Tell them they are unaware of the coming weather. The weather station is telling of conditions in nature but the people are ignorant, thus they shall be destroyed. They do not listen to the news but are preoccupied with music, games of chance, idol gossip, lustful sex, mind altering drugs and material gain, usually at the expense of the poor. They cannot see the coming storm on the horizon that shall consume them. “Oh, the Calamity, what will make thee know the Calamity?”
If they would only peek outside the window, they would see the coming storm. They would then prepare themselves, secure the doors, the windows, tie the horses and cows, but the people are in a mind-altered state, medicated against the pain of life. They will not stop dancing to put on their boots, but wink and blink at each other as the sun fades behind the clouds, and the thunder roars, yet they hear it not, for they are consumed in the moment.
Put on your trench coat, carry your umbrella, a voice admonishes them, but they are deaf, dumb and blind, so the storm proceeds to consume them.
And then they wail as the water approaches and their children are broken from their grasp. Oh, they cry, only if we had known the storm was coming. Only if we had listened to the weather station, we might have avoided the Calamity! We might have grabbed our silver and gold and fled to higher ground. We would have gathered our children, our wives and taken them to safety. But in our hard-headedness, we heeded not the warnings and prepared not for the danger. We partied like the fools on the Titanic, until the ocean swallowed the great ship.
And so it is with the economic weather. Any fool knows things go up and then come down—nothing lasts forever. But the greedy persist until the end. They are like children in the candy store who can never get enough of the sweet stuff until they eat themselves sick, then cry to Mama they have a stomach ache.
Now their bank accounts are empty, homes in foreclosure, life savings blown to the winds of chance. What shall we do now, they wail, where shall we go? They join the army of the homeless and the hungry, pushing shopping carts through the streets. No more Hennessey and Champagne. They join the poor drinking rot gut wine to quench their thirst. Oh, if we had not been greedy, if we had not become addicted to games of chance. Oh, if we had listened to the weather man. But we were too busy dancing, drinking, winking and blinking. Now we must suffer the water and the fire.
From Up From Ignorance, the Soulful Musings of a North American African, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2009. www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com. jmarvinx@yahoo.com.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Plato Negro on the Diffusion of Power
Sutter County Jail
Yuba City, CA
10.4.08
In society power must be diffused. If not, the natural and usual result is corruption and domination, such as we see in the patriarchal, white supremacy society. In the family the father and husband must diffuse power to the mother/wife, making matters in the family more functional than the absolute patriarchy which makes the woman feel like a slave and the man a brute, since he has final say in all matters , with violence his ultimate weapon. Such a family construction can never be free and just because one person can never make the right decision all the time. The human mind is bound to make mistakes in judgment occasionally, and sometimes mistakes can be fatal, causing the destruction of the family, such as fighting a wild beast or confronting a stranger. As Solomon suggested, two are better than one, two that are in unity and harmony. If one falls, who can pick us up? If we travel and get lost, shall not the mind of another be an aid in getting us back on the right path?
It is the same in organizations such as the gang, the corporation and the state. Ultimate power corrupts absolutely. The gang leader wields so much power he begins to fear his friends because he knows they want to be the leader one day, even his closest friends, but in his ego blindness, he feels it is his divine right to be the gang king for life.
It is the same with the leader of the state, even the democratic state. Not only did George Bush win the 2000 election by voter fraud and the right wing supreme court, but once in power pushed aside the constitution to claim absolute executive power, negating the congress, declaring unilateral war against Iraq when that country was no threat and had committed no act of aggression. In a devil’s mind, what looks more lucrative: the oil fields of Iraq or the barren mountains of Afghanistan? Bush fantasized Iraq was the cause of 9/11, was associated with Al Qaida and possessed weapons of mass destruction. Two trillion dollars later, none of the above is true, but America is determined to acquire long term oil contracts before she exists Iraq.
To further the goals of the fascist state (communism for the rich), Bush came forth with the Patriot Act to curtail civil liberties, and contrary to his conservative principles, let the oil barons run free to earn 300 billion in profits. He allowed Wall Street to usher in the greatest pyramid scheme (sub prime loans) since the Great Depression. Suddenly the supreme capitalist free marketers became overnight socialists, i.e. state socialists, i.e. fascists!
