Notes on Abolish Police and Prisons by Marvin X
"Marvin X is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."
--Ishmael Reed, Lecturer Emeritus, UC Berkeley
"Marvin X is the African Socrates teaching in the hood."
--Dr. Cornel West, Harvard University
"Marvin X has always been in the forefront of Pan African writing. Indeed, he is one of the founders and innovators of the revolutionary school of African writing."
--Ancestor Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Black Arts Movement Co-founder
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Abolish police, well, ok, abolish prisons too. Ancestor Dr. Walter Rodney in his monograph West Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Upper Guinea Coast, told us how an almost utopian society was eventually corrupted, yes, all the institutions, religious, political, judicial, marital, military, et al., by the slave trade. Prior to this horror we learn there were no police and no jails, that a white man, i.e., Arab, could drop his wallet and come back years later to reclaim it. Of course an alternative to jail and prison was banishment, exile from the tribe and/or community, and how could one live without community, but such was the punishment, perhaps the worse punishment for a communally socialized human being. So yes, abolish the police if they cannot be civilized, and there are those who say a security force rooted in the slave catchers (catch a nigger) cannot be reformed since we can see clearly the catch a nigger paradigm is alive and well in 2020. Can a leopard change its spots?
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Left to right: Chief of Staff, Amiri Middy Baraka, Jr., Marvin X, Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark NJ
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The Honorable Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark NJ and Marvin X who enjoyed
a 47 year friendship with the Mayor's father, poet Amiri Baraka (RIP)
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Left to right: Mrs. Amina Baraka, Poet Sonia Sanchez, Marvin X and Amiri Baraka at memorial for Dr. Betty Shabazz, Riverside Church, NYC.
photo Risasi
We have submitted the Newark NJ Police Model under Mayor Ras Baraka. His mother informed me today (and she's tired of me revealing our private conversations, as is the world!) but she said not one black person has been killed by the police since her son became Mayor of Newark. Indeed, we know the world is full of infinite possibilities, unless one subscribes to the dictum of BAM Master Teacher and father of Afro-futurism, Sun Ra, "You so evil the devil don't want you in hell! (from Sun Ra lectures at UC Berkeley, 1972, YouTube).
Left to right: Chief of Staff, Amiri Middy Baraka, Jr., Marvin X, Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark NJ
Mayor Ras Baraka during interview with Marvin X
The Honorable Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark NJ and Marvin X who enjoyed
a 47 year friendship with the Mayor's father, poet Amiri Baraka (RIP)
Left to right: Mrs. Amina Baraka, Poet Sonia Sanchez, Marvin X and Amiri Baraka at memorial for Dr. Betty Shabazz, Riverside Church, NYC.
photo Risasi
We have submitted the Newark NJ Police Model under Mayor Ras Baraka. His mother informed me today (and she's tired of me revealing our private conversations, as is the world!) but she said not one black person has been killed by the police since her son became Mayor of Newark. Indeed, we know the world is full of infinite possibilities, unless one subscribes to the dictum of BAM Master Teacher and father of Afro-futurism, Sun Ra, "You so evil the devil don't want you in hell! (from Sun Ra lectures at UC Berkeley, 1972, YouTube).
Marvin X and Sun Ra, outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre San Francisco, 1972. Both were teaching in the Black Studies Department, UC Berkeley. Sun Ra arranged the musical Take Care of Business by Marvin X. Sun Ra is the Father of Afro-futurism.
We have put a tremendous burden on the criminal justice system as the panacea for our social ills: to be mental health workers, yes, police and correctional officers as domestic violence counselors, interpersonal relations mediators, etc. Meanwhile the police are rooted in the slave catcher tradition and the correctional officers main job is containment not correction of psychopathic personalities suffering drug abuse as well, the dual diagnosed.
