Today I was at the Black Vegan Mobb Cafe on Lakeshore in Oakland. I asked a masked man if he had ordered? He said yes and informed me he was Geoffrey, owner of Geoffrey's Inner Circle, the prime black venue in the Bay. As I couldn't see his face, I said you ain't Geoffrey! He pulled the mask aside and I could see it was indeed him. When I asked how he was doing, he looked at me like I was a damn fool even though he knew it was a rhetorical question. Bad, he said.
You know they planned this long time ago. I sensed he was not just talking about Covid19 but the interlocking structural collateral damage, especially for black people who suffer perrenial social and economic insecurity. The subprime loan scam robbed North American Africans of our basic wealth, home ownership. Covid19 may be the nail in the coffin of black economic recovery, and the literal coffin for a people with multiple physical and mental health issues. Since America is giving out trillions of dollars to resuscitate the American economy and black businesses appear left in the cold, we suggest America issue a Reparations check to each North American African in the amount of one million dollars, just for starters!
As Geoffrey Pete departed the Vegan Mobb Cafe, I shouted, "Did you get your relief check or business loan?" Again, he looked at me with an expression that came through his mask, "Nigga, please!"
--MARVIN X
About the author
"He's the African Socrates in the hood."--Dr. Cornel West, Harvard University
"He's Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."--Ishmael Reed, Lecturer Emeritus, UC Berkeley
As Black Bird Press Publisher and Editor, Marvin just released TARIK, a film script on the Moorish African who conquered Spain, 711 A.D. Gibraltar is named in his honor. The script is by Michael J. Satchell. He needs $150 million to make the film. If you have a couple of dollars, send him a donation: satchellmichaelj@gmail.com
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