The Second Civil War

The Second Civil War

With each passing day, America sinks deeper toward the very necessary economic revolution. We can see the Second Civil War as a war between the economic classes, the ruling class and the underclasses. The war will be fought to redistribute the wealth produced by the workers, but siphoned off by the bosses causing the wage slaves economic depression.

This frustration transcends all ethnic groups, even the formerly middle class whites are beginning to feel like nigguhs have felt for centuries. The whites are now jobless and homeless, the perennial state of many North American Africans. This is cause for symbiotic unity, for surely the day shall come when all of us realize we've all been hoodwinked and bamboozled by the ruling elite, political and economic. Surely we will desire a united front against the oppressors that no amount of demagoguery will prevent.

The general strike will be in order. In recent times, the people of North Africa and the Middle East have shown us that the unity of all sectors: workers, teachers, youth, and elders can bring about radical change that no amount of guns, secret police, agent provocateurs, snitches, helicopters, tanks, can subdue, especially once the fear factor is eliminated. We must realize the only thing to fear is fear itself! Knowing the moral arc of the universe is reason enough to understand the necessity of overcoming our fears to do the right thing: fight the power!

Once the ritual dance of life or death with the oppressor has been won, when fear is emilinated from the equation, the oppressed man and woman realizes a freedom that is astounding. A new man and woman has been born in an instant, only the day before he and she were part of a group, a nation of stunted men and women, backs broken by submission to wretched wage slavery, devoid of a living wage and the necessary benefits.

The people see the economic quagmire caused by pure greed of the capitalist swine, who have no intention to share the wealth, not anytime soon, unless forced to do so by the general strike.

The blood suckers must be broken by the solid will of the people. It took the people of Egypt 19 days to bring down the American running dog Mubarak. After 30 years of oppression, 19 days of fearless unity overthrew the tyrant. Libya is taking longer, Yemen as well. The Syrian butchers seem to have no intention of submitting to the will of the people. Bahrain is entrenched with a minority ruling a majority of people who have long suffered discrimination. It is in the national interest of America to support the anti-democratic regime. In nearby Saudi Arabia, they will be lucky if their revolution wins women the right to drive a car. Such backwardness is allowed because of oil.

And so the American revolution will have its own unique process, but its day of judgement is inevitable, unless she decides to share the wealth. As in North Africa and the Middle East, the rulers in America will hold out until the midnight hour. There may be blood and the suffering of many, but it will be a necessary cause to bring true economic equality to a land built on the accumulation of capital by slave labor, followed by the wealth from wage slavery.

The time has come for the producers of the wealth to enjoy the benefit of their labor under the sun. America had the chance to be the light of the world, but the greed of her rulers and their filthy capitalist system of free market exploitation must be eliminated. Change must be not what we believe in but what we know, to hell with change we can believe in. We must have radical change beyond belief. It must be change brought about by our own hands. As Dr. Romana Tascoe told us about the Haitians who informed her they know they got their liberation by their own hands, no body gave it to them, they didn't need a Lincoln to issue an emancipation proclamation. They got their liberation by the sweat and blood of their own hands.

The Second Civil War must correct past mistakes and injustices to all parties in the American dream. America may go the way of the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia, a Balkinizaton by ethnicity. This is the human right of self-determination and sovereignty of all people.

All options are open and up for discussion and consensus. The American people may be able to have a functional unity that at least gets us pass the rule of the blood suckers of the poor. And then we can decide what park of the American pie we desire for our centuries of free labor under the sun.

Hard thinking is in order, for this is no light matter. But we know a people united cannot be defeated. We can do better than the free market economy. What about a fair market economy, a just economy that allows people a living wage and makes them owners of the means of production. I like what the Communists told me when I went to read poetry at a Communist bookstore in San Francisco and asked for the boss. The laughed and said, "We don't have a boss, we killed the boss. That's what the revolution was about, to get rid of the boss."

We can own the means of production. We must seize them because they belong to us, the workers who produce the wealth that is stolen from us by the capitalist bosses who care nothing for American workers or any other workers around the world, only if they are cheap labor combined with cheap resources taken or seized by armies from the capitalist nations, who shall seize all resources needed for the engine of the rotten capitalist machine that grinds the poor into cannon fodder. There is no respect for the labor of the poor, in America or around the world.

Only when the workers stand up and discard their fears will change come, discard the fear of death, the fear of jail and prison, only then do we begin to live the life of true human beings.

--Marvin X

6/26/11

Muslim Unity Meeting and Reunion

Unity in the Community

Muslim Unity Meeting and Reunion: 1950-2011

Saturday, July 16, 11-5:00

Defermery (aka Bobby Hutton ) Park

18th and Adeline Street

West Oakland

information: Khalid 510-927-5055

Journal of Pan African Studies on Skin Bleaching and Global White Supremacy

Editorial:Skin Bleaching and Global White Supremacy

Guest Editors
Yaba Amgborale Blay, PhD
Lafayette College
&
Christopher A.D. Charles, PhD
Monroe College

This Special Issue of the Journal of Pan African Studies focuses on the
practice of skin bleaching -- the intentional alteration of one’s natural skin color
to one relatively, if not substantially lighter in color, through the use of chemical
skin lightening agents -- as it manifests among people of African descent. Within
the context of global white supremacy, skin color communicates one’s position to
and within the dominant power structure.

Given this reality, many people, namely those subjected to white domination, colonization, and enslavement, have historically internalized projected notions that the basis of their inferior condition is their skin color. Although the contributors to this issue examine the phenomenon from a variety perspectives, all draw attention to the impact of global White supremacy on valuations of skin color and the extent to which skinbleaching, as a social practice, is functionary of white domination.

The introductory article, “Skin Bleaching and Global White Supremacy: By Way of Introduction” by guest editor, Yaba Amgborale Blay, critically examines the symbolic significance of whiteness, particularly for and among African people, by outlining the history of global White supremacy, both politically and ideologically, discussing its subsequent promulgation, and further investigating its relationship to the historical and contemporary skin bleaching phenomenon. The article provides a broader socio-historical context within which to situate the global practice of skin bleaching and thus provides a necessary framework for further realizing the critical significance of the articles presented in this issue.

Whereas the large majority of the discourse on skin bleaching focuses on
the practice as it occurs throughout the world, there exists a paucity of literature
on skin bleaching in the United States. With three articles examining the historical
legacy of the practice in early 20th century America, and one focusing on product
usage in contemporary Harlem, the current issue attempts to address this
significant gap in the literature.

In his article, “Skin Bleach And Civilization: The Racial Formation of Blackness in 1920s Harlem,” Jacob Dorman argues that for African Americans at the turn of the 20th century, skin bleaching represented much more than mere cosmetic practice. Examining historical archives,newspaper records, skin bleaching product advertisements, and the infamous and bitter wrangle between W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey, Dorman positions skin bleaching within the larger discourse of civilization and contends that the practice reflected ambiguous notions of racial progress and advancement.

Similarly, Amoaba Gooden’s examination the Black vanguard of news reporting
in her article “Visual Representations of Feminine Beauty in the Black Press:
1915-1950” highlights the extent to which the Black press, influenced by White
supremacy, patriarchy, and classism, assigned higher value to those ideals and
physical features associated with Whiteness than those associated with Blackness.

Given the frequent appearance of skin bleaching advertisements, and the extent to
which reporters attempted to reject degrading popular images of Black women
(e.g. the Mammy), Gooden argues that the Black press ultimately endorsed skin
bleaching as a means through which Black women in particular could attain not
only feminine beauty, but social respectability.

