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Marvin X

Nov

9

7:00 pm

Friday November 9, 7pm
Marvin X, also known as Marvin Jackmon and El Muhajir
Revolution on the Rocks Book Tour
Marvin X was born May 29, 1944 in Fowler, California, near Fresno. Marvin X is well known for his work as a poet, playwright and essayist of the BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT or BAM. He attended Merritt College along with Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. He received his BA and MA in English from San Francisco State University.
Marvin X is most well known for his work with Ed Bullins in the founding of Black House and The Black Arts/West Theatre in San Francisco. Black House served briefly as the headquarters for the Black Panther Party and as a center forperformance, theatre, poetry and music.
Marvin X is a playwright in the true spirit of the BAM. His most well-known BAM play, entitled Flowers for the Trashman, deals with generational difficulties and the crisis of the Black intellectual as he deals with education in a white-controlled culture. Marvin X’s other works include, The Black Bird, The Trial, Resurrection of the Dead and In the Name of Love.
He currently has the longest running African American drama in the San Francisco Bay area and Northern California, ONE DAY IN THE LIFE, a tragi-comedy of addiction and recovery. He is the founder and director of RECOVERY THEATRE.
Marvin X has continued to work as a lecturer, teacher and producer. He has taught at Fresno State University; San Francisco State University; University of California – Berkeley and San Diego; University of Nevada, Reno; Mills College, Laney and Merritt Colleges in Oakland. He has received writing fellowships from Columbia University and the National Endowment for the Arts and planning grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Ishmael Reed Reviews The Sayings of Plato Negro, Marvin X

Review by Ishmael Reed, 
Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley

Photo: Michael Simon

If someone would write a book demythologizing the Black Power movement, how would they assess it? One of great nobility, or one of hypocrisy, one of courage or one of cowardice, one that fostered change in the status quo, or one
that was part of the problem. Or would one conclude that it was one having mixed results.
       
That it  modified the direction of The Civil Rights Movement, which was heading toward Anglo Saxon assimilation, the way that many Irish, Italian and other white ethnic groups lost their roots and thereby lost their souls, is indisputable. 

Marvin X, who is not only a terrific writer but a Black Power historian has served us well by listing all of the 60s poets who were influenced by Islam and other non-Western sources, (though, without Muslim scholars there’d be no Western civilization.) 

African writers, whom I interviewed for my book about Muhammad Ali find African American Muslim conversion puzzling since they view Islam as an invader’s religion and one that treats the indigenous population, harshly, but one cannot underestimate the influence of Islam upon the world.

However,if I had to pin down the influences upon Marvin X’s The Wisdom of Plato Negro,Parables/Fables,I would cite the style of Yoruba texts. I studied for some years under the tutoring of the poet and scholar Adebisi T.Aromolaran ( “ Wise Sayings For Boys and Girls”)and was guided through some texts in the Yoruba language which revealed that didacticism  is a key component of the Yoruba story telling style. Africans use proverbs to teach their children the lessons of life. Marvin X acknowledges the Yoruba influence on his book, The Wisdom of Plato Negro, Parables/Fables.

  He imparts wisdom by employing cautionary tales and uses his own life and mistakes to consul the young to avoid mistakes. George Bernard Shaw said that if you don’t write your own plays, others will write them for you and they will “degrade”and “vulgarize” you. As part of a grant, I attended local theater for three years and found the portraits of blacks to be offensive,mostly. The women were prostitutes and the men were like the black man in “Precious,” a bestial evil. 

Marvin X in “One Day In the Life”, his classic play about recovery, which I saw at the Black Rep., the only local theater that doesn’t depend upon a audience that desires guilt free productions, was one of the few plays that wasn’t escapist, or preached post racism or blamed the victim.

Moreover, unlike some of the books written by popular African American writers, his book does not look backward to the period of slavery, though some of that is here. He writes about the contemporary problems of a community under attack. He blames crack for causing “ a great chasm between adults and children, children who were abandoned,abused, and neglected, emotionally starved and traumatized.”
       
Pundits,scholars and reporters who have posed as experts on the inner city, but
don’t live here, have blamed the middle class for abandoning the urban centers.They’re wrong. The middle class is making all of the cash from profits from vice. They run the motels, where the prostitution trade takes place. 

When Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker slapped an injunction against two prostitution hotels which were scenes of child sex trafficking, beatings and rapes by pimps, the proprietors complained that she cost them $80,000.

