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Black Bird Press News & Review: Sun Ra Interview (Helsinki, 1971)
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Marvin X on the Black white woman in the NAACP
I salute the white woman who wanted to be black. I support her more than I do black women who want to be white, who want their man and children to be white, i.e., addicted to white supremacy (see my book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy).
In my essay In Search of My Soul Sister, I compared Condi Rice and Barabra Boxer and concluded Barbara Boxer was my soul sister simply because she stood on the side of social justice and global peace while Condi is guilty of crimes against humanity.
Blackness is not a color but a state of consciousness. Black skin does not make one Black. When John Brown tried to save us by attacking Harper's Ferry, Frederick Douglas punked out. Who was Black, Frederick or John?
I'm looking for another John Brown white man and/or woman, rather than black face white people.
According to Dr. Nathan Hare, Black face white people suffer addiction to white supremacy type II, whites suffer type I, both must detox and enter a white supremacy recovery program. My book is a manual based on the 12 step model to establish mental health peer groups in our community. Tim Wise is available to assist white people in over coming white privilege and other ravages of addiction to white supremacy, a global virus that is cunning and vile.
During the 60s, we had brothers married to white women but we didn't allow their white women into our parties, revolutionary parties where we cut the music and rapped revolutionary black nationalism.
When the brothers pleaded with us their women were black, we ignored them and denied their partners admission to our parties.
In hindsight, we should have allowed the white women entrance since they did have black consciousness. What is closer to the truth: a white woman faking blackness or a black woman faking whiteness (blond wig, bleaching cream, proclaiming belief in a white god called Jesus, celebrating Easter, Fourth of July, Columbus Day, Xmas and New Year's Day (the most dreaded day in the life of our ancestors, i.e. the day Africans were auctioned as slaves--fuck Gumbo on New Year's!). On New Year's we should honor our resistance warriors, e.g., Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Grabriel Prosser, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, et al.
At the Black House political/cultural center, founded by Eldridge Cleaver, Ed Bullins, Ethna Wyatt (Hurriyah Asar) and myself, San Francisco, 1967, we barred white women as well. Mrs. Amina Baraka loves telling the story of how Ethna/Hurriyah denied entrance to a white woman one night. When the white woman said she was white and Native American, Ethna told her, "The Native American part of you can come in but the white got to go!"
--Marvin X 6/15/15
FYI, Elijah Muhammad taught us the white man is the colored man since Black is not a color but the prime, all colors come from Black, the original. We are not colored people or people of color! We are the aboriginal people of the planet earth. mx
NAACP Supports White Chapter President Passing For Black
Blacks and liberals accused Dolezal of an offensive impersonation, part of a long history in which whites appropriated black heritage when it suited them. Jonathan Capehart wrote in The Washington Post, "Blackface remains highly racist, no matter how down with the cause a white person is."Others noted that for her, unlike black people, casting off the advantages of whiteness was a choice. "I wonder what race Rachel would become if she got stopped by the police?" author Terry McMillan wrote on Twitter.
Click on Video: Disturbing (Middle of the Page)
Email Contact for the National NAACP
http://www.naacp.org/page/s/contact
Book Review: Reginald James takes a peek at Marvin X's (Dr. M) manual for a Pan African Mental Health Peer Group
How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy
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Milford Graves - NY HeArt Ensemble - Vision Festival 18 - Roulette, Broo...
Milford Graves is the Master Drummer of the Black Arts Movement. His drumming was beautiful and so powerful a statement of revolutionary blackness, he was "banned" from playing downtown New York.
M
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Black Bird Press News & Review: The Ethnic Cleansing of North American Africans by USA White Supremacy
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In the Name of Jesus: White man kills nine Blacks at AME Church, Charleston, South Carolina
![US <b>church</b> <b>shooting</b>: Nine shot at Emanuel <b>AME</b> <b>Church</b> | Stuff.co.nz]()
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This devil prayed for an hour with the victims, then killed them.![<b>killed</b> in mass <b>shooting</b> at <b>AME</b> <b>church</b> in Charleston, S.C. | www.wpxi ...]()
Corey Wessenger, standing near the church at the time of the incident, says that there are officers all over the area.
“I just saw a group of about 40 people escorted by cops,” Wessenger told CNN by phone.
USA Today is reporting that police are investigating a shooting that has led to multiple fatalities in the Charleston, South Carolina area. According to social media sources, there have been multiple deaths in the shooting, but this information has yet to be confirmed with law enforcement.South Carolina Rep. Peter McCoy tweeted that nine people died in the shooting, which occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church is the oldest AME church in the South and is led by South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney. It is also one of the oldest and largest black congregations in the city of Baltimore.
One of the founders of the church was Denmark Vessey, who was executed for attempting a slave revolt. According to Twitter statements by Charleston Police, the shooting took place at 9 pm EST. The gunman is currently on the loose as well. He is believed to be a white male, about 21 years old, wearing a gray sweatshirt or hoodie with jeans.
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BBP Editor: When artistic freedom fighter, author, Marvin X, was on a book tour in South Carolina, his hosts told him to say nothing about white supremacy while visiting Gullahland.
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Black Bird Press News & Review: Race in America--the Grand Denial!
Black Bird Press News & Review: Race in America--the Grand Denial!
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Denial is quite simply the evasion of reality. Denial can be personal or communal, for sometimes an entire nation can be in denial about its abominations, for they are too painful to make adjustments in the collective psyche and the personal reality, for to do so would incriminate the mythology and ritual of said society, and thus the normal daily round would be disrupted and dysfunctional, for painful adjustments would be in order, and as long as we can avoid the painful the better, after all, the status quo can be maintained....--Marvin X
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Marvin X replies to the Pope: Parable of the Green Revolution
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Pope Francis warns the West on fossil fuels and mindless consumerism
(CNN)Pope Francis warned Thursday that a broad sweep of human activities -- from a blind worship of technology to an addiction to fossil fuels and mindless consumerism -- has brought the planet to the "breaking point."
"Doomsday predictions," the Pope said in a sharply worded manifesto, "can no longer be met with irony or disdain."
Citing scientific consensus that we are witnessing a "disturbing warming" of the Earth, Francis embraced the view that humans are largely to blame for a dramatic change in the climate.
Nothing short of a "bold cultural revolution" can halt humanity's spiral into self-destruction, the Pope warned.
"The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth," Francis said. "In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish."
The popular pontiff castigated big businesses, energy companies, short-sighted politicians, scurrilous scientists, laissez faire economists, callous Christians and myopic media professionals. Scarcely any area of society escapes his probing pen.
Though it ends with a prayer, it is a deeply pessimistic statement, at least in parts, particularly from a spiritual leader known for his hopeful messages of mercy and openness. People no longer seem to believe in a happy future, the Pope lamented.
Francis' challenging manifesto came Thursday in the form of an encyclical, a letter traditionally addressed from St. Peter's Square to the more than 1 billion Catholics across the globe. Derived from the Greek word for "circle," an encyclical is among the church's most authoritative teaching documents.
But Francis has set his sights far beyond the circle of his church. With an eye toward several key climate change summits scheduled for later this year, the Pope said his letter is addressed to "every person living on this planet."
"I would like to enter a dialogue with all people about our common home," Francis said.
Critique of modern life
The humble invitation belies the damning analysis of modern life contained in the 184-page encyclical, entitled "Laudato Si." The archaic Italian phrase, which means "Praised Be To You," appears in the "Canticle of the Sun," a song penned by St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology.
Subtitled, "On Care for Our Common Home," the encyclical was published Thursday in at least five languages during a news conference at the Vatican. The document was more than a year in the making, church officials say, and draws on the work of dozens of scientists, theologians, scholars from various fields and previous popes.
"We have a situation here," said Janos Pasztor, the U.N.'s assistant secretary-general for climate change, "in which science and religion are totally aligned." Pasztor was part of a team that convened with church officials at the Vatican this April.
Pope Francis
The Pope's eagerly awaited encyclical recycles some of the now-familiar themes of Francis' papacy: an abiding concern for the poor, a scorching critique of the idolatry of money and a facility for using evocative and earthy language to describe complex conundrums.
As the first Pope from the developing world, Francis brings a moral vision shaped not in the seminaries of Europe but the slums of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
With language ranging from the majestic (lyrical poetry in praise of nature) to the mundane (take the bus!), the Pope put his signature stamp on a controversial topic and moral clout on the line.
"Laudato si" is long on laments and short on specific solutions, though the Pope repeatedly urges deep thinking and dialogue to address the complex symptoms now plaguing the earth. In broad strokes, Francis calls for a drastic change in "lifestyle, production and consumption" from superficial and unsustainable habits to more mature means of caring for "our common home."
