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It's About Time presents: Bobby Seale interviewed by Marvin X

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Marvin X and Bobby Seale discuss their days at Merritt College, how they were self educated into Black consciousness to become the Neo-Black intellectuals; how Bobby performed in Marvin's play Come Next Summer; Bobby recites his favorite Marvin X poem "Burn,Baby,Burn" about the 65' Watts rebellion; how Bobby and Huey evolved into Black Panthers. Interview reveals Bobby's excellent memory of black history down to the minute, second, microsecond. Get it from the horse's mouth rather than swallow revisionist history told by muddle headed academics and intellectuals in perpetual crisis.--Marvin X

www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Media/Media_index.html

Bobby Seale interviewed by Marvin X 2000 [Video: 64 min]

Video Credit: Marvin X, The Community Archives Project


Black Woman saves the babies from gunman

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She faced down the suspect

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georgia school shooting photo
Henry County Sheriff's Office
This March 2013 booking photo provided by the Henry County Sheriff's Office shows Michael Brandon Hill. Channel 2 Action News has confirmed that Hill, 20, was arrested in Decatur, on Aug. 20, 2013 after police say he fired shots at them with an AK-47 from inside McNair Discovery Learning Academyl. No students or officers were injured. Hill had previously been arrested for making terroristic threats in Henry County.
By Channel 2 Action News
Channel 2’s Jovita Moore spoke exclusively to the bookkeeper that came face-to-face with the gunman at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy Tuesday.
Antoinette Tuff said she was the one sitting in the front office when Michael Brandon Hill walked in with his assault rifle drawn.
For nearly an hour she talked to him about her life and his own all the while saving the lives of many others.
“The clips that go into the gun… he sat there right in front of me in the office and began to load them with bullets,” Tuff told Moore.
“Antoinette, this whole time, what are you thinking?” Moore asked Tuff.
“I just started praying for him. I just started talking to him and allowing him to know some of the stories and let him know what was going on with me and that it would be OK. And then let him know that he could just give himself up,” Tuff said.
“Did you tell him to put the guns down?” Moore asked.
“I did. I told him to put them on the table, empty his pockets. He had me actually get on the intercom and tell everybody he was sorry too.  But I told them, ‘He was sorry, but do not come out of their rooms,” Tuff said.
“You're the hero today,” Moore told Tuff.
"I give it all to God, I'm not the hero. I was terrified,” Tuff said.
Tuff said her pastor has recently talked about 'anchoring' in the lord. She said she just thought about her faith in God the entire time she was facing the gunman. She also thought about her family.

    Why African American Bookstores Close

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    Top Ten Reasons Why African American Bookstores Are Closing
    1. Book sales migrated to the Internet 
      Most Black bookstores failed to take advantage of this trend. According to WebPro News, books are the #1 item people purchase online. Other brick-and-mortar chains, such as Blockbuster, also were flanked by their online competition, so this trend is not exclusive to bookstores.  
    2. Price competition 
      The advent of Internet sales ushered deep discounting on books. Because large online sites like, Amazon and Wal-Mart, are able to take advantage of volume discounts, Black bookstores could not match these discounted prices and, if they tried to, they were unable to maintain profitability.  
    3. Failure to diversify
      With the advent of price competition and Internet book sales, diversification into other product lines was the only way Black bookstores stood a chance of maintaining viability. Most did not make this adjustment fast enough and some didn't make it at all.  
    4. African American sections added to stores like Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, WaldenBooks and Borders
      Black consumers urged the major chains to include African American sections in their stores. Once this occurred, most Black consumers flocked to these stores for their purchases and kicked the Black bookstores to the curb. (See reason #5)  
    5. Lack of loyalty from consumers
      African American consumers do not have a tradition of loyalty to Black-owned establishments. If they can purchase the same products at a white-owned (Asian-owned, or any non-black owned) establishment, they will do so FIRST. The vast majority will only shop at a black-owned establishment if they have no choice -- if they are unable to obtain a much-desired item elsewhere. This is the primary reason why dollars leave our community so rapidly, while other ethnic groups have loyalty to their merchants and turn dollars multiple times.  
    6. Black Expressions Book Club 
      Owned by Doubleday, Black Expressions Book Club has the financial resources to advertise in every major Black magazine in America. They offer 4 books for $1 to African American consumers if they agree to purchase X number of books over a two-year period. They now have 460,000+ Black readers as members and these individuals obtain many of their books this way, rather than shop at brick-and-mortar bookstores. A lot of the members of the club actually believe it is Black-owned, when it most definitely is not.  
    7. Unprofitable locations 
      Many of the Black-owned bookstores are located in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The reading population of Black consumers tends to be middle-class and these people tend to live in suburban areas and mixed-raced communities. The bookstores are not in proximity to their most likely clientele.  
    8. Poor management
      Many people who opened Black bookstores did so because they had a passion for literature, but not necessarily because they had good business and management skills. A business requires experienced management in order to be successful. It also requires sacrifice -- one has to reinvest dollars into their business for the long-term, especially during the early years, and not take money out of the business for personal "bling."  
    9. Tough economic times
      When the economy goes into a recession, the firms in the weakest position are among the many casualties. Many of the black-owned bookstores were already barely hanging on when the economy took a nose-dive in 2008. With limited financing and a dwindling clientele, they simply had no choice but to close their doors.  
    10. Lack of commitment from owners
      Business ownership is not for the faint of heart and requires a tremendous commitment. Recessions will come and go, but if the commitment is there, the entrepreneur will find a way to adjust with the environment. It may be painful during the tough times, but faith, ingenuity, a willingness to be innovative and stay abreast of the industry will lead to ultimate success. To survive, these stores must figure out how to remain relevant.
    Two out of 3 black bookstores that were in business just a few years ago are now closed.   The list include:

    A & B Distributors - Brooklyn, NY
    African & Islamic Books Plus - Cleveland, OH
    African American Books and Publishing - Baltimore, MD
    African American Gift Gallery - Knoxville, TN
    African American Heritage Book - West Palm Beach, FL
    African Artisans - Baldwin, NY
    African Book Store - Fort Lauderdale, FL
    African Heritage Books & Gifts - San Francisco, CA
    African House Institute of Learning - Jersey City, NJ
    African Marketplace - Los Angeles, CA
    Afro Books - Atlanta, GA
    Afrocentric Book Store - Chicago, IL
    Afrocentric Books & Cafe - St. Louis, MO
    Alkebulan Books - Berkeley, CA
    Amen-Ra's Bookstore and Gallery - Tallahassee, FL
    Arawak Books - Hyattsville, MD
    Ascension Books - Columbia, MD
    Asiatic the Soul of Black Folks - Toronto, ON
    Atlantic Bookpost - Reston, VA
    B.T.S. Unlimited Books - Detroit, MI
    Baruti-Ba Books - Dayton, OH
    Bishari Urban Books, Phoenix Crossing Shopping Center - , NC
    Black Book Discounters - Houston, TX
    Black By Popular Demand - Hyattsville, MD
    Black Classics - Books & Gifts - Mobile, AL
    Black Images Book Bazaar - Dallas, TX
    Black Spring Books - Vallejo, CA
    Black Swan Books & Coffee - Kohler, WI
    Blacknificent Books & More - Raleigh, NC
    Blackprint Heritage Gallery - New Haven, CT
    Book House Cafe & Gifts - Benton Harbor, MI
    Books In Color - North Highlands, CA
    Books in the Black - Columbia, SC
    Bright Lights Children's Bookstore - Inglewood, CA
    Brother's Books - Seattle, WA
    Carol's Essentials Ethnic Gifts and Books - Seattle, WA
    Celebrate - Peachtree City, GA
    Crescent Office Store - East Orange, NJ
    Cultural Bookstore  - Chicago, IL
    Cultural Expression - Newport News, VA
    D & J Book Distributors - Laurelton, NY
    Da Book Joint - Chicago, IL
    DARE Books & Educational Supplies - Brooklyn, NY
    DeesBookNook Distributors - So. Richmond Hills, NY
    Dorothea's African-American Books and Gifts - Columbia, SC
    Drum and Spear Books - Washington, DC
    Dygnyti Books - Hamden, CT
    Dynasty Bookstore, Eastland Mall - Charlotte, NC
    EDEN Books - Hartford, CT
    Education 2000+ Bookstore - Long Beach, CA
    Education Central, Sunny Isle Shopping Plaza - St. Croix,
    Ethnic Elegance - Jacksonville, FL
    Exhale African American Books & Gifts - Sugar Land, TX
    Faith To Faith Books  - Minneapolis, MN
    Forewords Books & Gifts, Located in Originations Gallery - Ann Arbor, MI
    Freedom Now Bookstore - Decatur, GA
    Gene's Books - King of Prussia, PA
    Haneef's Bookstore and Mosi Art Gallery - Wilmington, DE
    Heritage Bookstore and More - Rancho Cucamonga, CA
    Heritage House - Charlotte, NC
    Imagine This! Books Etc. - Memphis, TN
    IronWood Corner - Pasadena, CA
    Jamaicaway Books & Gifts - Boston, MA
    Kana CDs & Books - Columbus, Ohio [Owner Cedric Reed closed the store in 2008 and cntinued Operation on-line until 2009]
    Karibu Books - Hyattsville, MD, (6 Locations)
    Know Thyself, Bookstore and Cultural Development Center - Philadelphia, PA
    Kongo Square Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
    LaCeter's Book Service - Southfield, MI
    Liberation Bookstore - New York, NY
    Ligorius Bookstore Inc. - Philadelphia, PA
    Living Room Book & Pastry - Greensboro, NC
    Lodestar Books - Birmingham, AL
    Love Christian Book Store - Orlando, FL
    Mahogany Books - Detroit, MI
    Mahogany Books & Gifts - Fairfield, AL
    Matais Books Cards & Art - Long Beach, CA
    Mind & Soul Bookstore, Inc. - Trenton, NJ
    MochaReaders - Dayton, OH [Owner Rhonda Bogan thought long and hard about tough decision of closing store in 2011]
    Montsho BookFairs, Etc., Inc. - Orlando, FL
    Mt. Zion Kid's Village, Little Angels Children's Bookstore - Jonesboro, GA
    Nefertiti's Books and Gifts  - Jacksonville, FL
    Nimde Books - Louisville, KY
    Nu World of Books - Beaumont, TX
    Off The Shelf African American Books - Columbia, SC
    One Force Books - Richmond, VA
    Our Black Heritage - New York, NY
    Out of Africa, Windsor Park Mall - San Antonio, TX
    Paperback Connection - Oklahoma City, OK
    Paradise Book Store - Peoria, AZ
    Peek-A-Boo Books II, Wheaton Mall - Wheaton, MD
    People's Books & Gifts - Springfield, OH
    Phenix Information Center - San Bernardino, CA
    PowerHouse Books - Hopkins, SC
    Precious Memories Reading and Collectibles - Richmond, VA
    Rainbow Books & Blooms - Yorktown Heights, NY
    Reading Room Bookstore  - Chicago, IL
    Roots & Wings: A Cultural Bookplace  - Montgomery, AL
    Sacred Thoughts Bookstore - Jersey City, NJ
    Sensational Minds - Savannah, GA
    Serengeti Plains  - Montclair, NJ
    Shades of Sienna - Oakland, CA
    Sidewalk University - Memphis, TN
    Soul Source Bookstore - Atlanta, GA
    Special Occasions - Winston-Salem, NC
    Stouffville Book Connection Inc - Stouffville, ON
    TDIR Books - Columbia, SC
    Tenaj Books & Gift Gallery - Fort Pierce, FL
    The Black Bookworm - Fort Worth, TX
    The Black Library - Boston, MA
    The Book House Café, LGBT Books - Oakland, CA
    The Book Lovers Lounge - Lauderdale Lakes, FL
    The Cultural Connection Bookstore  - Milwaukee, WI
    The Heritage Center - Vicksburg, MS
    The Know Bookstore - Durham, NC
    The Living Word Bookstore - Chicago, IL
    The Presence of Africans In the Bible Book Center - Minneapolis, MN
    The Reading Room Bookstore - Atlanta, GA
    The Roots Book Store, Inside of Tapers Hair Care - Baton Rouge, LA
    Too-No Books Etc. - Moss Point, MS
    Treasures of the Mind Bookstore - St. Louis, MO
    Tricia's Books N' Things - Houston, TX
    Truth Boutique & Bookstore, Eastland Mall #823 - Harper Woods, MI
    Tunde Dada House of Africa - Orange, NJ
    Tunde Dada House of Africa, Green Acres Mall - Valley Stream, NY
    Two Friends Bookstore - Atlanta, GA
    Uhuru Books - Minneapolis, MN
    Under One Roof Afrikan American Bookstore - Killeen, TX
    W&W African American Art, Specializing in Books & Gift Items, Etc. - Fayetteville, NC
    X-pression Bookstore & Gallery - Indianapolis, IN
    Yawa Books - Washington, DC
    Yehudah Inc. - Teaneck, NJ
    Zawadi Gift Shop - Brooklyn, NY

    Marvin X Archives at University of California, Davis, Shields Library

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    About ArchiveGrid | ArchiveGrid Blog | Contact Us | Include Your Collections 

    Marvin X collection, 1977-1984.