The middle class are the absentee landlords, who plopped down a crack house in my neighborhood, they’re storeowners who make hundreds of thousands of dollars selling liquor. None of these proprietors is black! When I asked the Muslim who runs the Northside Supermarket, who was paid a fawning tribute by a clueless Chronicle reporter, who painted him as some kind of Santa Claus, when those attending our neighborhood crime meetings have complained about the criminal activity in from of his store for years,I was called out of order by an Oakland policeman, who turned out to be a friend of his, when I asked what a Muslim was doing selling liquor?

I wrote, “I am sure that I’m not the only North Oakland resident who is outraged by Chronicle writer, Justin Berton, portraying Yahya ‘Mike" Korin of Northside Supermarket as some kind of neighborhood Robin Hood who hands out turkeys to the poor at Xmas.

“I've attended meetings over the years, where our neighbors, black, white, and Hispanic, have complained about this store which attracts some of the most unsavory elements in our neighborhood and whose violent behavior has threatened the safety of our residents.” I had to mention whites because “Mike” was claiming
that only newcomers were protesting against his store, and that he was some
kind of benevolent uncle to the folks.

Marvin X exposes the situation of other ethnic groups invading black neighborhoods and making the lion’s share of profits from vice, while the media focus upon the mules of the operation, the pathetic and disgusting pimps, the drug dealers who are killing each other over profits that are piddling next to the great haul made by the suppliers of the guns and the drugs. Don’t expect the local newspapers to cover this end of the distribution.
       
Marvin X writes: “ The so-called Negro is the donkey of the world, everybody
rides him to success. If you need a free ride to success,jump on the Negro’s back and ride into the sunset. He will welcome you with open arms. No saddle needed, just jump on his back and ride him to the bank.”  

When you learn that the government ignored the dumping of drugs into our neighborhoods by their anti-communist allies, you can understand the meaning of Marvin X’s words. Not only are invading ethnic groups and white gun suppliers benefitting from using the black neighborhoods as a resource ,but the government as well.*

Marvin X also takes aim at the Dream Team academics who “parrot” the line
coming down from the One Percent that the problems of blacks are self-inflicted.
“The state academics and intellectuals joined loudly in parroting the king’s every wish. Thank God the masses do not hear them pontificate or read their books. After all, these intellectual and academic parrots are well paid, tenured and eat much parrot seed. Their magic song impresses the bourgeoisie who have a vested interested in keeping the song of the parrot alive.”
        
Marvin X’s answer to this intellectual Vichy regime has been to cultivate 
off campus intellectuals by conducting an open air classroom on 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, which is how the peripatetic philosophers like
Plato used to impart their knowledge in open air academies.

The Black Arts movement expanded the audience for poetry. It inspired thousands of young people to write. They are the grandmothers and grandfathers of the Hip Hoppers. They produced children who are high achievers. The only thing that could mar the Black Arts legacy is its tolerance for a lunatic fringe. One, who used to edit a black magazine, but hasn’t written a lick since the 1960s, came out here recently and was greeted warmly, when if you put some white skin on him and covered him with tattoos, he’d be indistinguishable from your ordinary low level skin head,without the Budweiser six pack.

I would give the Black Arts a mixed review. I’m the one who said that in
the global village, nationalism is the village idiot. But I have supported it in concrete ways because the Black Nationalist movement is the only roadblock to black culture becoming extinct!
     
Moreover,some of those who were Yacubists of the 60s changed. Muhammad Ali,who met with the KKK during the 1970s, recently attended his grand son’s Bar Mitzvah.
____________
* Parry, Robert “How John Kerry exposed the Contra-cocaine scandal,
Derided by the mainstream press and taking on Reagan at the height of his popularity, the freshman senator battled to reveal one of America's ugliest foreign policy secrets” Salon.com, Oct.25,2004


Ishmael Reed,author of “Going Too Far, Essays About America’s Nervous Breakdown”
Email: ireedpub@yahoo.com
Tel: 5104280116
Address : 870 53rd St. Oakland, Ca.94608





Black Bird Press
1222 Dwight Way
Berkeley CA 94702
195 pages
$19.95

Marvin X reads and signs his book on Saturday, September 1, 3-6pm at

Pull Yo Pants Up: Critical Notes on Obama Drama

Critical Notes on Obama Drama: 2008-2012

Now that President Obama has won four more years, what shall we expect and what shall we do? Shall we sit around moaning and groaning that he is a white man in black face and shall therefore continue to be the chief agent of white supremacy throughout the world?