Like Gooden, Treva Lindsey also examines a number of skin bleaching advertisements, however, she focuses specifically on late 19th to early 20th century Washington D.C. and skin bleaching among Washingtonian women. Lindsey explores the relationship between White supremacy, skin bleaching, and New Negro womanhood, and in the final analysis of her article, “Black No More: Skin Bleaching and the Emergence of New Negro Womanhood Beauty Culture,” she connects skin bleaching to a politics of
appearance that intersected with White supremacist and gendered discourses
about urban Black modernity and social mobility; and asserts that African
American women of the time embraced a White constructed beauty culture as
means to an end – social, political, and economic freedom.

Moving the examination forward nearly 100 years, in his article, “The Derogatory Representations of the Skin-Bleaching Products Sold in Harlem,” coeditor
Christopher Charles analyzes the images used to market skin bleaching
products sold in contemporary Harlem in order to determine whether or not such
imagery is derogatory. Charles discovers that many of the underlying messages
inherent to the imagery displayed on skin bleaching labels today are identical to
those used decades ago in that they continue to exhibit hegemonic representations
of Whiteness versus Blackness.

In his estimation, it is this consistency and continuation that continues to push the sale of skin bleaching products in the United States. Margaret Hunter holds a similar position in her article “Buying Racial Capital: Skin Bleaching and Cosmetic Surgery in a Globalized World.” She argues that the increased incidence of transnational skin bleaching is a result of the merging of old ideologies (colonialism, race, and color) with new technologies of the body (skin bleaching and plastic surgery). In this way, as one attains light skin, s/he attains a form of racial capital – a resource drawn from the body that provides tangible benefits within the context of White supremacy.

The works of Donna Hope and Emphraim Gwaravanda both situate skin
bleaching within the specific cultural contexts within which it takes place,
Jamaica and Zimbabwe respectively. In her article, “From Browning to Cake
Soap: Popular Debates on Skin Bleaching in the Jamaican Dancehall,” Hope
examines skin bleaching through the lens of dancehall music culture which,
unlike the larger Jamaican society, contends that skin bleaching represents a mode
of fashion and style.

By examining dancehall artists, their public personas, and their lyricism about skin bleaching, and further situating skin bleaching within Jamaica’s historically three-tiered racialized society, Hope attempts to unpack conflicting cultural debates surrounding skin bleaching in Jamaica. With attention to skin bleaching in Zimbabwe, Gwaravanda relies upon Shona proverbs as an indigenous knowledge system through which to analyze the phenomenon.

Through the proverbs, he asserts that for the Shona people, intrinsic beauty is
valued above extrinsic beauty, dark skin is to be valued, and that one is to be
knowledgeable of his/her culture and identity. It is through these perspectives that
Gwaravanda challenges contemporary skin bleaching in Zimbabwe as a departure
from traditional Shona culture.

Commentary provided by African-centered psychologist, Daudi ya Azibo
concludes this special issue on skin bleaching and global White supremacy. In
“Skin Bleaching and Lightening as Psychological Misorientation Mental
Disorder,” Azibo argues that skin bleaching is consistent with the psychological
misorientation mental disorder articulated in the Azibo Nosology.

According to Azibo, living under White domination has severely traumatized people of African descent and has destabilized our ability to orient ourselves towards ourselves.Skin bleaching is thus regarded a reflective side effect of this psychological destabilization. By concluding with Dr. Azibo’s commentary, we hope to open and extend the discourse, spark debate, and inspire continued research into the
multiple dimensions for which skin bleaching has implications for people of
African descent.

Please go to: jpanafrican@yahoo.com

Message to Berkeley Juneteenth, Sunday, June 26, 2011

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Paramedic Alleges Oscar Grant Cover Up

Paramedic Whistleblower Alleges Oscar Grant Cover Up; Evidence of System-Wide Racism

by Phil Horne, Esq.
Monday Jun 20th, 2011 5:43 PM

Paramedic Sean Gillis, an instructor and supervisor at the Oakland Fire Department, filed suit on Friday, June 17th, 2011 against OFD. In his complaint, Gillis alleges OFD mistreated Oscar Grant in its response to Grant 9-1-1 calls on January 1st, 2009, destroyed evidence related to the mistreatment, ordered Gillis to stop his investigation of the call response, and is currently retaliating against Gillis for exposing same.

OAKLAND. Paramedic Sean Gillis, an instructor and supervisor at the Oakland Fire Department (OFD), filed suit on Friday, June 17th, 2011 against OFD. Alameda County Superior Court No. RG-11-581209. In his complaint, Gillis alleges OFD mistreated Oscar Grant in its response to Grant 9-1-1 calls on January 1st, 2009 and destroyed all evidence related to the mistreatment, ordered Gillis to stop his investigation of the call response, refused to comply with an order for a call review by former OFD Medical Director Dr. Michael Howard, MD, forced Howard to quit by withholding his paychecks, and is currently retaliating against Gillis.

OSCAR GRANT. On January 1st, 2009, OFD responded to the BART police shooting of Oscar Grant—an unarmed BART passenger. The shooting became a focus of community direct action during 2009 and 2010 and just recently when the shooter was released after serving a brief prison sentence.

OVERLOOKED. Overlooked until now is OFD’s role in Grant’s death. According to Gillis, OFD mistreated Grant, and that mistreatment is so egregious that it should be criminally investigated.

WOUND UNTREATED. Grant had been shot at pointblank range. The bullet made both entry and exit chest wounds. OFD Emergency Medical Services Division (EMS) first responding paramedics applied an air-tight treatment only to the entry wound—leaving the exit chest wound open to air. According to Gillis’ complaint, this misconduct is a ‘death sentence.’ Grant died from his wounds 5 ½ hours later.

SCUTTLED INVESTIGATION. On January 6th, 2009, Gillis launched an investigation and requested the coroner’s report to assess whether paramedic misconduct contributed to Grant’s death. On January 10th, 2009, OFD issued a written order to Gillis to stop the investigation and to refrain from reporting his findings to anyone—even the Grant family or law enforcement. The written order is attached to Gillis’ complaint.

EVIDENCE DESTROYED. About this time, according to Gillis, OFD destroyed all paper records related to the Grant response and the computer archive of Grant’s Patient Care Report.

DR. MICHAELS. OFD’s Medical Director, Dr. Howard Michaels, MD, ordered a call review. Even though, at the time, Michaels was the highest medical authority at OFD, the EMS Division ignored his order. Gillis alleges OFD retaliated against Dr. Michaels by interfering with his paychecks until Dr. Michaels finally left in September 2010. Dr. Michaels left OFD owed over six (6) months’ pay. When he finally left, Dr. Michaels turned to Gillis and warned, “You’re next.”

RETALIATION AGAINST GILLIS. Dr. Michaels was right. According to Gillis, OFD launched a retaliatory campaign of harassment and retaliation that included moving Gillis’ office from Jack London Square to a small trailer in the middle of a parking lot in a remote area of Oakland, eliminating his lunch break, taking his mailbox and city car access, weekly bullying sessions and monthly performance reviews, and demoting and suspending Gillis.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACTION. Gillis made a Public Records Act request for the Grant file and staff meeting audio tapes with racist and inappropriate statements about Oscar Grant. According to Gillis, OFD refuses to confirm or deny the destruction of the Grant file and, at first, falsely denied the existence of the recordings. Gillis filed suit under the Public Records Act in Alameda County Superior Court (No. RG-11-576250). Said suit is available for download by clinking the PUBLIC RECORDS ACT LINK on justiceforseanatoaklandfire [at] googlegroups.com .