"What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?" Francis asks. "The question not only concerns the environment in isolation; the issue cannot be approached piecemeal."
And while the Pope calls for practical steps like recycling and improving public transportation, he said structural injustices require more political will and sacrifices than most societies seem willing to bear.
In short, our care for the environment is intimately connected to our care for each other, he argues, and we are failing miserably at both.
"We are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social," Francis writes, "but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental."
The rich and powerful shut themselves up within self-enclosed enclaves, Francis argues, compulsively consuming the latest goods to feed the emptiness within their hearts, while ignoring the plight of the poor.
The poor, meanwhile, find themselves on the run from natural disasters and degraded habitats, shunted to the bottom of the world's pile of problems with decreasing access to its natural resources.
Francis saves his most challenging questions for modern consumers, arguing that humanity has become enamored of another apple -- and this time no Eve or serpent are around to take the fall. The temptation may have shifted from a forbidden fruit to cutting edge technology, but the sin remains the same: hubris.
"We are not God," the Pope warns, "The Earth was here before us and has been given to us."
'Bottom of the pile'
Though Popes since Paul VI in 1971 have addressed environmental degradation, "Laudato Si" is the first encyclical to focus primarily on creation care, the Christian idea that God gave humans the earth to cultivate, not conquer.
Even months before its publication, the encyclical drew criticism from conservatives and climate change skeptics, who urged the Pope not to put his moral weight behind the controversial issue of global warming.
Many Catholics and environmentalists, meanwhile, eagerly awaited the encyclical. The Washington-based Catholic Climate Covenant, for example, plans to send homily hints to the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the United States for priests to use during sermons this summer. The group is also planning media events with bishops in Iowa, California, New Mexico and elsewhere.
In the weeks before the encyclical's release, Protestant pastors and at least 300 rabbis in the United States also said they were willing and eager to embrace Pope's call for environmental justice.
A Brazilian group made even made a tongue-in-cheek trailer ahead of Francis' encyclical, portraying the pontiff of a spiritual superhero gearing for battle against the forces of evil -- energy executives.
In another sign of the anticipation awaiting the encyclical, the news that an Italian magazine had published a leaked draft of the document online on Monday made the front pages of several American newspapers.
From the first days of his papacy, Francis has preached about the importance of the environment, not only as a scientific concern but also a moral one. In his first homily as pontiff, Francis called six times during the short sermon for humans to protect creation.
The encyclical published on Thursday goes well beyond any sermons, delving into fields familiar to any Catholic, such as Scripture and theology, but also wandering into sociology, politics, urban planning, economics, globalization, biology and other areas of scientific research.
The pope has said he hopes his encyclical on the environment will reach a wide audience.
Broken into six chapters, "Laudato Si" begins by cataloguing a host of ills wracking the planet: dirty air, polluted water, industrial fumes, toxic waste, rising sea levels and extreme weather.
The problem is "aggravated," the Pope said, "by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels."
If present trends continue, Francis argued, the changing climate will have grave implications for poor communities who lack the resources to adapt or protect themselves from natural disasters.
Many will be forced to leave their homes, while the economically and politically powerful "mask" the problems or respond with indifference, the Pope said.
The poor may get a passing mention at global economic conferences, Francis says, but their problems seem to be merely added to agendas as an afterthought.
"Indeed, when all is said and done," the Pope said of the poor, "they frequently remain on the bottom of the pile."
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Dominican Republic's "Ethnic Purging" or the Yellow Negus vs. the Black Negus
The Dominican Republic’s “Ethnic Purging”
June 17, 2015 Writer Edwidge Danticat on Mass Deportation of Haitian FamiliesDemocracy Now
Edwidge Danticat
In 2013, a Dominican constitutional court ruling stripped the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic as far back as 1929, retroactively leaving tens of thousands without citizenship. Today marks the deadline for undocumented workers to register their presence in the Dominican Republic or risk mass deportation. However, only 300 of the 250,000 Dominican Haitians applying for permits have reportedly received them. Many have actively resisted registering as foreigners, saying they are Dominican by birth and deserve full rights. Dominican authorities have apparently organized a fleet of buses and set up processing centers on the border with Haiti, creating widespread fears of mass roundups. The Dominican Republic’s decision to denationalize hundreds of thousands of people has sparked international outcry.
We are joined by the acclaimed Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat.
Transcript
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Dominican Republic is set to begin what some are calling “ethnic purging,” placing the fate of hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent into limbo. Half a million legally stateless people could be sent to Haiti this week, including those who have never stepped foot in Haiti and don’t speak the language. In 2013, a Dominican constitutional court ruling stripped the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic as far back as 1929, retroactively leaving tens of thousands without citizenship. This is Dominican migration minister Ruben Darío Paulino.RUBEN DARÍO PAULINO: [translated] Let’s not comment on any excesses in the reparation plan, but, yes, firmness in upholding the laws, so all the undocumented in this country return to their country of origin.AMYGOODMAN: Today marks the deadline for undocumented workers to register their presence in the Dominican Republic or risk mass deportation. However, only 300 of the 250,000 Dominican Haitians applying for permits have reportedly received them. Many have actively resisted registering as foreigners, saying they’re Dominican by birth and deserve full rights. Dominican authorities have apparently organized a fleet of buses and set up processing centers on the border with Haiti, creating widespread fears of mass roundups. This is Tini Rosier, an undocumented migrant risking deportation.
TINIROSIER: [translated] If the deadline lapses, what they say is that we will have to go. There will be no fighting it and nothing that can be done. And I will have to go, because my mother and father brought me here when I was nine years old.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Dominican Republic’s decision to denationalize hundreds of thousands of people has sparked an international outcry. Haitian President Michel Martelly has denounced it as “civil genocide.” The United Nations protested the ruling, and the U.S. State Department voiced measured disapproval. Meanwhile, Dominican-American writers Junot Díaz and Julia Alvarez, Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat and American writer Mark Kurlansky have united to express their shared condemnation of the decision. They wrote in The New York Times, quote, “One of the important lessons of the Holocaust is that the first step to genocide is to strip a people of their right to citizenship.”
AMYGOODMAN: For more, we are joined by Edwidge Danticat right here in New York, the acclaimed Haitian-American novelist. Her latest book is Claire of the Sea Light.
Edwidge, welcome to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you back on.
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Thank you.
AMYGOODMAN: Talk about the significance of what’s happening right now in the Dominican Republic, the other half of the island, Hispaniola, from where you were born, in Haiti.
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, I think this—we’ve often had deportations from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, but this is the first time that they will be done with a law behind them that actually, since the law—this constitutional court decided to strip citizenship from that large number of people, has really made life much harder for Dominicans of Haitian descent, but also migrants who are on the island. So, this law not only now gives the Dominican government the power to deport mass amounts of people, but also creates an environment, a civil environment, that’s really hard for people, because, you know, others might feel now that we’ve had an increase of violence against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, because it seems like a state-sponsored open season on people who are not only—who are considered Haitians by the way they look, primarily, or by their Haitian-sounding name.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And most people here in the United States are not aware of this long, troubled history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, occupying the same island. There are ultranationalists and conservatives among the Dominican Republic who still—who talk about, hearken back to what they claim was the Haitian occupation of their country, and they see a line running through historically on this issue. Could you fill us in on some of that history that’s led to what we are facing today?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, Hispaniola is shared by—the island—by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. And we share a history of colonialism and occupations, and at some point it was split between the French and the Spanish. And after the Haitian independence, there was a shift, where Haiti—and there was a—the whole island was under one rule, post-independence. And then, Dominican Republic, in 1822, there was a separation. But there are all these historical scars, where, you know, we, on the Haitian side, remember the massacre of Haitian cane workers in 1937. And then these things are brought up. But there’s also, for Americans, a common occupation of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the turn of the century, and both sides of the island have been marred, really, by the corporate—this other kind of occupation of the sugar industry that goes back to the beginning of the 20th century.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And the significance of the Dominican government deciding on 1929 as the date from which they’re going to start all of the tracing of the lineage of those Dominican nationals who are now—who have been—I mean, Haitian nationals who have been Dominican citizens now for generations?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, I mean, there are so many things that are—that seem very arbitrary about this decision, 1929, one can only guess. 1929 was the beginning of the Depression here, and maybe there was a—the Gulf and Western and these other companies that were part of the sugar plantation complex, maybe there was a [inaudible], and then they actually—Haitian workers were always brought to that side, and suddenly, when the sugar industry pulls out, they are left hanging. But 1929 seems very bizarre in terms of deciding that people are in transit since 1929. It boggles the mind to think that you can be in transit in a country for 86 years. I mean, there’s that several generations of families that have lived in the Dominican Republic, that made their lives there, that risk now being deported.
