A White Woman Remembers Papa Rage, Eldridge Cleaver

Yes, real heart ache. I stayed with EC when he lived on AllstonWay, and
had a front-row seat for his crack addiction--and it cost me big bucks, but
I didn't lose my car (I lost all my furniture, though). And, after many
years, I landed on my feet. God took care of me in a way no human could
have done, and I am grateful. I used to drive EC when he copped. When I
rented the room, he said there was only one rule: "Don't tell me what to
do."

Could you possibly find out what happened to our 3rd roommate, William
Carlisle, a Muslim? He took me to see Dr. Khalid in East Oakland, before
Dr. Khalid was "excommunicated."

I heard Carlisle got killed, but I'm hoping that's not true. He used to
sell meat and fish from his car in West Oakland. And he sold T-shirts at
marches and other events. EC trusted us because we didn't do drugs or
alcohol. I believe Carlisle was from Ohio. He was younger than me, so
maybe 60-65 now. He was not around for the 60s or the BPP. I have tried searching for him online with no success.

I drove past the house on Allston Way a couple weeks ago, and see it is all boarded up and the front steps are gone. I guess whoever bought it after
it was stolen from EC didn't quite know what they were getting into--in
addition to the financial meltdown (I'm a real estate brokerwww.sonoma-county-real-estate.com).

Ancestor William Carlisle made his transition due to a fight with customers who had bought his T shirts. The beat him with a bat and he died in the hospital from a blood clot in the leg.

I went to the Newark City Plex FB page, but could not see where I can leave a message. Can you please tell me how to do that?

"Diane Di Prima, one of Amiri's "baby-mamas" (that term didn't exist in the
70s) did collages with me when I was in Napa State Hospital in the 70s, and helped me express my feelings, including my Rage. She wrote, "May Our Anger Be Buddha's Anger." I was so blessed to have her, and Marge Piercy, and Denise Levertov, and Al Young, and Willie Brown, and Ahaguna Sun, and Linus Pauling supporting me in those days. As well as the friendship of Veda Harper (Veda Dwyer) and Tommy Wilson and Otis____ (with whom I walked to
school at Napa College)."

Marvin, I tried to post this comment under the Black Bird Press picture of Amiri Baraka, but I don't have an account on any of those services, and I really wanted it to go to you, not to the whole world. So here it is. M.L.

Your message about Brother Carlisle popped up on my screen for a minute, but I could never find it again. The clot must have moved from his leg to his heart or his brain, or it would not have killed him, correct? I am so sorry to hear of his premature passing. Did he have any children?--M.L.

MX: William was my very dear friend as well. He was one of the most beautiful black men on the planet, who sought knowledge at any price and he would pay me and Eldridge for knowledge to the point of being our co-dependent. William was not a dummy but a student in the Graduate Theological Seminary at UC Berkeley. 

What nobody knew was that William had spent time in prison for murder, had become a boxer in prison, so he had no fear. I used to go with him to sell his meats in the projects of Oakland and San Francisco. He would go into the projects at night and sometimes I would be with him as we walked through the projects, but William had no fear, no fear! I can tell you absolutely that I had fear walking through the projects of East Oakland and San Francisco, but William had no fear whatsoever.