SYSTEM-WIDE RACISM. Gillis alleges the mistreatment of Grant is an example of system-wide discrimination against people of color.

HISTORY. In the year 2000, in a television special on OFD, entitled “Test of Courage,” the discriminatory practices (against black people and women) of Oakland Fire were investigated by PBS. PBS showed that OFD historically tolerated discrimination, believing employment practices favoring males from “certain families” was based in sound science. OFD’s historical perspective was described as:

"Many firefighters [] come from families with several generations of white men in the fire service. Recruitment, training, and leadership have helped to honor and preserve lineages that [allegedly] favor bigger, stronger fire fighters."

Though the statement is not attributed to any particular personnel, Mark Hoffman worked closely with the reporter and is believed to be the source of that information. OFD promoted Hoffman after the special aired and Hoffman is Chief (interim) today.

MEASURE Y. Gillis alleges that evidence of the bigotry at OFD can be found in OFD’s failure and refusal to comply with Measure Y—a special tax fund created to support “at risk youth mentoring.” Measure Y requires OFD to create and maintain one “at risk youth” mentoring program in each of its 15 fire stations. OFD collects $4,000,000.00 in Measure Y money every year but fails to create or maintain any “at risk youth” mentoring programs—not one of the 15 required.

MERRITT COLLEGE. Gillis alleges that, instead of implementing programs that help “at risk youth,” OFD is dismantling such programs. OFD forced Gillis to quit his directorship of historically-black Merritt College’s EMT program, in part, to accommodate the competing program of National College of Technical Instruction (NCTI)—a for-profit college based in Colorado with a historically white student body. OFD now provides NCTI the access to OFD facilities and classrooms Merritt College formerly enjoyed. This means that NCTI students will be the only Bay Area students with “real world” OFD experience on their resume and be much more likely to receive OFD jobs and promotions, once hired, and, in this way, OFD will perpetuate historical discrimination against black job applicants and employees.

DIRECT ACTION. Gillis invites the public and his co-workers at OFD and throughout the City to become involved in the effort to bring accountability to OFD for misconduct against Grant AND to use his action to highlight racism, sexism, privatization, and corruption throughout the City of Oakland. “Now is the time for change,” says Gillis.

DEMAND INVESTIGATION. Demand District Attorney Nancy O’Malley launch a criminal investigation of OFD misconduct against Grant and willful destruction of evidence by calling: (510) 272-6222 .

INDY NEWS. Watch for independent press interviews on KPFA radio and independent newspapers throughout the Bay Area, community meetings, and direct action against O’Malley, Mayor Jean Quan (who promised to “clean house”), the City Council, and OFD.

Contact: justiceforseanatoaklandfire [at] gmail.com

Media Blackout of Crippled Nebraska Nuclear Plant

US orders news blackout over crippled Nebraska Nuclear Plant: report
June 18, 2011
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A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska.

According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a “no-fly ban” over the area.

Located about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant is owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) who on their website denies their plant is at a “Level 4” emergency by stating: “This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified.”

Russian atomic scientists in this FAAE report, however, say that this OPPD statement is an “outright falsehood” as all nuclear plants in the world operate under the guidelines of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which clearly states the “events” occurring at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant do, indeed, put it in the “Level 4” emergency category of an “accident with local consequences” thus making this one of the worst nuclear accidents in US history.
Though this report confirms independent readings in the United States of “negligible release of nuclear gasses” related to this accident it warns that by the Obama regimes censoring of this event for “political purposes” it risks a “serious blowback” from the American public should they gain knowledge of this being hidden from them.

Interesting to note about this event was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chief, Gregory B. Jaczko, blasting the Obama regime just days before the near meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant by declaring that “the policy of not enforcing most fire code violations at dozens of nuclear plants is “unacceptable” and has tied the hands of NRC inspectors.”

Parable of the Black Bourgeoisie

Parable of the Black Bourgeoisie

The economic and political dependence of this African neo-colonial bourgeoisie is reflected in its culture of apenmanship and parrotry enforced on a restive population through police boots, barbed wire, a gowned clergy and judiciary; their ideas are spread by a corpus of state intellectuals, the academic and journalistic laureates of the neo-colonial establishment.
--Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Decolonizing the Mind

The black bourgeoisie is a class of very sick people who go about their daily round pretending all is well. They have a gang of police who do not carry guns but are yet dangerous because they use masking tape to gag and silence the mouths of any and all who dare defy their sick value system of addiction to white supremacy that is full blown.

The culture police will silence or simply ignore those who refuse to speak the language of the black bourgeoisie, a language taught to them in the neo-colonial schools, churches, mosques and workplaces.

This class of trained monkeys includes artists, teachers, preachers, politicians and media parrots who make sure those who defy the culture police are punished by silence or ignored by non-invitation to their world of make believe.

They are not interviewed in the media, or invited to speak or teach at schools, colleges and universities, unless at their own expense. They may sometimes be invited and paid, but the culture police make sure no students are there to hear them, so they speak in an empty auditorium, even though they are paid handsomely. The black bourgeoisie don't care how much they are paid, just don't let students hear what they have to say. The culture police will actually speak after they speak and admit they have nothing to say, that they are rambling on to neutralize the atmosphere, to negate any raw truth that may have been said.

The black bourgeoisie culture police place those who defy them on house arrest, similar to the woman in Burma, for those who resist are not allowed to work, unless they agree to sing Silent Night, the national anthem.

One cannot say the A word, B word, C word, D word, E word or F word. In short, one must shut up and go along with the "King's English," of course the King was a pervert, oppressor, exploiter, robber and rapist, so who in their right mind would want to speak the "King's English"?

Rather than teach the masses in their own language, the "Mother tongue," how to behave, how to stop beating their partners, how to love themselves, the black bourgeoisie would rather the common people beat, maim, and kill their mates. Even when the masses or common people fight and steal the literature in their "Mother-tongue," the black bourgeoisie don't care, for they cannot allow them to speak in their language, they must be stopped by any means necessary.

And yet, the "King's English" and the language of the black bourgeoisie is filled with lies, duplicity and contradictions. Their language hides truth, especially of their sick, pitiful lives, terror in their mansions, in bed, hours of drunkenness and drug abuse, lechery and depravity, the golden handcuffs, incest, adultery, prostitution , emotional and verbal abuse--yes, in their moment of passion the black bourgeoisie actually use so-called foul language, yes, the very language they despise and condemn in the common people and those who speak or write in such language.

And still they walk with an air of superiority. They cannot speak or greet you on the street. There are perpetually in a rush or in a hurry going nowhere but to some din of iniquity where they wink and blink to increase their inordinancy and conspicuous consumption.

Their pseudo puritan language covers a multitude of sins and wickedness. Smiling faces belie the terror of their lives, for are they not sycophants of the worse kind, ass kissers in short, for some boss, some high class pimp in a suite, far above the street.

And yet, the black bourgeoisie are only one paycheck away from the street people who drink rot gut wine and push shopping carts, but at least they love each other with a love that is true and real!

Baraka said, "Where the soul's print should be there is only a cellulose pouch of disgusting habits." They suffer negritis, an inflammation of the negroid gland at the base of the brain, caused by negrocities or bad habits!

