by Devismama
Marvin X was my teacher. Many of our comrades came through his Black Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Sam Napier.--Dr. Huey P. Newton Happy Birthday Huey P. Newton! Co-founder of The Black Panther Party an African-American left-wing organization working for the right of self-defense for African-Americans in the United States. The Party achieved national and international impact and renown through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in politics of the 1960s and 1970s, as the intense anti-racism of the time is today considered one of the most significant social, political and cultural currents in United States history. The group’s “provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity.”
unfortunately, the young black people who have a media platform today are mainly rappers/artists. and as much as i love hip hop, although the majority of rap artists ‘portray’ the confidence, fearlessness, badass attitude of the panthers, the content, intellectualism, or politicism is non-existent. huey & the panther crew were college educated young men/women (aging in range from 16 - 25). they were well read. according to writer marvin x who studied with huey & co at merritt college in oakland, their independent reading list comprised of:
Black Bourgeoisie, E. Franklin Frazier
Facing Mount Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta
Wretched of the Earth, Franz Fanon
History Will Absolve Me, Fidel Castro
Neocolonialism, the last stage of Imperialism, Kwame Nkrumah
Negro Slave Revolts, Herbert Apteker
Myth of the Negro Past, Melville J. Herskivits
i contend that being a rapper/artist/in the public eye does not make one conscious politically or active socially but you’d hope that after gaining a certain level of celebrity, you’d take it upon yourself to read some books, do some learning at least if for nothing else you sound smart if you’re given a platform such as oprah/charlie rose/bill maher etc.
perhaps if a certain artist had read a few of the books on the list, he might have been better able to articulate sentiments such as ‘george bush doesn’t like black people’!
and even though wiz khalifa’s new song ‘huey newton’ has absolutely NOTHING to do with the newton’s life/legacy perhaps it will inspire a few kids to google him just to find out who the hell wiz is talking about.
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