The duped workers were forced to let free market forces play out, meaning they will get no bail out or substantial aid to reverse foreclosures caused by the sub prime loan scams. The people who gambled on Wall Street, lost their shirts and stand naked with their dicks in the hands and hearts racing! They are like a trick when the whore departs, telling him she will be right back!
The Wall Street bandits, in cahoots with the supreme ruler of the land and his international political cronies in conspiracy with the national banks around the world, have organized multi-trillion dollars bailouts of the banks to restore confidence in the capitalist system suddenly turned communist. Free market capitalism does not nationalize financial institutions and corporations—they let market forces play out—and the strong will survive. Those who lose in the capitalist games of chance—well, that’s life! The world leaders in political economics have defied their fundamental principles to save their buddies, yes, at the expense of the masses, the wage slaves, the working poor, the gamblers.
This debacle could have been avoided with the diffusion of power, with strident regulation of financial institutions, but with the executive hand in the cookie jar, there is no mystery why so many cookies have disappeared. With checks and balances out the window, the supreme leader does as he wishes with the body politic. With a three page letter, he requested the US Treasury deliver 800 billion of the people’s money to his brothers on Wall Street. In fact, he moved the headquarters of Wall Street to the White House.
We will shortly see if there shall be a legitimate transfer of power or will he connive to usher in another right wing regime to further the goals of the fascist state, again, depriving the democratic state the diffusion of power to maintain the just society.
In Stalinism, Nazism and now Bushism, we see how men seize power for personal aggrandizement. They will execute world wars to extend their power until checked by a people’s democratic revolution. Somehow, someday soon, our mental health experts must cast their digging rigs down into the oceans of our minds to decipher the meanderings of the wretched psyches of men whose egos compel them to execute power over people, to the detriment of society and civilization.
In making state violence their ultimate weapon, such men must be confined to the deepest spaces of our prisons until their consciousness evolves to the level where the diffusion of power is no more a problem for them than walking or jogging.
In conclusion, theatre is a model of diffusion. No matter how great the playwright, he alone cannot produce the finished product without the aid of others. Even the one man show needs a director, contrary to the thinking of most spoken word performers who have never heard of the director—the one man show needs lighting and sound technicians, set and costume designers, promoters, ticket sellers and front house people. The one man show needs music arrangers and choreographer, make-up artists,etc.
With such needs, the playwright and or the actor with the greatest egomania, should humble himself with the reality that he is not alone in the show business, that he is in need of a chorus of workers, designers, technicians—in short, geniuses like himself to get from process to product.
Certainly, this was true for me in theatre. And if it’s true for me, then it is true for everyman for all the world is a stage. And for everyman there comes The End, when the lights go down and all is quiet on the set. For the tragic hero, this is the moment of dred, especially when the torturer becomes tortured, falling into his own puke as he exits the stage of history.
Sutter County Jail
Yuba City, CA
10.4.08
In society power must be diffused. If not, the natural and usual result is corruption and domination, such as we see in the patriarchal, white supremacy society. In the family the father and husband must diffuse power to the mother/wife, making matters in the family more functional than the absolute patriarchy which makes the woman feel like a slave and the man a brute, since he has final say in all matters , with violence his ultimate weapon. Such a family construction can never be free and just because one person can never make the right decision all the time. The human mind is bound to make mistakes in judgment occasionally, and sometimes mistakes can be fatal, causing the destruction of the family, such as fighting a wild beast or confronting a stranger. As Solomon suggested, two are better than one, two that are in unity and harmony. If one falls, who can pick us up? If we travel and get lost, shall not the mind of another be an aid in getting us back on the right path?
It is the same in organizations such as the gang, the corporation and the state. Ultimate power corrupts absolutely. The gang leader wields so much power he begins to fear his friends because he knows they want to be the leader one day, even his closest friends, but in his ego blindness, he feels it is his divine right to be the gang king for life.
It is the same with the leader of the state, even the democratic state. Not only did George Bush win the 2000 election by voter fraud and the right wing supreme court, but once in power pushed aside the constitution to claim absolute executive power, negating the congress, declaring unilateral war against Iraq when that country was no threat and had committed no act of aggression. In a devil’s mind, what looks more lucrative: the oil fields of Iraq or the barren mountains of Afghanistan? Bush fantasized Iraq was the cause of 9/11, was associated with Al Qaida and possessed weapons of mass destruction. Two trillion dollars later, none of the above is true, but America is determined to acquire long term oil contracts before she exists Iraq.