AMYGOODMAN: So, Edwidge, are people in the Dominican Republic speaking out? I mean, Dominicans?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Oh, there are several organizations in the Dominican Republic that are speaking out, because this issue is sometimes presented as an immigration issue. But a large number of people who are affected by this will be Dominicans of Haitian descent. And so, they’re—but often these voices are drowned out by the ultranationalist voices who use this issue to scapegoat the—and use this issue as a way to divide people and to further their causes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, the great Peruvian novelist, Mario Vargas Llosa, the Nobel laureate, is considered something of an adopted son in the Dominican Republic. His novel, The Feast of the Goat, is about the assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Vargas Llosa recently denounced the deportation ruling in the Spanish newspaper El País. He wrote that the sentence, quote, “is a juridical aberration and seems to be directly inspired by Hitler’s famous laws of the Thirties handed down by German Nazi judges to strip German citizenship from Jews who had for many years—many centuries—been resident in that country and were a constitutive part of its society.” Dominican nationalists responded to Vargas Llosa’s comments with outrage. They burned copies of his book, and more than 60 community organizations signed a formal petition to request that the government name the author persona non grata in the Dominican Republic. I’m wondering your response to this reaction to Vargas Llosa?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, many of us have also been named persona non grata. I think that’s the immediate reaction to speaking out against what’s an injustice. And I think what’s important to note is that those of us who are speaking against this law, we don’t have a quarrel with Dominican people. We’re speaking against an injustice and an unjust law, just as we would anywhere else in the world. The reality is that a very large number of people can be affected by this, and this is happening in our region. And, of course, I have a personal connection to it, but I think it’s something that should concern everybody who cares about justice and human rights. And it sets also a very dangerous precedent for—in terms of moving large numbers of people who happen to be migrant or citizens elsewhere in the region.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And there’s also actually been—right here in New York state, in the state Legislature, there’s been a quiet little battle raging because some Dominican legislators have been trying to get a resolution to condemn what the Dominican government is doing, while others are trying to stop that resolution from coming to a vote in the state Legislature. So this is really forcing a much-needed debate, unfortunately, on this tragedy, within—among the political circles of the Dominican Republic, as well.
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, I think that’s always happened. You’ve always had people who have been very sympathetic to this cause within the Dominican Republic. Again, it’s important to stress that we are talking also about Dominicans of Haitian descent, people whose families will be separated. And sometimes this issue is always presented, sort of a Haitian migrants—and there are Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, but also this law will affect people, Dominicans of Haitian descent, or—who can just be picked up because they have a Haitian-sounding name or because they look Haitian or black. And so, I think it’s important that this conversation is had. And the Dominican diaspora, along with the Haitian diaspora, has also been very active and vocal, especially since the law was passed, and continues to speak out, to bring attention to this issue.
AMYGOODMAN: Some have said the ruling is equivalent to if the United States suddenly announced that everyone of Hispanic descent must be deported. Do you think that that’s a helpful way to understand what’s happening here? And also, how will this affect the Dominican Republic elections that are coming up?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: Well, I think it’s—people are so ill-informed about the situation that I think it’s—it is important for us to reach for the analogies that we had. It’s as if the United States said, “Yes, everybody who has been here since 1930, you have to prove you’re a citizen. You have to go back to the place where you come from to get a birth certificate from there.”
I think we also have to remember that this is not the first time that we’ve had these deportations. There were somewhat large-scale deportations in the 1990s, and they also happened to coincide with elections in the Dominican Republic. And often as elections are coming up, you know, and parties who are in power want to keep their power, you always have in the Dominican Republic this population that you can easily scapegoat. But this is the time that it’s gone—this is the first time that it’s gone this far, where, as this action is happening, it’s also a way of—it seems to be cleaning out some voter roll—you know, the voter rolls and people who could possibly be voting. And it’s something that we have seen before, but never on this large a scale.
AMYGOODMAN: What are you calling for? I mean, you’ve joined together with other writers in fiercely condemning what is happening. What do you think needs to happen now?
EDWIDGEDANTICAT: I think what needs to happen now is, first of all, awareness. I thank you for covering it, because the general U.S. media, in general, has been very silent about it. And so, for people to really inform themselves about what’s happening, to write to your congresspeople. And also, we are subsidizing, as Americans, the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic gets the largest ration of sugar subsidies, and [inaudible] to the U.S. So, you are—we are all implicated in this. So, make sure that this—that your voice is heard. Make sure you call your congresspeople, because lives depend on it.
AMYGOODMAN: We want to thank you very much, Edwidge Danticat, for joining us, acclaimed Haitian-American novelist. Her latest book, Claire of the Sea Light.
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Photo essay by Malaika Kambon: The Black Arts Movement Poet's Choir and Arkestra at Laney College, Feb 7, 2015
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Book Review: The Complete Muhammad Ali by Ishmael Reed
The Complete Muhammad Ali
Ishmael Reed Gets in the Ring
Ishmael Reed is one of the English language’s most important contemporary writers. His novels reveal a witticism and ironic sense found in very few other writers of the period. His essays and articles challenge commonly held dogmas in both mainstream thought and among those outside the popular mind. An intelligent reader of his works cannot help but be challenged by the points he raises, his use of the language, and the courage present. Liberals, socialists, right wingers and libertarians; men and women, LBG and T–everyone is open to Reed’s insightful and piercing pen as he points us all to an essential fact–our shared humanity and its manipulation by the powerful and their wannabes.
Reed’s mammoth biography of the Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali, will be published in July. Appropriately titled The Complete Muhammad Ali, this book is more than just a biography of the man the world calls Muhammad Ali. It is also a history of the sport and business of boxing, Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States, and a myriad of other associated topics–even the history of the African continent. It also serves as a critique of sports in a capitalist system, the domination of the US sports media by white (often openly racist) men, and the Ali hagiography business. From the late jazz violinist Billy Bang to Hugh Masekela; from Kareem Abdul Jabbar to Howard Cosell, this text is greater than the massive sum of its parts.
Simply put, it is a fascinating document. I say this as a fan of Ishmael Reeds writing and as a historian very interested in discovering and publicizing the histories we are not told. The book is comprised of Reed’s detailed and entertaining narrative intermingled with numerous interviews from people in numerous walks of life.
Reed challenges the commonly held idea that Ali was the first racially proud boxer since Jack Johnson. He does so by citing incidents of racism Joe Louis and other fighters before Ali experienced and their refusal to bend to them. He also argues, rightfully so, that the racism those men lived with was rawer and more violent than that which has existed since the civil rights movement began in the 1950s, at least as far as Black celebrities were concerned.
In writing this book, Ishmael Reed has created the most complete biography of one of history’s most famous personalities. In addition, he has provided the reader (and the world) with a revelatory look at the world Muhammad Ali resided in. It was a world of money, racial animosity, religion, and politics. It was (and is) a world peopled with luminaries and egotists, humble souls and family. It is a tale not only of a life that reacted to the times, but a detailed look at the influence Muhammad Ali and the others discussed in the book had on those times.
Like almost any human being, Muhammad Ali was a complex person. The fact that he spent so much time on the world stage led some to think his contradictions were weaknesses or signs of something less than genuine. Ishmael Reed has done a detailed and well-rounded presentation of the man and his complexities. It was and is a life representative of the times. This quote from Harry Belafonte makes the point quite well: “He was the poster boy for what the struggle was all about.”
Not everyone who appears in this biography agrees with Belafonte. Some do not even consider Ali the greatest boxer of all time, pointing instead to Sugar Ray Robinson and even Joe Louis. I am not enough of a boxing fan to have any opinion, but suffice it to say, these comments will certainly raise old arguments amongst those who are fans. The more important aspect of Reed’s interviews and often confrontational challenge to the legend of Ali is to his status as a civil rights champion on par with Martin Luther King, Jr. Reed is not alone in this perspective. Indeed, numerous interviewees agree with Reed, while allowing for the fact that Ali’s domination of the world stage—in part because of his status as a sport champion—lent the civil rights struggle an international cachet it was unlikely to attain without the commanding presence of Muhammad Ali. Furthermore, argue many of those who appear in The Complete Muhammad Ali, it was Ali’s stand against the US military draft that clinched his public status as someone who was more than a boxer, more than an athlete.
Personally speaking, I concur completely with this latter sentiment. When Ali refused the military draft, it validated my growing opposition to the US war in Vietnam and called the entire US imperial operation into question among some of my older and more knowledgeable peers. This phenomenon repeated itself millions of times in cities, gyms and schoolyards around the United States and the world.
