Review of the White Chauncey Bailey Project's Book

The above photo reveals the supreme irony of the Chauncey Bailey murder.Chauncey is on the far right under the protection of the Your Black Muslim Bakery brothers, his alleged killers. The white man on the far left appears to be Thomas Steele, lead writer of the White Chauncey Bailey Project and author of the book Killing the Messenger. Even the caption is a half truth since Bailey was working on the Bakery but also on corruption in the Oakland Police Department and City Hall under then Mayor (now Governor) Jerry Brown.

We present this review of the White Chauncey Bailey Project's book on Black Muslims and the Assassination of Chauncey Bailey. At a book signing, Marvin X shouted from the audience that the book is a sham. Oakland Tribune editor Martin Reynolds shouted back (Martin was having an on stage conversation with Thomas Steele), "Ok, Marvin, we know you are doing a book on Chauncey so we'll just wait for your book." Indeed, my book is Who Killed Chauncey Bailey? and A Short History of Black Muslims in the Bay. As per who killed Malcolm X, James Baldwin said, "The hand that pulled the trigger didn't buy the bullet." Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb had this to say about the assassination of his editor, "Chauncey was our soul, blood and bones. And we take authority on the matter of facts concerning his assassination. We are taking authority on his legacy to our community and the world.We do not accept the OPD's, the DA's, or CBP's explanation of his cold blooded murder."

Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith, Racism’s Backlash, and the Assassination of a Journalist | By Thomas Peele | The Crown Publishing Group | 441 pages, $26.00

by Jess Mowry

Columbia Journalism Review

It’s said that the devil is in the details, and experienced writers would agree that the tiniest details can make or break a story. This may tempt authors to emphasize or embellish aspects of a story that reinforce a theme; to present the facts in a way that fits the frame.

One may receive impressions of this in the first 40 pages of Killing The Messenger, Thomas Peele’s new book about ideology, murder, and journalism, set primarily in Oakland, CA. For instance, one may wonder why the author, who in the first paragraph of the introduction describes Oakland as “little more than a place I passed through to get anywhere,” should choose to inform readers that Oakland’s Lake Merritt “had been created from a drained swamp in the 1860s,” or at low tide the area where the lake drains into the San Francisco Bay (actually the Oakland Estuary) “reeked of rotting mussels ripped open by hungry gulls.”

He might have said that Lake Merritt is the largest saltwater lake located within an urban area and is quite picturesque. And what could be more natural than seagulls feeding on mussels? But, of course, he was trying for gritty atmosphere; just as one could add grit to San Francisco’s image by mentioning that much of the riprap around its Aquatic Park is composed of old tombstones leftover when the city moved most of its graveyards to Colma in the early 20th century.

Likewise, the author repeatedly describes the neighborhood around the (former) Your Black Muslim Bakery on San Pablo Avenue, home base for the semi-legit organization that this book is about, as being the “North Oakland ghetto.” This reviewer, having frequented this bakery for fish sandwiches, and who still passes through the neighborhood at least once a week, can attest that while it’s not one of Oakland’s upscale communities, it’s far from a ghetto. Nor did this reviewer ever find the bakery’s staff anything less than pleasant, neat, clean, or observe the “compound” being guarded by “thugs in bow ties” or “the frenzied pit bull and mastiffs,” though that would have certainly been wise at night, and many area businesses take similar precautions.

None of which is to say that this reviewer admired the Black Muslims or agreed with their doctrine—though the sandwiches were killer—but rather to note that the deployment of superfluous details, especially when one already has an ironclad case, may undermine one’s credibility.

Earning readers’ trust is especially important when an author is writing about black people, who are so accustomed to being misrepresented and negatively portrayed that many automatically distrust or outrightly dismiss anything written about them, especially by a non-black author. It is therefore unfortunate that the first three chapters of Killing The Messenger appear as if Peele was trying too hard to set his stage.

While Part One of this book, opening with the August 2, 2007 gangstuh-style murder of Chauncey Bailey, an Oakland Post editor who was working on a story about Your Black Muslim Bakery, abounds with descriptions of thugs, thuggery, and Dashiell Hammett-meets-Boyz n the Hood atmosphere, one quickly forgives Peele when he settles down to solid journalistic writing, especially since Peele was a principal in the Chauncey Bailey Project, an ad hoc group of journalists dedicated to reporting the circumstances of Bailey’s death.

Though the hook is the murder of Bailey, an undistinguished journalist whose article, Peele notes, would probably not have been very good, Bailey is actually a minor character. The real story is about the Black Muslims, and particularly the Oakland-based Bey family. For decades, Peele reports, the Beys used their health-food bakery as a front for criminal activity, operating largely untouched by police. (The bakery’s founder, Yusuf Ali Bey, actually ran for mayor of Oakland in 1994.) It was only when the erratic, overmatched Yusuf Bey IV assumed control in 2005 that everything began to crumble.

With exceptions noted and forgiven, Killing The Messenger is a very well-written and thoroughly researched book; this becomes apparent as one gets deeper into it. Like James A. Michener, Peele begins at the roots of his subject, in this case a man named Wallace Dodd Ford, a.k.a. Walli Dodd Fard (and many other aliases), who filled out a draft card on June 5, 1917, stating his birthplace as Shinka, Afghanistan, his birth date as February 26, 1893, and his race as “Caus” (presumably an abbreviation of Caucasian). This is ironic, since he was the co-founder of what would become the Black Muslim faith, after teaming up with a spiritual charlatan who styled himself Noble Drew Ali from Morocco, though he was reputedly born Timothy Drew from North Carolina. (Peele makes clear that the Black Muslim “faith” is Islamic in name only, just as the Ku Klux Klan bills itself as a Christian organization.)

The book, backed up by 74 pages of acknowledgments, notes, and bibliography, traces the history not only of the group itself, which was based upon “Tricknology” (a term coined by its founders to describe the misinformation and outright lies foisted upon black people by whites to keep them confused and disunited), but also the individual histories of the principal men involved. Unlike the Black Panther Party, which had its roots in Oakland and was for the most part purely political, the Black Muslims cloaked their militancy in pseudo-religion, encouraging violence not only in their brainwashed believers but also providing a justification to those who simply wanted to act out their hatred by killing. Peele brings vital historical context to the contemporary aspects of his tale: the establishment of the Bey family in Oakland, the rise and fall of Your Black Muslim Bakery, and the eventual murder of Chauncey Bailey—a foolish, arrogant, and typically thuggish act, which, rather than removing a perceived threat to the organization, actually brought it down.

As he does for virtually all the dramatis personae in this book, Peele offers detailed studies of their origins and backgrounds, often not without sympathy in regard to conditions, environment, and events in their lives which may have contributed to what they became. For example, we learn the life history of Devaughndre Monique Broussard, who would become Bey’s hit-man for Chauncey Bailey’s murder. It is an all-too-typical story of a young black man raised in a soul-crushing environment of poverty, drugs, and violence in Richmond, CA, and who wasn’t strong enough to somehow rise above it.

As Peele acknowledges, though most of these men had seedy backgrounds, it was pretty difficult for any black man, especially during the first half of the 20th century, to be squeaky clean in regard to white laws, morals, and values. Peele’s extensive research on the oppression of black people in the US through most of the 20th century, explains part of the book’s subtitle: Racism’s Backlash—the backlash being the rise of an organization claiming to be a religious faith that professes hate toward white people. Peele is not hesitant to give white devils their due, whether murderous police, racist politicians and journalists, or discriminatory policies. He describes several attacks by police upon Black Muslims in various cities that ended in outright murder of black men, the officers involved invariably cleared of any wrongdoing. No wonder that, then as now, certain young black men would be attracted to an ideology that encouraged them to fight back.

Throughout the book’s 350 pages, Peele presents detailed accounts of how various individuals became involved with and/or ensnared by the Black Muslim movement; some idealistically, many—especially young black men intellectually stunted by the public-education system and emotionally scarred by the judicial system—because it offered opportunities no one else was offering. Broussard, for example, a once-promising student who lost his way, is Peele’s Exhibit A: an impressionable youth who was lured by the financial and emotional shelter the Beys provided.