To further the goals of the fascist state (communism for the rich), Bush came forth with the Patriot Act to curtail civil liberties, and contrary to his conservative principles, let the oil barons run free to earn 300 billion in profits. He allowed Wall Street to usher in the greatest pyramid scheme (sub prime loans) since the Great Depression. Suddenly the supreme capitalist free marketers became overnight socialists, i.e. state socialists, i.e. fascists!
The duped workers were forced to let free market forces play out, meaning they will get no bail out or substantial aid to reverse foreclosures caused by the sub prime loan scams. The people who gambled on Wall Street, lost their shirts and stand naked with their dicks in the hands and hearts racing! They are like a trick when the whore departs, telling him she will be right back!
The Wall Street bandits, in cahoots with the supreme ruler of the land and his international political cronies in conspiracy with the national banks around the world, have organized multi-trillion dollars bailouts of the banks to restore confidence in the capitalist system suddenly turned communist. Free market capitalism does not nationalize financial institutions and corporations—they let market forces play out—and the strong will survive. Those who lose in the capitalist games of chance—well, that’s life! The world leaders in political economics have defied their fundamental principles to save their buddies, yes, at the expense of the masses, the wage slaves, the working poor, the gamblers.
This debacle could have been avoided with the diffusion of power, with strident regulation of financial institutions, but with the executive hand in the cookie jar, there is no mystery why so many cookies have disappeared. With checks and balances out the window, the supreme leader does as he wishes with the body politic. With a three page letter, he requested the US Treasury deliver 800 billion of the people’s money to his brothers on Wall Street. In fact, he moved the headquarters of Wall Street to the White House.
We will shortly see if there shall be a legitimate transfer of power or will he connive to usher in another right wing regime to further the goals of the fascist state, again, depriving the democratic state the diffusion of power to maintain the just society.
In Stalinism, Nazism and now Bushism, we see how men seize power for personal aggrandizement. They will execute world wars to extend their power until checked by a people’s democratic revolution. Somehow, someday soon, our mental health experts must cast their digging rigs down into the oceans of our minds to decipher the meanderings of the wretched psyches of men whose egos compel them to execute power over people, to the detriment of society and civilization.
In making state violence their ultimate weapon, such men must be confined to the deepest spaces of our prisons until their consciousness evolves to the level where the diffusion of power is no more a problem for them than walking or jogging.
In conclusion, theatre is a model of diffusion. No matter how great the playwright, he alone cannot produce the finished product without the aid of others. Even the one man show needs a director, contrary to the thinking of most spoken word performers who have never heard of the director—the one man show needs lighting and sound technicians, set and costume designers, promoters, ticket sellers and front house people. The one man show needs music arrangers and choreographer, make-up artists,etc.
With such needs, the playwright and or the actor with the greatest egomania, should humble himself with the reality that he is not alone in the show business, that he is in need of a chorus of workers, designers, technicians—in short, geniuses like himself to get from process to product.
Certainly, this was true for me in theatre. And if it’s true for me, then it is true for everyman for all the world is a stage. And for everyman there comes The End, when the lights go down and all is quiet on the set. For the tragic hero, this is the moment of dred, especially when the torturer becomes tortured, falling into his own puke as he exits the stage of history.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Plato Negro's Parable of the Basket
A wise street brother suggested Plato place a basket on his table at his open-air classroom at the crossroads of Oakland, 14th and Broadway. The brother said the basket would be for donations people wanted to make to his cause: the education of the people through the sale of his books and by facilitating dialogue with street people, adults and youth, also intellectuals and politicos who passed by on their way to and from City Hall across the street.
The basket was immediately filled with change and dollars, some days there were five and ten dollars in the basket. When people asked Plato for a dollar or two to buy a hamburger at Burger King down the block, he told them to reach into the basket to get what they need. A lady came by who said she needed two dollars to get on the subway (BART) so she could pick up her check.
The basket became a micro-ATM machine for the poor, the hungry, the mentally ill, or anyone in need. And those able would put donations into the basket, often without being asked. The basket became the poor people's petty cash fund. The people who had gotten money from the fund would come by to replace it, sometime a week or two later. As Plato kept no record, he would often forget who had drawn from the basket.
Plato thanked the wise brother who suggested the idea. And the people truly appreciated having a place where their small needs could be met.