One question Reed asks every interviewee is why they think Muhammad Ali is so well liked now by the establishment. Every single response to this query, whether from a member of the Nation Of Islam, a media pundit or a black radical, is essentially the same. Ali is so well liked now, they say, because he is “safe.” His illness has rendered him often incapable of speech and he often seems to be weaker than his closest confidantes claim he actually is. Some of the answers also mention Ali’s age, pointing out that white America has always found old Black men “harmless.” Critic Jill Nelson goes the furthest, remarking that white America always found Ali to be safe as long as he was in the ring. It was when he acted publicly outside the realm of boxing that he scared and angered the white establishment. White America likes their Black men in cages, whether they are made of elastic ropes or steel bars.
The Complete Muhammad Ali is twelve solid rounds of writing. Throughout the text, Ishmael Reed jabs and juts fades and dances. He even plays a little rope-a-dope. In the end, his biography of Muhammad Ali stands above its competition. It is not always pretty and parts of it leave the legend of Ali somewhat bloodied. In doing so, it rings closer to the truth than the sanitized tale today’s public has accepted as real. This text is an in depth and studied look at a man, a sport, a nation and a history. In his contemplation of all of these, Ishmael Reed paints a canvas that is simultaneously darkened with shadows and brightened with hope; defined by history that is certain to be riven with a fair amount of controversy. Muhammad Ali became and remains much bigger than the man who bears that name. Ishmael Reed’s biography of Ali is similar in its breadth and scope.
Ron Jacobs is the author of Daydream Sunset: Sixties Counterculture in the Seventies published by CounterPunch Books. He lives in Vermont. He can be reached at: ronj1955@gmail.com.
From the Archives: Marvin X reviews the film Ali
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Ali
Starring Will Smith Directed by Michael Mann
MPAA: Rated R for some language and brief violence.
Runtime: 158
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Reviewed by Marvin X (12/28/01)
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"Refusing induction, Marvin X fled to Canada. 'I departed from the United States "to preserve my life and liberty, and to pursue happiness".'"-loc. cit.
Reed’s mammoth biography of the Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali, will be published in July. Appropriately titled The Complete Muhammad Ali, this book is more than just a biography of the man the world calls Muhammad Ali. It is also a history of the sport and business of boxing, Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States, and a myriad of other associated topics–even the history of the African continent. It also serves as a critique of sports in a capitalist system, the domination of the US sports media by white (often openly racist) men, and the Ali hagiography business. From the late jazz violinist Billy Bang to Hugh Masekela; from Kareem Abdul Jabbar to Howard Cosell, this text is greater than the massive sum of its parts.
Simply put, it is a fascinating document. I say this as a fan of Ishmael Reeds writing and as a historian very interested in discovering and publicizing the histories we are not told. The book is comprised of Reed’s detailed and entertaining narrative intermingled with numerous interviews from people in numerous walks of life.
Reed challenges the commonly held idea that Ali was the first racially proud boxer since Jack Johnson. He does so by citing incidents of racism Joe Louis and other fighters before Ali experienced and their refusal to bend to them. He also argues, rightfully so, that the racism those men lived with was rawer and more violent than that which has existed since the civil rights movement began in the 1950s, at least as far as Black celebrities were concerned.
In writing this book, Ishmael Reed has created the most complete biography of one of history’s most famous personalities. In addition, he has provided the reader (and the world) with a revelatory look at the world Muhammad Ali resided in. It was a world of money, racial animosity, religion, and politics. It was (and is) a world peopled with luminaries and egotists, humble souls and family. It is a tale not only of a life that reacted to the times, but a detailed look at the influence Muhammad Ali and the others discussed in the book had on those times.
Like almost any human being, Muhammad Ali was a complex person. The fact that he spent so much time on the world stage led some to think his contradictions were weaknesses or signs of something less than genuine. Ishmael Reed has done a detailed and well-rounded presentation of the man and his complexities. It was and is a life representative of the times. This quote from Harry Belafonte makes the point quite well: “He was the poster boy for what the struggle was all about.”
Not everyone who appears in this biography agrees with Belafonte. Some do not even consider Ali the greatest boxer of all time, pointing instead to Sugar Ray Robinson and even Joe Louis. I am not enough of a boxing fan to have any opinion, but suffice it to say, these comments will certainly raise old arguments amongst those who are fans. The more important aspect of Reed’s interviews and often confrontational challenge to the legend of Ali is to his status as a civil rights champion on par with Martin Luther King, Jr. Reed is not alone in this perspective. Indeed, numerous interviewees agree with Reed, while allowing for the fact that Ali’s domination of the world stage—in part because of his status as a sport champion—lent the civil rights struggle an international cachet it was unlikely to attain without the commanding presence of Muhammad Ali. Furthermore, argue many of those who appear in The Complete Muhammad Ali, it was Ali’s stand against the US military draft that clinched his public status as someone who was more than a boxer, more than an athlete.
Personally speaking, I concur completely with this latter sentiment. When Ali refused the military draft, it validated my growing opposition to the US war in Vietnam and called the entire US imperial operation into question among some of my older and more knowledgeable peers. This phenomenon repeated itself millions of times in cities, gyms and schoolyards around the United States and the world.
One question Reed asks every interviewee is why they think Muhammad Ali is so well liked now by the establishment. Every single response to this query, whether from a member of the Nation Of Islam, a media pundit or a black radical, is essentially the same. Ali is so well liked now, they say, because he is “safe.” His illness has rendered him often incapable of speech and he often seems to be weaker than his closest confidantes claim he actually is. Some of the answers also mention Ali’s age, pointing out that white America has always found old Black men “harmless.” Critic Jill Nelson goes the furthest, remarking that white America always found Ali to be safe as long as he was in the ring. It was when he acted publicly outside the realm of boxing that he scared and angered the white establishment. White America likes their Black men in cages, whether they are made of elastic ropes or steel bars.
The Complete Muhammad Ali is twelve solid rounds of writing. Throughout the text, Ishmael Reed jabs and juts fades and dances. He even plays a little rope-a-dope. In the end, his biography of Muhammad Ali stands above its competition. It is not always pretty and parts of it leave the legend of Ali somewhat bloodied. In doing so, it rings closer to the truth than the sanitized tale today’s public has accepted as real. This text is an in depth and studied look at a man, a sport, a nation and a history. In his contemplation of all of these, Ishmael Reed paints a canvas that is simultaneously darkened with shadows and brightened with hope; defined by history that is certain to be riven with a fair amount of controversy. Muhammad Ali became and remains much bigger than the man who bears that name. Ishmael Reed’s biography of Ali is similar in its breadth and scope.
Ron Jacobs is the author of Daydream Sunset: Sixties Counterculture in the Seventies published by CounterPunch Books. He lives in Vermont. He can be reached at: ronj1955@gmail.com.
From the Archives: Marvin X reviews the film Ali
"A notable and articulate advocacy of black conscientious objection came from the Nation of Islam. In 1942 Elijah Muhammad was arrested in Chicago and convicted of sedition, conspiracy and violation of the draft laws. After serving time in a federal penitentiary until 1946, Muhammad continued in his beliefs. Two decades later he vigorously urged his followers to refuse participation in the Vietnam War. Among those who listened were world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and Marvin X."
-Lorenzo Thomas, University of Houston
-Lorenzo Thomas, University of Houston
Ali Starring Will Smith Directed by Michael Mann
MPAA: Rated R for some language and brief violence.
Runtime: 158
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Reviewed by Marvin X (12/28/01)
Cast overview, first billed only: Will Smith .... Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali Jamie Foxx .... Drew 'Bundini' Brown Jon Voight .... Howard Cosell Mario Van Peebles .... Malcolm X Ron Silver .... Angelo Dundee Jeffrey Wright (I) .... Howard Bingham Mykelti Williamson .... Don King Jada Pinkett Smith .... Sonji Nona M. Gaye .... Belinda Michael Michele .... Veronica Joe Morton .... Chauncy Eskridge Paul Rodriguez (I) .... Dr. Ferdie Pacheco Barry Shabaka Henley .... Herbert Muhammad Giancarlo Esposito .... Cassius Clay, Sr. Laurence Mason .... Luis Sarria |
Some things in life are a cause for hesitation-we know we're not walking on solid ground, yet we go forward into the unknown like a brave soldier ordered into battle. This is how I approached ALI, knowing this movie was bound to touch me in a personal way, since Muhammad Ali and I were the two best known Muslims who refused to fight in Vietnam or anywhere for the white man. Ali was in sports, I was part of the Black Arts Movement, also associated with the Black Panthers.