Did anything positive come out of this? While Peele seems a bit cloudy on this point, he also appears to imply that the answer is yes. Though he may have somewhat embellished the grit and grimness of Oakland, he also acknowledges the thousands of young black men taken in off the streets, or when fresh out of prison, who would have likely been behind bars—or behind bars again—had they not been offered productive jobs and educated in matters of self-worth, physical and mental discipline, and personal integrity, and who may well have gone on to live better lives by using these teachings as a basis to self-educate and think for themselves. In other words, Peele seems to realize there are shades of gray in everything—no absolute evil, no untarnished good, and few saints or devils without their own motives.

Killing The Messenger may well be the best, most thoroughly researched, and—with exceptions noted—most objective book thus far written on this subject, and is no doubt destined to become required reading in many colleges and universities. Hopefully, it will also be read in prisons, to educate young black men that Tricknology comes in all colors. If the devil is indeed in the details, Peele has given us many demons to exorcise.

Bibliography: A Short History of Black Muslims in the Bay Area

Bibliography: A Short History of Black Muslims in the Bay Allah, Wakeel, In the Name of Allah, A-Team, Atlanta, 2007 Allen, Robert L., Black Awakening in Capitalist America, AWP, New Jersey, 1992 Al Mansour, Khalid Abdullah Tariq, Black America at the Crossroads ________, The Reflections of an African Arabian in American Captivity ________, Talal, The Challenge of Spreading Islam in America Ali, Yusef, Holy Qur'an Armstrong, Karen, A History of God ________, Muhammad Aslan, Reza, No god but God, Random House, 2006 Baldwin, James, The Fire Next Time, Dial Press, NY, 1963 Bloom, Alexander, Wini Breines, eds, Takin' it to the Streets, Oxford, 1995 Bontemps, Arna, Black Thunder, Beacon, Boston, 1963 _______, Conroy, They Seek A City Breitman, George, The Last Year of Malcolm X, Merit, NY, 1967 _______, Malcolm X Speaks, Grove, NY., 1965 Clarke, John Henrik, ed, Malcolm X, The Man and His Times, Collier, NY, 1969 Cleaver, Soul on Ice ______, Soul on Fire ______, Post Prison Writings, Ramparts, 1969 Diop, Cheikh Anta, Cultural Unity of Africa, TWP, Chicago DuBois, W.E.B, The Souls of Black Folk, Penguin, NY, 1996 _____, The World and Africa _____, Black Reconstruction Foner, Philip S., ed., The Black Panthers Speak, Da Capo Press, 1995 Frazier, E. Franklin, Black Bourgeoisie, Collier, NY, 1975 _____, Race and Culture Contacts in the Modern World, Beacon, Boston, 1957 Franklin, John Hope, From Slavery to Freedom, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1980 Genovese, Eugene D, From Rebellion to Revolution, Louisiana State U. Press, 1979 Gitlin, Todd, The Sixties, Years of Hope, Days of Rage, Bantam, NY, 1987 Hilliard, David, Huey, Spirit of the Panther, Thunder Mouth Press, NY, 2006 Houston, Drusilla Dunjee, Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire, BCP, Baltimore, 1985 Howard, Elbert "Big Man", Panther on the Prowl, BCP, Baltimore, 2002 Jackson, George, Soledad Brother Jackson, John G., Man, God and Civilization ______, Introduction to African Civilization, Jamal, Mumia Abu, Live from Death Row, Avon, 1996 James, George G.M., Stolen Legacy, AWP, New Jersey, 1992 Kenyatta, Jomo, Facing Mt. Kenya, Vintage, NY, 1965 Lincoln, C. Eric, The Black Muslims in America, Beacon, Boston, 1961 Martin, Tony, Literary Garveyism, The Majority Press, Mass, 1983 Muhammad, Elijah, Message to the Black Man ________, Theology of Time ________, Fall of America, Muhammad's Temple No.2, Chicago, 1973 ________, How to Eat to Live Oliver, John A, Eldridge Cleaver Reborn Polk, William R., The Arab World Today, Harvard, 1991 Sertima, Ivan Van, They Came Before Columbus, Random House, 1976 Soyinka, Wole, The Open Sore of A Continent, Oxford U. Press, 1995 Ture, Kwame, Hamilton, Charles, Black Power, Vintage, 1992 Udom, E.U. Essien, Black Nationalism, Dell, NY, 1962 Vincent, Theodore G., Black Power and the Garvey Movement, BCP, Baltimore, 2006 Walker, David, David Walker's Appeal, 1829, Washington, Booker T, Up From Slavery, Bantam, NY, 1967 Williams, Chancellor, The Destruction of Black Civilization, TWP, Chicago, 1987 Williams, Eric, Capitalism and Slavery, University of North Carolina Press, 1994 Williams, Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose, Berkley, New York, 1987 Young, Henry J, Major Black Religious Leaders, Abingdon, 1977 X, Malcolm, Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine, NY, 1965 X, Marvin, Eldridge Cleaver, My friend the Devil, BBP, Berkeley, 2009 _______, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, BBP, Berkeley, 2007 _______, How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, BBP, Berkeley, 2008 _______, Wish I Could Tell You The Truth, BPP, Berkeley, 2005 _______, Somethin' Proper, BBP, Berkeley, 1998 _______, How I Met Isa, MA thesis, San Francisco State University, 1975, unpublished, _______, Fly to Allah, Al Kitab Sudan, Fresno, 1969 _______, I Am Oscar Grant, BBP, Berkeley, 2010 AUDIOGRAPHY Nisa Islam (Bey), Cherokee, 2004. Nadar Ali, Fresno, 2004. Manuel Rashid, Fresno, 2004. John Douimbia, Grand Ayatollah of the Bay, San Francisco, 2004. Minister Rabb Muhammad, Oakland, 2004. Antar Bey, CEO, Your Black Muslim Bakery, Oakland, 2004. Norman Brown, Oakland, Oakland, 2004. Kareem Muhammad (Brother Edward), Oakland, 20 VIDEOGRAPHY Proceedings of the Melvin Black Human Rights Conference, Oakland, 1979, produced by Marvin X, featuring Angela Davis, Minister Farakhan, Eldridge Cleaver, Paul Cobb, Dezzie Woods-Jones, Jo Nina-Abran, Mansha Nitoto, Khalid Abdullah Tarik Al Mansur, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T-Shaka, and Marvin X. Proceedings of the First Black Men's Conference, Oakland, 1980, John Douimbia, founder, Marvin X, chief planner, Dr. Nathan Hare, Dr. Wade Nobles, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T'Shaka,Norman Brown, Kermit Scott, Minister Ronald Muhammad, Louis Freeman, Michael Lange, Betty King, Dezzie Woods-Jones, et al. Forum on Drugs, Art and Revolution, Sista's Place, Brooklyn, New York, 1997, featuring Amiri and Amina Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Sam Anderson, Elombe Brath and Marvin X. Eldridge Cleaver Memorial Service, produced by Marvin X, Oakland, 1998, participants included Kathleen and Joju Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Dr. Yusef Bey, Minister Keith Muhammad, Imam Al Amin, Dr. Nathan Hare, Tarika Lewis, Richard Aoki, Reginald Major, Majidah Rahman and Marvin X. One Day in the Life, a docudrama of addiction and recovery, filmed by Ptah Allah-El, produced, written, directed and staring Marvin X, edited by Marvin X, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 1999. Marvin X Interviews Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, former actor in Marvin X's Black Theatre: Berkeley, La Pena Cultural Center, 1999. "Abstract for An Elders Council," lecture/discussion, Tupac Amaru Shakur One Nation Conference, Oakland: McClymonds High School, 1999. Marvin X at Dead Prez Concert, San Francisco, 2000. Kings and Queens of Black Consciousness, produced by Marvin X at San Francisco State University, 2001, featuring Dr. Cornel West, Amiri Baraka, Amina Baraka, Dr. Julia Hare, Dr. Nathan Hare, Rev. Cecil Williams, Destiny, Phavia, Tarika Lewis, Askia Toure, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Rudi Wongozi, Ishmael Reed, Dr. Theophile Obenga, Marvin X, et al. Live In Philly At Warm Daddies, a reading accompanied by Elliot Bey, Marshall Allen, Danny Thompson, Ancestor Goldsky, Rufus Harley, Alexander El, 2002. Marvin X Live in Detroit, a documentary by Abu Ibn, 2002. In the Crazy House Called America, concert with Marvin X and Destiny, San Francisco: Buriel Clay Theatre, 2003. Marvin X in Concert (accompanied by harpist Destiny, violinist Tarika Lewis and percussionists Tacuma and Kele Nitoto, dancer Raynetta Rayzetta), Amiri and Amina Baraka, filmed by Kwame and Joe, Berkeley: Black Repertory Group Theatre, 2003. Marvin X Speaks at the Third Eye Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2003. Marvin X and the Last Poets, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 2004. Proceedings of the San Francisco Black Radical Book Fair, produced by Marvin X, filmed by Mindseed Productions, San Francisco, Recovery Theatre, 2004, participants include: Sonia Sanchez, Davey D, Amiri Baraka, Sam Hamod, Fillmore Slim, Askia Toure, Akhbar Muhammad, Sam Anderson, Al Young, Devorah Major, Opal Palmer Adisa, Tarika Lewis, Amina Baraka, Julia and Nathan Hare, Charlie Walker, Jamie Walker, Reginald Lockett, Everett Hoagland, Sam Greenlee, Ayodelle Nzinga, Suzzette Celeste, Tarika Lewis, Raynetta Rayzetta, Deborah Day, James Robinson, Ptah Allah-El, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Marvin X, et al. (Note: let me please acknowledge some of the historic personages in the audience: Gansta Alonzao Batin (mentor of the Bay Area BAM, made his transition shortly after the conference), Willie Williams of Broadside Press, Detroit, Gansta Brown, Gansta Mikey Moore (now Rev.), Arthur Sheridan, founder of Black Dialogue magazine, also co-founders Aubrey and Gerald LaBrie, Reginald Major, author of Panther Is A Black Cat. Thank you all for making this event historic, ed. MX) Get Yo Mind Right, Marvin X Barbershop Talk, #4, a documentary film by Pam Pam and Marvin X, Oakland: 2005. Marvin X Live in the Fillmore at Rass'elas Jazz Club, A Nisa Islam production, filmed by Ken Johnson, San Francisco, 2005. Marvin X in the Malcolm X Room, MaClymonds High School, accompanied by Tacuma (dijembe and percussion, dancer/choreographer Raynetta Rayzetta, actor Salat Townsend, filmed by Eddie Abrams, Oakland, 2005. Introduction, Overview This project employs the participant/observer model. Brother Donald Hopkins noted that I am close to the subject, psychologically and physically, although I maintain a psychic distance from all things in order to allow the artist's touch to happen. Sometimes being too close to the subject destroys all objectivity. This occurred when I viewed Spike Lee's film Malcolm X. I left the theatre in tears at a point because I saw too much of my life before my eyes. Additionally, I was disgusted that Malcolm claimed not to know Elijah had a plethora of women, since he and Elijah were so close. And, more so, Elijah taught all of us to trust no one, including him. This project began and ended in 2004 because my advisers warned me I would be killed if I published it. For several years, until now, I put the manuscript aside although I have no fear of death: Inna salati wa nusuki wa mahyaya wa mamati li-Lahi Rabbi-l-alamin... (Surely my prayer, and sacrifice and my life and death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds). I did not resume the project until 2012, inspired by the release of Thomas Steele's book Killing the Messenger, his socalled expose of Black Muslims and their role in the assassination of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey. Part One of this project deals with my view of who killed Chauncey Bailey. For sure, as James Baldwin said of Malcolm's killers, "The hand that pulled the trigger didn't buy the bullet." I would like readers to understand that for all my psychi distance, I am yet a captive of the Islamic spirit and cannot deny this. I'm also a captive of the African spirit and lastly the human spirit, though I do consider myself divine. For the purpose of this project, I will try to dwell on th human plane. As I overview this work, it is crystal clear to me that we are a superhuman people. It is so wonderful to explore the beginnings of our evolution in the Nile Valley. What is amazing is that when we conclude the African man and woman are indeed Adam and Eve, we must then recognize Africans as the progenitors of humanity. What an awesome responsibility to be burdened with, and yet I have no doubt once we regain our mental equilibrium, we shall handle the matter handsomely. Yet, this puts us on a plane superior to most of humanity, despite our inferior condition today. After difficulty comes ease, the Qur'an teaches us, so we know everything is going to be all right once we master the Sisyphus syndrome of rolling the rock up the hill only to have it slip from our grasp and then we must go to the bottom of the mountain to begin anew. If this has been only a test of strength, surely we have mastered the test. The problem is that some people continue praying when Allah has already answered. Why are you on your knees when you have acquired the trappings of freedom, i.e., knowledge of self and others? Our history is so awesome it staggers the mind, making one tremble with tears in the night, and yet so much ignorance prevails in spite of knowledge blowing in the wind. Perhaps this is why the Bible says the people were destroyed for lack of knowledge. Who can pity you if you die of thirst when the well water is beneath your feet? In the spirit of ancestor David Walker, somebody help me! Somebody needs a healing up in here! It is well known today that Africans or the Aboriginal Man developed from the four thousand miles of the Nile Valley that begins in the Congo and ends on the delta. Four thousand miles of history and culture, acquired over thousands, yea, millions if not trillions of years, once we escape the White Supremacy paradigm of time. Elijah was trying to tell us something in his Theology of Time. Does not the Qur'an say by the time surely man is lost, except those who bow down and exhort one another to truth! And Solomon told us there is a time for everything, a time for you and a time for me, a time to reap and a time to sow, a time for war and a time for peace, a time to love and a time to hate. There used to be the cry Nation Time! What happened? Did those caught in the slave system go back to sleep? Let us not digress. From the Nile Valley we evolved religion, from many gods to One God, from ancestor worship and the trinity to the purity of Akhenaton's Sun Hymn. But the African mind can walk and chew gum, we are thus quite able to derive a holistic relationship with the variety of theological concerns. As my Islamic mentor taught me, ancestor Ali Sherif Bey, all religions yet express primitive notions, shall we call it polytheism, ancestor worship? Tell me, do not certain Muslims worship saints? Do not certain Muslims practice magic? In his Dawn of Conscience, James H. Breasted told us, "Monotheism is but imperialism in religion." And so when we evolved to empire building, it was a natural thing for monotheism to rule. Nile Valley religion expanded to rule the world. And with the decline of the West, the pure monotheism appears about to surface again. Can you not see there is before us a global Islamic people's revival, call it revolution, witness the Middle East, from Tunisia to Syria. I am so serious about Syria, not only because my son (RIP) spent time in Syria with a Fulbright fellowship to the University of Damascus. He repeatedly told me about the police state called Syria, that interrogated him daily, and then the CIA questioned him, a black man in Syria who spoke Arabic fluently, who graduated in Arabic and Middle Eastern literature at UC Berkeley, and did graduate studies at Harvard. My son cried out to me about conditions in Syria, how the Africans were treated like persons caught in the Arab slave system, passports seized, forced to live live rats unable to go home. The Syrians questions my son on a daily basis, he told me. "Dad, they question me every day, why are you reading material about the Baath party, why are you hanging around those filthy Palestinians?" And the CIA was equally interested in my son, a North American African who spoke Arabic. The CIA tried to recruit him at every turn. After all, no white man could enter Syria. Remember when the USA pilot was shot down? Who was able to rescue the pilot? Only Jesse Jackson and Minister Farrakhan! The white man was cut out the game! Somebody help me! And yes, ultimately the Islamic and Arab revolution shall engulf Saudia Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the entire Persian Gulf Western sycophants. The Western powers may try to utilize a moderate or conservative Islam, yet they shall fail to swindle the people of their birthright to freedom, justice and self determination. Even the nuclear blackmail shall not suffice! What does a man determined to be free care about the nuclear threat from Israel or America? To hell with America and Israel, and to hell with their sycophants Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Gulf states. The people shall be free by any means necessary! Let us not digress! Diop and others have dispelled the notion of Whites creating civilization, including Arabs and Jews, actually, both Arabs and Jews have been found to be non-white. And furthermore, the first white man was a black man! Call me Grimaldi and Negrito! As per Islam, Diop tells us "the fundamental ideas of Islam were in Arabia a thousand years before Muhammad. Dr. Ben taught us the African origin of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Other scholars have confirmed this: J.A., Rogers, W.E.B. DuBois, Chancellor Williams, DeGraft Johnson, J. G. Jackson and the wonderful Druisilla Dunjee Houston with her Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. And from Homer down to the present, there is a plethora of White scholars who transcended their white supremacy to tell the truth about our history as a people of genius. What is astounding is that even under the worse conditions of the slave system in the Americans, our genius flowed like water. Imagine victims of the vicious American slave system producing a body of literature, i.e., the socalled slave narratives. These narratives are the foundation stone of American literature. No genre of American literature is superior to the socalled slave narratives! What on earth can the master class say above the oppressed slave class about the love of life, the joy of life, the