Plato Negro (aka Marvin X)
Sutter County Jail,
Yuba City CA
10-6-08
A wise street brother suggested Plato place a basket on his table at his open-air classroom at the crossroads of Oakland, 14th and Broadway. The brother said the basket would be for donations people wanted to make to his cause: the education of the people through the sale of his books and by facilitating dialogue with street people, adults and youth, also intellectuals and politicos who passed by on their way to and from City Hall across the street.
The basket was immediately filled with change and dollars, some days there were five and ten dollars in the basket. When people asked Plato for a dollar or two to buy a hamburger at Burger King down the block, he told them to reach into the basket to get what they need. A lady came by who said she needed two dollars to get on the subway (BART) so she could pick up her check.
The basket became a micro-ATM machine for the poor, the hungry, the mentally ill, or anyone in need. And those able would put donations into the basket, often without being asked. The basket became the poor people's petty cash fund. The people who had gotten money from the fund would come by to replace it, sometime a week or two later. As Plato kept no record, he would often forget who had drawn from the basket.
Plato thanked the wise brother who suggested the idea. And the people truly appreciated having a place where their small needs could be met.
Plato Negro (aka Marvin X)
Sutter County Jail,
Yuba City CA
10-6-08
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Plato Negro on the Death of Dreams
The death of dreams occur when reality has become so overwhelming, so dreadful that our imagination is exhausted and thus our ability to navigate the conundrums of life. We presently have an entire civilization on the brink, on the precipice, the chasm we created by accepting the corrupt and imbecilic leadership of the political, economic and spiritual
blood suckers of the poor. In our passivity, we permitted the blood suckers to drain the body politic of its vitality, to empty to coffers of the global village, and so we find ourselves at the bottom of the well with no exit, for who shall lead us out of the bottomless pit—was not God unable to find one righteous man to save the town?
Thus, as we seek solutions to the present economic meltdown, we are afraid to admit we are devoid of leadership, unless the hens accept the guardianship of the wolves. The robbers are able to resupply their booty from the treasury of the people, the trillions stolen from unregulated, free market capitalism now called globalism, the new form of monopoly capitalism that transcends nationalism and borders, with no sympathy for the citizens of any state who are mere cogs in the wheel of gamblers, speculators and fascists who practice an archaic socialism of the wealthy, looking out for their brothers at every turn, bailing them out from every blunder, every losing roll of the dice. Imagine, the robbers who bankrupted the nation’s largest insurance company proceeded to celebrate with a $400.000 retreat at taxpayer’s expense. There is no end to their arrogance and addiction to white supremacy.
But, again, where shall we find the honest man, the righteous man who shall not take a bribe, who is not addicted to greed, lust and conspicuous consumption? From what ivory tower shall our radical thinkers emerge to guide us on the right path? Are they not tainted with their white supremacy education? Have they gone through the process of deracialization and decolonialism, have they detoxified to the degree that they are clear and sober minded enough to offer us a plan out of the matrix?
We have suggested the 13 Step Model to recover from the addiction to white supremacy, but of course we are smarter than God, so we have no need of any plan other than to continue in our inordinacy, “blindly wondering on.” Even before the economic meltdown, our intellectuals were impotent and bereft of any ideas that would guide us safely into the new millennium.
In spite of the two million imprisoned, there is no call for a general amnesty to free the non-violent, drug related offenders, who should be working or learning skills to work in the reconstruction of the hood, economic as well as social, with radical plans and programs of substance rather than window dressing and band-aids. With all the brothers locked down, what choice do women have other than to mate with each other for comfort and love? The new demographics do not bode well for the future of the family in the hood, with so many reconfigurations of male/female relations: the women becoming men, the men becoming women. A young lady was overheard on her cell phone telling her girlfriend that she is the baby daddy and the baby daddy is the baby mama. “He stay home with the baby while I bounce….”
Even when we have the possibility of some forward movement, disillusionment sets in or we intellectualize ourselves out of enjoying the moment, suggesting that joy is sinful and we shall not be guiltridden, even after we who imagaine ourselves leaders and thinkers are forced to confess we are running to board the freedom train.
The great philosopher Sun Ra would say, "We so right we wrong, " for in our revolutionary purity we escape the motion of the masses, ultimately becoming their followers rather than leaders.
And the pseudo hip hop intellectuals and artists fare no better than the 85% deaf, dumb and blind, for the hip hop are blind with spurius antiquated African philosophy
that is doing nothing for Africa, and thus can do nothing for Africans in North America.