Elijah told Ali to give up sports, that the world was not made for sport and play. Ali refused. Elijah told me to give up poetry, that he was after the plainest way to get truth to our people: poetry, he said, was a science our people didn't understand.
I refused. Was Elijah right? Look at the present condition of Ali. Look at the present proliferation of poetry: gansta rap poetry has contributed to the desecration of black people. How did we go from revolutionary BAM poetry to the reactionary rap songs about bitch, ho and motherfucker? Sonia Sanchez says the rappers simply put on stage what was happening in the black revolutionary movement and our community in general: the disrespect of women. Even spoken word is at a pivotal point of becoming crassly commercial, promoted in night clubs along with alcohol and other drugs. Certainly, this is no atmosphere to teach truth which is the poet's sole duty, not to be a buffoon or entertainer. Poetry is a sacred art: in the beginning was the word and the word was with God’. One club owner stopped a successful poetry night when it became a butcher shop, patrons trading poetry for sex, more or less’.
Academic poetry never made it in the hood, since it is essentially a foreign language. Thank God for poetry slams, they have allowed the masses to appreciate poetry, seizing it from the academic barbarians who killed the word in abstract nonsense only a rocket scientist or linguist can understand. Perhaps, this was Elijah's point to me. But, finally, all poetry uses devices such as metaphor and simile which may confuse rather than "make it plain" in the style of Elijah and Malcolm, even though they too used these devices. Elijah didn't stop Muhammad Ali from being a poet!
"Refusing induction, Marvin X fled to Canada. 'I departed from the United States "to preserve my life and liberty, and to pursue happiness".'"-loc. cit.
Malcolm X recruited Cassius Clay into the Nation of Islam. Malcolm's oratory influenced me to consider Elijah's Islamic Black Nationalism while I was a student at Oakland's Merritt College, along with Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Ernie Allen and others who became the new black intelligentsia, the direct product of Malcolm, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah and Elijah. When Malcolm X spoke before seven thousand students at U.C. Berkeley's Sproul Plaza (1964), I was in the audience. When he was assassinated, we wore black armbands to express our grief at San Francisco State University, actor Danny Glover among us. In truth, we were too confused to do more, which was the devil's purpose: confuse, divide and conquer.
Although Ali and I were followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Ali followed closer to the letter than I-I followed the spirit of Elijah. Elijah told us to resist the draft, go to prison if necessary. Ali followed orders-but I was under the influence of my Panther friends who said we should not only resist the draft, but resist arrest as well-so rather than go to jail, I fled to Toronto, Canada, joining other resisters. But before I went into exile, I met Muhammad Ali at the Chicago home of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. After Eldridge Cleaver was placed on house arrest for allegedly causing a riot at a Black Power conference on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. (along with Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Kathleen Neal, later Cleaver), Ramparts magazine permitted me to interview Ali in place of Cleaver who was a staff writer. To the disappointment of Ramparts, Cleaver and myself, Elijah called Ali into a room. When he returned, he said to me, "Brother, the Messenger said not to do the interview." He added, "This is the man I'm willing to die for-what he says, I do." So I didn't get the interview. I returned to California with the disappointing news. Ramparts eventually did a story on Ali. This was 1967-a few months later I was exiled in Toronto.
After Toronto, I went underground to Chicago, arriving in time to see troops occupy the south side and the torching of the west side, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In Oakland, the Black Panthers responded to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. by staging a shootout with the police in which Eldridge Cleaver was wounded and Little Bobby Hutton murdered. With the FBI on my heels, I left Chicago and arrived in Harlem, joining the Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Askia M. Toure', Don L. Lee, Amiri Baraka, Ed Bullins, Sun Ra, Milford Graves, Barbara Ann Teer and others for the second Harlem Renaissance. But my draft problems weren't over-coming back from Montreal, Canada one weekend, I was apprehended at the border and returned to California for trial-I resisted a second time, fleeing to Mexico City before sentencing. It is now 1970. In Mexico City, I met the sons of Muhammad Ali's manager, Herbert Muhammad (son of Elijah Muhammad), who were attending the University of the Americas. The sons, Elijah and Sultan, were in a kind of exile from the madness of Black Muslim Chicago-they didn't receive Muhammad Speaks newspaper, of `which I was now foreign editor and their father manager-so I gave them my copies. They were talk of the town. The African American ex-patriot community informed me Elijah's grandsons didn't believe his teachings. I discovered they were right about Elijah, nicknamed Sonny, who was caught bringing marijuana across the border, among other things. I arrived at their casa for a party to see Sonny dancing with a white woman. Sonny let me use his birth certificate to cross the border to get my woman. Yes, I was "Elijah Muhammad." But as I crossed the border, my woman was on a plane to Mexico City. At least Sultan had a Mexican girl. Sultan eventually became the personal pilot for his grandfather, Elijah Muhammad. After journeying to Belize, Central America, against the advice of my Mexico City contact, revolutionary artist Elizabeth Catlett Mora, I was arrested for teaching black power and "communism," deported to the US and served five months in federal prison for draft evasion. With this background, I entered the cinema to view Ali, the story of a man and a time that shook America and the world.
"For his court appearance, Marvin X prepared an angry and eloquent statement, which was later published in Black Scholar (April-May 1971), 'There comes a time’when a man's conscience will no longer allow him to participate in the absurd.' He recalled with disgust the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision which pronounced that 'a black man has no rights which a white man is bound to respect.' And in ringing tones he challenged the court's authority to contravene his religious and philosophical principles, 'But there you sit’with the blood of my ancestors dripping from your hands! And you seek to judge me for failing to appear in a court for sentencing on a charge of refusing induction, of refusing to go l0,000 miles to kill my brothers in order to insure the perpetuation of White Power in Southeast Asia and throughout the world.'" --loc. cit. ALI
The name Muhammad Ali means the one who is most high and worthy of much praise. In Ali, we saw a man arise from "Clay" or dirt to become the most recognized person on earth. Will Smith deserves much praise for his portrayal of Ali, bringing him alive, making him believable. This was no easy task because of the character's complexity as folk hero with many dimensions: athlete, religious militant, poet, lover man. As athlete we must give credit to the camera man for so many close-ups that transformed and reinforced Will Smith's image as Ali. Actually close-ups seemed to be the dominant camera angle throughout the movie and they worked to bring forth the beauty of the African skin tones as well as reflect character in various situations. The camera catches Ali's third wife Veronica Porche (Michelle Michael) at an angle that reflects the absolute golden beauty of her skin as she and Ali stroll in the African sun. There are great pan shots of people in the streets of Ghana and Zaire. The sound was awesome when Ali was in the ring punching or getting punched. The sound vibrated our bodies, making us a virtual part of the movie.
We meet Ali as he was meeting Malcolm X (Melvin Van Peebles) and being converted to a Black Muslim. Malcolm converted an entire generation, especially youth in the north. Martin Luther King, Jr. reigned in the south, having almost no influence with us college students. We looked upon Martin as the chief bootlicker of the white man. As Malcolm, Melvin Van Peebles did a credible job. Of course he is no Denzel Washington (Spike Lee's Malcolm X), but at least he looked like Malcolm-although his delivery was weak-he lacked the fire of Denzel, but was acceptable and his relationship with Muhammad Ali clearly established an intimate friendship until they were forced apart by Nation of Islam politics which the movie pointed out was not apart from U.S. government politics of intervention and neutralization. We see the agents inside the NOI. Of course the NOI, along with the Black Panthers, was the main black organization on the FBI's list of subversives. Hoover and his Cointelpro was determined to prevent the rise of a black messiah who could unite African Americans. Malcolm and Martin were marked for elimination. Muhammad Ali slipped through to become hero of the Afro-Asian, Islamic world. After all, he defied the American government in a manner no one has until Osama Bin Laden. We have to draw the parallel between these two because they are heroes of the oppressed, especially the oppressed Muslim masses of Africa and Asia. The movie gave us the impression Ali was more a hero in Africa than with African Americans. One wonders whether this was deliberate, to dampen Ali's image in the eyes of the hero starved African American community. Let's be clear, Ali was in the tradition of the defiant, rebellious bad nigguh: Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser, Jack Johnson, Paul Robeson. Ali was doing all right until he sent a shout out to the world, "No Viet cong never called me a nigguh."And we hear Danny Glover may be added to America's bad nigguh list, since Oliver North is encouraging Americans to boycott his movies because Danny made statements against military tribunals. Ali made it crystal clear he was going to say and do whatever the hell he wanted. America made him pay the price for being a free black man. What if the other mentally enslaved black men followed suit?