humanity of life, the philosophy of life, the politics of life, the economy of life? Let us not digress! For sure, there is no Islam without the African Arabian Bilal, or even in pre-Islamic Arabia, there is no Arabic literature without the African Arabian poet Antar. And this brings tears to my eyes! Bilal was held in such high regard by Prophet Muhammad that he saw Bilal's footsteps ahead of his in paradise! Bilal is considered the third part of Islam after Allah and Muhammad. And who originated the Ahdan or call to prayer said five times daily throughout the Muslim world, a world of over a billion people? Bilal! Even under torture, it was Bilal who refused to renounce the one God Allah, who cried again and again, Al Ahad, Al Ahad, Al Ahad! (The One, the One, the One). After Muhammad's victory in Arabia, Islam took off like a jet plane. As per Africa, Egypt was conquered, North Africa soon after. And then the Moors (led by Africans or blackamoors). J. DeGraft Johnson makes plain it was an African conquest, African Glory. It was the African general Tarik who conquered Spain, for whom Gibraltar is named (Gebel (rock) Tarik. The Moors ruled from 711 until 1492. Spain has languished in darkness since the fall of Grenada. And yet the glory of Moorish Spain that permitted the Europeans to escape the Dark Ages was nothing unique for the Africans. So what the Moors and Arabs translated the Greek classic into European languages. So what they made Plato, Aristole and Socrates available to the West, after all, what were these characters to Nile Valley Civilization, from who their teachings were Stolen legacy, see George M. James. After all, the Dark Ages did not inhabit Africa, for in Africa simultaneously light was shining brightly in West Africa. Nile Vally civilization reappeared in Beled Es Sudan or land of the Blacks. We need only cite the kingdoms and empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay. Diop has shown us the cultural similarities between the Nile Valley and Beled Es Sudan, linguistically, socially, religiously, ritually, mythologicaly, politically, etc. Timbuktu became the center of intellectual power in West Africa. Scholars came to study from around the world, most certainly the African and Islamic world. Books were as precious as gold. Almost everyone had a library, and one of Timbuktu's greatest scholars, Ahmad Baba, said his library was the smallest, compared with his family members. Ghana, Mali and Songhay gave full expression to the African genius prior to the Maafa or great disaster of the American slave system. Now any intelligent person will ask the question, "If we were so intelligent, so great, how did we fall?" Chancellor Williams told us in Destruction of African Civilization that our doom was sealed 6,000 years ago when we welcomed strangers into our land, despite this being an African custom. Europeans shoot strangers, Africans welcome strangers. But Dr. Walter Rodney (West Africa and the Atlanta Slave Trade, a monograph) explains we fell from much the same that is occurring in Africa today: corruption, corruption, corruption. All social, cultural institutions fell victim to greed and wanton materialism. The political, judicial, religious, military and other segments of society fell victim to the slave system. We must be brave enough to consider the African side of the slave system, not simply blame the white man, for there can be no buyers without sellers. From a society that valued knowledge, we degenerated to one that valued trinkets above human beings. Is it not the same today in the modern slave system called America, wherein one can be killed for a pair of tennis shoes, or because one possesses a nice car someone else doesn't have, or a nice woman who departed to another because she was continually abused, physically, verbally and emotionally. In the manner of slave system psychology, we truly believe we own the woman or man, that he or she is chattel property (personal). What is interesting is that prior to entering the slave system, we were quite familiar with the Americas, having traveled there for centuries, it being a distance of 1,600 miles from Africa to the Americas. See They Came Before Columbus by ancestor Ivan Van Sertima, also Kofi Harun Wangara's writings. And then shit hit the fan! The slave system. What horror, bestiality, savagery, eternal servitude. Who are these people? They really make you wonder, hurry Allah with the fire and water! Can these be human beings, an African wrote when observing them aboard ship. He had never seen white people before and could not believe the savage treatment they meted out. From a culture that allowed the full expression of our genius, we found ourselves in a situation when ignorance was the order of the day, where hands were cut off to keep us in darkness, as if we had never known literacy and literature, science and philosophy. And even in the triple darkness of the slave system, there were many of us who spoke and wrote multiple languages, Arabic, Hausa, Yoruba, Spanish, French, Portuguese, often times we were more intelligent than those who controlled the slave system, many of whom could not read or write their names, yet believed themselves superior to Africans. We should have the common sense to know the slave system master had no need of ignorant slaves, but rather those with skills in agriculture, architecture, construction, plantation management, iron making, bricklaying, etc. The docile African was made so by terror, beatings, whippings, emotional and verbal abuse, much in the same manner as men beat their wives into submission today. The Slave Narratives abound in tales of white terror and black submission, see Frederick Douglass or recall how Kunta Kinte was beaten until he acknowledged his "real" name was Toby. We call this the first step in the psycholinguistic crisis of the North American African. Who am I and what is my name? It has taken over four hundred years for us to settle this question for ourselves, and even today we are still not quite sure who we are or what is our name! African, Negro, Colored, Bilalian, Nubian, Arabian, Nigguh, bitch, ho, motherfucker, American, Afro American, North American African. Alas, if the white man knows nothing else, he knows he's white. He may not know whether he's straight or gay, but he knows he's white, and at any given moment the lowest white man can take advantage of white privilege. For the black man to claim his racial identity is a constant war, yes, a war of liberation, since slavery and after, down to the present moment. Blackness is not a color but a condition and that condition is freedom, independence and self determination. Blackness is thus a state of mind, a sense of being in harmony with the universe, with the living, the dead and the yet unborn. Resistance to the American slave system was widespread and constant, almost daily, yes, as Richard Wright told us in Native Son, his very presence was a crime against the state, every glance of the eye a threat. Men and women who came from a tradition of great literature, art, science and philosophy cannot submit to a slave system, only for a time, then the human soul revolts at the travesty of its condition. Africans planned and plotted and took a variety of actions, see Herbert Aptheker's Negro Slave Revolts. There was the burning and looting of plantations, the Maroon tradition of running into the bush. In Palmares, Brazil, the Africans liberated space for a century, after a series of Hausa Muslim revolts in the 17th century. In North America and the Caribbean, Africans escaped to live among the Native Americans, after all, not all the Africans had arrived here on slave ships but came before Columbus and were indistinguishable from the indigenous people. In the early 19th century, there were revolts by Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey and Gabriel Prosser, the liberation essays of David Walker and others inspired by God, Allah, and Jesus to liberate themselves. Their writings were suppressed by the slave system. A bounty was put on David Walker's head and he died mysteriously in Boston a year after David Walker's Appeal was published in 1829. Yes, no wonder the slave system called for cutting off the hands of those who could read and write. Even today, the African who is able to think, read and write is a dangerous person. He must be watched, his writings suppressed if he expresses radical consciousness. Not only do the white publishers run from him, but the Negro publishers as well. Often the African sang in code, call it the Blues, the music Muslims brought to the Mississippi delta from Mali and elsewhere. What did the great Malian musician (RI), Ali Farka say, "Blues! I don't play Blues, but the music my people have been playing for thousands of years." Blues, Spirituals, the Sorrow Songs, told our story of life in the American slave system, songs and tales of lost love, rejection, hope and liberation. The Gullah Africans of South Carolina and the Georgia islands not only brought rice to the Americas but an infusion of Islam as well. --continued--