Better to search for ancestral bones in Mississippi rather than digging for King Tut's relatives only to be embarrassed at discoveries that will reveal a glorious past that at our present rate will take eons to equal.
--Plato Negro (Marvin X)
www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
The death of dreams occur when reality has become so overwhelming, so dreadful that our imagination is exhausted and thus our ability to navigate the conundrums of life. We presently have an entire civilization on the brink, on the precipice, the chasm we created by accepting the corrupt and imbecilic leadership of the political, economic and spiritual
blood suckers of the poor. In our passivity, we permitted the blood suckers to drain the body politic of its vitality, to empty to coffers of the global village, and so we find ourselves at the bottom of the well with no exit, for who shall lead us out of the bottomless pit—was not God unable to find one righteous man to save the town?
Thus, as we seek solutions to the present economic meltdown, we are afraid to admit we are devoid of leadership, unless the hens accept the guardianship of the wolves. The robbers are able to resupply their booty from the treasury of the people, the trillions stolen from unregulated, free market capitalism now called globalism, the new form of monopoly capitalism that transcends nationalism and borders, with no sympathy for the citizens of any state who are mere cogs in the wheel of gamblers, speculators and fascists who practice an archaic socialism of the wealthy, looking out for their brothers at every turn, bailing them out from every blunder, every losing roll of the dice. Imagine, the robbers who bankrupted the nation’s largest insurance company proceeded to celebrate with a $400.000 retreat at taxpayer’s expense. There is no end to their arrogance and addiction to white supremacy.
But, again, where shall we find the honest man, the righteous man who shall not take a bribe, who is not addicted to greed, lust and conspicuous consumption? From what ivory tower shall our radical thinkers emerge to guide us on the right path? Are they not tainted with their white supremacy education? Have they gone through the process of deracialization and decolonialism, have they detoxified to the degree that they are clear and sober minded enough to offer us a plan out of the matrix?
We have suggested the 13 Step Model to recover from the addiction to white supremacy, but of course we are smarter than God, so we have no need of any plan other than to continue in our inordinacy, “blindly wondering on.” Even before the economic meltdown, our intellectuals were impotent and bereft of any ideas that would guide us safely into the new millennium.
In spite of the two million imprisoned, there is no call for a general amnesty to free the non-violent, drug related offenders, who should be working or learning skills to work in the reconstruction of the hood, economic as well as social, with radical plans and programs of substance rather than window dressing and band-aids. With all the brothers locked down, what choice do women have other than to mate with each other for comfort and love? The new demographics do not bode well for the future of the family in the hood, with so many reconfigurations of male/female relations: the women becoming men, the men becoming women. A young lady was overheard on her cell phone telling her girlfriend that she is the baby daddy and the baby daddy is the baby mama. “He stay home with the baby while I bounce….”
Even when we have the possibility of some forward movement, disillusionment sets in or we intellectualize ourselves out of enjoying the moment, suggesting that joy is sinful and we shall not be guiltridden, even after we who imagaine ourselves leaders and thinkers are forced to confess we are running to board the freedom train.
The great philosopher Sun Ra would say, "We so right we wrong, " for in our revolutionary purity we escape the motion of the masses, ultimately becoming their followers rather than leaders.
And the pseudo hip hop intellectuals and artists fare no better than the 85% deaf, dumb and blind, for the hip hop are blind with spurius antiquated African philosophy
that is doing nothing for Africa, and thus can do nothing for Africans in North America.
Better to search for ancestral bones in Mississippi rather than digging for King Tut's relatives only to be embarrassed at discoveries that will reveal a glorious past that at our present rate will take eons to equal.
--Plato Negro (Marvin X)
www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dr. Nathan Hare: Will You Vote Nigguh?
Dr. Nathan Hare raises the most serious issue in the Black community--will we vote in the coming election or sit around smoking blunts talking playa hatin bs. We know this will be a close election and we may be the sole persons to blame if Obama loses because of our lethargy, passivity and negativity. Wearing Obama buttons and T shirts is not enough. Get
your black behinds to the polling booths on election day. The devil will have enough tricks for you in this election, but don't trick yourself, then blame him.
--Marvin X
--- On Tue, 9/23/08, Nathan Hare wrote:
From: Nathan Hare
Dr. M,
I agree that many blacks will be upset, and rightfully so, if they perceive that Obama was tricked out of his victory – but not blacks alone – and we will be hitting the streets again, black, white and polka dot.