The black bourgeoisie were told long ago by E. Franklin Frazier about their world of make believe and conspicuous consumption. Nothing has changed, except there is more of the same.
--Marvin X
3/30/10
www.parablesandfablesofmarvinx.blogspot.com

How to Recover from the addiction to White Supremacy

Baseball star Sammy Sousa after
bleaching cream white supremacy treatment.

See the latest issue of the
Journal of Pan African Studies on the bleaching cream pandemic in Pan Africa.





Third Traditions Foundation

"How to Recover From the Addiction to White Supremacy"

In this work, Marvin X lays down the blueprint for freedom from internalized racism and uses the twelve steps. He debunks the chief component of powerlessness and correctly states "we are not powerless over anything… nothing has power over you except when you allow it to have such."

Much like Dr. Carter G. Woodson's "Miseducation of the Negro" Marvin begins by defining white supremacy in that recovery groups miss-educate blacks to accept injustice as part of the process but as Marvin details here:

"For it is one thing to detox and recover, We have found in drug recovery that many persons will recover, but go no further in their consciousness. Thus, they have a new addiction called recovery; one could say it is their religion since it now consumes their entire lives, which consist of attending meetings. They are most often negative and see no need to become social activist, even though Dr. Fanon and Dr. Hare tell us the only way to regain their mental equilibrium is by joining the movement of their people.”

Chapter five has a very frank, compelling Truth and Reconciliation admission that tempts one to rush to judgment. Purchase the book just to read that one chapter, it's well worth it!

Angela R. Jenkins
Third Traditions Foundation
Furthering Cultural Aptitude
http://www.thirdtraditionsfoundation.org/

How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy is out of print but will be reprinted ASAP.

Obama

A fictional speech by President Obama on Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Good evening, my fellow Americans. You some silly motherfuckers. Do you think I'm gonna bring a bunch of troops home from Afghanistan when my generals tell me they can make a few more billion dollars if we keep the troop level up. I'm not gonna do that, hell naw. As long as my name is Barack Hussein Obama. Yes, who sane Obama, but you insane if you think the thirty thousand troops I sent over there to kill those mountain goats are coming home anytime soon.

Oh, I might bring home two or three thousand, mostly the wounded with their brains shot out, those with no legs, no arms, we'll send them home, but you know it takes 30 thousand to capture or kill 100 to 500 Al Quida, yes, do the math, 30 thousand men at the cost of one million dollars each--now we don't pay them damn fool grunts no million dollars, but the generals get most of it for their retirement and when they come home to set up defense related corporations. You know the drill, don't you? You know politics and capitalism is dirty, filthy and funky like a ghetto ho. Hee hee hee. vote for me, I'll set you free!

You know we gotta take care of our generals, since they protect us round the world so you dumb somebitches can ride around in your SUVs, playing soccer mom and your husbands can ride through the ghetto at night picking up little black girls for prostitution. Now if you fuck with my little girls, I'm coming after that ass like I did that boy, our boy, Osama bin Laden.

Yes, I got that motherfucker. Hell, it was close to election time so I had to do something. Shot that motherfucker between the eyes and had my boys fuck his three wives fore we got outta Pakistan.

Back to Afghanistan. It is ten billion dollars a month to chase them mountain goats up and down them fuckin mountains, some ten thousand feet to twelve thousand feet up. But we makin progress so we can't leave now. Too much money involved and too much dope. Karzai and his brother is dealing too much dope and it's too good to cut and run now, except for a little drawn down fore election time, hee hee hee. Vote for me, I'll set you free, you dumb motherfuckers, especially my nigguhs.

How ma nigguhs doing in da hood? Ya'll still got yo shirt on, pants? I know you ain't got no job, ain't got no house, but you know I had to help my boys on Wall Street. I ain't stupid now, hell, I'm a Harvard nigguh, my nigguhs. Gotta help my brotherhood of thieves and robbers. If ya'll stop going to prison and come to Harvard, we'll show you how to be real criminals.

And they lettin all nigguhs and poor people into Harvard for free, what's wrong wit ya nigguhs? Get yo ass out dem prison cells and come to Harvard so you can be trained to be a real criminal. Look, we ain't gonnna keep payin no $200,000 a year to keep you little snotty nose motherfuckers in juvenile hall. We go put you in Harvard. I'll talk to my man Skip Gates bout giving you a little black studies, none of dat radical shit, some miller lite shit, but I want you to major in crime, how to rob motherfuckers in broad daylight, cheat people out da homes, jobs, take everything, don't leave a motherfucker nothing. Take his wife too. Hee hee hee, vote for me, I'll set ya free!

Back to Afghanistan. I told them mountain goats if they lay down their arms I will pay for them to go to school, get them housing and get them jobs. But them motherfuckers too dumb, can't count to ten. They can fight like hell when they wanna, but they don't want no schoolin, remind me of you nigguhs in da hood. But they worse than you nigguhs, these mountain goats won't even let the women go to school, lease you boyz in da hood ain't dat stupid. Vote fa me, I'll set ya free.

Now you boyz and girls in da hood might wonder why I don't give you motherfuckers jobs if you lay down yo guns and stop terrorizing you mama, daddy, grandpa and grandma, yo woman and babies, yes, you nigguhs is killing yo babies too--sometimes ya'll bad as them mountain goats bombing everything with they good suicide asses. Talkin bout they go get some virgins in Paradise. Do the women get dicks in Paradise? Hee, hee hee. Vote fa me, I'll set ya free!!!!

Let me finish this bullshit speech up so I can hit my cigarette, maybe a little one on one too. Mechelle make me go to a special little room she fixed up for me in the White House to do my thang. You know how them bitches is, always wanna fix up some shit fa a man. Bitch, I'm the motherfuckin Prez, bitch! Better leave me the fuck alone and take care of dem guls and yo mama.

Back to Afghanistan. We go bring home two or three thousand troops and don't fuck with me about it. Matter of fact, kiss my black yellow ass, especially you Republicans and that Cornel West bitch! American people, good night. Prosperity is just around the corner, soon a chicken in every pot. Hee hee hee. Vote for me, I'll set you free!

--Marvin X

6/23/11

Marvin X is known variously as Plato, Rumi, Mark Twain, the Sludgehammer, human earthquake. He's written thirty books, eight last year. jmarvinx@yahoo.com

http://www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/

Unity Under Stress

Toward Unity of North American Africans
15. Unity in Stress and Death

In stress and death, all classes of North American Africans are united, with the upper classes suffering more stress, perhaps, because they must be concerned with keeping the little they have. We have seen black millionaires suffer the same discrimination faced by blacks when they are watched while shopping. Black nurses come to us with horror stories of job discrimination. A black professor recently told how her colleagues suffer high blood pressure. An aide to a state senator reached a settlement for sexual harassment. Her boss had been relentless in pursuit of her tail, causing her great stress and discomfort.

Do we need to find out if our President is under stress? For sure, the boyz and girls in the hood are stressed to the point of using violence as a tension reliever, to say nothing of staying medicated on street drugs to keep from blowing a fuse. When street drugs are not available, prescription drugs will work. Our poor children suffer stress from possible homicide and/or suicide. Many of them are in trauma and grief from losing so many of their peers to violence and prison.

Elders who make it to sixty and seventy years old must often travel solo because so many of their friends have departed, including their mates. Many marriages were stress filled from the greater society. Again, the need for medication from illegal and/or legal drugs, few can afford therapy and even if they could, there are few mental health workers to serve them, especially with holistic African healing certification as opposed to useless European psychotherapy for black minds.