Jada Pinkett Smith as Ali's first wife, Sonji, was rather conservative in light of the character who was quite simply a so-called Negro who rejected Islam, initially accepting it solely because of her man. I wanted her to be more of a slut, a hard headed, stiff necked, rebellious negress. She was some of that, but maybe the script limited her because I know she has the talent as an actress to be more of a bitch than she was. Belinda (Nona Gaye), his second wife, was more sassy than Sonji in some ways, especially in her condemnation of Herbert Muhammad (Shabaka Hemsley), Ali's manager and the NOI, particularly when Ali was nearly broke. Her critical remarks were utterly shocking since they came from someone who grew up in the Nation of Islam. For a Muslim woman, she was equal in boldness with Ali.
Herbert Muhammad is one of the classic characters in NOI history and Shabaka did a fairly good job representing him, although we don't get the sense he was one of the most powerful men in the NOI and the first prominent black fight manager. If there had not been a Herbert Muhammad, there probably would not have been a Don King. The character Elijah Muhammad (Albert Hall) was rather weak and one dimensional, mostly negative. Realistically, it is impossible to downplay Elijah Muhammad in the drama of African America. He educated two of our greatest heroes, Malcolm and Ali, not to mention Farrakhan and even myself and thousands more brothers and sisters throughout this wicked land. Don't make me quote writer Fahizah Alim, "Elijah Muhammad was like a momma, even if she was a ho' on the corner telling lies to get money to feed us, she gave us life and kept us living until we could stand on our feet’" Basically, we see him suspending Malcolm and later Ali. I think the best supporting actor in this film would have to be Jamie Foxx as the legendary Drew Bodini, Ali's sideman. He was beyond belief as the tragic-comic Bodini, who seemed to inspire much of Ali's poetry and serve as cheerleader and confidant. Howard Bingham (Jeffery Wright), Ali's friend and photographer, should have served as sane counterpoint to the insane antics and witchcraft of Bodini, but he remains muted behind his camera, although we know by nature the photographer sees everything and often advises his client, constantly whispering words of wisdom from his vantage point.
These characters were poets above all else, beginning with Malcolm, although we heard very little of his rhetoric, then Ali, Bodini, Don King (Mykelti Williamson). How Don King escaped the rat image is beyond me, but he did by donning the poet's persona. We must give Don credit for ushering in the age of the multimillion dollar fight purse. But we had to sigh a little sadness that the murderous land of Mubutu's Zaire was the scene of the Rumble in the Jungle, as if anywhere else in Africa was any different, i.e., devoid of a dictatorial regime. In Africa, Nkrumah taught, every state is a military state! Last but not least, Jon Voight (Howard Cossell), must be given credit for bringing the legendary Cossell to life, but it is clear Ali made Cossell, not the other way around, and in no way were they equals: Cossell, as media pimp, represented America at its worst --Ali's verbal sparring made Howard Cossell's world larger than life and sometimes smaller when Cossell made the mistake of asking Ali if he was the man he used to be. Ali retorted, "Howard, your wife said you ain't the man you used to be..."
The music score weaved in and out of the action at proper moments, making it delightful and meaningful, although it's hard to imitate Sam Cooke. The scenes in Africa made us feel the universal love for Ali, especially when the people were chanting "Ali" -again, the sound reached inside us, grabbing us into itself. Finally, we must credit Will Smith for transforming himself into all the things that make up Ali, his political consciousness, his religiosity, his morality and immorality, his media savvy and especially his poetry. Of course director Michael Mann must be credited with shaping the entire film. It was long but I didn't want it to end, especially when it did with the Rumble in the Jungle, the Foreman/Ali match in Zaire. But Ali's story is so much a part of modern American history that it could have gone on forever. Imagine him commenting on the events of 911. We understand that he has been requested to make public service announcements supporting America's war on terrorism. Would this be a more dramatic ending: the people's champ who fought against oppression, finally broken down to a servant of the oppressor? It may or may not be dramatic, but the tragic truth is that Ali is a member of Warith Din Muhammad's sect that was known for flag waving long before 911. Even before his transition in 1975, Warith had rejected the teachings of his father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, in favor of orthodox Islam, dismissing the Black Nationalism of Elijah for Americanism, so it is not whack for President Bush to call upon Ali to be the "voice of America" to the Muslim world, nor for Ali to accept. Remember when my friend, Eldridge Cleaver, returned from exile waving the flag-the radical community was horrified one of their leaders had sold out.
Let ALI end with the Rumble in the Jungle. One purpose of that fight was to reestablish ties between Africa and African America. This was of great significance for Pan Africanism, including the therapeutic healing of divisive wounds in the colonized psyche of Africans and African Americans. As I said, Ali was indeed bigger than America-the first Muslim heavyweight champion of the world, the first African American athlete to unabashedly recognize our Motherland by staging a fight there. Ali was a man of the times, not by blending or following, but leading the way. The hero is first of all a leader. He extends the mythology of his people, like Coltrane taking us to A Love Supreme. Ali's mission was transcending our colonial education, breaking the bonds of our Christian mentality with its impediments of passivity and submission, although Martin Luther King, Jr. attempted to transform the Christian myth-ritual with his liberation theology. Ali's athletic prowess and discipline, his political consciousness, was an example for all fighters, especially freedom fighters around the world. If indeed, our hero has been co-opted, let us be mature enough to realize humans are not made of stone and we know in real life people change, not always for the good-thus the danger of hero worship and thus the Islamic dictum: nothing deserves to worshiped except Allah.
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From the Archives: Marvin X Speaks to the Gullah Nation, Beaufort, South Carolina, 2002
Marvin X Speaks to the Gullah Nation, 2002
Brother Jabari, publisher of the Gullah Sentinel, questioned Marvin X page by page about his book IN THE CRAZY HOUSE CALLED AMERICA, starting with the suicide of his son on March 18 of this year. The poet said his pain was cushioned by the fact that so many of his friends have lost sons and daughters to homicide. Dr. Nathan Hare has written that homicide and suicide are two sides of the same coin. Marvin's son suffered mani-depression which the late revolutionary Dr. Franz Fanon called a "situational disorder" caused by oppression." Of course, Dr. Fanon, author of the classic WRETCHED OF THE EARTH, said revolution was the solution to the mental health problems of the oppressed.
When Jabari turned to Marvin's essay THE INSANITY OF SEX, the poet read the first paragraph of the essay but refused to go further on the Christian owned radio station, although he noted that while sitting in the shade of a tree during the Gullah Nation's Heritage Festival on St. Helena island, he was soon joined by a group of church women who--after X showed them his book, immediately turned to THE INSANITY OF SEX and agreed with his opening paragraph one hundred per cent. Jabari, one of the sole lights in the Gullahland house of darkness, asked X about the culture of the crack house.
The poet said "The crack house is like a third world country: there is no electricity, no running water, no bathroom, no toilet paper, no food, no love. It is the worse thing since slavery." He then had the engineer play track ten of his CD version of ONE DAY IN THE LIFE, the drama of his addiction and recovery. In this "Preacher Scene" the minister describes the horrors of crack culture, ending with the lines, "Crack is worse than slavery. Didn't the slave love his Moma? His God? His Woman? His Children? Not the crack slave, the crack slave is a dirty, nasty, funky slave...."
X then said, "I want to say this to the Christian community: see, I lived in Reno, Nevada while teaching at the University of Nevada and the preachers in Reno never said anything against gambling and prostitution--which are legal. Now, members of the audience who have watched my play wanted to know why the pastors in the community never preach a sermon like the preacher in my play. On more than one occasion, a member of the audience stood to testify that many preachers cannot give a similar sermon because the church is compromised due to the fact that mothers in the church have sons and daughters who are contributing money from the drug trade to the church and if the preacher said anything he wouldn't have a congregation in many urban centers. And maybe in rural centers as well."
Marvin X was asked about education. He said Johnny and Johnnymae can sell dope, weigh dope, package dope, count dope money, but the teachers tell us Johnny and Johnnymae can't do math, can't read, can't do chemistry. This is a lie and the fact that youth remember hours of rap songs word for word is a testament to their intelligence.
Marvin X spent his final day in Gullah land swimming in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of St. Helena Island. He listened to the pain of a mentally disabled Gullah woman who was camping near the ocean and was a friend of his host, Sister Hurriyah Asar, a landowner in Gullah country who is one of the Queens of the Black Arts Movement, having been a key player at Black Arts West Theatre in San Francisco and at the Black House/Political/Cultural Center, visited by the likes of Amiri and Amina Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Bunchy Carter, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Lil Bobby Hutton, Eldridge Cleaver, Askia Muhammad Toure, Sarah Webster Fabio, Chicago Art Ensemble and others.