The real problem is that blacks may be left with their arms around the bag of blame for Obama’s defeat. Indeed, I heard a fellow say on television the other day that Al Gore lost Florida in 2004 by something like 389,000 votes, and hence the election, while 500,000 blacks were registered in Florida but sat home watching television lollygagging and theorizing but didn’t go out and vote. The commentator, admittedly white, also said that five million white college students failed to vote, as I recall it, but he left the clear impression that only a portion of the half a million blacks who were registered but neglected to vote in Florida could have won the state of Florida and therefore the presidential election in 2004.
If this kind of situation should emerge in November, then blacks, not whites, will bear the bolder blame for the defeat of the first black candidate of a major party for election to the presidency of America, the world’s most powerful nation, the refuge of our slave masters, the number one oppressors of all the world, then history itself, with or without Michelle Obama, will “put her foot in the behind” of a whole lot of brothers, and I must promise my god that I will be standing at his side to kick in anytime I am needed, cane, coins and all.
Nathan Hare, Ph.D., Ph.D.
Author of the “Foreword,” to How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy: A Pan African 12-Step Model for a Mental Health Peer Group. By Dr. M.,
Blackbird Press,
21222 Dwight Way ,
Berkeley , CA 94702 , $19.95.
Phone: 510-355-6339.
Obama's Last Ghost
Elijah told us the white wo”man is the white man's last weapon against the black man. We thought once Obama overcame Hillery, he would be home free. But up popped the devil woman number two. Of course she lacks Hillery's political chicanery but she's still white, so never forget this. And white America went into a tizzy over her until the fall of Wall Street, then she became second page news because America cares more about its money than its mama, and no matter the fall began on Clinton's watch, the blame game goes to Bush and the Republicans, thus Obama has another chance now that devil woman number two is backstage. She may pop up again before the race is over, but for now all eyes are on the economy and the robber barons of international finance.
As former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown noted in the Sunday Chronicle, we all should have known something was wrong when a man who couldn't qualify for a $13,000 car loan was able to qualify for a $300,000 house loan. But let's be honest, Obama and McCain have friends and contributors on Wall Street, after all, it is Wall Street who calls the shots in American elections, not the men and women on Main Street, who do not exercise one man one vote anyway, but the matter is decided in the Electoral College, although international finance predetermines the victor, the rest is media drama, unless the Trickster or Legba appears at the crossroads to block, as happened in 2000 and 2004, at which time Shango and Ogun will need to make their appearance. But they will need to act with caution since the US Army has a unit on hand for any domestic disturbance.
We know Blacks will be highly upset if it is perceived Obama is tricked out of his victory.
We must be wise enough to survive so we can fight another day. Or as Bruce Lee said, "Learn to fight by not fighting."
No matter what, America is on the down, and even if he wins, it is doubtful Obama can save her since she is suffering a multitude of sins, not just economically, but her military is overstretched, her educational system is in total disarray, and she is morally bankrupt with no respect in the global village. While the winds of revolution blow throughout the Americas, the United States is yet the bastion of reaction and white supremacy backwardness. Instead of providing leadership in the new era, she is lagging in political foresight, like a retarded child who cannot tell the time of day.
As we go into the stretch with this Obama drama, we hope Michelle will put her foot in his behind and push him over the finish line, for his victory will only be a step in our overdue attempt to reach the mountain top.
--Marvin X
Marvin X is a revolutionary nationalist whose spiritual philosophy is to push man to accept his divinity and act accordingly, for all things are divine but many humans do not recognize their essence which is spirituality. . Do not be blinded by color, ethnicity, gender or any other illusion of the monkey mind.
--from Up From Ignorance, Marvin X, the Soulful Musings of a North American African, Black Bird Press, 2009
www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
Dr. Nathan Hare raises the most serious issue in the Black community--will we vote in the coming election or sit around smoking blunts talking playa hatin bs. We know this will be a close election and we may be the sole persons to blame if Obama loses because of our lethargy, passivity and negativity. Wearing Obama buttons and T shirts is not enough. Get
your black behinds to the polling booths on election day. The devil will have enough tricks for you in this election, but don't trick yourself, then blame him.
--Marvin X
--- On Tue, 9/23/08, Nathan Hare
From: Nathan Hare
Dr. M,
I agree that many blacks will be upset, and rightfully so, if they perceive that Obama was tricked out of his victory – but not blacks alone – and we will be hitting the streets again, black, white and polka dot.