    X, Marvin, 1944-
    15 items (1 folder)
    University of California, Davis - Shields Library
    Contact an Archivist to learn more about access to materials in this collection
    Contact Information
    Notes and summaries
    Educator, poet, playwright, essaytist, and activist Marvin X (born Marvin Jackmon, also known as 
    Imam El Muhajir) was born on May 29, 1944 and grew up in Oakland and Fresno, California. 
    After attending Merrit College in Oakland, he received his B.A. and M.A. in English from 
    San Francisco State University. He has taught English, creative writing, journalism, Arabic, 
    and drama at Fresno State University, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. San Diego, San Francisco State 
    University, Mills College, the University of Nevada, Reno, Laney College, and Merritt 
    College. During the 1980's he organized the Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights 
    and the 1st Annual All Black Men's Conference. It was during this time that he also 
    attempted to create the Marvin X Center for the Study of World Religions.
    These items form a component of the Department of Special Collections' African 
    American History Collection. Material in the collection includes: applications 
    for tax exemption for the Marvin X Center for the Study of World Religions, 
    Marvin X Ministry budgets for the 1982-1983 fiscal year, press release explaining 
    Marvin X's resignation as Eldrige Cleaver's aide, an abstract on "manhood training," 
    records on the planning and promotion of the 1st Annual All Black Men's Conference, 
    and photocopies (of poems, sheet music, and newspaper clippings).
    Unrestricted.
    Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests 
    for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the 
    Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special 
    Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical 
    items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which 
    must also be obtained by the researcher.
    Finding aid in Dept. of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.
    Collection on Marvin X, D-207 128:3, Department of Special Collections, General Library, 
    University of California, Davis.
    African American History Collection, Dept. of Special Collections, General Library, 
    University of California, Davis.
    This collection covers:
    X, Marvin, 1944- Archives.
    Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935-1998.
    African American poets.
    African American dramatists.
    African American scholars.
    Black nationalism.
    Editors, Translators, and other contributors:
    University of California, Davis. Library.
    View this collection description in WorldCat.org:
    http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56893009

    Parable of Broken systems, broken minds

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    These days nothing works, children are stuck on stupid, killing because they are bored. Mentally ill people don't want to live so they kill. No one can do anything right, no matter how much you pay them to do a job, the mind is just not there, so the system is wacko, but it's really the wacko minds! Maybe it's the water, the genetically altered food, perhaps the electromagnetic field, but something stinks like rotten meat. The political system is dead in the water, no one cares about the consent of the governed, it's all about the lobbyists. The religious institutions are in pitiful shape, focusing on prosperity while the people starve spiritually--the church cares nothing about the Prince of Peace. The educational system has gone private for the money. The public school drop out rate is 60% in the hood. The prison system is about money: the prisoners are a commodity on the stock exchange, while the prisons are full of the mentally ill and drug addicted. What is the solution? Jump out of the box, the box of ignorance, fear, insecurity, into the pool of love and healing. What did James Brown tell us, Money won't save you but time will take you out!
    Parable of Broken Systems, Broken Minds


    What we perceive as reality is most often a reflection of imagination, of mythology and ritual, or simply the mind of man is the macrocosm, reality the microcosm. Systems thus reflect the mind of man--did not someone say creations only reflect the mind of the creator. Broken systems, therefore, originate in broken minds. Yet we wonder why systems are broken, e.g., school system, political system, economic system, religious and moral systems.

    But systems are not the problem, rather it is the minds of men that are broken irreparably, suffering a mental atrophy, an anorexia, a paralysis of imagination. The causation is simple greed, selfishness and lust for power. It is augmented by the quest for the acquisition of things, the wanton addiction to materialism or the world of make believe, the illusion that the microcosm can satisfy the macrocosm, when the real deal holyfield is the inner rather than the outer. Yet men fear to go there, deep down into the metaphysical realm where the darkest mysteries lie seeking edification and recognition. Thus, we find ourselves at the precipice, about to be consumed by the wonder of life.

    Elijah told us, "The wisdom of this world is exhausted." And so it is--spent, obsolete, retarded, and yet we wonder why we are immobile, transfixed--stuck on stupid! Why no systems work.
    How is it possible for the great Toyota to need recalling, a consummate machine suddenly dysfunctional. What caused this sudden breakdown-- some internal defect in the machine or in the mind of man?

    Look at the educational system, confounded by the ideological foundation of white supremacy capitalism that continues to prepare students for a world of work when there is none, especially with living wages in an economic system that demands cheap labor and resources, a socalled free market system that will transcend the national needs for the wants and desires of global finance gangs, connected with, supported and defended by the military, i.e., the Christian Crusaders, soon to be supplanted by Communists from China, India and Russia.

    The teachers were long ago taught to teach a new way--back in Egypt they were told to teach with compassion and love. Yet what we see today is the pedagogy of hate. It is a system that rewards ignorance and punishes wisdom and creativity, especially of the thinking variety. Any original thought is suppressed or deemed antisocial thought and behavior, often resulting in the student diagnosed to require psycho drugs that turn him into the zombie required by the society of the walking dead.

    The religious system is the same. It is in full blown denial about the meaning of the cross and the lynching tree, about the mission of the prince of peace. For the most part, the religious community is Silent Night about the trillion dollar military budget that allows mass murder to take place across the planet. Along with Silent Night, it sings Onward Christian Soldiers as its sons and daughters crisscross the planet to secure labor and natural resources for the pleasure of the walking dead, and most especially the miserable few who enjoy the high life.

    It is all about the glorification of Pharaoh and his magicians. God, in the minds of men, is a business, big business. There is no desire for spirituality, only prosperity, minus compassion for the poor, homeless, jobless and broken hearted, crushed to earth like the pot in the hands of Jeremiah at the gates of his city.

    In the minds of politicians, there is no compromise, only preparation for the next election, or the assumption or resumption of power at any and all costs, no lie is exempt, "Vote for me, I'll set you free!" All bribes are acceptable--politicians are thus loyal to lobbyists, not the people who are expendable.

    The lips of politicians do not say let us reason together for the sake of the people, for the love of the people, for the consent of the governed. These men and women of the political realm only know the language of no, no, no. As the people starve, become homeless, jobless, we yet hear the mantra of no, no, no, late into the night. No compromise, no reconciliation, only recalcitrance and niggardliness. They are fast to reward the robber barons, the blood suckers of the poor. Eventually, a few crumbs, kibble and bits reach the poor, if ever, unless there is revolt. And then Pharaoh sees the light, suddenly, but he will send his magicians to placate the poor with more crumbs, kibbles and bits.

    Between good and evil, evil is the choice, with greed the foundation stone in the minds of men. Amazingly, the people see clearly. They feel change in the wind, not the change in the educational system or the political or religious, but in the wind. They smell the rotten hearts of men who lead into nothingness and dread, with their pitiful strut of the peacock, the one legged dance of the flamingo.