Or shall we be proactive with our own agenda to uplift our community from the bottomless pit of economic misery by imagining an economic model that transcends wage slavery and global exploitation? We must get down to earth and attempt a practical program that will create jobs in our community that can give training to youth and adults that clearly have no future in a dying capitalist economy that is determined to push wage slavery with no job security, no living wages, no health benefits or worthwhile retirement program. 

American veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress and unable to work normal jobs are now being trained as entrepreneurs. We think the same training must be offered the boys and girls in the hood who suffer traumatic stress from the hostile environment in America, victims of this nation's war against North American Africans. Many of us suffer a triple diagnose of mental illness, drug abuse and criminal histories that will disqualify most of us from ever working a normal job, therefore we must consider alternatives such as entrepreneurship that will allow us some modicum of human dignity. 

At the same time, we must become socially active by using technology to liberate our minds from the world of make believe and conspicuous consumption, rather than asking a friend or partner, "Where you at, where you at?" The question is not where they are but where you are in real time and space, in the real world or the world of make believe?

There is absolutely no reason any person on this earth to remain steeped in ignorance while possessing cell phones that can Google any subject in the human imagination. We must use this technology to help educate our community rather engage in fruitless and absurd conversation. 

Yes, your President has four more years and you have four more years to redeem  your humanity as a mighty nation of Africans in the wilderness of North America. For sure, he will continue carrying out the agenda of White Supremacy world domination. You have the responsibility to jump out of the box and claim your human dignity and divinity. We cannot blame him for our troubles when we make little or no real effort to address the bleeding wounds to our psyche and physicality.

I repeat what my friend Dr. Cornel West said during President Obama's first term, "We must protect him, respect him but check him!" I might add we must do the same for ourselves. Remember that hip hop adage, "Check yoself before you wreck yoself."

--Marvin X

11/7/12

NYC

from Pull Yo Pants Up: Critical Notes on Obama Drama: 2008-2012, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2013. Marvin X continues his Revolution on the Rocks Book Tour this week in Philadelphia. He will appear Friday, November 9, 7pm at the Moonstone Art Center, 110 South 13th Street. Mr. X will read and sign his latest book The Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables and fables, Black Bird Press, 2012.

He returns to Philadelphia on Friday, November 16, 3pm, Black and Nobel Books, 1411 West Erie Ave. Dr. M will participate in the dialogue Black Power Babies, an intergenerational discussion at Restoration Plaza, Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY. For more information or booking, contact Sun In Leo PR 718-496-2305, prgirl@suninleo.com

Hardboiled Magazine on Richard Aoki

From: bigredmedia@hotmail.com

this is one of the best reasoned, examined and well-contextualized pieces by undergrad students at uc berkeley on the rosenfeld accusations towards richard aoki and puts to shame those professors who think there is "evidence" to support the claim that richard was an informant.  those who played into the hands of rosenfeld's game should be totally ashamed of themselves, unable to really grasp what a firefight with our enemies entails (including a slew of insidious games, etc., etc.).  if you yourself haven't personally faced this b.s., then you aren't judged a serious enough threat.  those of you who have faced many kinds of accusations and attacks and set ups, then you'll easily recognize the play.

it's the same game that's been played over and over again on malcolm x, from the days of his statement "chickens coming home to roost" to today from shameful "scholarship" by bruce perry to manning marable.  add to that martin duberman's equally  fecal book on paul robeson.  all to make a buck while pretending to be scholarly!  shameful!!

and scholars too tepid and weak to take on such scholars: get some fortitude!

the academic plantation has now groomed its share of stepin-fetchits.

fred ho

Richard Aoki

by katherine wang

There’s much to say about Seth Rosenfeld’s new book, I’m sure, but so far, all I’ve heard is about ten pages of it. Whether Aoki was really an informant and to what extent, I don’t know. But, what I do know is how callously Rosenfeld sensationalized something so impactful not only to those who knew and respected Aoki, but to the Asian American community. To Rosenfeld, perhaps, it is media fodder, but to so many others, it means a lot more – and that is something Rosenfeld was clearly aware of and manipulated. Why else would he choose to make a documentary of Richard Aoki – and drop the bombshell without sufficient evidence – just days before his book was published? To treat such a revelation with such little respect is not just disrespectful of Aoki, but of the entire API community.