All classes escape to religiosity until church politics drive them from the Lord's house, especially when it's all about the preacher and his needs, leaving little mention of the Lord. Even the New Thought Spiritual Centers are degenerating into dens of iniquity under the guise of prosperity consciousness and unbridled sexuality.

Of course our diet is an ever present danger to our health, for it is designed to rush us to the doctor, although all classes have such fears of the medical profession that even those well healed blacks often do not take advantage of their health insurance. We knew a professional woman who only went to the dentist because he was her friend. She never bothered to see the doctor, supposedly because he wasn't her friend and she had fears of medical treatment.

In short, all blacks live in a hostile environment. A man escaped the ghetto to live in the Oakland hills, but when he thought he heard a burglar and called the police, they treated him as though he was the burglar, so traumatizing him that he left his wife in the house in the hills and returned to stay in the ghetto.

We suspect the stress of the hostile environment is the reason we lost several black women professors at the University of California, June Jordan, Barbara Christian, Veve Clark, Sherley A. Williams. Sherley long complained of her hostile work environment at UC San Diego. Dr. William H. Grier had his son inform me that indeed what killed Sherley was the hostile environment, not cancer and asthma.

Riding on the bus through the ghetto, there are usually conversations on three topics: who's sick, who died and who's in prison or just got out. The brothers go to prison so often that a girlfriend was heard saying, "He lives in prison, that's his home. When he's out here he's on vacation!"

Women are under great stress with so many of their mates incarcerated. With the economy in meltdown, men and women are getting desperate with each passing day, plotting criminal activity with no real thought and planning, thus they are quickly apprehended and join the line to the department of corrections where they suddenly become a valuable commodity, worth fifty to sixty thousand dollars per inmate per year.

Imagine the stress of jail and prison, with overcrowding, sexual abuse, gang violence, lack of privacy, loneliness, loss of human dignity. The only advantage is that black men and women now have the chance to think, study and write for the first time in their lives. But upon their release there is little opportunity to stay straight since they now have a record and often lack any formal education and skills since many had dropped out of school in boredom with the white supremacy curriculum and hostile, overworked and exhausted teachers who themselves rarely receive a salary worth their time and education.

The hostile environment is intensified by the slave catchers, otherwise known as police. They are an ever present danger to all classes who may be stopped for driving, walking, talking, or thinking while black. They are in constant danger of failing the tone test: when stopped the person can be killed, arrested or released based on the tone of his voice.

The arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates is testament the police, when it comes to blacks, do not discriminate. We just learned of a man who won a lawsuit against a hotel in Washington, DC because he took refuge in a hotel during a storm but because of his dress the hotel called the police to throw him out. The police gave him a choice, either go to a shelter or go to jail, he chose a shelter.

There is thus nothing post in the traumatic stress syndrome we suffer, it is ever present on a daily basis until the last rites are administered, though even in the coffin stress can reach us. Gang youth came to a funeral and shot into the corpse to make sure the deceased was truly dead. At another funeral there was a shooting inside the church causing a poor church mother to go home where she suffered a heart attack. An estranged church going wife was shot dead by her stressed husband in the church parking lot with the Bible in her hand.

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at 39 years old, the medical report said his body had the stress of a 60 year old man.

And so it is, we live under intense pressure, all of us, no matter what class, unless we are determined to enter the no stress zone where we are not moved by things of this world that are pure illusion and mainly of little importance now or in the future. Most certainly, we are not to worry about things of the past.
--Marvin X
12/14/10

Do I Have A Choice

Do I Have A Choice?

When fathers have done it all

what is left but something right

by children and former wives

who love you

in spite of it all

you know they love you

they would have you back again

if you would submit

but you won't

in a thousand years

hard headed as you are

recalcitrant

incorrigible

but they would have you

a special guy

in spite of negrocities

improprieties of the worse kind

the beatings

neglect

abandonment

other women

yet they were there for you

raised children for you

while you went insane

wouldn't see the doctor

in your arrogance

and now time has caught you in his hands

what remains but do the right thang

you had the dope

women in the night

money that went to hell

what now

in the final quarter

to laugh to cry to scream

silent in your room

listen to the rustle of leaves in the breeze

calling you home, brother

come home

come to your self

final vision of who you are

the real you nobody knows.

And now the grandchildren

what for them have you

a special kindness of guilt and shame

a love unconditional

making up past mistakes

seeing how precious they are in your sight

wondering why they look like you

challenge you to be a better man

if you can.

--Marvin X

6/19/11

Of Fathers and Sons at San Francisco Juneteenth, 2011

Of Fathers and Sons at San Francisco Juneteenth


San Francisco's Juneteenth returned to the Fillmore District after a few years in the downtown area where turnout was light. People were elated at the overflowing crowd on Saturday of the two day event. It is just wonderful to see North American Africans greeting each other with love and friendship hugs. We wonder what it would be like if we were truly free in our own land. But we know it would be wonderful to enjoy righteous brotherhood and sisterhood.

As we were vending books a fight suddenly broke out nearby, even though the police were present. Suddenly youth were crashing my table and books went everywhere. The police gang joined in by beating youth with their nightsticks. No arrests were made. I was informed two gangs entered the NO GO ZONE which was the Juneteenth area of Fillmore Street. I gathered my books off the ground, some damaged, and set up again.

For some reason police lined up behind me. I don't know why. A sergeant kept coming to my table to look at my book titles: In the Crazy House Called America, Wish I Could Tell You the Truth, I Am Oscar Grant, Who Killed Chauncey Bailey, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, Mythology of Pussy (all time bestseller, even at today's Juneteenth--people buy multiple copies because their friends steal it!It is a manhood and womanhood training manual, since renamed Mythology of Love). If I'd had enough copies of MOP I would have given them out freely, as I do at Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. The boys say it "ups their game." And the girls say it empowers them, "I didn't know I had that much power." Dr. Nathan Hare calls this "biblotherapy."

I wanted to move but thought maybe the boyz in the hood would restrain themselves due to the police presence, although it didn't work initially. Clearly, the youth have no fear of the police. Soon another group of young men came up to the police to argue among themselves, as though the police weren't there or don't matter. Why would you argue gang bizness in front of the police? "Yeah, I'm go kill dat nigguh Dante next time he cross Fillmo'!"

Other than this argument, there was no further disturbance at my spot. Everything was cool and the afternoon ended with the soul singing group Best Intentions taking us down memory lane, and then jazzman Marcus Shelby closed out with that Hammond B3. At the other end of the festival, the youth stage was forced to close down due to violence.

This Father's Day, Black men need to think hard and long about the future of their children, especially their sons. The incident at Juneteenth was clear evidence the police are useless in stemming violence among our young men. The police are simply another gang and the youth know this, thus they do not fear them. But what if all the Black men standing around confronted the youth in a united manner. We think the boys would stop their madness, and yes, desire for attention. We know many if not most are from single family households, if not foster care, abandoned and neglected. I was guilty of this and was myself a victim of this.

But what if the men took charge of their sons in this public space. It would send a signal to the boys there is another authority in the hood that shall force them to act civilized. For this was a joyful day, a sacred day when our ancestors learned they were free, a year later. Most Juneteenth festivals refuse to have discussion, only celebration, but doing such prolongs ignorance and we see it expressed in youth behavior. Would youth act stupid if they understood the sacredness of the moment? Perhaps not, especially with a force of black men on post, e.g., the Elders Council. Black men, get organized!