The real problem is that blacks may be left with their arms around the bag of blame for Obama’s defeat. Indeed, I heard a fellow say on television the other day that Al Gore lost Florida in 2004 by something like 389,000 votes, and hence the election, while 500,000 blacks were registered in Florida but sat home watching television lollygagging and theorizing but didn’t go out and vote. The commentator, admittedly white, also said that five million white college students failed to vote, as I recall it, but he left the clear impression that only a portion of the half a million blacks who were registered but neglected to vote in Florida could have won the state of Florida and therefore the presidential election in 2004.
If this kind of situation should emerge in November, then blacks, not whites, will bear the bolder blame for the defeat of the first black candidate of a major party for election to the presidency of America, the world’s most powerful nation, the refuge of our slave masters, the number one oppressors of all the world, then history itself, with or without Michelle Obama, will “put her foot in the behind” of a whole lot of brothers, and I must promise my god that I will be standing at his side to kick in anytime I am needed, cane, coins and all.
Nathan Hare, Ph.D., Ph.D.
Author of the “Foreword,” to How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy: A Pan African 12-Step Model for a Mental Health Peer Group. By Dr. M.,
Blackbird Press,
21222 Dwight Way ,
Berkeley , CA 94702 , $19.95.
Phone: 510-355-6339.
Obama's Last Ghost
Elijah told us the white wo”man is the white man's last weapon against the black man. We thought once Obama overcame Hillery, he would be home free. But up popped the devil woman number two. Of course she lacks Hillery's political chicanery but she's still white, so never forget this. And white America went into a tizzy over her until the fall of Wall Street, then she became second page news because America cares more about its money than its mama, and no matter the fall began on Clinton's watch, the blame game goes to Bush and the Republicans, thus Obama has another chance now that devil woman number two is backstage. She may pop up again before the race is over, but for now all eyes are on the economy and the robber barons of international finance.
As former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown noted in the Sunday Chronicle, we all should have known something was wrong when a man who couldn't qualify for a $13,000 car loan was able to qualify for a $300,000 house loan. But let's be honest, Obama and McCain have friends and contributors on Wall Street, after all, it is Wall Street who calls the shots in American elections, not the men and women on Main Street, who do not exercise one man one vote anyway, but the matter is decided in the Electoral College, although international finance predetermines the victor, the rest is media drama, unless the Trickster or Legba appears at the crossroads to block, as happened in 2000 and 2004, at which time Shango and Ogun will need to make their appearance. But they will need to act with caution since the US Army has a unit on hand for any domestic disturbance.
We know Blacks will be highly upset if it is perceived Obama is tricked out of his victory.
We must be wise enough to survive so we can fight another day. Or as Bruce Lee said, "Learn to fight by not fighting."
No matter what, America is on the down, and even if he wins, it is doubtful Obama can save her since she is suffering a multitude of sins, not just economically, but her military is overstretched, her educational system is in total disarray, and she is morally bankrupt with no respect in the global village. While the winds of revolution blow throughout the Americas, the United States is yet the bastion of reaction and white supremacy backwardness. Instead of providing leadership in the new era, she is lagging in political foresight, like a retarded child who cannot tell the time of day.
As we go into the stretch with this Obama drama, we hope Michelle will put her foot in his behind and push him over the finish line, for his victory will only be a step in our overdue attempt to reach the mountain top.
--Marvin X
Marvin X is a revolutionary nationalist whose spiritual philosophy is to push man to accept his divinity and act accordingly, for all things are divine but many humans do not recognize their essence which is spirituality. . Do not be blinded by color, ethnicity, gender or any other illusion of the monkey mind.
--from Up From Ignorance, Marvin X, the Soulful Musings of a North American African, Black Bird Press, 2009
www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
Monday, September 22, 2008
Plato on the Poetic Victory
The poetic victory is simply this: when the people come to the poet to praise him because his work has transformed their lives. The poet has no other mission than to inspire the people to be their better selves. Thus, we were honored and praised a few days ago when two hip hop youth passed the poet on the street, then, upon recognizing who he was, returned to shake his hand to thank him for changing their lives. They claimed they found a half of his book Wish I Could Tell You the Truth, essays, 2005, on the bus and they were transformed into conscious activist poets, who presented to the master poet their latest CD on the anti-violence theme.