    Pharaoh magicians gather in dens of iniquity to share blood money. Teachers, preachers, politicians, all there to party on the backs of the poor. The military stand post at the door of the den, ready to club the wretched into submission, even death, if they dare enter the den of thieves, robbers, murderers, and those who perpetuate the world of make believe.

    Inside the den we hear a symphony of sick sounds, giggles, wails, grunts emanating from putrid minds exhausted from wickedness. The result is systematic gridlock--it is 5pm and the freeway is jammed with drivers full of road rage, ready to kill in an instant. It is thus a destruction of self by self, internal combustion.

    Unlike the car, there is no forward motion or backward, or perhaps it goes both ways simultaneously, if such is possible in the world of physics, but after all, the minds of men defy all laws, except the law of the jungle and the devil.

    But there shall be no forward motion with the present mind-set. Jack must jump out the box of his own making. He must take wings and fly away into a world beyond his imagination.
    This is the only way out the morass of his mind. All the technology is to no avail, for he talks, but more often says nothing, he listens but hears nothing, deaf, dumb and blind.
    --Marvin X
    2/17/10

    from The Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2012.

    Bradley Manning and the Gangster State by Chris Hedges

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    Bradley Manning and the Gangster State



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    Posted on Aug 21, 2013
    AP/Patrick Semansky
    Army Pfc. Bradley Manning after a hearing in his court-martial at Fort Meade, Md.

    Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, read a brief statement from the 25-year-old after the sentencing:
    The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life.
    I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized that (in) our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability.
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    In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.
    Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based dissension, it is usually the American soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission.
    Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy — the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, and theJapanese-American internment camps — to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.
    As the late Howard Zinn once said, “There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
    I understand that my actions violated the law; I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others.
    If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.
    We will pay for our criminality. We will pay for our callousness and brutality. The world, especially the Muslim world, knows who we are, even if we remain oblivious. It is not Manning who was condemned Wednesday, but us. “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, “the true place for a just man is also a prison.” And that is the real reason Bradley Manning is being locked away. He is a just man/woman.

    Parable of the City of God, from the Wisdom of Plato Negro by Marvin X

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    You have destroyed the City of God, turned it into a hell hole wherein brother is against brother and sister against sister. The City of God has become the habitation of devils who kill at will the children of God who are slain in the streets while no action is taken against them and the so-called good people are silent in the night, hiding in their mansions in fear and terror, knowing for a certainty the devils shall invade their homes, it is only a matter of time, simply because they have done nothing to reach out to the devils in their midst.

    Alas, the devils are their children who have gone astray and no one will lay hands on them in fear the children will tear their limbs like hungry beasts. But these beasts are hungry for love, yet no one will reach out to them, no one will lay hands on them except other devils such as robbers, thieves and murderers. No one will guide the young devils so they behave like Yacoub’s children of old, playing with steel, cars and guns, for these are symbols of power.


    And in their hunger and thirst for love, they seek satisfaction in steel since the human touch is absent their lives. If only someone would speak with them, tell them a kind word, guide them on the right path, but no, the elders are in fear of the monsters they created by being silent, neglectful and abusive. No matter how hard they try, the elders in the City of God cannot get out of their responsibility to teach truth to their weary children gone mad from lack of love and direction.


    The schools have made them ignorant, the church doors are closed to them, thus they are hungry and homeless causing them to make terror in the streets. If only someone would lay hands on them with kindness and love that is expected in the City of God, the so-called devil children, the children of Yacoub who love playing with steel, would put down their guns and stop using their cars as weapons of mass destruction. They would stop filling their young bodies with drugs and disease from unprotected sex. Why will not those in the City of God step to the front of the line and represent Divinity?


    How can they tarry in Jerusalem doing nothing while the house of God is defiled and becomes an abomination. You who are holy, take off your holy rags and confess naked before your God that you have neglected to clean his temple, that you have destroyed his children, turning them into beasts of the jungle or even worse, for they lack the love of beasts, for they are ready to kill for the slightest reason, without thinking of the consequences, the pain and suffering they cause families, friends and community.


    Why will you not teach them legal trade and commerce. No, you allow the dope man to teach them and love them while you party in the night, wink and blink at concerts wearing your rocks, stones and animal skins. Continue doing nothing and see if things get better or worse, but you live in the City of God and He expects you to exercise the reins of power, not cower in the corner afraid of that which your hands have created, for that which your hands have created shall seek you out in the night and in the day, but if you are without the armor of God, that which your hands have created shall slay you and the City of God shall be no more.



    Parable of the Pit Bull

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    for my wife who ran off to detox--from me!

    There was a pit bull who lived in the city. A man wanted to buy him and raise him for protection, so he met with the owner and got the pedigree. He investigated the history of the dog and his family connections, to make sure he was a pure bred. Once he was clear the pit bull came from a legit line, he paid for the animal and brought it home. He was happy to have a nice pet, especially one so pure and not polluted like a mutt, a cross breed or mongrel, a mutation whose DNA was of questionable nature.

    He loved his pit bull and the animal loved him. He trained the dog for fighting, and he was a great fighter, a champion who won many battles.

    And then the man met a woman he really liked. He knew almost nothing about her, but he hooked up with her and eventually she moved in with him. He didn't know where she came from, nothing about her family roots, her friends, her education and work history, whether she was psychotic and/or neurotic, suicidal and/or homicidal, whether she was radical, revolutionary or reactionary.

    He didn't know she had been raised in a foster home, and later an orphanage, that she had seen her mother stab her grandmother, that her mother had a nervous breakdown and was confined to an institution for life. He didn't know any of this. He didn't know she had been a prostitute, homeless and a drug addict.

    But he loved her and married her. And when he found out about her past life, he didn't give a damn. Since he was rich, a baller, big willie, he gave her the best of everything, just as he treated his pit bull, even better. He dressed her in the finest clothes and took her to eat in the finest restaurants and party in the VIP section of clubs.

    And then one day she disappeared. He didn't know what happened to her. Worried to death, he hired a private investigator to search for her. The private eye found her in a two dollar motel with a trick.
    The man told the private eye not to disturb her, leave her where she was.
    --Marvin X
    from the Wisdom of Plato Negro, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2012, $19.5. Black Bird Press, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702.

    Black Bird Press News & Review: Fable of the Rooster and the Hen

    Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Gangsta

    Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Parrot by Marvin X

    Parable of Message to the White Man

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    We rejected the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in his classic book Message to the Black Man, so today the white man, yes, the white devil, Yacub’s grafted being, is teaching his people from Message to the Black Man. On the popular AM radio show Coast to Coast AM, recently featured on the TV show Nightline, for years, the white man has been talking about many of the notions Elijah tried to tell us in his book and Supreme Wisdom. At least the hip hop generation has a version of Supreme Wisdom in the Five Percent philosophy so popular with rappers.