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Founders of Black August, the American Prison Movement
Left to right: Mama Efia Nwangaza, Human Rights Advocate, Greensville, SC,
Shaka Al Thinin. Back left: Kumasi, Griot of Black August and Marvin X
photo Wanda Sabir, SF Bayview Newspaper
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Soledad Brother John Clutchette upon release from prison and Marvin X at
his Academy of Da Corner, 14th and Broadway, Oakland, the most dangerous
classroom in the world!
Ironically, the police and so-called correctional officers often exhibit the same psychopathic maladies as those they must arrest and contain. And we know in the slave catcher roots of American society, after a certain indoctrination, whites, blacks, brown and yellow ethnic personalities can exhibit equal abuse and inhumane treatment. Often the non-white police and correctional officers must prove themselves by transcending the brutality of their white colleagues. We have witnessed their behavior on the street and in jail and prison. Thus we know color is not the answer. One need only consider the brutality of African police and correctional officers in the Motherland, or Caribbean for that matter. How many Africans have died for violating the Covid19 man-made pandemic social distance orders?
Founders of Black August, the American Prison Movement
Left to right: Mama Efia Nwangaza, Human Rights Advocate, Greensville, SC,
Shaka Al Thinin. Back left: Kumasi, Griot of Black August and Marvin X
photo Wanda Sabir, SF Bayview Newspaper
Soledad Brothers: Ruchell McGee, John Clutchette, George Jackson
John Clutchette, George Jackson, Ruchell McGee
George Jackson and Angela Davis
Soledad Brother John Clutchette upon release from prison and Marvin X at
his Academy of Da Corner, 14th and Broadway, Oakland, the most dangerous
classroom in the world!
Ironically, the police and so-called correctional officers often exhibit the same psychopathic maladies as those they must arrest and contain. And we know in the slave catcher roots of American society, after a certain indoctrination, whites, blacks, brown and yellow ethnic personalities can exhibit equal abuse and inhumane treatment. Often the non-white police and correctional officers must prove themselves by transcending the brutality of their white colleagues. We have witnessed their behavior on the street and in jail and prison. Thus we know color is not the answer. One need only consider the brutality of African police and correctional officers in the Motherland, or Caribbean for that matter. How many Africans have died for violating the Covid19 man-made pandemic social distance orders?
Sadly, we have doubts that so-called human beings will ever be able to rise above the animal plane, above tribal and ethnic conflict, although the concept of Pan Africanism is utopian due to centuries of colonial and neo-colonialism. As we write, the European colonial powers have imposed themselves into the African Union, yes, while the European Union disintegrates with Brexit as the canary in the coal mine.
And we have not mentioned issues rooted in the patriarchy, but it is there in the deep structure of problems that often lead to criminality, including rape, partner violence, homicide and suicide, alas, let us not mention infanticide, especially of female babies, Africa, Arabia and China are guilty in this regard.
And let us not neglect to mention so-called family honor killings and female mutilation, steeped in national, tribal and religious mythology. With such a multiplicity of issues, one will indeed need to be a superman and superwoman of consciousness to unravel such conundrums that are so pervasive in the global drama that the endgame calling for police and officers from the department of correction most often doesn't correct because it is itself a victim in the matrix of dysfunctional psycho/social behavior by so-called human beings who often degenerate to the degree Sun Ra said, "....so evil the Devil don't want you in hell!"
As a grandfather, I pray for my grandchildren who must come into such a wretched world. I was so relieved when my grandson told me at three years old, "Grandfather, you can't save the world but I can!" I wish I knew the source of his wisdom but I suspect it came from God Almighty!
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Grandson Jahmeel at the Rap Exhibit,
Oakland Museum of California
I know I can't save this shit. It was here when I came from my Mother's womb in 1944 as they dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan. It was here when my parents attended the 1945 Peace Conference in San Francisco that established the United Nations.
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Parents of Marvin X, Marian M. Jackmon and Owendell Jackmon I, 1945 Peace Conference,
San Francisco.