People called the master poet mad when he decided to give out free copies of his books at the crossroads of Oakland, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. He gave out $3,000 to $5,000 worth of books. He said God told him to do so. After hearing from the youth, he knew he had done the right thing. Surely we will give away $3,000 or $4,000 to save a youth!
But the glory is in the reaction rather than the action. He is duty bound to spread the truth.
“Will you hide the truth while you know?” says Qur’an. But from the response of the young men the poet felt vindicated. And other youth have told similar things: not so long ago a youth just released from the Santa Rita County Jail told the poet he had read his book How to Recover from the Addiction of White Supremacy, and he was changed. He vowed to never again deal dope to our people, based of the testimony of Dr. M. He was searching for a job when he ran into the poet at 14th and Broadway.
And so we call these happenings the poetic victory, for we see the power of words to transform and raise us from the dead, Nommo, the sacred word made real and breathing, water for the weary traveler.
This
This is not about making money
selling books
ego or fame
women or children
Old age and sex
sin or some preacher
Some holy book or how one prays
a simple thing
tears in eyes
working last nerve
standing when feet tired
Talking when silence is desire
showing love when hatred is behind smile
feeding poor when they ask
Like listening to an old woman homeless
story of a mad negro and a mad African one after another
street children with grills in their mouths
telling stories of spirit world
the daily round
work unfinished
truth no matter
a circle coming
round and round and round
This is not the personal
A lover lost in traffic
about the teacher
but the student who learns to stand
to teach
what he is taught
About comrades who will gather on the corner
to save themselves
about the black the white the mixed or the mad
coming together to realize
life is a moment to seize
or be lost in eternity.
action and reaction
Passing the tone test in the presence of the beast.
getting through the day so one can fight tomorrow.
seeking knowledge above food, rent and pleasure.
Knowledge powers
universe into ball
We throw into space
and time
until it explodes
particles
a new world
to see
and wonder.
--Dr. M
10/2/07
The poetic victory is simply this: when the people come to the poet to praise him because his work has transformed their lives. The poet has no other mission than to inspire the people to be their better selves. Thus, we were honored and praised a few days ago when two hip hop youth passed the poet on the street, then, upon recognizing who he was, returned to shake his hand to thank him for changing their lives. They claimed they found a half of his book Wish I Could Tell You the Truth, essays, 2005, on the bus and they were transformed into conscious activist poets, who presented to the master poet their latest CD on the anti-violence theme.
People called the master poet mad when he decided to give out free copies of his books at the crossroads of Oakland, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. He gave out $3,000 to $5,000 worth of books. He said God told him to do so. After hearing from the youth, he knew he had done the right thing. Surely we will give away $3,000 or $4,000 to save a youth!
But the glory is in the reaction rather than the action. He is duty bound to spread the truth.
“Will you hide the truth while you know?” says Qur’an. But from the response of the young men the poet felt vindicated. And other youth have told similar things: not so long ago a youth just released from the Santa Rita County Jail told the poet he had read his book How to Recover from the Addiction of White Supremacy, and he was changed. He vowed to never again deal dope to our people, based of the testimony of Dr. M. He was searching for a job when he ran into the poet at 14th and Broadway.
And so we call these happenings the poetic victory, for we see the power of words to transform and raise us from the dead, Nommo, the sacred word made real and breathing, water for the weary traveler.
This
This is not about making money
selling books
ego or fame
women or children
Old age and sex
sin or some preacher
Some holy book or how one prays
a simple thing
tears in eyes
working last nerve
standing when feet tired
Talking when silence is desire
showing love when hatred is behind smile
feeding poor when they ask
Like listening to an old woman homeless
story of a mad negro and a mad African one after another
street children with grills in their mouths
telling stories of spirit world
the daily round
work unfinished
truth no matter
a circle coming
round and round and round
This is not the personal
A lover lost in traffic
about the teacher
but the student who learns to stand
to teach
what he is taught
About comrades who will gather on the corner
to save themselves
about the black the white the mixed or the mad
coming together to realize
life is a moment to seize
or be lost in eternity.
action and reaction
Passing the tone test in the presence of the beast.
getting through the day so one can fight tomorrow.
seeking knowledge above food, rent and pleasure.
Knowledge powers
universe into ball
We throw into space
and time
until it explodes
particles
a new world
to see
and wonder.
--Dr. M
10/2/07
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