When black clouds appeared, Marvin X knew the hour had arrived for him to depart Gullah country. After all, he had enjoyed the people, the land, the sea, the creeks, the chickens, geese, goats, calves, and dogs. Being a country boy from Central Calif, he talked to the animals and they to him. But he leaves Gullahland with a heavy heart, for if the ancestors have given the descendents of slavery any part of America, it is this beautiful land, these islands in the sun.
He has vowed to return to this heaven on earth. Sister Hurriyah was the glue of the West coast black arts movement. And in the new epoch, she is showing the way to heaven on earth. If ever a man shall follow a woman, it is now, for she has created heaven on earth.
--Marvin X, November 12, 2002, Beaufort, South Carolina.
FYI, the last time Marvin X visited Gullahland, his friends told him not to say anything while there. "Just chill, don't say shit. We're not going to give you a book party or help promote your book. Go swim in the ocean." Since his hosts exhibited such fear of the white supremacy powers, he followed their request. He visited the Yoruba African Village in Sheldon and interviewed the new king or Oba.
He was saddened his hosts feared the Blacks as well as the white. Jabari had told him the Gullah Africans were afraid to come inside his newspaper office, afraid their boss would see them. Also, his hosts told him they were tired of Cali Blacks or Blacks from the North coming down there inciting the Africans then departing, leaving them to suffer the wrath of the white man, since he knows which family the Africans visited and would retaliate on that family. He might have one of the family members fired from their three minimum wage jobs.
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--Marvin X, November 12, 2002, Beaufort, South Carolina.
FYI, the last time Marvin X visited Gullahland, his friends told him not to say anything while there. "Just chill, don't say shit. We're not going to give you a book party or help promote your book. Go swim in the ocean." Since his hosts exhibited such fear of the white supremacy powers, he followed their request. He visited the Yoruba African Village in Sheldon and interviewed the new king or Oba.
He was saddened his hosts feared the Blacks as well as the white. Jabari had told him the Gullah Africans were afraid to come inside his newspaper office, afraid their boss would see them. Also, his hosts told him they were tired of Cali Blacks or Blacks from the North coming down there inciting the Africans then departing, leaving them to suffer the wrath of the white man, since he knows which family the Africans visited and would retaliate on that family. He might have one of the family members fired from their three minimum wage jobs.
Marvin X
will perform and autograph books
at Berkeley Juneteenth
Sunday, June 21, 2015
be there or be square
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Poet Dr. Neal Hall, aka Dr. Nigger, in India for poet/scholar residency
Marvin X and fellow poet Dr. Neal Hall, MD, at the recent Sacramento Black Book Fair
For the first week of my poet/scholar residency we have been working – with much fun and laughter - to complete the translations of 23 of my poems that will be mad into a book to be published in India ( launch date – July 11th before at the ASCI center to include a reading in English, followed by Urdu and Telegu (http://www.asci.org.in/ourhistory.aspx.) The book will consist of three sections. The first, the poems in English; the second- the poems in telugu and third – the poems in Urdu. Urdu is last because it is written and read from right to left. Its front cover will actually be the rear cover of the book and the start of Urdu section.
Ms. Kannabiran and Ms. Kumari were in the audience that heard me read my work at the January 2015 Hyderabad Literary Festival. Both were very instrumental in my 4 week return as a poet/scholar in residency. The scheduled speaking events are diverse city wide from Universities to public speaking forums, poetry societies, indigent women’s centers etc.
The book will be titled after one of the poems - Appalling Silence inspired in part by MLK’s remarks: ‘ It is not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.' Of late, I have come to fervently believe that the persistent problems of the day lie solely and squarely on the shoulders of the appalling silence of the ‘ so called ' good people; many of whom quietly benefit from their appalling silence.
The Distinguished Translators:
Vasanth Kannabiran – the esteemed, highly respected and acclaimed development consultant, teacher, poet, activist – The Urdu, English and Telugu translator - http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=5022
P. Lalita Kumari ( Volga ) – noted Telugu award winning writer –The Telugu Translator
Jameela Bano – award winning Urdu novelist - The Urdu Translator
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Black Bird Press News & Review: From the Archives: Marvin X Speaks to the Gullah Nation, Beaufort, South Carolina, 2002
Marvin X reading in the recording studio while in Chicago to participate in the Sun Ra conference at the University of Chicago, May 22, 23, 2015. The CD of Marvin X in Chicago is now available from Black Bird Press, Berkeley CA, 94702, $19.95, includes priority mailing. Call 510-200-4164.
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Berkeley Juneteenth suffers five minutes of the Human Earthquake, Marvin X
Just know this: when Marvin X concluded his remarks and departed the stage, he was congratulated by the audience, who overwhelmingly enjoyed his remarks.
Marvin X
Berkeley Juneteenth
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Black Arts Movement poet/playwright/essayist Marvin X was allowed five minutes by MC James W. Sweeney. Sweeney is a close friend and supporter of Marvin X. In his Forward to Marvin's book of essays In the Crazy House Called America, 2002, Sweeney said, "Courageous and outrageous! He walked through the muck and mire of hell and come out clean as white fish and black as coal."
Sweeney recently experienced the Human Earthquake at the Second Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair. The book fair planning committee congratulated Marvin X for bringing the event alive, for spitting truth with fire, in the grand oral tradition of North American Africans. But with Marvin X it is not only how he speaks truth but the raw (thirty hitter package, in drug culture linguistics) nature of his narrative. "Ain't no shame in my game!"
He began with thanking the Berkeley Juneteenth planning committee, then gave honor to ancestor Lothario Lotho who was the MC until he joined the ancestors. The crowd gave honor and respect to Lothario Lotho. Marvin knew Lothario's mother who was an actress with playwright Ed Bullins who joined with Marvin X to found Black Arts West Theatre, San Francisco, 1967. When Marvin X connected with Ed Bullins, Lothario's mother was acting in an Ed Bullin's play, thus, Lothario was a child of the Black Arts Movement.
Since it was Father's Day, Marvin X not only honored fathers but all the mothers who are fathers as well. The crowd cheered! FYI, Marvin X is the child of a mother who raised nine children of her own by herself and two grandchildren who thought their grandmother was their mother! At the same time, Marvin X's mother was the first Black woman real estate broker in Fresno, CA. With Marvin's father, his mother published the Fresno Voice, a black newspaper, along with their real estate business during the late 40s and into the 50s, until they were forced to depart Fresno when his father violated his fiduciary relationship as a real estate broker. The moved to West Oakland where his parents opened a florist shop. Marvin X grew up on 7th and Campbell, on the strip of Harlem West. His parents were part of the petit black bourgeoisie who had enough consciousness to do for self in the tradition of Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad. Marvin's parents were in the tradition of the Race Man and Race Woman, the Black Nationalist tradition.
Marvin X spoke about South Carolina and the mass murder of nine people in a church, founded by Demark Vesey who plotted a revolt at the church in 1822. Marvin X said, "Uncle Tom nigguhs snitched to the massa. We still got Uncle Tom nigguhs round here today, right now...."
Then he turned to the white woman who wants to be black. He said, "I support the white woman who wants to be black. I don't support black women who want to be white! I don't support black women in blond wigs and bleaching cream, Korean eyes, Korean nails!"
I am here to tell the truth, this is why I am not attracted to money. If you stay poor, you can tell the truth, Dr. Nathan Hare told me. Now if money is your objective, you must decide what side you are on. My mentor Sun Ra said there are musicians who commercialized on the Creator and departed the planet as a result. My life is not about money, but truth!
As I conclude, I want to congratulate the Berkeley Juneteenth planning committee, especially the editor of Vision Magazine, Delores Nochi Edwards, James W. Sweeney, Berkeley NAACP President
Mansour Id-deen
Marvin X spoke about South Carolina and the mass murder of nine people in a church, founded by Demark Vesey who plotted a revolt at the church in 1822. Marvin X said, "Uncle Tom nigguhs snitched to the massa. We still got Uncle Tom nigguhs round here today, right now...."
Then he turned to the white woman who wants to be black. He said, "I support the white woman who wants to be black. I don't support black women who want to be white! I don't support black women in blond wigs and bleaching cream, Korean eyes, Korean nails!"
I am here to tell the truth, this is why I am not attracted to money. If you stay poor, you can tell the truth, Dr. Nathan Hare told me. Now if money is your objective, you must decide what side you are on. My mentor Sun Ra said there are musicians who commercialized on the Creator and departed the planet as a result. My life is not about money, but truth!
As I conclude, I want to congratulate the Berkeley Juneteenth planning committee, especially the editor of Vision Magazine, Delores Nochi Edwards, James W. Sweeney, Berkeley NAACP President
Mansour Id-deen
At the end of his five minute speech, Sweeney asked the poet if he wanted to read a poem. Marvin declined, telling Sweeney, "Read you poem, Sweeney! as he exited the stage.