A Short History of Black Muslims in The Bay Area (Circa 1954-2012)
by El Muhajir (Marvin X, M.A.)

Contents

Chronology of Original Man
Introduction
1. African Origin of Religions and the Cultural Unity of Africa
2. Mythology of Allah: Egyptian Religion and its steps toward Islam
3. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah: The fundamental ideas of Islam were in Arabia a thousand
years before Muhammad (Cheikh Anta Diop)
4. Blackamoors in Spain (711-1492)

5. Belad Es Sudan (Islam in West Africa): Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Usman Dan Fodio and the

Fulani Jihads, Ahmadu Bamba in Senegal and the Holy City of Touba (More sacred than Mecca to Africans)

6. Moorish Muslims in the Americas before Columbus

7. Muslim victims of the American "Slave System"
See the "Slave narratives" , Maroon communities, slave revolts, Seminoles and especially Hausa revolts in Brazil, Gullah Negroes

8. Muslims Up South:

Newark, Detroit, Chicago: Edward Wilmot Blyden, Duse Muhammad Ali, Noble Drew Ali, Marcus Garvey, Farad Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X

9. Black Muslims in the Bay Area of SF/Oakland: Toward National Consciousness or the Mental Revolution

10. Mosque #26

a. Min. Robert X. Ashford (Aaron Ali), the linguist
b. Bernard Cushmeer
c. John Wesley
d. Henry Majed
e. John Muhammad
f.Billy X, aka Rabb Muhammad
g. Minister Keith Muhammad
h. Minister Christopher Muhammad
i. Imam Shauib
j. Imam Alamin
k. Capt. Nisa Islam
l. Lt. Joan, aka Tarika Lewis
m. Capt. Mae Helen, Fatimah
n. Lt. Fahizah
11. The Little Manger or the "Hypocrites"
a. Aaron Ali's house
b. Brother Green's barber shop

12. Muslims and the Black Arts Movement (1966)

a. Marvin X
b. Duncan X
c. Hillery X
d. Ethna X
e. Farouk, aka Carl Bossiere
f. Alonzo Harris Batin
g. Ali Sharif Bey
h. Ed Bullins
i. Danny Glover

13. Muslims and the Prison Movement:

Eldridge Cleaver, A Case Study, Folsom, San Quentin, Soledad; Bunchy Carter, associate of Eldridge Cleaver, George Jackson, Messiah of the Prison Movment, Brother Booker, Kumasi, Geronimo Ji Jaga

14. Muslims and the Black Student Movement: Brother Edward's Jihad, Mar'yam Wadai and the Black Studies Curriculum

15. Islam and the Black Panther Party:
"Marvin X was my teacher", Huey P. Newton
a. Source of the Ten Point Program
b. Terminology: Pig, Babylon
c. Malcolm influence

16. Muslims, Zebra Killers and the Kidnapping of Patty Hearst
a. Ali Sharif Bey as runner for SLA
b. Marvin X's M.A. thesis on the SLA
c. Fatima Shabazz and the SLA


17. The Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights, 1979
a. Minister Farakhan
b. Angela Davis
c. Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansour
d. khalid Muhammad
e. Marvin X
f. Eldridge Cleaver

18. The Black Men's Conference: The Honorable John Douimbia, Founder
a. Dr. Wade Nobles
b. Dr. Oba T'Shaka
c. Dr. Yusef Bey
d. Dr. Nathan Hare
e. Dezzie Woods/Jones
f. Louis Freeman
g. Marvin X


19. From Black Nationalism to Global Islam:
Khalid Muhammad Abdullah Tariq Al Mansour: A Case Study, The African American Association

20. His Holiness Guru Bawa in the Bay: Man/god/God/man

21. Conclusion: Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality
22. Notes
23. Bibliography: A Short History of Black Muslims in the Bay

Allah, Wakeel, In the Name of Allah, A-Team, Atlanta, 2007
Allen, Robert L., Black Awakening in Capitalist America, AWP, New Jersey, 1992
Al Mansour, Khalid Abdullah Tariq, Black America at the Crossroads
________, The Reflections of an African Arabian in American Captivity
________, Talal, The Challenge of Spreading Islam in America
Ali, Yusef, Holy Qur'an
Armstrong, Karen, A History of God
________, Muhammad
Aslan, Reza, No god but God, Random House, 2006
Baldwin, James, The Fire Next Time, Dial Press, NY, 1963
Bloom, Alexander, Wini Breines, eds, Takin' it to the Streets, Oxford, 1995
Bontemps, Arna, Black Thunder, Beacon, Boston, 1963
_______, Conroy, They Seek A City
Breitman, George, The Last Year of Malcolm X, Merit, NY, 1967
_______, Malcolm X Speaks, Grove, NY., 1965
Clarke, John Henrik, ed, Malcolm X, The Man and His Times, Collier, NY, 1969
Cleaver, Soul on Ice
______, Soul on Fire
______, Post Prison Writings, Ramparts, 1969
Diop, Cheikh Anta, Cultural Unity of Africa, TWP, Chicago
DuBois, W.E.B, The Souls of Black Folk, Penguin, NY, 1996
_____, The World and Africa
_____, Black Reconstruction
Foner, Philip S., ed., The Black Panthers Speak, Da Capo Press, 1995
Frazier, E. Franklin, Black Bourgeoisie, Collier, NY, 1975
_____, Race and Culture Contacts in the Modern World, Beacon, Boston, 1957
Franklin, John Hope, From Slavery to Freedom, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1980
Genovese, Eugene D, From Rebellion to Revolution, Louisiana State U. Press, 1979
Gitlin, Todd, The Sixties, Years of Hope, Days of Rage, Bantam, NY, 1987
Hilliard, David, Huey, Spirit of the Panther, Thunder Mouth Press, NY, 2006
Houston, Drusilla Dunjee, Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire, BCP, Baltimore,
1985
Howard, Elbert "Big Man", Panther on the Prowl, BCP, Baltimore, 2002
Jackson, George, Soledad Brother
Jackson, John G., Man, God and Civilization
______, Introduction to African Civilization,
Jamal, Mumia Abu, Live from Death Row, Avon, 1996
James, George G.M., Stolen Legacy, AWP, New Jersey, 1992
Kenyatta, Jomo, Facing Mt. Kenya, Vintage, NY, 1965
Lincoln, C. Eric, The Black Muslims in America, Beacon, Boston, 1961
Martin, Tony, Literary Garveyism, The Majority Press, Mass, 1983
Muhammad, Elijah, Message to the Black Man
________, Theology of Time
________, Fall of America, Muhammad's Temple No.2, Chicago, 1973
________, How to Eat to Live
Oliver, John A, Eldridge Cleaver Reborn
Polk, William R., The Arab World Today, Harvard, 1991
Sertima, Ivan Van, They Came Before Columbus, Random House, 1976
Soyinka, Wole, The Open Sore of A Continent, Oxford U. Press, 1995
Ture, Kwame, Hamilton, Charles, Black Power, Vintage, 1992
Udom, E.U. Essien, Black Nationalism, Dell, NY, 1962
Vincent, Theodore G., Black Power and the Garvey Movement, BCP, Baltimore, 2006
Walker, David, David Walker's Appeal, 1829,
Washington, Booker T, Up From Slavery, Bantam, NY, 1967
Williams, Chancellor, The Destruction of Black Civilization, TWP, Chicago, 1987
Williams, Eric, Capitalism and Slavery, University of North Carolina Press, 1994
Williams, Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose, Berkley, New York, 1987
Young, Henry J, Major Black Religious Leaders, Abingdon, 1977
X, Malcolm, Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine, NY, 1965
X, Marvin, Eldridge Cleaver, My friend the Devil, BBP, Berkeley, 2009
_______, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, BBP, Berkeley, 2007
_______, How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, BBP, Berkeley, 2008
_______, Wish I Could Tell You The Truth, BPP, Berkeley, 2005
_______, Somethin' Proper, BBP, Berkeley, 1998
_______, How I Met Isa, MA thesis, San Francisco State University, 1975, unpublished,
_______, Fly to Allah, Al Kitab Sudan, Fresno, 1969
_______, I Am Oscar Grant, BBP, Berkeley, 2010

24. AUDIOGRAPHY

Nisa Islam (Bey), Cherokee, 2004.
Nadar Ali, Fresno, 2004.
Manuel Rashid, Fresno, 2004.
John Douimbia, Grand Ayatollah of the Bay, San Francisco, 2004.
Minister Rabb Muhammad, Oakland, 2004.
Antar Bey, CEO, Your Black Muslim Bakery, Oakland, 2004.
Norman Brown, Oakland, Oakland, 2004.
Kareem Muhammad (Brother Edward), Oakland, 20

From the Archives of Nefertiti El Muhajir

Nefertiti, Cornell West and Amiri, daughters of Marvin X. Far left is the Honorable John Douimbia, Marvin X's mentor. Photo is from the King's and Queens of Black Consciousness concert, produced by Marvin X, April 1, 2001.