    We must say that even the blacks, including and especially, the followers of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad may have gotten Supreme Wisdom but they didn’t get it, they didn’t believe it and didn’t try to implement some of his practical do for self teachings that went beyond mythology and capital accumulation but toward nation building.

    Eighty years after the birth of the NOI, we should be closer to realizing our national aspirations but talk of Nation Time is far from the lips of nationalists, revolutionary nationalists, Pan Africanists and any others with pretence of nationalism. In fact, nationalism is a dirty word, and even those who espouse any degree of nationalism are considered narrow minded, especially if they don’t give priority to Pan Africanism or the multi-culturals, the last term considered the new word for failed integration by Dr. Julia Hare.

    We have gone from Black Studies to Diaspora Studies, since the focus on Black Studies gave priority to the so-called Negro and the white man has no intention to permit his certified Negro scholars to address the critical issues of mis-education, disparities in health care, post-slavery trauma and unresolved grief, economic parity, incarceration and the need for a general amnesty since 80% of inmates are dual diagnosed, i.e., suffer drug abuse and mental illness. And more importantly, would be free if they had proper legal representation during their trials.

    But night after night, month after month, a white version of Message to the Black Man is being taught and discussed by white authors, scholars, and scientists, and even common white people give their testimonies to verify the teachings that range from extra-terrestrial beings on earth and how their space craft enter on a constant basis, abducting humans at will and subjecting them to experiments, including sexual intercourse and giving birth to earth/ET creatures that are and have been a part of earth’s population for trillions of years.

    As Elijah taught, the Message to the White Man people claim the only so-called humans who shall remain on earth are the aboriginal Africans, all others must depart the planet because they were only here for a lesson and they have failed to learn it, so their time is up. They shall leave earth for some other planet where they must continue to study civility but they shall not be allowed to live on earth.

    Message to the White Man people are to be congratulated for at least getting the truth to their people. After all, very few blacks listen to AM radio, even though Coast to Coast AM is on late nights when blacks are up partying and bullshitting, as the Last Poets taught us.

    Authors, scholars, scientists and other experts give one, two, and three hour discussions on how the US Government has suppressed information about inter space travel, UFO’s and ET’s being in and out of here for trillions of years, along with man himself.

    Of course, such information is beyond western history or even mythology, but is quite familiar to anyone with an iota of Supreme Wisdom. Elijah told us the Aboriginal Asiatic Black man has been here trillions of years, at least since the moon separated from the earth 66 trillion years ago.

    As per UFO’s, last year whites in Texas claimed they saw a space ship with dimensions of one mile by a half mile, the exact dimensions of the Mother Ship described in Message to the Black Man.

    In the Myth of Yacub, Elijah told you how the white man was created by genetic engineering, by separating the dominant gene from the recessive gene until the humans reached the final color stage of white or colored. Yes, the colored man is the white man. Now tell that to the NAACP and other foolish blacks calling themselves colored to be in harmony with the multi-culturals. Black is not a color but the prime. You are the prime, nigguh! Why do you allow others to define you? You are not the colored man. All others are colored except you.

    For ages animals have been cloned, such as the horse into mule and donkey, and we know the whites in their bio-tech labs have cloned animals and humans—of course they will disclose the human cloning to you at the appropriate time. Just as they have kept knowledge of the UFO’s from you because that would reveal your national security was breached and thus the trillion dollar defense budget is a sham or scam as it was revealed on 9/11.

    Do you really believe some ignorant Arabs (sand Nigguhs) could fly airplanes undetected up and down the east coast with the US Air Force unable to attack and destroy them? Well, what might you do if you were told alien beings enter the earth in general and the US in particular on a nightly or daily basis, at will and unobstructed, unable to be prevented by any planes or missiles or devices known to man? You might flick your bick! You might have a panic attack and die. You would certainly not believe you were secured by your government.

    For years, Coast to Coast AM has discussed UFO’s and ET’s. Common people have reported being abducted and taken aboard space crafts for examinations and even sexual intercourse, and some persons claim to have given birth to human/alien beings. In short, there are many ET’s walking our streets appearing in the guise of human beings. We know by their behavior some people who claim to be human most certainly are not. They gotta be from outter space!

    Message to the White Man scholars have totally smashed and destroyed the traditional Western chronology of history and time, just as Message to the Black Man Supreme Wisdom transcended and made obsolete Black Studies, Africana Studies, Pan African Studies, Diaspora Studies, or whatever it is so-called Negroes are certified to teach by the white man.

    As the Message to the White Man scholars noted, knowledge is based on whatever regime is in power. With White Supremacy in power, all knowledge must be approved by the White Supremacy rulers, including politicians, preachers and teachers; they all agree on the validity of information—let us not fail to mention the media witch doctors.

    But Western history and this includes Black Studies or more precisely, Flat Studies—Black Studies is a few trillion years behind Supreme Wisdom, for the academic master’s only allow the Blacks, Africans or whatever they are, to pontificate a chronology that is only a few thousand or million years longer than that taught by their master’s. Thus, white history is a fict and most of what is taught as black history. To say our history is mainly American slavery and African civilization is yet a mis-education of the so-called Negro, since it is a fact, not a fict (Dr. Nathan Hare’s fictive theory that everything is a fiction until proven to be a fact) that, as Elijah taught, everywhere we go on the planet earth we find evidence of the Aboriginal Asiatic Black man and woman. Standard research claims we are four million years old, but Elijah debunked this and the Message to the White Man scholars as well.

    Both white and black traditional scholars have been exposed for the pitiful teachers of Miller Lite White Supremacy knowledge. Message to the White Man scholars have essentially validated Elijah’s Supreme Wisdom which should have been the foundation of Black Studies, but the so-called Negroes were so smart they outsmarted themselves.
    When I taught Black Studies at Fresno State University, 1969, one of my texts was Message to the Black Man. My journalism students were required to read Muhammad Speaks newspaper.

    But of course, in order to be certified by the White Supremacy powers, so-called Negro professors could not nor would not teach from Message to the Black Man and/or Supreme Wisdom. Elijah’s teachings were considered poppycock, while we now see it is Western and Black Studies that is poppycock. As my junior colleague Ptah Allah El (Tracy Mitchell) says, “Black Studies when to college and never came home.” Yes, forty years later we are now considering the original mission of Black Studies: to uplift the community and to teach an alternative pedagogy than the white supremacy curriculum.
    Black Studies or whatever names its called to satisfy the white colonial masters, is either going to jump out of the box of “the earth is flat” studies or follow the Message to the White Man scholars and approach the philosophy of Supreme Wisdom, whether they like it or not, whether they believe it or not, for with each passing moment it is approaching actual fact rather than fict!