Now if Marvin had had his way, he romantically and idealistically wanted to read Father's Day in Harlem, from Love and War Poems, 1995, Black Bird Press:
Now if Marvin had had his way, he romantically and idealistically wanted to read Father's Day in Harlem, from Love and War Poems, 1995, Black Bird Press:
Father's Day in Harlem
Father's Day in Harlem
ain't nothin nice
Nothin like Mother's Day
oh, no
Father's Day is sad
like a funeral
with
no
body in the casket
Ma Daddy?
Where is the Motherfucker?
You seen him?
I'm lookin fada no good son of a bitch!
I ain't got no gift fa his ass
He better have somethin fa me
no good bastard
II
Well, he ma daddy
what the hell
he all ite sometimes
when I see him
whenever that is
when he got money
ain't chasin women
drunk high
he all ite
sometimes
Marvin X
6.17.95
Philly
As per the image of the Black Soldiers during and after the Civil War, we lament that 200,000 North American African brothers with arms, disarmed and we have suffered ever since, our lives have been at the whim of White Supremacy America! We need a North American African security force in every community, coast to coast. The Arabs say, "Truth in Allah but tie your camel!"
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Black Bird Press News & Review: Berkeley Juneteenth suffers five minutes of the Human Earthquake, Marvin X
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U.S. Social Forum in San Jose
It is our hope that many of you will be able to attend the BLUN Manifesto workshop at the USSF in Philadelphia. The workshop is Thursday, June 25. ![Home]()
Panelists include Sam Anderson, Ajamu Baraka and Rose Brewer. Details are below.
Workshop
Thursday, June 25, 2015 - 1:00pm to 2:30pm
Student Center 200 C, Temple University
The session focuses on The Black Liberation Manifesto designed to start a national conversation to get our dispersed movements connected.
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Fly yo flag, nigguh
| Nigguhs are crazy. How in the motherfucking hell did we go from mourning the death of nine people to worrying bout a cracker ass punk bitch flag Why your own flag, nigguh let the white man southern cracker northern fake smile soda cracker motherfucker fly his stars and stripes you ass been burned by both flags fly yo flag nigger let the white man be his white devil self his day is coming soon and very soon fly your flag North American African ass nigguh! --Marvin X 6/22/15  October 4, 2001 |
| When I'll Wave The Flag |
By Marvin X |
| I'll wave the flag When the trillions in reparations are paid to the African American Nation For 400 years of terror in America When the bill of the Middle Passage is paid When the bill from the cotton fields is paid I'll wave the flag When the damages due the descendents of mass murder is paid Mass kidnapping Mass rape I'll wave the flag When the police stop terrorizing us for breathing while black Walking while black Loving while black I'll wave the flag When the 2 million men and women in prison are released for petty crimes And those guilty of stealing elections take their place in the cells I'll wave the flag When those guilty of stealing labor, stealing energy, stealing souls of the poor are jailed I'll wave the flag When those guilty of the miseducation of our children are jailed for crimes against humanity I'll wave the flag When those who terrorize the earth, pollute the earth, poison the food, the water, the air Inject animals with hormones Genetically alter vegetables and fruits When these people are taken before the world court for terrorizing the world I'll wave the flag Until then Kiss my motherfuckin' ass. 2001 Marvin X. |
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Thanks from the Sacramento Black Book Fair
Special thanks to all the authors, co-sponsors, our partners, venue hosts, community readers, volunteers, the media and community members for supporting the 2nd Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair.
Below are a few helpful links to a podcasts developed by podcaster Julie Parker, beautiful photos taken by our volunteer photographers: Tamara Knox, Ryan, White, and Darryl White and You-Tube videos created by Faye.
Also the Sacramento Observer featured the SBBF in the June 11-17, 2015 edition with a great story and beautiful photos. Pick –up your copy for only .75 cent at underground books or at the Sacramento Observer.
Celebrate our accomplishments, rest and get ready for the3rd Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair, June 3-5, 2016.
Links:
·Link to the 2nd You Tube video: http://youtu.be/cDsvhBeH8Nk
·Link to the 3rdYou Tube video: http://youtu.be/xdc-C3k_5aA
·Link to view the photos of SBBF:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205468476165279.1073741931.1051981420&type=1&l=cd22b74807
·Link to view the photos of SBBFhttps://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205452077955334.1073741930.1051981420&type=1&l=fa3b0386eb
Save these dates: 3rd Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair, June 3-5, 2016.
From The SBBF Planning Group
Thank YOU!!!
2015 Co-Sponsors/Community Partners:
African Research Institute
Black United Fund of Sacramento Valley
The Black Group
Brickhouse Art Gallery
Blue Nile Press
City of Sacramento – Neighborhood Services Department
Friends of the Sacramento Public Library
JTEnterprises
Roberts Family Development Center
Sacramento Area Black Caucus
Sacramento City Councilmember Allen Warren
The Sacramento City Teachers Association
Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen
Sacramento City Councilmember Rick Jennings, III
Sacramento City Councilmember Jay Schenirer
Teichert Foundation
The Talking Drums News
Colonial Heights Library Affiliated Friends
Kakwasi Somadhi
Underground Books
Sacculturalhub.com
Drexel University Sacramento
Sacramento Juneteenth, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.,Eta Gamma Omega Chapter
Sacramento Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
Fred and Ruth Foote
ZICA Creative and Literary Guild
Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution, CSUS
Black Humanists and Non-Believers of Sacramento
Sacramento Section- The National Council of Negro Women
Mary McLeod Bethune Readers are Leaders Club
Tracy & Symia Stigler
Young Scholars –Calvary Christian Center
Sacramento Poetry Center
Sister to Sister Book Group
100 Black Men of Sacramento
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
Brenda’s Mane Event
Black Parallel School Board
Literary Ladies Alliance
The Merritt Law Clinic
Sisters Quilting Collective
NIA –Women of Purpose
Leslie & Faye Wilson Kennedy
Sacramento Chapter-Black Child Development Institute
Pam Haynes
Black Images Book Club
The Borden Family
OBBC (Book Club)
Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce
Allegro Book Club
Sacramento Public Library Foundation
The California Endowment
The Office of Campus Community Relations, University of California, Davis
Los Rios Community College District
Roy Kaufman
Sacramento Observer Newspapers
California Black Chamber of Commerce
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
Dr. Tchaka Muhammed
Crystal Bowl
Brenda & Keith Dabney
The Scott Family
Dorothy Benjamin & Family
Sacramento Chapter of The Links Incorporated
Phil Nelson & Family
Wiley Manuel Bar Association
Sacramento-NAACP
Endorsed by:
Mayor Kevin Johnson
Women's Civic Improvement Club
Oak Park United Methodist Church
Guild Theater
Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento Public Library
Assembly member Kevin McCarty
California Legislative Black Caucus
916Ink
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS)
Sojourner Truth Art Museum
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Under the USA Flag, Black Soldiers were led into gas chambers and poisoned during WWII
“It Felt Like You Were On Fire”: Black Soldiers Were Led Into Gas Chambers and Poisoned During WWII
During World War II black soldiers were experimented on with mustard gas.
Rollins Edwards, a former U.S. Army solider, told the public radio station that he and other black soldiers were led into a gas chamber where toxins were released.
“It felt like you were on fire,” Edwards, now 93, told NPR. “Guys started screaming and hollering and trying to break out. And then some of the guys fainted. And finally they opened the door and let us out, and the guys were just, they were in bad shape.”
Edwards didn’t know at the time that he and 60,000 other enlisted soldiers were being used as guinea pigs for mustard gas and other chemical tests. Edwards was chosen for the study specifically because he was black.
“They said we were being tested to see what effect these gases would have on black skins,” Edwards says.
It wasn’t just blacks, but Japanese-Americans and Puerto Ricans were also used as test subjects. Although the Pentagon had confirmed the tests, it never shared how test subjects were chosen based on race.
Researchers wanted to know if people of color were more resilient because if they were, then they could be used on the front line during battle.
“The first thing to be very clear about is that the Department of Defense does not conduct chemical weapons testing any longer,” Army Col. Steve Warren said. “And I think we have probably come as far as any institution in America on race. … So I think particularly for us in uniform, to hear and see something like this, it’s stark. It’s even a little bit jarring.”
After the tests were done, the soldiers received no health care for any resulting ailments and were sworn to secrecy under threat of dishonorable discharge.
“I spent three weeks in the hospital with a bad fever. Almost all of us got sick,” said Lopez Negron, 95, who was also a test subject.
Mustard gas not only causes blisters, but it also damages DNA.
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