August 4, 2010

The thickness and softness of the quilt reminds me of the warmth and security that I have always felt in my youth. Blessings and honor and peace be upon all of humanity. Reconnect with your faith. Reconnect with your history. Reconnect with things which will lead to your progression.

I was back in Houston, sitting on the couch, looking out the window at the big magnolia tree in the front yard. As I sat on the couch and snuggled in my thick, warm, quilt, I sighed and reflected, “Life is good.”

The quilt felt warm, and even thought it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, I had one. I had obtained a piece of history, a piece of my ancestors, my grandmothers, my people. A piece of the country, rural America; although I now lived in the big city of Houston, and I was raised in a small town in California, but my roots run deep in the red, powdered soil of Texas.

I had always wanted a quilt. My great grandmother, Momma Lue, used to make quilts and my grandmother had many of them in her home. Momma Lue had made many quilts for many of her grandchildren, but being that I was a great grandchild, it wasn’t likely that I would ever get one from her. My recollections of Momma Lue, who lived to be 104, were of her chewing tobacco, going fishing and living a very independent life. So I guess the quilting was another phase in her life that I never got a chance to see her partake in.

On the day that I purchased my quilt, I was making one of my rare 6 hour trips from Monroe, Louisiana to Houston. It was just me, my loud music and my trusted companion—MY GARMIN GPS. Outside of individuals, that little thing is by far the best gift I have ever received in my life (thanks to my beautiful sisters). But as usual, my music was blaring so loud that I didn’t hear her say, “Turn left,” and I kept straight.

I kept straight until I began to realize the unfamiliarity of my location. “Got diggity dog,” I thought, “I did it again, I missed my turn.” I decided not to do what I did the last time I missed this same turn, I didn’t turn around and go back to the freeway; the turn-around was too long and I wanted to stay on schedule.

So I thought I’d use my head and take the back roads. I was still in Louisiana, right before crossing into Texas. Driving along the tree lined roads of Louisiana always stirred up the most joyful and painful emotions within me. I reflected on the beauty of God’s creation, for the scenery was breathtaking if you choose not to take anything for granted. I loved seeing the greenery, the red dirt and the vast farm lands that had the unmet potential to feed the world. I reflected on how this land was considered by many African American conscious thinkers as “black land,” the land we should receive if ever awarded reparations. But at the same time I also thought of the blood, the sweat and the tears that fertilized the beauty of the land. I reflected on the sounds of dogs, chains, whips, the cries of mothers and fathers, the panting breaths and the racing heart beats of those who sought to be free and the incarcerated minds of pale men who sought to deny freedom.

I saw a sign, as I dashed down the road at my preferred and now legal speed of 70 mph. No music now, I needed to concentrate, I didn’t know where I was. Yes it was still day, but I can never travel those roads and assume nothing will happen to me. I don’t travel them laden with fear, but laden with a knowing of what happened in the past always has the potential to happen again.

I saw a sign, “Quilts for Sale.” But my thoughts raced just as quickly as my car did, “I want a quilt from a little old black woman, and that professional looking sign is an indication that a white family lives there.” I kept zooming and I saw a black man at the next house clearing his land, and then I saw two black women in the next yard running their mouths, and I zoomed by and I saw a young guy with his pimped out ride in the next house, along with an ambulance that was pulling up to the yard. “Slow down Nef, turn around. Ain’t no white woman living all the way back in these woods with all of these black people.” I was also conscious of the fact that I’d never make it to Houston when I wanted to. But it didn’t matter, I was not on a time frame, no one was expecting me, I’d get there when I did.

Walking up to the steps I breathed a prayer, “Lord I pray that no danger comes upon me; protect me from all danger and harm.” My minds seeks the wisdom, knowledge and protection of God all day long, whether I’m picking up a stranger off of the streets, walking into unknown territory, familiar places or just thinking about my child during the day. I didn’t want anyone to tie me up and discard my body somewhere in those woods. As no one was expecting me in Houston, no one would have missed my absence either. Maybe my mom after not hearing from me, but that wouldn’t be until Sunday; a couple of days away.

I walked to the door of the old trailer home and I heard a little old lady running her mouth on the phone. She was a small, tiny framed, black woman, who needed a new wig. I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I entered her home and kept my eyes on alert. She reminded me of any little old lady from church that I had met through the years. Her house had an old smell that made me breathe fewer breaths until I could get out. She had little nice trinkets that people had given her through the years to express their love, fake flowers, ceramic figurines, cards and pictures of people and places who had long forgotten her. Everything was tidy, but you could tell she couldn’t keep her place clean like she used to. It was too much work for someone who had worked for others her entire life.

There is another ending to this story, but I misplaced it. I'm sure I'll find it one day and I will add it with this.

--Nefertiti El Muhajir

Nefertiti is the oldest of Marvin X's three daughters. She was conceived while her parents were in flight: her father refused to fight in Vietnam and went into exile a second time in Mexico City. He was soon joined by his student from Fresno State University, Barbara Hall (Hasani). They were given temporary refuge by revolutionary artist Elizabeth Cattlett Mora. Betty and her husband, Poncho, were witnesses at the civil marriage of Marvin and Barbara. Against the advice of Betty, Marvin and Barbara departed Mexico City for Belize, then British Honduras. After hooking up with some radicals, Marvin X was arrested and deported back to America. The Minister of Home Affairs read his deportation order which said, "Your presence is not beneficial to welfare of the British Colony of Honduras. Therefore, you shall be deported to America at 4 pm. Until then, you are under arrest."

Marvin X was taken to the police station and told to sit down. He was not handcuffed nor put in a cell. To his bewilderment, he was soon surrounded by police officers who then begged him to teach them around black power, the very reason he was being deported, i.e., for teaching black power on Gales Point island.

After serving time in San Francisco County Jail and Terminal Island Federal Prison, Marvin X was released a few days before the birth of Nefertiti.

Oscar Grant's Cousin Shot in back by Oakland Police

Man shot by Oakland police charged with four felony counts

By Kristin J. Bender and Harry Harris
Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND -- A robbery suspect who was shot in the back by Oakland police Sunday night has been charged with four felonies, authorities said.

Police on Wednesday identified Tony Ray Jones, 24, of Oakland, as the man who police shot and wounded about 11:45 p.m. Sunday in the 2000 block of 62nd Avenue.

Jones, who has a criminal record dating back nearly a decade, was in the passenger seat of van believed to have been used in a robbery of cash from a man a short while earlier.

"The cops stopped the van and (Jones) started walking away and then they let the van go, and he kept going and they shot him," said Jones' San Francisco attorney Wauqeen McCoy, adding that his client was not breaking any laws and was not involved in a robbery Sunday.

Authorities said Jones got out of the passenger side of the van and ran north on 62nd Avenue.

When an officer spotted a gun in his hand and Jones turning toward him, the officer fired twice, hitting him in the lower back.

Police later recovered a loaded semi-automatic pistol near where the shooting occurred. The driver fled and remains at large.

Jones on Wednesday was charged by the Alameda County District Attorney's office with felony second-degree armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm in public. He also faces an enhancement clause for being a felon.