This shit was here in 1948 when the Europeans and a Negro (Dr. Ralph Bunch, UN Secretary) established the apartheid state of Israel. How can Jews out Nazi Nazis? Is this not beyond human comprehension? Again, Sun Ra, "These people so evil the devil don't want them in hell!"
No matter, there is hope with the multi-ethnic protesters of the public lynching of martyr George Floyd.
Yes, we see a single spark can start a prairie fire. We see some deaths are lighter than a feather and some deaths are higher than Mt. Tai! George is the supreme example of the Cross and Lynching Tree Rev. James Cone tried to explain to Bill Moyers. "You cannot understand Christianity until you understand the meaning of the cross and lynching tree, which are the same." Jesus was on the cross in the same manner as George Floyd, except Jesus cried out for his Father but George cried out for his Mother!" Oh, Mary, Mother of God!
And let us not neglect to mention so-called family honor killings and female mutilation, steeped in national, tribal and religious mythology. With such a multiplicity of issues, one will indeed need to be a superman and superwoman of consciousness to unravel such conundrums that are so pervasive in the global drama that the endgame calling for police and officers from the department of correction most often doesn't correct because it is itself a victim in the matrix of dysfunctional psycho/social behavior by so-called human beings who often degenerate to the degree Sun Ra said, "....so evil the Devil don't want you in hell!"
As a grandfather, I pray for my grandchildren who must come into such a wretched world. I was so relieved when my grandson told me at three years old, "Grandfather, you can't save the world but I can!" I wish I knew the source of his wisdom but I suspect it came from God Almighty!
Grandson Jahmeel at the Rap Exhibit,
Oakland Museum of California
I know I can't save this shit. It was here when I came from my Mother's womb in 1944 as they dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan. It was here when my parents attended the 1945 Peace Conference in San Francisco that established the United Nations.
Parents of Marvin X, Marian M. Jackmon and Owendell Jackmon I, 1945 Peace Conference,
San Francisco.
This shit was here in 1948 when the Europeans and a Negro (Dr. Ralph Bunch, UN Secretary) established the apartheid state of Israel. How can Jews out Nazi Nazis? Is this not beyond human comprehension? Again, Sun Ra, "These people so evil the devil don't want them in hell!"
No matter, there is hope with the multi-ethnic protesters of the public lynching of martyr George Floyd.
Yes, we see a single spark can start a prairie fire. We see some deaths are lighter than a feather and some deaths are higher than Mt. Tai! George is the supreme example of the Cross and Lynching Tree Rev. James Cone tried to explain to Bill Moyers. "You cannot understand Christianity until you understand the meaning of the cross and lynching tree, which are the same." Jesus was on the cross in the same manner as George Floyd, except Jesus cried out for his Father but George cried out for his Mother!" Oh, Mary, Mother of God!
--Marvin X
6/12/20
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Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, Co-founders of the Black Panther Party, Oakland CA 1966
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Eldridge Cleaver and Marvin X outside the house where Lil' Bobby Hutton was murdered by the Oakland Police and Cleaver wounded.
photo Muhammad Kareem
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Marvin X with the Berkeley Chief of Police. "I ain't skeered of pigs, my friends used to shoot police and they admitted they were murdering us and still shootin' us, 2020. The brother write, "We Will Shoot Back!"