No matter if you abandoned and neglected your children when they were young, even when they reach adulthood, they need your help and guidance, so reconnect with them, no matter how painful--and it may be painful, but so damn what! Life is often pain, joy and pain, as Frankie Beverly told us.
--Marvin X
6/19/11




Good morning,

I grew up without a father around. I was lucky enough to be raised by a wonderful mother who, like so many heroic single mothers, never allowed my father's absence to be an excuse for me to slack off or not always do my best. But I often wonder what it would have been like if my father had a greater presence in my life.

So as a father of two young girls, I've tried hard to be a good dad. I haven't always been perfect – there have been times when work kept me away from my family too often, and most of the parenting duties fell to Michelle.

I know many other fathers face similar challenges. Whether you're a military dad returning from deployment or a father doing his best to make ends meet for his family in a tough economy, being a parent isn't easy.

That's why my Administration is kicking off the Year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families. We're joining with dads across the country to do something about father absence. And we're taking steps to offer men who want to be good fathers but are facing challenges in their lives a little extra support, while partnering with businesses to offer fun opportunities for fathers to spend time with their kids. For example, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Major League Baseball and the WNBA are offering discounts for fathers and their kids, and companies like Groupon and LivingSocial will be featuring special offers for activities fathers can do with their children.

You can learn more and sign the Fatherhood Pledge at Fatherhood.gov:

We know that every father has a personal responsibility to do right by their kids – to encourage them to turn off the video games and pick up a book; to teach them the difference between right and wrong; to show them through our own example the value in treating one another as we wish to be treated. And most of all, to play an active and engaged role in their lives.

But all of us have a stake in forging stronger bonds between fathers and their children. All of us can support those who are willing to step up and be father figures to those children growing up without a dad. And that's what the Year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families is all about.

So I hope the dads out there will take advantage of some of the opportunities Strong Fathers, Strong Families will offer. It's one way of saying thank you to those who are doing the most important job of all: playing a part in our children's lives.

Happy Father's Day.

Sincerely,

President Barack Obama

P.S. Earlier this week, I did a TV interview and wrote an op-ed on this topic. You can see both on WhiteHouse.gov.

Elijah told you America would discard you

Elijah Told You America Would Discard You

The time Elijah told you about has arrived! He told you the United States of America will drop you like a hot potato as it falls into the dustbin of history. Surely, you can smell the coffee. Clearly, the time has come when America has no use for you except as slaves under the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, i.e., incarcerated slaves.

There is no work for you, no matter your qualifications. America has no work for its own white brothers and sisters, nor does it give a damn about them.

Elijah told you no politician of this world can save you, black, white, green, yellow or brown, straight, gay, lesbian, trysexual. The time has arrived when you shall be either slave or totally free of America. You are being dropped from all economic assistance, housing and medical care. Yes, you shall find yourselves stateless, even with your passport, for it shall be meaningless. Your passport is your black skin. Perhaps this is why you are rushing to the store for bleaching cream but it will be to no avail.

James Brown told you money can't save you, but time will take you out. And so it is. Time, the mighty monster that devours all things. Time has come for you, North American Africans, either band together, stand together, walk together to freedom or die the death of a wretched slave too ignut to know it is a slave (Harriet Tubman).

It is only a matter of days before you shall see the white man is the devil you thought was down in the ground burning in hell. No, he is right here and showing you with every passing minute he doesn't give a damn about you, no matter that you have been a loyal, obedient, passive servant for 400 years. He worked you for nothing, then "freed" you with virtual slavery, wage slavery, yet today you cannot envision self-determination and sovereignty.

You have blind faith, the faith of a fool, that things are going to get better, yet the worse is yet to come. Keep praying to Jesus and see if a dead man can save you.

Unless you stand up and declare yourself a free people, you are doomed, a dead man walking. You see the people in North Africa and the Middle East standing up for freedom, willing to lay down in front of tanks, face guns and sure death to liberate themselves finally and forever from oppression. You must do the same. Stand up and let the world know you will except nothing less than liberty, liberty or death. The life you are living now is worse than death. The Qur'an says oppression is worse than slaughter, for it is better to die than suffer oppression and the illusion of freedom, that addiction to the world of make believe so loved by those duped by conspicuous consumption, putrid materialism. We can do better than be slaves of consumerism, addicts of trinkets, rocks, animal skins, plastic cars and shoes.

We can do better than this fake love we profess. How can you truly love your man and woman when you don't have a clue who they are, alas, you don't even have a clue who you are!

Just hold on a few more days and watch the news, the plain truth shall be made clear to you. You may be instructed to run for your life with the clothes on your back. Elijah told you this day was coming. I dare you to call him a liar, fake and phony.

He told you America shall be destroyed for her wickedness. Yes, her evil is exceptional, unique in the annals of history. Do you not see the plagues upon her house, in the land, tornadoes, drought, floods, hurricanes, sand storms, heat, disaster after disaster--only the beginning of sorrows. Jesus told you this. You don't believe Jesus, Elijah, Allah, Buddha or your mama!

As per the financial system? Stay tuned, the dollar shall be thrown into the streets because it shall be worthless as a penny. You won't stop to pick up the dollars on the ground. Elijah told you this. Stay tuned so the white man can tell you. You will believe him!

--Marvin X

6/17/11

Oakland Memorial for Geronimo Ji-Jaga, July 17

Marvin X's Great Grandfather, Former Slave

Former Negro Slave Dies on Madera Ranch

Fresno Bee, Tuesday, December 16, 1941

Ephraim Murrill, 99, who lived the first twenty years of his life as a Negro slave in North Carolina, died yesterday in his home on a Madera district ranch. Murrill, who was highly respected by both whites and Negroes in the community, recalled having seen Abraham Lincoln when the great emancipator was campaigning for his first term as president.

Surviving him are one daughter, Mrs. J. H. Hall, Madera; a son, John Murrill, Fowler; nine grand children and three great grandchildren. He would be 100 years old had he lived until next February 13. One of his brothers lived to the age of 116.

Funeral services will be hold tomorrow afternoon in the Jay Parlors and burial will be in Arbor Vitae Cemetary.
------------ --------- --------

Epharaim Murrill is the maternal great grandfather of poet Marvin X. His mother, Marian Murrill Jackmon, was born in Fowler, about thirty miles south of Madera. Marvin X was born there as well, May 29, 1944. Marvin's parents, Owendell Jackmon and Marian published the first black newspaper in the central valley, the Fresno Voice. They were also real estate brokers who sold many blacks their first home after WWII.

The Jackmons later moved to Oakland and became florists on 7th Street. Mr. Jackmon was prominent in West Oakland's political and social life. He was a member of the Men of Tomorrow, the Elks Lodge and the American Legion. He was a member of Downs Memorial Methodist Church. Mrs. Jackmon became a Christian Scientist, follower of Mary Baker Eddy.

Mrs. Jackmon later returned to Fresno with her children and opened a real estate business. In 1969, Marvin X became the most controversial black in Fresno history when he defied Governor Ronald Reagan by continuing to teach at Fresno State University, even though the Gov. ordered the college/now university to remove him by any means necessary, especially since he had refused to fight in Vietnam.

According to my colleague, Ptah Allah El, my great grandfather is one of the legendary men of the Central Valley. He and Col. Allenworth may have been associates. After Col. Allenworth, Murrill is the most prominent black man in the central valley. Something about him crossed the line separating blacks and whites. All the Negroes in the Valley know about Epharaim Murrill. According to Ptah Allah El, my great grandfather was well known in Madera, Fresno, Fowler, Hanford, Lemoore. He was a conscious black man.