Jones remains hospitalized in
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stable condition and will be taken into custody when he is medically stable, police said. But for now, he is in serious pain, his attorney said.

"He can't go to the toilet on his own. He has pain in his back, leg, stomach and lower back," said McCoy, adding that he had undergone one surgery.

Jones, who is a cousin of the late Oscar Grant, has a criminal past dating back to when he was 15 and taken to the California Youth Authority. Oscar Grant was the unarmed Hayward man who on New Year's Day 2009 was shot and killed by then-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle while being held by police face down on a train platform.

When Jones was about 19 and an inmate in a facility in Amador County, he was convicted of gassing a peace officer, which means throwing urine or feces or a combination of both on a correctional officer, authorities said.

He remained in the youth authority for several years and was transferred to New Folsom Prison near Sacramento, where he remained until his release last month.

McCoy said he has drafted a claim against the city of Oakland, which he plans to file this week.

He said he then plans to sue the city for unreasonable and unnecessary force.

For research on his Short History of Black Muslims in the Bay, Marvin X conducted interviews with the following:

AUDIOGRAPHY

Nisa Islam, Cherokee, 2004.
Nadar Ali, Fresno, 2004.
Manuel Rashid, Fresno, 2004.
John Douimbia, Grand Ayatollah of the Bay, San Francisco, 2004.
Minister Rabb Muhammad, Oakland, 2004.
Antar Bey, CEO, Your Black Muslim Bakery, Oakland, 2004.
Norman Brown, Oakland, Oakland, 2004.
Kareem Muhammad (Brother Edward), Oakland, 2004.

David Muhammad Charged

We consider David Muhammad a friend and he was on hand when we performed at Alameda County Juvenile Hall during Xmas. Of course we consider him innocent until proven guilty of charges. The community respects him as a man of honor and commitment to the cause of social justice. We pray for a speedy adjudication of all charges against him and pray for the alleged victim.

Alameda County Chief Probation Officer David Muhammad Courtesy Alameda County

Credit Courtesy Alameda County

Bay City News — The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has placed Chief Probation Officer David Muhammad on paid administrative leave after a deputy probation officer filed a $1.5 million claim accusing him of sexually assaulting and harassing her.

The board said chief of staff Brian Richart will be in charge while Muhammad is on leave but that board members cannot comment on the case because it is a confidential personnel matter.

Muhammad, 38, who was hired a year ago after holding top probation positions in New York City and Washington, D.C., couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

In her claim, which is a preliminary step to filing a lawsuit, the deputy probation officer alleges that Muhammad harassed her at a probation office in Hayward on May 15 when he noticed a discoloration on her neck, made multiple comments about it, laughed and joked about it and called it a "hickey."

The officer said Muhammad put his hands on her twice that day, prompting her to exclaim to another deputy, "Did you see that? He grabbed me!"

The deputy alleges that four days later, the morning of May 19, Muhammad asked her to pick him up at Oakland International Airport and drive him to a speaking engagement in Oakland but then instructed her to take him to the San Leandro Marina, which was empty at that time of day.

She said Muhammad suddenly grabbed her head and started kissing her, telling her, "We would make some pretty babies." The officer said when she tried to pull back, Muhammad "became very aggressive" and pulled her shirt down, cupped her breast and started to kiss it and penetrated her vagina "forcefully" with two of his fingers.

She said that when she eventually pushed him away, he told her she had excited him sexually and said, "I want you so bad, you just don't know it."

The deputy said that a day later, on May 20, Muhammad sent her multiple text messages and that she reluctantly agreed to meet with him as long as they weren't alone because she was worried about her job and what he might do to her if she ignored him.

She said in the claim that she met with Muhammad and his brother at a restaurant in Hayward and that at the end of the night he started to kiss her and grab her breasts and put his hand between her legs.

The deputy said she pushed his hand away but that he then grabbed her hand, placed it on his groin area and said she had excited him sexually. She said she pulled away and reiterated to Muhammad that she only wanted to be friends, and that Muhammad eventually left "angry and upset."

The claim says the deputy probation officer has suffered economic harm and has mental distress and anguish. It accuses Muhammad of sexual assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, sexual battery, assault, batter and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The California Attorney General's Office is conducting an investigation to see if criminal charges should be filed against Muhammad, according to attorney general's spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill.

Gledhill said the San Leandro Police Department investigated the officer's allegations and then submitted its report to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which recused itself because it works closely with Muhammad.

Muhammad was formerly the executive director of the Mentoring Center in Oakland, and before he returned to Alameda County he served as Deputy Commissioner of New York City's Department of Probation, Adult Services, where he was responsible for overseeing 35,000 people on probation with a staff of 800.

Prior to his New York job, Muhammad served as the Chief of Committed Services for the Department of Youth Rehabilitating Services in Washington, D.C., where his responsibilities included overseeing a staff of 300, a $42 million annual budget and a juvenile institution with 900 youths in his department's care.

In an interview before he took over the Probation Department, Muhammad said he had gotten into trouble with the law as a youth in Oakland, and that as the county's chief probation officer he would try to help troubled youths improve their lives.

"I had my fair share of trouble and was in the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system," Muhammad said. But he said he turned his life around with the help of the Omega Boys Club, which paid for him to go to college.

Exhibit Marvin X: Bibliography

Marvin X and his mentor and artistic associate, Sun Ra. Outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre, San Francisco, circa 1972.

Bibliography of Marvin X

Books

Sudan Rajuli Samia (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan Publishing, 1967)
Black Dialectics (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan, 1967)
Fly To Allah: Poems (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan, 1969)
Son of Man: Proverbs (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan, 1969)
Black Man Listen: Poems and Proverbs (Detroit: Broadside Press, 1969)
Woman-Man's Best Friend (San Francisco: Al Kitab Sudan, 1973)
Selected Poems (San Francisco: Al Kitab Sudan, 1979)
Confession of A Wife Beater and Other Poems (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan, 1981)
Liberation Poems for North American Africans (Fresno: Al Kitab Sudan, 1982)
Love and War: Poems ( Castro Valley: Black Bird Press, 1995)
Somethin Proper: Autobiography (Castro Valley: Black Bird Press, 1998)
In The Crazy House Called America: Essays (Castro Valley: Black Bird Press, 2002)
Wish I Could Tell You The Truth: Essays (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2005)
Land of My Daughters: Poems (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2005)

Works In Progress

It Don't Matter: Essays (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006)

You Don't Know Me and Other Poems (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006)

In Sha Allah, A History of Black Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1954-2004 (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006).

Seven Years in the House of Elijah, A Woman's Search for Love and Spirituality by Nisa Islam as told to Marvin X, 2006.

Play Scripts and/or Productions

Flowers for the Trashman, San Francisco: San Francisco State University Drama Department, 1965.

Flowers for the Trashman, San Francisco: Black Arts West/Theatre, 1966.

Take Care of Business, musical version of Flowers with music by Sun Ra, choreography by Raymond Sawyer and Ellendar Barnes: Your Black Educational Theatre, San Francisco, 1972.

Come Next Summer, San Francisco: Black Arts/West, 1966.

The Trial, New York, Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech, 1970.

Resurrection of the Dead, San Francisco, choreography by Raymond Sawyer, music by Juju and Sun Ra, Your Black Educational Theatre, 1972.

Woman-Man's Best Friend, musical, Oakland, Mills College, 1973.

How I Met Isa, Masters thesis, San Francisco State University, 1975.

In The Name of Love, Oakland, Laney College Theatre, 1981.

One Day In The Life, Oakland, Alice Arts Theatre, 1996.
One Day In The Life, Brooklyn, NY, Sistah's Place, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Manhattan, Brecht Forum, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Newark, NJ, Kimako's Blues, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Oakland, Uhuru House, 1998.
One Day In The Life, San Francisco, Bannam Place Theatre, North Beach, 1998.
One Day In The Lifee, San Francisco, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 1999.
One Day In the Life, Marin City, Marin City Rec Center, 1999
One Day In the Life, Richmond, Unity Church, 2000.
One Day In the Life, San Jose, San Jose State University, 2000.
One Day In the Life, Berkeley, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2000.
One Day In the Life, Sacramento, New Colonial Theatre, 2000.