    Take for example, the concern with the coming end of the world, 2012. Even our youth are living in fear the end of the world is only two years away. But Elijah taught us the Aboriginal Black man’s history is written every twenty-five thousand years, a cycle of time based on the distance around the earth. Thus, 2012 is a new era or time cycle, an era of Divine or God consciousness rather than the previous cycle of animal or human consciousness. All thinking other than Divine, all behavior other than Divine, shall be prevented. All those not on the Divine plane shall get up outta here—don’t matter where they go. The innocent shall be removed as well. They were told in the Bible they would be destroyed for lack of knowledge, so ignorance shall be no excuse. Flat Studies shall get you nowhere but outta here. The party’s over, and you gotta go somewhere, for sure, you gotta get outta here!

    The philosopher, mystic, poet, musician, Sun Ra, tried to tell you we were originally from somewhere else—and this is contrary to the Message to the White Man people, because as I noted above, they claim we are the aboriginals of earth, but we know the Message to the White Man people are just getting a grip on what’s really going on in the universe. But Sun Ra taught when our people sang Swing Low Sweet Chariot; they were speaking of space ships, for what kind of chariot can swing low? And for sure, no Africans flying airplanes have landed to make even a symbolic gesture to return us to Africa. We have yet to see Nigerian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Egyptian Airlines or Air Jamaica land with the express purpose of swingin low to take us home. Only thing we know is that a young Nigerian brother boarded a plane without a passport to arrive here on Xmas day to blow us up!

    It should be clear as we enter the new age of the next 25,000 year cycle, the old wisdom is exhausted, obsolete and must be abandoned, and that a new body of knowledge is required, new thinking and most of all, new acting, as we enter the post-black, post 9/11 and post-2012. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!
    --Marvin X
    3/24/10

    from The Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Marvin X, Black Bird Press,
    Berkeley, 2012, $19.95. Black Bird Press, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702.

    Parable of the Woman at the Well

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    A woman asked Plato why are youth out of control ? He replied that youth are out of control because adults are out of control and youth observe then emulate their behavior.


    Even during the revolutionary 60s, the militants, who are the fathers and mothers of today’s youth, were guilty of contradictions, or saying one thing but doing another. They talked black power but went home to beat their wives and women. They preached discipline but were guilty of drug abuse and abuse of power. Much of our behavior was patriarchal white supremacy actions that debased women, considering them less than human.


    Of course we learned this behavior from our white supremacy socialization. True enough, there were many good things we learned and achieved during that time, and many sincere and honest people gave their lives for the cause of freedom.


    But if we had been of sober minds, we would have been able to detect agent provocateurs and snitches. We would have been able to see through the US Government’s counter intelligence program or Cointelpro. With sobrietyand discipline, we might have been able to show our childrenbetter examples of male/female relations, and perhaps today’s youth would be more respectful of women, elders and peers.


    The woman asked Plato what can be done today to reconnect with our children ? Plato said we must embrace them with unconditional love and do not abuse them, physically, sexually or otherwise. Do not show them contradictory behavior, saying one thing but doing the opposite.


    We must not say we are about freedom, yet make their mothers slaves in the home, treating them with abuse that the children observe. Many children have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. They are without mother or father. Many are living in foster homes, the result of parental drug and sexual abuse.


    Adults must stop being predators and instead be mentors and guides. The youth want and seek our wisdom, but we must reach out to them because many are terrified of us just as we are terrified of them. It is communal insanity when we allow children to rule our community, making us afraid to go outside at night, afraid to go to the store.



    But we can only take back control of our community by reconnecting and embracing our children, no matter how painful it is for us and them. We must make amends to them for our wickedness and then demand of them the same.


    Yes, they must apologize to the elders they have harmed and disrespected. What we are talking about is the urgent need for a healing session between youth and adults, a time and space where we can gather to admit our mistakes and promise to do better now and in the future.


    We must, youth and adults, swallow our pride and reconnect. We cannot allow the chaos to continue because we know things go from bad to worse, if we do not address the issues. Nothing is going to change until we change our thinking and actions. We must rise up from animal to divine. The tideis turning because you are turning the tide!



    Mothers and fathers who are separated must come together for the sake of their children, if only for a moment. When children see parents reconciling, they will do likewise. No matter the pain of the past, adults must show the way to community unity.


    Why shouldn’t youth resort to violence, after all, they see adults resolving their conflicts with violence? Adults cannot get out of our responsibility to show the way, to guide and mentor. Every youth is our child, thus our responsibility to show the right way.


    Give youth a chance, support them when they are selling items other than dope, such as DVDs, CDs, gear and other items to get their hustle on in a legal way. At least they are not killing to make a dollar, so reach out to them. Hug a thug before the thug hugs you!


    The woman seemed to understand the wisdom of Plato. Although frustrated to the max, she said she would try to reach out to youth, rather than simply complain about their behavior and shortcomings.


    from The Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Marvin X, aka Dr. M, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2012.


    Why not invite him to your city for a reading/conversation? 510-200-4164.


    Article 23

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    Why Dr. King Wouldn’t Be Invited to the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: Dr. Wilmer Leon Explains
    MARTIN LUTHER KING JR
    By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III 