And, according to Ptah, there are conscious people throughout the valley who recognize Murrill as one of the icons. More research will reveal exactly what he did. I do know my people came to California as pioneers who were engaged in farming. My cousin Latanya Tony is researching our family history. She told me recently that our great grandfather was buried in Madera.

The reason my friend knows about Ephraim is because he traveled throughout the central valley recently selling food at events. People told him about the man named Ephraim Murrill. Ptah never made the connection between myself and my great grandfather. He didn't know my mother's maiden name was Murrill. I'm just learning of my grandfather's people. We had a family reunion in Chowchilla a few years ago, but it was mainly my grandmother's descendants.

I don't know why my mother never mentioned my great grandfather, but it appears he had more notoriety than his great grandson, Marvin X or perhaps his great grandson is only folllowing his footsteps!

From the Archives: Bridging the Racial Gap in Education

Bridging the Racial Gap in Education

The American educational system in general and the California educational system in particular must be totally and utterly dismantled and destroyed simply because it is the main instrument of the perpetuation of domestic colonialism otherwise known as white supremacy. This past week’s Achievement Gap Summit to bridge the racial divide called together by Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, offered false hope that the educational system can be saved despite the cultural lag between the old Eurocentric paradigm and the new racial reality of majority African, Latin and Asian population.

The Eurocentric system has been unable to inculcate its values successfully into the so-called minority populations that are rapidly becoming the majority. In short, the system is a failure because it was created by Frankenstein so that Afro-Latin peoples could assimilate into the monsters needed by a white supremacy capitalist regime. What are needed are wage slaves, up from chattel slavery, but the system has been hard pressed to create the dutiful slaves needed by a society whose purpose is the domination and exploitation of the world.

The 1960s revolution threw a monkey wrench in Frankenstein’s plan and even though the revolution was aborted, enough information made it through the Cointelpro operation to alter the consciousness of a generation of students whose children and grandchildren are now of age and even in their unconsciousness are in rebellion against the Eurocentric domestic colonial regime. The children know something is very very wrong here and hence over fifty per cent drop out of the school system before graduation.

The irony is that the students are not given credit for having the natural intelligence to know that something is very very wrong, that something stinks, but rather they are blamed for being the problem, or their families, mothers, fathers, or the lack thereof, their economic situation but never is the system that is contrary to their cultural identity blamed, never is the racist nature of the content and presentation labeled the cause, for after all, white supremacy is perfect and holy. And so when the system looks at the monkey in the zoo, it never occurs to it that the monkey is looking at them. And this tragic blindness can never be healed by reform but only by revolution, the decolonialism of the society in general and education in particular.

Thus, we must now ask the question: is the society prepared to go beyond nick picking and cherry picking reformism into the reality and necessity of revolution, concluding the revolution that was begun forty years ago when black students went to war to establish black studies, soon followed by other ethnic groups calling for Latin, Asian and Native American studies, even gender studies. It most cases, these programs were tolerated, but in the main they were diluted, polluted and absorbed into the general curriculum until they were meaningless, harmless and totally reactionary, thus returning to the Eurocentric status quo and the system smiled and was happy and content once again, for its life was extended and the rebellion of the natives was squelched.

After all, during the 60s, the system had seen the danger of Johnny reading books and thinking independent thoughts, learning the craft of writing, even publishing books on consciousness, and so he was made dumb again, told he was incapable of mastering the King’s English, even though the king had been dethroned long ago but somehow his language remained as an instrument of terror and trauma, thus even today when the natives try to reconstruct viable communication in the language of their oppressor, they are condemned as being illiterate and uncivilized, even by their own culture police, such as Cosby and others. So again, Johnny says to hell with the English language and the colonial administrators and instructors say to hell with Johnny. Get out of here, you do not fit, nothing about you is acceptable, your speech, your poetry, your dress, your music, nothing, and by the way, we have a cell ready for you, a condo with a life estate.

And rather than pay you a minimum salary of fifty thousand dollars per year to stop your mayhem in the hood—as we are now paying the insurgents not to kill us in Iraq, we will hold you in your cell or condo and make fifty thousand dollars per inmate per year off you while you sit like a monkey in a cage. And even while imprisoned when you request conscious literature, we allow you, if at all possible, to read only material of the urban or gansta genre so you may continue in your wretchedness and iniquity, and upon release spread more psychopathology into the hood, along with HIV/AIDS and other diseases from homosexuality, although you claim to be a straight American Gansta.

Of course we shall continue to meet periodically to assess the racial divide, the gap between the practice and the promise, the reality and the dream. But the reality speaks volumes about our real intentions which is that nothing shall change fundamentally because it is about domination and exploitation, it is about holding onto our sense of reality until the end, and if necessary we shall call out the troops, order them to use their guns to prevent any radical change of the social order, in particular the educational system which perpetuates the values of the white supremacy culture. We are both privileged and blessed to have this Eurocentric white supremacy culture so why should we, and for that matter how can we, change?

This would involve a radical recovery from our racist heritage, a deconstruction of our world view. We would need to detox from the magic spell we have allowed to consume us for generations, centuries; in short, our world would come to an end. But perhaps we would discover who we really are as we discovered ourselves as members rather than masters in the global village. We would then accept Johnny, his language, his dress, his hair, his culture as equal to ours. We would even accept his thinking outside our box and he would not be penalized for such since we now see him as our equal, as a man among men, as a woman among women.

When world events happened, we would consult him for his views on the matter. We would not ignore his opinion or refuse to implement his ideas that may just happen to be sound and solid, based on a sense of history and reality, contrary to our which is based on illusionary hubris. As a matter of fact, I left the Achievement Gap Summit early to attend an Afro-Asian sponsored fund raiser for Merve Dymally who is running for State Senator, even though he is eighty years old. At the event I met and talked with Asians who assured me they could get my books printed in China, even translated into Chinese for the people of China.

And so it is, we must prepare for the world beyond the white box of Americana that has been nothing but a shallow grave for our people. But in the shallow grave there is hope of resurrection, only if we are willing to jump out in a hurry, yes, seize the time, for time can be reversed. Before leaving Sacramento I watched a television program about a family in Turkey who walked on all fours, a reversal of evolution. And it was said at the conference on education that this present black generation is the worse ever, and thus we are perhaps witnessing a reversal of evolution unless we make a great leap forward.

And indeed, this will involve revolutionary changes in education, including the establishment of independent institutions financed by ourselves so they can remain independent, staffed by persons who teach with love and a sense of service, as Mr. Tavis Smiley said in his keynote address at the conference. Tavis may not be prepared for the revolution I speak about, but he is correct about love and service. He also spoke about fulfilling the promise, and we know the founding fathers called upon the people to again make revolution if the promise is not kept.

--Dr. M/marvin x

11/15/07

Moratorium on Theory

A Response to Wilson J. Moses by Rudolph Lewis

Most formulae that are currently presented by well-meaning contemporary Brothers and Sisters are flawed by impatience, and haste, leading to a "magpies nest" of schemes informed by incomplete knowledge of our past, and a failure to engage in the painful and pessimist appraisal of black traditions, that Harold Cruse advised in his flawed, but brilliant masterpiece The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual. His central advisory was overlooked. What he said was: Declare a moratorium on theory until you have studied our own past.—Wilson


I just read a piece by Marvin X, titled "Bridging the Racial Gap in Education." Specifically, it is a complaint about schools in California and their seeming educational failure with regard to black as well as Hispanic students. One marker of this failure is the black dropout rate of 50%, which is similar to other black urban educational systems across the country; in some systems like Detroit and Baltimore they are even higher. Seemingly, these students, however, at some point get a GED, for over 75% of blacks above 25 have at least a high school equivalency. Marvin's indictment against the public school system as presently organized is that they are "Eurocentric" and ooze with Eurocentric values in the classroom, that is, "white supremacy" or colonial-like "domination" values. And thus he recommends independent black schools supported by blacks with curriculums influenced primarily by Afrocentrists like Dr.Wade Nobles.

