Power to the people on the b day of Dr. Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. Oakland, City of Resistance to US domestic colonialism, no matter your numbers, we call upon you to be inspired to stand on the shoulders of the BPP and be fearless in the face of US domestic colonialism and globalism. Huey said I was his teacher, and maybe I did teach the BPP some theatrical techniques as per costumes and art as propaganda. And as he noted, many BPP comrades came through my black theatre, e.g., Bobby Seale, Emory Douglas, Eldridge Cleaver and Samuel Napier. But for me, Huey taught fearlessness, the most important lesson in revolution. Once the fear of death, jail, prison, exile is expelled from the heart of the revolutionary, the show beings and ends in death or freedom. I'd rather be dead than a slave to any man. Long live Dr. Huey P. Newton and all the BPP comrades, especially the often forgotten rank and file! Power to the People. --Marvin X/El Muhajir, co-founder of the Black Arts Movement
and Oaktown's Black Arts Movement Cultural and Business District.
2/17/18
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018
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'Panthers' fiction, and the harsh Black Panther reality
(Above) Former Black Panther Political Prisoner of War,
Sekou Odinga
Sumptuous scenes and luscious garments quietly screaming
African strength and pride in every seam and fold
worn by stoic warriors with powerful speeches is the Marvel
Studios-Walt Disney production of “Black Panther.”
“With all the excitement around the ‘Black Panther’ film, we’d like to
acknowledge the real Black Panthers,” said veteran Black Panther activist
Sadiki "Bro. Shep" Olugbala, noting names such as Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu
Shakur (Tupac’s father) and Jalil Muntaqim.
Dequi kioni-sadiki explained, “Hollywood already knows it will make tons
of money from the marketing of the iconic-named ‘Black Panther’ movie.
What isn’t as equally known is that 13 members of the real-life Black
Panthers are serving indeterminately long prison sentences and repeated
parole denials in federal and state prisons across this country as U.S.-
held political prisoners from the 1960s and ’70s war on Black liberation.”
Kioni-sadiki, the chair of The Malcolm X Commemoration Committee,
continued, “These real-life Black Panthers, like their fictionalized movie
namesake, are committed to and struggled for Black self-determination
against imperialism, colonialism and capitalism. These real-life Black
Panthers also have pride in the glories of African history, identity and
culture, serving and defending the Black nation with a legacy of free
breakfast programs, health clinics, drug abuse treatment, food pantries,
clothing drives, challenging of police terror and murder of unarmed Black
people and other survival programs since co-opted by the government.
Sadly, many of them have paid for protecting Black people with their
lives, freedom and multiple generations of family separation. For these
real-life Black Panthers, the struggle for Black/New African independence
and self-determination is anything but a ‘feel-good’ moment of Hollywood
fiction. Perhaps, we ought to be asking our real-life Black Panthers their
thoughts on this movie, and the irony of a much-maligned, demonized,
distorted and threatening to the status quo name and idea like the Black
Panthers now being so very mainstream.”
There is most definitely a burgeoning excitement surrounding this already
pre-ticket sale record-breaking movie featuring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita
Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Michael B. Jordan in the fictional African nation of Wakanda.
Reports state that there were at least 100 #BlackPantherChallenge
campaigns to bring African-American youth to see the movie cost-free.
Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, Sen. Jesse Hamilton and his The Campus
initiative partnered with Reel Works to take students from Brownsville’s
PS 284 to a pre-screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
Some of those students have already stated that they felt inspired seeing
an all-Black cast and a fiercesome Black superhero. This accompanied by
a palpable Black pride flowing throughout this city and beyond makes for
fervent conversations on social media and vibrant dialogue in the real world and digital and print media. All hail journalists such as WPIX 11’s Ojinka Obiekwe, who wore
beautiful Topefnr African print and velvet headties several times this week.
While interviewing the cast on the red carpet at Tuesday’s Manhattan
premiere, she asked, “Did I mention that it is Black Panther week? All
week.”
There is a new energy vibrating. Observers are asking will all this trending
pride with African warrior symbolism translate into action—education
curriculum, political and cultural exchanges?
Sekou Odinga describes himself as a former political prisoner of war.
He explained, “Although fictional, the new film ‘Black Panther’ is a
reminder that there was in our recent history some real live heroes
known as Black Panthers. Black men and women who were members
of the Black Panther Party. Who took it upon themselves to feed our
Black children before they went to school, who created free health
clinics, who protected our elderly from those who would rob or mistreat
them. Soldiers who fought to protect our Black community from abusive
and murdering police across this nation. Many of those heroes now are
political prisoners still being held captive after 25, 30, 40 and more years
for fighting back. We Black and justice-loving people owe it to our political
prisoners and to ourselves to work to free them and to make sure they
are never forgotten. Free all our political prisoners and prisoners of war!”