    “Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967
    As America commemorates the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom I am compelled to ask the following question, would Dr. King be invited to speak at upcoming events to commemorate the March?
    If you get past the marketed “Dream” reference in the “I Have a Dream” speech you will understand that it was an indictment of America.  If you read “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” or Dr. King’s last book Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community?; you can rest assured that today Dr. King would be in opposition to America’s backing of the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, drone attacks, indefinite detention at Guantanamo, NSA wiretapping, mass incarceration, and the Obama administration’s failure to speak forcefully about poverty in America. From that premise one can only conclude that if Dr. King were alive today, those within the African American community who are engaged in stifling honest, fact-based, critical analysis of the administration’s policies would not allow Dr. King on the dais.  Reason being, Dr. King committed his life to a morally based sense of justice and humanity not actions taken from a sense of political expediency or realpolitik.
    On August 28, 1963 Dr. King stated, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…One hundred years later, the colored American lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”  Today according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate stands at 7.6% and 15% in the African American community.  Today, “in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity,” according to Bread For the World“14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 16.2 million children—struggle to put food on the table” and “more than one in five children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger.”
    President Obama has claimed to be a champion of the middle class but rarely speaks to the plight of the poor in America.  Dr. King would not stand idly by and allow this to go unchallenged.  As America spends billions of dollars on its drone program, children continue to go hungry.  In his 1967 speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence Dr. King stated, “A few years ago…It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor, both black and white, through the poverty program…Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything on a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube.”  If you replace Vietnam with Afghanistan and the War on Terror I believe Dr. King would be engaged in the same analysis and saying the same things today.
    Dr. King said that the people of Vietnam must see, “Americans as strange liberators…they languish under our bombs and consider us, not their fellow Vietnamese, the real enemy…What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform? What do they think as we test out our latest weapons on them…?”  Today, Dr. King would be asking the same questions about America’s actions in Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and the continued US support for the Zionist government in Israel as it continues to build settlements on Palestinian land in violation of international law.
    Let’s be very clear, I have used actions of the Obama administration to highlight many of the contradictions that we face and to demonstrate how the man we now revere, the icon that will be lauded at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington would not be invited to speak in today’s political context. That’s the symptom of a greater problem.
    To gain great insight into the real problem you have to examine the work of Edward Bernays and the rise of the propaganda industry in the 1920’s. “[The] American business community was also very impressed with the propaganda effort (created by Bernays). They had a problem at that time. The country was becoming formally more democratic. A lot more people were able to vote and that sort of thing. The country was becoming wealthier and more people could participate and a lot of new immigrants were coming in, and so on.  So what do you do? It’s going to be harder to run things as a private club. Therefore, obviously, you have to control what people think. There had been public relation specialists but there was never a public relations industry.” History as a Weapon – Noam Chomsky – 1997.
    The business community as Chomsky discussed or the corptocracy in today’s parlance uses propaganda to co-opt the American political landscape and has contributed to the decline of the American political left.  The politics and policies of the Obama administration are examples of that decline, not responsible for it.
    At the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington pay very close attention to what is said and even closer attention to what is not (August 27, 2013 is the 50th commemoration of the passing of W.E.B. DuBois).
    Understanding the moral basis of Dr. King’s analysis, he would be standing today for the very things he stood for then.  He would be critical of the current administration, and as such, great efforts would be made to shut him out of the national debate since many in the African American community see honest, fact based, criticism of Obama administration policy as antithetical to the interests of the African American community.  The prophet is never welcome in his own village.
    Dr. King’s “Dream” was significant because of its juxtaposition against the reality of the Negros nightmare but Bernaysian propaganda keeps the focus on the “Dream”.
    Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the Sirisu/XM Satellite radio channel 110 call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon” Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email:wjl3us@yahoo.comwww.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com

    Marvin X offers a healing peek into his psyche by Junious Ricardo Stanton

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    Marvin X is in recovery and it has not been easy for him. As a writer/healer





    he still has  the voice of a revolutionary 



    poet/playwright,


    it is a voice


    we need


    to listen and pay attention to.
     

    Books by Marvin X
    Love and War: Poems  / In the Crazy House Called America / Woman: Man's Best Friend /  Beyond Religion Toward Spirituality, How to Recover from White Supremacy, Wisdom of Plato Negro
    *   *   *   *   *
    Marvin X Offers A Healing Peek Into His Psyche
    Review of In the Crazy House Called America

    By
      Junious Ricardo Stanton

    Rarely is a brother secure and honest enough with himself to reveal his innermost 
    thoughts, emotions or his most hellacious life experiences. For most men it would 
    be a monumental feat just to share/bare his soul with his closest friends but to do 
    so to perfect strangers would be unthinkable, unless he had gone through the fires 
    of life and emerged free of the dross that tarnishes his soul. Marvin X, poet, 
    playwright, author and essayist does just that in a self-published book entitled 

    This latest piece from Marvin X offers a peek into his soul and his psyche. 
    He lets the reader know he is hip to the rabid oppression the West heaps 
    upon people of color especially North American Africans while at the same 
    time revealing the knowledge gleaned from his days as a student radical,  
    black nationalist revolutionary forger of the Black Arts Movement, husband, 
    father lover, a dogger of women did not spare him the degradation and agony 
    of descending into the abyss of crack addiction, abusive and toxic relationships 
    and family tragedy.  

    Perhaps because of the knowledge gained as a member of the Nation of Islam, 
    and his experiences as one of the prime movers of the cultural revolution of 
    the '60, the insights he shares In the Crazy House Called America are all the 
    keener. Marvin writes candidly of his pain, bewilderment and depression 
    of losing his son to suicide. He shares in a very powerful way, his own 
    out of body helplessness as he wallowed in the dregs of an addiction that 
    threatened to destroy his soul and the mess his addictions made of his 
    life and relationships with those he loved. 

    But he is not preachy and this is not an autobiography. He has already 
    been there and done that. In sharing his story and the wisdom he has 
    gleaned from his life experiences and looking at the world through 
    the eyes of an artist/healer, Marvin X serves as a modern day shaman/juju 
    man who in order to heal himself and his people ventures into the spirit 
    realm to confront the soul devouring demons and mind pulverizing dragons; 
    he is temporarily possessed by them, heroically struggles to rebuke their 
    power before they destroy him; which enables him to return to this realm, 
    tell us what it is like, prove redemption is possible, thereby empowering himself/ 
    us and helping to heal us. He touches on a myriad of topics as he raps and writes 
    about himself and current events. 

    Reading this book  you know he knows what it is like to come face to face 
    with and do battle with the insanity and death this society has in store for all 
    Africans.   Marvin X talks about his sexual relations/dysfunction, drugs, media
     and free speech, sports, black political power or the lack thereof, the war on 
    drugs and the current War on Terrorism, nothing is off limits. He includes reviews 
    of music, theater as well as film, but not as some smarter/ holier than thou, elitist observer. 
    Marvin X writes as one actively engaged in life, including its pain and suffering. 
    He lets us know he was a willing and active participant in his addiction, how it impacted 
    his decision making, his role as a parent, his male-female "relationships", his ability 
    to be creative within a movement to liberate African people and the world from the
    corruption of Caucasian hegemony. 

    Marvin X is in recovery and it has not been easy for him. As a writer/healer 
    he still has the voice of a revolutionary poet/playwright, it is a voice we need to 
    listen and pay attention to. He has survived his own purgatory and emerged stronger 
    and more committed to life and saving his people.  As North American Africans 
    (his term to differentiate us from our continental and diasporic brethren) he sees 
    the toll the insanity of this culture takes on us. His culturally induced self-destructive 
    lifestyle choices and the death of his son is a testament to how life threatening and 
    lethal this society can be. 

    But Marvin X also talks about spiritual redemption, the ability to transcend even 
    the most horrific experiences with resiliency and determination so that one 
    ets a glimpse of  one's own  divine potential. This book is an easy read which 
    makes it all the more profound. In The Crazy House Called America is for 
    brothers especially. It is a book all black men should grab hold of and digest, 
    if for no other reason than to experience just how redemptively healing and 
    liberating being honest can be.
    *  *  *  *  *
    from Nathanielturner.com, Rudolph Lewis, Editor, Chickenbones


    Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Parrot by Marvin X

    Black Bird Press News & Review

    Parable of a Real Woman by Marvin X

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    There was a man who had many women in his life. They had come and gone, with himself at fault most of the time. But he wouldn't give up, he continued his self improvement and search for that special woman. He talked with elder women about what he should do. One told him he'd never had a real woman! If so, she would still be with him, no matter what, through thick and thin, up times and down times. Well, he asked, how would he know when such a woman was in his presence. First, cleanup your own act, she said. Scoop your own poop. Rid yourself of defects of character. Make amendments to all those you have harmed in life. It takes humility to do this.