These kinds of criticisms and recommendations made me take your advice to heart: "Most formulae that are currently presented by well-meaning contemporary Brothers and Sisters are flawed by impatience, and haste, leading to a "magpies nest" of schemes informed by incomplete knowledge of our past." Further, it makes me think of your book Alexander Crummell: A Study of Civilization and Discontent (1992). Crummell was a priest and an above-average preacher. Of his writings we are mostly left with his sermons. But Crummell wanted to be a teacher. He wanted to transmit the principles of civilization into the minds of young black scholars. You point out his catalogue by which he would "introduce among our youthful citizens a sound and elevating English literature" (150). Among these one cannot find one black writer, not even Frederick Douglass' Narrative nor The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa.

Before he reached Cambridge, most of Crummell's learning took place in independent schools for blacks, beginning with the African Free School in New York. His schoolmates included Samuel Ringgold Ward, Henry Highland Garnet, and James McCune Smith. Crummell’s education was thoroughly Eurocentric, yet he was by turns a black nationalist, a Pan Africanist, a colonizationist, an abolitionist, a Liberian and African nationalist, a Civilizationist, an Ethiopianist, an Anglophile, and sometimes all at once. These ideological perspectives were more a commitment to black uplift rather than a pedagogical commitment to what we consider today cultural “blackness,” which Marvin (or Dr. M) thinks will make a difference in the scholarly commitment of black children. He proffers no evidence such a catalog or curriculum guarantees a different scholarly production.

For much of his life Crummell wanted to head a black college, to found black schools. Of course, he would not have wanted to start black schools to teach Afrocentric texts or black folklore, or the current black mythologies or any of the recommended texts for today's black independent schools. He would want his black students to master the European classics, be able to read Greek and Latin and know other European languages. One wonders indeed whether teaching Afrocentrist texts primarily would decrease black dropout rates. Crummell had no love for black popular education as we now formulate it. Popular culture did not then have the critical influence as it has now.

Wilson J. Moses' Alexander Crummell book can teach us much about the problems of founding independent black schools and other black "independent" institutions and their dependency on white benefactors. The problem is always money and usually the money among us do not go heavily into black educational commitments or experimental institutions and when they do they are geared toward getting one's students ready to pass entrance exams for the best Ivy League schools.

In his racial career, Crummell was concerned with "the spreading of a cosmopolitan civilization, rather than the nurturing of a cultural nationalism or separatism" (Alexander Crummell, 130). Middle-class African American parents (on the whole) are more in line, it seems, with Crummell’s idea of education as a means of mastering the principles of Western civilization to assimilate and to become successful, goals which have very little to do with political rebellion or decolonization or creating cultural warriors as an advance guard against cultural oppression or establishing a separate distinct racial nationalism.

I am afraid that the curriculums imagined by some Pan Africanist, black nationalists, and Afrocentists won’t do that, in any event. American realities have their demands that must be satisfied. Marvin suggests that the Black Arts Movement (BAM) threw a “monkey wrench” into the assimilationist plans of American public education. He says “even though the [black] revolution was aborted, enough information made it through the Cointelpro operation to alter the consciousness of a generation of students whose children and grandchildren are now of age and even in their unconsciousness are in rebellion against the Eurocentric domestic colonial regime. The children know something is very very wrong here and hence over fifty per cent drop out of the school system before graduation.” Such transmission is speculative at best. But if mindless rebellion was indeed transmitted, all the worst for us. From this perspective we are as blameworthy as "Cointelpro."

So, according to Marvin (Dr. M), the 60s literary revolution is a cause, then, of the present scholarly revolt of public school students, as manifested in the 50% drop-out rates. It is not the lack of such BAM texts, even if the more important ones were available in print, existing in today's public school education. The problem is how we regard and approach such texts, or any black texts. I wonder indeed in such Afrocentric schools would there be a study of an Alexander Crummell or even a Martin Delany. Both Crummell and Delany would have serious criticisms of contemporary "blackism" or the "bitterness" found in Black Arts texts. These 60s' texts of rebellion, I doubt, would provide the skeptical scholarly approach to a well-rounded education that black students require to operate truly as liberated beings in our contemporary world.

In a recent black Canadian commentary, “Debunking myths about African centred schools” (The Star), the authors George J. Sefa Dei and Arlo Kempf believe “Often integration means giving up one's identity in a so-called "multicultural mosaic." What “identity” these authors reference is unstated and unclear to me or any reader. If one seeks a Canadian identity, integration seems the path to take. Their characterization of the desired black independent school is similarly obscure: “They will be open to all who share Afrocentric ideals, who have high expectations of the learner and who are willing to go the extra mile to ensure success for all. The African-centred school is defined more by a set of principles and philosophies governing the conduct of school than the race of its students and teachers.” Most parents of black public school children would be similarly puzzled by the concept of “Afrocentric ideals.” I know that I am.

In such schools I wonder what use would be made of say the life of Martin R. Delany or his The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States (1852) and its criticism of black life in America. Or whether such schools would be willing to deal thoroughly with 19th century African American intellectual life at all, which has a Victorian cast to it, and their emphasis on the "civilization and Christianization of Africa." Of course, it could not be done adequately without a knowledge of white American, English, and European intellectual history and life.

The dualistic arguments about a white vs. a black education are indeed rationally problematic. Neither can fit neatly into a vacuum. It is to escape one evil and to enter another. A truly scholarly education, I doubt, can fit well into either one of these paradigms. What we should argue is that the present public school systems are not truly scholarly and that they tend more toward propaganda and programming. That is indeed to be avoided. But we do not want a black version of the same problem.

I haven't read Delany fully since the early 80s when I was writing my master's thesis. I need to read him again. His The Condition and other black texts of the 19th century should indeed have their readings in public schools. But we do not have the teachers prepared to teach such texts in white or black systems and if they were prepared I do not think that they would be allowed to teach them. And if they were allowed to teach them I am uncertain that black students would respond any better to them than the ones they now seemingly reject.

I came across an interesting passage from The Condition, which maybe relevant to our present economic concerns:

White men are producers—we are consumers. They build houses, and we rent them. They raise produce, and we consume it. They manufacture clothes and wares, and we garnish ourselves with them. They build coaches, vessels, cars, hotels, saloons, and other vehicles and places of accommodations, and we deliberately wait until they have got them in readiness, then walk in, and contend with as much assurance for 'right,' as though the whole thing was bought, paid for, and belonged to us (The Condition 45).


With all our supposed wealth (buying power) and education and cosmopolitan sophistication, how many black spokesmen would make such a candid statement to our contemporary black middleclass consumers. And if they did, what indeed would be their recommendations in how to respond to it? It seems indeed that they should have enough study and scholarly background to be critical of the one that Delany offered over a century ago. So indeed Moses' advisory (cross) should be taken up by us all: "Declare a moratorium on theory until you have studied our own past."

Even those of us with advanced degrees have holes in our knowledge of the past whether it is black or white or Hispanic or other literatures. The search for knowledge indeed cannot cease at graduate ceremonies.