As a student journalist and former member of a constitutional team, I believe strongly in the press’s responsibility for revealing the truth and would defend, had someone found comprehensive, solid evidence of Aoki’s involvement with the FBI, his right – his responsibility, even – to publish it. It is even understandable, given that Aoki is not the focus of his book, that Rosenfeld cannot give a comprehensive image of the truth surrounding Aoki’s involvement with the FBI. But, he purposely chose to stir up controversy with only a partial understanding, making it seem like Aoki is a much larger part of his book than he is. And honestly? I think that demonstrates a complete lack of empathy and respect to the community he purposely targeted for a little extra publicity. An Asian American Studies professor at UC Berkeley and close friend of Aoki, Harvey Dong pointed out that “Rosenfeld should have asked people who knew Richard.” Truth is, Rosenfeld had never even met Aoki in person and only talked to him in two phone conversations in 2007.

Those who did know Aoki met the news with disbelief and outrage. Diane Fujino, who published Aoki’s biography,Samurai Among Panthers, earlier this year, was among the first to respond, pointing out that Rosenfeld relies on unconvincing evidence and provides neither motives nor conclusive evidence. Fred Ho, who worked with Aoki during the 90s, also spoke out in defense of Aoki. “If Richard was a FBI agent, how did he help the FBI? By training the Panthers in Marxist ideology, socialism? By leading drill classes at 7 a.m. daily and instilling iron discipline in their ranks? By being one of the leaders to bring about Ethnic (Third World) Studies in the U.S.?” Fred challenged.

To a community often stereotyped as compliant and passive, Aoki is representative of what Asian Americans are capable of. Aoki’s legacy lives on, in the Ethnic Studies department here, in this paper, even, and nothing should detract from what he has done for this campus and for both the Asian American movement and the African American movement – especially when there is no conclusive evidence he helped to sabotage either. The impact of his activism is clear, the impact of his alleged informant identity much less clear and regardless of the truth, what he fought for – solidarity and understanding between minorities, for one – remains important.

Ultimately, we must remember, as Dong said so aptly during his meeting with interns in APASD  (Asian Pacific American Student Development) on September 25, that “stories like this shouldn’t discourage us from making social changes.” Yes, I think the evidence is inconclusive at best, yet in the end, no matter what Aoki may have chosen to do in the past, it doesn’t change the fact that what he stood for – and what I still believe he truly believed in – is still worth striving for. As Newton once told Aoki, “the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality transcends racial and ethnic barriers.” That struggle is universal, and it continues to this day. If anything, Rosenfeld’s insensitive actions towards the API community only prove that.

---

by janice wong

As Berkeley students, it is our responsibility to find the truth – no matter how difficult it is for us to acknowledge. This means that the “facts” that Seth Rosenfeld presents in his book Subversives are not going to be accepted without a thorough investigation and analysis from community members. Rosenfeld’s claims rest primarily on the testimony of deceased FBI agent  Burney Threadgill, heavily redacted FBI documents on Richard Aoki, and M. Wesley Swearingen, a former FBI agent. A portion of the conversation Rosenfeld has with Threadgill is available online, and we are only able to hear what we are told is Threadgill’s voice, saying “Oh yeah, he was a character. He said ‘I don’t have any interest in communism,’ and I said, ‘Well why don’t you just go to some of the meetings and tell me who’s there and what they talked about?’” We have no way of knowing whether or not it is actually Threadgill speaking, and the context of the conversation is only provided by Rosenfeld. Additionally, Rosenfeld claims that Threadgill brought up Aoki after seeing his name on an FBI document in 2002; however, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) states that it does not disclose any information about any person in their records, unless that person is already deceased. Aoki passed away on March 15, 2009 – which means that Aoki’s name should not have been included in the FBI document that Rosenfeld claimed he possessed. Redacted information in the released FBI files on Aoki clearly demonstrates the type of censorship and level of privacy provided for people that are still living.

While we are still on the subject of the FOIA and redacted information, I would like to point out that because of the heavy censorship throughout Aoki’s FBI file, we are unable to conclude what kind of information Aoki supposedly furnished, and who was actually involved. Because of this, it’s hard to say whether Aoki was actually an informant – or being informed on. There are inconsistencies throughout the FBI file that make it appear as if Aoki were being informed on, rather than being the informant. For example, on page 53 of the FBI file, it states that Aoki is of “Korean” descent, incorrectly listing his ethnicity. A second example is on page 242, or AOKI-246, dated December 29, 1972. Rosenfeld states that on this particular report, Aoki is reminded to report his income from the FBI on his tax return in a hand-written notation, which is not actually present on the document. Along with the incorrect references throughout the document, Rosenfeld constructs data that never really existed. During his short interview with Aoki, he claims that Aoki stated, “People change. It is complex, layer upon layer,” in response to Rosenfeld’s question about whether or not he was an FBI informant. Upon listening to the actual recording, one finds that what Aoki may have been referring to is ambiguous. Although Rosenfeld claims that the words were in the exchange immediately before the others, the transcript of the conversation never has Aoki saying that at all, despite Rosenfeld’s claims. Instead, listening to the recorded conversation gives it different context than what his book makes it out to be. It is clear that Rosenfeld is at least somewhat guilty of manipulating his findings in order for them to resonate with his arguments.