    Still, how will I know the real woman? The older woman answered, you will know because when she comes over your house and sees something amiss, she will take authority to correct the situation. If your house is dirty, she will immediately ask if she can clean it as a favor to you, as an act of love. She will not want any money for her services. And she will clean your house as it has never been cleaned before because she knows what she is doing. Yes, she is a pro, not only with house cleaning but with every thing she does, including her love making. She will make sure you are satisfied and herself as well.


    She will demand respect and will respect you. She will demand freedom and give you freedom. She will speak in the language of love so smooth that it will be like a razor cutting to the heart. You will be bleeding to death but not know you are cut.


    You will do what she suggests and do it willingly because it will not be a demand but a request said so subtle you won't recognize it for what it actually is: a demand. And you will love doing what she requests.


    When you need space and time to yourself you won't need to explain, she will pick up the vibe.

    And you will do the same for her.


    She will not be jealous and envious of your talent and skills or how handsome you are to other women. She knows she has you in her pocket because she is confident of herself, and not worried about some other woman taking her man.


    If you are taken by another woman, it must be the will of God that you go. She knows God will replace her emptiness with someone even better than you. But she will give you time to get a grip on yourself and find your way back home. Just don't take too long and when you come home don't be asking about what she was doing while you were gone.


    A real woman will put her resources at your disposal if you are worthy of them, as the prophet Muhammadwas treated by the wealthy trade woman Khadijah. There is no selfishness in love. All is for the beloved, but a wise woman ain't no fool. As the song says, the greatest thing you will ever do is love and be loved in return.


    The man thanked the elder woman for her wisdom and departed on his search.



    from the Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2012.

    Comment on the Wisdom of Plato Negro


    The Wisdom of Plato Negro is for the forty something up. No persons who haven't lived a few years can appreciate the things Marvin X says in The Wisdom of Plato Negro. You need to be at least forty to understand, and even then, this is not a book to read in one setting, even if it is easy reading. It is a book to read in a relaxed situation, and then only read one or two of the parables at a time. They must be carefully digested, each one.

    Think about them, what was the real meaning? Again, if you haven't lived a few years, there's no way you can appreciate some of the things he says. For example, the Parable of the Real Woman. A young man who hasn't had many experiences with women cannot possibly understand this parable. If a woman comes to his house and cleans it out of love, a young man cannot appreciate this. He will tell her thanks, then go get a flashy woman who is never going to clean his house, mainly because she doesn't know how. But the dude will go for her because she is cute, but the real woman he rejects, the one with common sense and dignity, who may not be a beauty queen.

    --Anon




    Black Bird Press News & Review: Support Black Power Baby Muhammida El Muhajir's World Tour

    Young Men Dialogue at Marvin X's Peripatetic Academy of da Corner

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    You ought to start something called "Peripatetic Universities." Greek philosophers like Socrates pioneered walk around place to place schools. It's time for an off campus intellectual movement 
    (like the Enlightenment which was begun off campus; Voltaire, for an example, was playwright). On -campus academics- some of the prominent ones-at Harvard and Yale, and Think Tank intellectuals John McWhorter and Shelby Steele are no different from the French Vichy intellectuals and academics under Hitler. Only 8% of poor people go to college. This shouldn't be the end of their intellectual careers.
    A Peripatetic University would work this way: leaflets would be passed out in black neighborhoods announcing a site of a Peripatetic lecture. These could be held in parks and elsewhere.
    --Ishmael Reed





    Marvin X's peripatetic Academy of da Corner was at the Berkeley Flea Market this Saturday. The two young men above engaged in an extensive dialogue on manhood training. The 19 year old on the right was deeply upset at the recent lost of his friend to homicide. He said learning of his friend's death caused him chest pain along with grief. He acknowledged the friend and his murderer were



    friends but had words over a female. The young man has read Marvin's Mythology of Pussy and Dick and says every word of it is truth. He hopes that brothers will some day get it in their heads that they do not own women. He said his dead friend was probably a victim of jealousy and envy as well. 

    The 19 year old was sent to Academy of da Corner by his father, a vendor at the Berkeley Flea Market.
    The young man is trying to figure out why he is so attracted to females, especially on the physical level.
    Marvin, aka Plato Negro, said God designed women to attract men, but too often we are attracted by their behinds rather than their minds! After the fuck, then what? 


    You Don't Know Me

      You don't know me
      you had a chance to know me
      before we made love
      you had a chance to know my mind
      understand my fears
      learn about issues
      help me heal some things
      but you wanted to make love
      so you don't know me
      we made love
      but you don't know me
      don't have a clue
      think I'm a good dick
      or you some good tight pussy
      but you don't know me
      and never will now
      because you wanted to make love
      you wanted to get a nut
      we didn't even talk much
      a little bit leading up to sex
      I went along
      I was horny too
      but you don't know me
      and I don't know you
      now we never will
      we blew it forever
      because we made love
      too fast too quick too soon
      now you think you own me
      I can't breathe
      can't talk on the phone to friends
      because we made love
      because I gave you some dick
      you gave me some pussy
      now I'm no longer human
      I'm your love slave
      you my slave
      we're in love but you don't know me
      we gonna get married
      but you don't know me
      we're gonna have children
      but you don't know me
      you're gonna beat my ass
      but you don't know me
      you're going to jail
      but you don't know me
      we're getting a divorce
      but you don't know me
      now we're friends "Just Friends" Charlie Parker tune
      But you don't know me and never will.
      --Marvin
      X




      The brother on the right is in his early 40s. He asked Plato Negro what is to be done about the present situation. Plato said, "Don't ask me, it's on you, not me. What are you going to do about the present situation?" The brother agreed knowledge is the key. The people being destroyed for lack of knowledge. They have no knowledge of self, God and the devil! They have no knowledge of the women, hence they think they own her and will kill over her. The older brother told the younger that his first duty is to serve God. His life and death are all for God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then all things shall be added unto you. He gave the younger brother a brief history of the Aboriginal people of Africa, Asia and the Americas. Plato was content to let the brothers talk; he said very little, sometimes he chimed in with "That's right!"

      Academy of da Corner has been invited to San Francisco's Hunters Point/Bayview. Look for him soon at Palou and 3rd and 3rd and La Salle in front of Da Corner gear shop. His sponsors promise to serve generous refreshments to all attendees.

      For more information, call 510-200-4164


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