Sergeant Santa, San Francisco, Recovery Theatre script, 2002.

Other

Delicate Child, a short story, Oakland, Merritt College Student Magazine contest winner, 1963.

Delicate Child, a short story, Oakland, SoulBook Magazine, 1964.

Flowers for the Trashman: A One Act Drama, San Francisco, Black Dialogue Magazine, 1965.

Flowers for the Trashman, Black Fire, An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, edited by Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal, (New York: Morrow, 1968).

Take Care of Business: A One Act Drama, aka Flowers, (New York: The Drama Review, NYU,1968)

The Black Bird (Al Tair Aswad): A One-Act Play, New Plays from the Black Theatre, edited by Ed Bullins with introduction (interview of Ed Bullins) by Marivn X, (New York: Bantam, 1969)

"Islam and Black Art: An Interview with Amiri Baraka" and foreword by Askia Muhammad Toure, afterword by Marivn X, in Black Arts: An Anthology of Black Creations, edited by Ahmed Alhamisi and Haroun Kofi Wangara (Harold G. Lawrence) (Detroit: Black Arts Publications, 1969).

"Everything's Cool: An Interview with Amiri Barka, aka, LeRoi Jones", Black Theatre Magazine, New Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, NY, 1968.

Resurrection of the Dead, a ritual/myth dance drama, Black Theatre Magazine, New Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, 1969.

Manifesto of the Black Educational Theatre of San Francisco, Black Theatre, 1972.

The Black Bird, A Parable by Marvin X, illustrated by Karen Johnson ( San Francisco: Al Kitab Sudan and Julian Richardson and Associates Publishers, 1972).

"Black Justice Must Be Done," Vietnam and Black America: An Anthology of Protest and Resistance, edited by Clyde Taylor (Garden City: Double-day/Anchor, 1973)

"Palestine," a poem, Black Scholar magazine, 1978.

Journal of Black Poetry, guest editor, 1968.

"The Meaning of African Liberation Day," by Dr. Walter Rodney, a speech in San Francisco, transcribed and edited by Marvin X, Journal of Black Poetry, 1972.

Muhammad Speaks, foreign editor, 1970. (Note: a few months later, Marvin X was selected to be editor of Muhammad Speaks until it was decided he was too militant. Askia Muhammad (Charles 37X) was selected instead.)

A Conversation with Prime Minister Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Black Scholar, 1973.

VIDEOGRAPHY OF EVENTS/PRODUCTIONS

Proceedings of the Melvin Black Human Rights Conference, Oakland, 1979, produced by Marvin X, featuring Angela Davis, Minister Farakhan, Eldridge Cleaver, Paul Cobb, Dezzie Woods-Jones, Jo Nina-Abran, Mansha Nitoto, Khalid Abdullah Tarik Al Mansur, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T-Shaka, and Marvin X.

Proceedings of the First Black Men's Conference, Oakland, 1980, John Douimbia, founder, Marvin X, chief planner, Dr. Nathan Hare, Dr. Wade Nobles, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T'Shaka,Norman Brown, Kermit Scott, Minister Ronald Muhammad, Louis Freeman, Michael Lange, Betty King, Dezzie Woods-Jones, et al.

Forum on Drugs, Art and Revolution, Sista's Place, Brooklyn, New York, 1997, featuring Amiri and Amina Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Sam Anderson, Elombe Brath and Marvin X.

Eldridge Cleaver Memorial Service, produced by Marvin X, Oakland, 1998, participants included Kathleen and Joju Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Dr. Yusef Bey, Minister Keith Muhammad, Imam Al Amin, Dr. Nathan Hare, Tarika Lewis, Richard Aoki, Reginald Major, Majidah Rahman and Marvin X.

One Day in the Life, a docudrama of addiction and recovery, filmed by Ptah Allah-El, produced, written, directed and staring Marvin X, edited by Marvin X, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 1999.

Marvin X Interviews Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, former actor in Marvin X's Black Theatre: Berkeley, La Pena Cultural Center, 1999.

"Abstract for An Elders Council," lecture/discussion, Tupac Amaru Shakur One Nation Conference, Oakland: McClymonds High School, 1999.

Marvin X at Dead Prez Concert, San Francisco, 2000.

Kings and Queens of Black Consciousness, produced by Marvin X at San Francisco State University, 2001, featuring Dr. Cornel West, Amiri Baraka, Amina Baraka, Dr. Julia Hare, Dr. Nathan Hare, Rev. Cecil Williams, Destiny, Phavia, Tarika Lewis, Askia Toure, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Rudi Wongozi, Ishmael Reed, Dr. Theophile Obenga, Marvin X, et al.

Live In Philly At Warm Daddies, a reading accompanied by Elliot Bey, Marshall Allen, Danny Thompson, Ancestor Goldsky, Rufus Harley, Alexander El, 2002.

Marvin X Live in Detroit, a documentary by Abu Ibn, 2002.

In the Crazy House Called America, concert with Marvin X and Destiny, San Francisco: Buriel Clay Theatre, 2003.

Marvin X in Concert (accompanied by harpist Destiny, violinist Tarika Lewis and percussionists Tacuma and Kele Nitoto, dancer Raynetta Rayzetta), Amiri and Amina Baraka, filmed by Kwame and Joe, Berkeley: Black Repertory Group Theatre, 2003.

Marvin X Speaks at the Third Eye Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2003.

Marvin X and the Last Poets, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 2004.

Proceedings of the San Francisco Black Radical Book Fair, produced by Marvin X, filmed by Mindseed Productions, San Francisco, Recovery Theatre, 2004, participants include: Sonia Sanchez, Davey D, Amiri Baraka, Sam Hamod, Fillmore Slim, Askia Toure, Akhbar Muhammad, Sam Anderson, Al Young, Devorah Major, Opal Palmer Adisa, Tarika Lewis, Amina Baraka, Julia and Nathan Hare, Charlie Walker, Jamie Walker, Reginald Lockett, Everett Hoagland, Sam Greenlee, Ayodelle Nzinga, Suzzette Celeste, Tarika Lewis, Raynetta Rayzetta, Deborah Day, James Robinson, Ptah Allah-El, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Marvin X, et al. (Note: let me please acknowledge some of the historic personages in the audience: Gansta Alonzao Batin (mentor of the Bay Area BAM, made his transition shortly after the conference), Willie Williams of Broadside Press, Detroit, Gansta Brown, Gansta Mikey Moore (now Rev.), Arthur Sheridan, founder of Black Dialogue magazine, also co-founders Aubrey and Gerald LaBrie, Reginald Major, author of Panther Is A Black Cat. Thank you all for making this event historic, ed. MX)

Get Yo Mind Right, Marvin X Barbershop Talk, #4, a documentary film by Pam Pam and Marvin X, Oakland: 2005.

Marvin X Live in the Fillmore at Rass'elas Jazz Club, A Nisa Islam production, filmed by Ken Johnson, San Francisco, 2005.

Marvin X in the Malcolm X Room, McClymonds High School, accompanied by Tacuma (dijembe and percussion, dancer/choreographer Raynetta Rayzetta, actor Salat Townsend, filmed by Eddie Abrams, Oakland, 2005.

AUDIOGRAPHY

In Sha Allah, interview with Nisa Islam, Cherokee, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Nadar Ali, Fresno, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Manuel Rashid, Fresno, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with John Douimbia, Grand Ayatollah of the Bay, San Francisco, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Minister Rabb Muhammad, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Antar Bey, CEO, Your Black Muslim Bakery, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Norman Brown, Oakland, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Kareem Muhammad (Brother Edward), Oakland, 2004.
Love and War, poems, Oakland, 1995.
One Day In The Life, docudrama, Oakland, 1999.
Jesus and Liquor Stores, Marvin X and Askari X, Oakland, 2002
Wake Up, Detroit, Marvin X interviewed by Lawrence X, Detroit, 2002..
Wish I, interview with Pam Pam, San Francisco, KPOO Radio, 2005.
Wish I, interview with Terry Collins, San Francisco, KPOO Radio, 2005.
Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement, interview with Professor James Smethurst of UMASS, Oakland, 2003.