Rosenfeld’s self-proclaimed evidence has too many cracks for it to be considered admissible. Twisting the information on Aoki only serves to increase the sales for his book, Subversives – which, admittedly, piqued the interest of many students and community members alike. It is unfair for Aoki’s legacy to be damaged in such a way, and Rosenfeld’s information is barely circumstantial evidence at best.

While Rosenfeld’s research may have come to the conclusion that Aoki worked as an FBI informant, it is inconclusive in determining whether or not this had an impact on the most important aspects of Richard Aoki’s legacy. The 1960s was a period where the government was obsessively suspicious of any and all “radical” groups, and considering that FBI agent Burney Threadgill claimed that he first found out about Aoki via wiretap, it is very possible that Aoki was being monitored long before he supposedly became an informant. Today, the notion of being an FBI informant may seem absurd, but back in the sixties, it was likely that it did not bear the same weight. Aoki’s legacy should continue to live on, despite the negative media surrounding the allegations brought up in Subversives.

---

by jenny lu

No one knows. No one knows, for sure, if Richard Aoki was a FBI informant. So how do we come up with a conclusion as to whether or not to believe Seth Rosenfeld’s claims?

Our Asian Pacific Islander American community is torn. There are avid believers who defend Aoki’s image; there are believers who completely disagree with and refuse to understand Rosenfeld’s claims. Bobby Seale, one of the Black Panther Party’s founding fathers, wholeheartedly believes in Aoki’s innocence. Seale stated, “This… is about a defamation of my old colleague… Richard Aoki being a so-called snitch? Bullshit.”

Then there are those who are disappointed, confused, and lost—who is this man we had once deemed an honorable figure who stood for justice?

Aoki became the icon of API activism at Berkeley—his image screamed “Third World Liberation” and “Black Panther Party.” Aoki was an educator; his dedication to supporting diversity helped land Ethnic Studies classes on this very university. We cannot let go of a hero who has defined and strengthened the activism in the Asian American community. We cannot let incoherent claims damage the work Aoki has done for social justice and equality. We, as a community, will not allow a simple story to take away the legacy, history, and pride of the Asian American identity that Aoki helped to create. This controversy has riled a lot of attention, but we can take power in that. We can use this to shine light on the good that Aoki has done, all the contributions he made for our community, especially on the UC Berkeley campus.

In an interview I conducted with Harvey Dong, professor of Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley, he shared his personal experiences and memories of Aoki, his longtime friend since they met in their undergraduate days at Cal. Dong said, “If Richard Aoki was an informant, [the FBI] did a lousy job. Richard did exactly the opposite [of what the FBI wanted]. Richard brought unity. He didn’t do things that would sabotage the university, but it changed the institution of the university for the better…With Richard’s involvement, he bridged solidarity between Asians and Blacks.”

Aoki walked through the same paths we are walking today, he fought for some of the classes we have here today, he fought for education, opportunity, and understanding. He brought attention to the Asian Pacific Islander community; he showed society that we are not just the “model minority.” He showed everyone that we have a voice and that we must be heard. Most importantly, he fought for us—the future. Aoki was an activist who wanted a better society, a more inclusive community; he wanted a positive change.

Dong shared, “Richard’s motivation was to inspire others to continue the struggle… Coming together as a community, people being involved and using knowledge and using it for the community. Revolution of the mind.” After so many years of his continued fight for us, how can we turn our backs on him now?

We may never know if Richard Aoki was truly a FBI informant, but his actions in history never betrayed us. Throughout history, the API community has faced racism in the eye: we have been oppressed, we have been worked, stripped and exploited, and yet we have remained quietly resilient. Aoki may have been only one of few who have gained attention as an API American leader, but we will not be silenced anymore. As an Asian Pacific Islander American community, we must stand by Aoki’s history and image. We will not let anyone take Richard Aoki away from us.