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Notes on Lil' Bobby
I remember Lil' Bobby like I remember yesterday. He loved Huey Newton and Huey sent him to give me a message at the Black House, San Francisco, that was rapidly becoming the San Francisco headquarters of the Black Panther Party of Self Defense, especially after I took Black House co-founder Eldridge Cleaver to meet BPP Co-founder Bobby Seale and Cleaver became the BPP Minister of Information. Lil' Bobby came to inform me that we had to close down the youth cub house in the basement because the young men were taking advantage of the young women and playing hooky from school with them and a possible police raid was likely. I was in charge of the youth because Eldridge Cleaver and playwright Ed Bullins had no time for them. Lil' Bobby said, "The Supreme Commander said you must close down the youth club house." I looked at Lil' Bobby and said, "Fuck the Supreme Commander!" I looked in his eyes and saw he had death for me but I'm a crazy nigga too so I didn't give a fuck. Lil' Bobby said, "We gonna deal with you, dude!" That night the Panthers were clicking automatic weapons outside my room door which was across from Cleaver's. I didn't give a fuck, nor did my partner Ethna/Hurriyah. But our days in the Black House were coming to a close and soon we departed. I joined the Nation of Islam and after refusing to fight in Vietnam, fled to exile in Toronto, Canada, 1967. But I love and honor Lil' Bobby Hutton for being a young warrior who died for our people. As Mao said, "Some deaths are lighter than a feather, some higher than Mt. Tai." Lil' Bobby's death was higher than Mt. Tai! His life and death is the example for youth of today in this Black Lives Matter era. In the spirit of Lil' Bobby, I command you to pull up your pants and join the revolution! Stop dying like flies killing each other, such deaths are indeed lighter than a feather! My patron, now ancestor, Abdul Leroy James, said, "When you kill your brother you kill yourself. Why kill a dead fly that's already dead!" Yes, your brother and you are both mentally dead, so why kill a dead fly, and then for all practical purposes you are dead too, now we have two dead flies!
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Angela Davis, Marvin X and Sonia Sanchez
Cover art by Emory Douglas, Black Panther Party Minister of Culture
Eldridge Cleaver and Marvin X outside the house where Lil' Bobby Hutton was murdered by the Oakland Police and Cleaver wounded.
photo Muhammad Kareem
Marvin X with the Berkeley Chief of Police. "I ain't skeered of pigs, my friends used to shoot police and they admitted they were murdering us and still shootin' us, 2020. The brother write, "We Will Shoot Back!"
Notes on Lil' Bobby
I remember Lil' Bobby like I remember yesterday. He loved Huey Newton and Huey sent him to give me a message at the Black House, San Francisco, that was rapidly becoming the San Francisco headquarters of the Black Panther Party of Self Defense, especially after I took Black House co-founder Eldridge Cleaver to meet BPP Co-founder Bobby Seale and Cleaver became the BPP Minister of Information. Lil' Bobby came to inform me that we had to close down the youth cub house in the basement because the young men were taking advantage of the young women and playing hooky from school with them and a possible police raid was likely. I was in charge of the youth because Eldridge Cleaver and playwright Ed Bullins had no time for them. Lil' Bobby said, "The Supreme Commander said you must close down the youth club house." I looked at Lil' Bobby and said, "Fuck the Supreme Commander!" I looked in his eyes and saw he had death for me but I'm a crazy nigga too so I didn't give a fuck. Lil' Bobby said, "We gonna deal with you, dude!" That night the Panthers were clicking automatic weapons outside my room door which was across from Cleaver's. I didn't give a fuck, nor did my partner Ethna/Hurriyah. But our days in the Black House were coming to a close and soon we departed. I joined the Nation of Islam and after refusing to fight in Vietnam, fled to exile in Toronto, Canada, 1967. But I love and honor Lil' Bobby Hutton for being a young warrior who died for our people. As Mao said, "Some deaths are lighter than a feather, some higher than Mt. Tai." Lil' Bobby's death was higher than Mt. Tai! His life and death is the example for youth of today in this Black Lives Matter era. In the spirit of Lil' Bobby, I command you to pull up your pants and join the revolution! Stop dying like flies killing each other, such deaths are indeed lighter than a feather! My patron, now ancestor, Abdul Leroy James, said, "When you kill your brother you kill yourself. Why kill a dead fly that's already dead!" Yes, your brother and you are both mentally dead, so why kill a dead fly, and then for all practical purposes you are dead too, now we have two dead flies!