“As people go to see this fictional movie on the big screen, we hope they
will be inspired to learn about the real Black Panthers, many of whom are
our political prisoners, who have been incarcerated for 40 years,” said
Brooklyn Assemblyman Charles Barron, who often describes himself as
an elected revolutionary and still a Black Panther. He continued, “I hope
they are inspired to join our struggle to fight for our liberation. As they
enjoy the film, they can be encouraged to learn about Imam Jamil Abdullah
Al-Amin, Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli—and so many of our other
political prisoners and prisoners of war behind the wall in America. They
fought for us. For that some of them have been in prison for 40 years.
We want them home.”
Former New Black Panther Party Youth Minister Divine Allah said, “As
another display of the ‘carrot-on-a-stick’ or ‘worm-on-a-hook’ trick is
presented to the [Black] masses, many who have a real-life connectedness
to the backstory of fighting to defend and fighting to liberate, our people
are left scratching their heads. I can recall a scene from the classic martial
arts film, ‘Enter The Dragon,’ when a Black actor, yet real life martial artist,
was confronted by another character and main villain in the film, who
ironically fought with a clawed hand. In the onset of a fight scene between
the two, the Black actor Jim Kelly fires off a verbal display of coolness
before they engage in battle. With his self-styled sharpness he utters
the words, ‘Man you come right out of a comic book!’ Although his
character in the film would lose against this fight with his enemy Mr.
Han, Jim Kelly went on to become one of the baddest Black martial
artists in the world. Due to the inner workings of Hollywood and its
treatment of Blacks, to a degree his legend is/was overshadowed by
the likes of Bruce Lee and David Carradine. These individuals are
imprinted upon the minds of a lot of people…Here we are in 2018
faced with a sprinkle of the same magic dust that leaves us only
connected to the screened character and not the real-life thing. Yes,
we had Wesley Snipes, but we also had Robert Townsend. Throughout
their careers, both of these actors gave us a glimpse of how working in
and around the industry could be utilized for Black empowerment. One
was a comical sketch of the shuffling—Hollywood shuffle—that goes on
in the industry, and another was a real-life walk, the great and mighty
walk, with one of our ancestors, Dr. John Henrik Clarke. In my assessment,
their goal was to present imagery and a true-to-life narrative for viewers
to connect with, making it clear that in real life/real time we have the
opportunity to connect with living examples of greatness.”
Saying that people have become “event junkies devoid of analysis,” Allah
said, “The images have always been here. All one has to do is read,
research and study beyond the want for an industry-backed and driven
symbolic view of our collective greatness, our collective power, our
collective strength and heroism. As we flock to the cinema over the next
few days, hopefully we go in and come out looking to connect with real
life Black Panthers. Hopefully we go beyond the screening of ‘greatness’
and work to embody and inspire greatness in our communities.”
Olugbala remarked, “As an advent reader of Marvel during my youth I
can distinctly remember great feelings of Black pride when the Black
Panther comic-book character debuted in a Fantastic Four issue during
the summer of 1966. In the autumn of the same year while using the
Lownes County Black Panther logo as the symbol for SNCC, Kwame Tore
aka Stokley Carmichael gave his famous Black Power speech at U.C.
Berkeley, which was then followed that October in Oakland when Huey
Newton and Bobby Seale named their movement the Black Panther Party
for Self-Defense. Then, as with today’s Marvel ‘Black Panther’ movie,
there was and is a need for more positive and intelligent Black images,
which cannot only help bring pride of self to our Black youth but which
hopefully will inspire them to do as I did at the age of 19, when I joined
the Black Liberation movement as a member of the Black Panther Party.
Hopefully this film will also answer the call for its producers to give back
a substantial amount of the profits to the Black community and to remind
this nation that there are still real-life Black Panthers being held captive
as U.S. political prisoners.”
Olugbala also said that fellow “veteran members of the original New York State
Chapter of the Black Panther Party will be present along with comrades, friends,
family and other concerned community activists at the ‘Black Panther Movie Red
Carpet & Special Fans Opening Night’ at the AMC Empire Theater in Times Square…
and at other selected NYC wide theaters throughout this upcoming holiday weekend
to provide information on the real-life Black Panther exiles and U.S.-held Panther
political prisoners who still, after over 50 years, collectively and unjustly remain
behind bars long after the Black Panther comic book character was introduced by
Marvel in 1966, which was the very same year that the Black Panther Party was born.”
As New Yorkers celebrate the 50th anniversary of the New York State Black Panther
Party, Olugbala concluded, “We are also in complete unity with the petition and efforts
which are demanding that Marvel Studio and Walt Disney righteously give back at
least 25 percent of its well anticipated ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ in ‘Black
Panther’ movie profits to help support the many needs of our Black and oppressed
communities.”
