It is time to change our image of Africa.
Critics say that for too long now, aid organisations, foreign diplomats, politicians and journalists have been stuck looking at this vast continent as a convenient photo-opportunity to illustrate victimhood and desperation.
And few men are more forceful in advocating a change in how we perceive Africa than Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina.
"If you look at the website in Kenya of any western embassy, they talk about partnership for development and then you see a lot of school children suffering and then being helped by the ambassador. But they don’t list the companies that are operating here. So it is the question of: What is the full picture?" Wainaina says.
He feels that by leaving lots of stories under-reported, misreported or reported again and again, the West perpetuates stereotypes about this multi-faceted continent.
Wainaina found worldwide acclaim through How to write about Africa, hisscathing satirical essay that is a mock tip-sheet for Western journalists writing about the African continent.
It includes lines such as: "Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless."
"The world of humanitarianism and aid in Africa is designed to keep people passive, dependent and [to] allow power," he tells Al Jazeera.
Wainaina concedes that the "starving orphan" is often a reality on much of the continent, but he adds:
"The question is not so much the question [of whether we should be] talking about it. It’s that, since the 90’s in particular, but throughout the relationship between Africa and the West, that is the dominant narrative. If you go back to the 19th or 18th century it was the child, the willful child that needs to be contained or controlled, or who can be enslaved. Now it’s the child who needs your breast."
"A significant amount of coverage, probably the vast majority of coverage on Africa by the West, reinforces the pre-existing idea … The existing narrative must be a dependent and collapsed place. And then, oh maybe there is a good news story if you are lucky,” he says.
"I am interested in a powerful Africa, and I really mean an Africa with Power in the globe - power with capital P… where we have our say and where our say means something."
Talk to Al Jazeera sat down with Binyavanga Wainaina, one of the continent's most influential young authors, to explore why the world is still not understanding Africa, and how to break the lens of media distortion.
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Sunday, April 14, 2013
Rewriting the African Narrative: Kenyan Writer Binyavanga Wainaina
Dr. Hare's 80th Birthday, A photo essay by Gene Hazzard
Attorney Aubrey LaBrie, one of the founders of the San Francisco State University Black Students Union, a founding editor of Black Dialogue Magazine. Aubrey taught class on Black Nationalism at SFSU. He organized student march protesting the assassination of Malcolm X. Marvin X, SFSU undergrad, was in the march, 1965.
Tureeda Mikell, Mechelle LaChaux, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Tarika Lewis
free styling for Dr. Hare
Mechelle LaChaux, a living legend singer/actress
Tureeda Mikell, the preacher lady
poet/organizer, educator Marvin X
Earl Davis, trumpet master, performed with Marvin X at Black Arts West Theatre, SF 1966
Earl and his wife were clients of Dr. Hare. After seeing Dr. Hare, their marriage lasted twenty years.
Earl and his wife were clients of Dr. Hare. After seeing Dr. Hare, their marriage lasted twenty years.
Bay Area media living legend, Belva Davis and husband, William V. "Bill" Moore, photo journalist extraordinaire
Mrs. Dhameera Ahmad, one of the founding SFSU BSU students and strike leaders
Nzinga Hogan, United Kingdom, studied the writings of Dr. Hare in England
Man in the back is Dr. Kenneth Monteiro, Chair, Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University. Seated in purple dress is Dr. Ruth Love, former Superintendent of Oakland Public School.
Chair, Social Science Department, Contra Costa College, former client of Dr. Hare. Next to
him is Will Ussery, leader of the Congress of Racial Equality and Director of SF Poverty Program
SFSU Professor emeritus, Dr. Oba T'Shaka, former member of C.O.R.E SF
Tahuti
Benny Stewart, BSU and SFSU strike leader
Violinist Tarika Lewis, first female member of the Black Panther Party
Queen Sister
Saadat Ahmad, photo editor of Black Dialogue Magazine
Poet Rabbani Sela
Painter Malik Seneferu
Muhammad Al Kareem, founder of the SF Bayview Newspaper. A graphic artist, he designed books for Dr. Nathan Hare and Dr. Julia Hare
UC Berkeley student, writer, Reginald James
Unidentified African Queen
Poet Aries Jordan, a student at Marvin X's Academy of da Corner
Marvin X and his student, Aries Jordan. Did you get an education
today, Aries?
Byron Murrill, Marvin X's cousin from Sacramento.
Marvin X and his student, Aries Jordan. Did you get an education
today, Aries?
Byron Murrill, Marvin X's cousin from Sacramento.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Bay Area Celebrates Dr. Nathan Hare's 80th Birthday
Dr. Marvin X speaking at 80th Birthday Celebration for Dr. Nathan Hare at Geoffery's Inner Circle, downtown Oakland today. As per his Community Archives Project, Marvin X told the audience, "When your elders die, don't throw away shit, e.g., letters, notes, diaries, photos, etc. This is Black history you are throwing into the trash--this is the real gold!" Marvin is working on the archives of Dr. Nathan Hare and Dr. Julia Hare. He asked the audience for assistance to complete the project that contains over 200 boxes of materials. Because of a health crisis, Dr. Nathan Hare and Dr. Julia Hare were not able to attend. The Hare's will be given a video of the party.
Some of those present include the following: Belva Davis and husband, Maxine and Will Ussery, Mr and Mrs. Oba T'shaka, Dr. Kenneth Montiero, Dr. Ruth Love, Benny Stewart, Abdul Sabry, Aubrey LaBrie, Norman Brown, Benny Stewart, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Aries Jordan, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene White, Terry Collins, Dr. William Thomas, Tureeda Mikell, Mechelle LaChaux, Judge George Colbert, Mr. and Mrs. J. Vern Cromartie, Deborah James, Reginald James, Tahuti, Dhameera and Saadat Ahmad, Earl Davis, Tarika Lewis. Kenneth Johnson. Afua/Carol Yates, Rahim T. Ali, Gene Hazzard.
Poets Tureeda Mikell, Ayodele Nzinga, and Marvin X join singer Michelle LaChaux and violinist Tarika Lewis in a free style tribute to Dr. Nathan Hare. photo Aries Jordan
Prosperity News Review:
Dr. Nathan Hares 80th
Birthday Celebration
by
Aries Jordan
special to Black Bird Press
On April 13, 2013 guests from all over the Bay Area and as far as England gathered at Geoffery's Inner Circle, downtown, Oakland, to celebrate the life and 80 year legacy of Dr. Nathan Hare. Dr. Hare, known as the “Father of the Black studies”, is one of the greatest philosophers and intellects on Black culture.
On April 13, 2013 guests from all over the Bay Area and as far as England gathered at Geoffery's Inner Circle, downtown, Oakland, to celebrate the life and 80 year legacy of Dr. Nathan Hare. Dr. Hare, known as the “Father of the Black studies”, is one of the greatest philosophers and intellects on Black culture.
photo Aries Jordan
Nathan Hare was the first coordinator of the Black studies program in the United States, at San Francisco State University in 1968. Dr. Hare is also the founding publisher of “The Black Scholar”, author of the "The Black Anglo-Saxons", “Miseducation of the Black Child” and countless other books. Dr. Hare founded the Black think Tank with his wife Julia Hare to promote a movement for better black male/female relationships .
Dr. Hare has a long legacy of scholarship and dedication to the advancement of African Americans and the African Diaspora. His greatest achievement is his unwavering devotion to his wife of 57 years, Julia. The celebration was organized by Marvin X and The Community archives project.
Dr. Nathan and Dr. Julia Hare were not in attendance due to a health crisis. Though they were not physically present, they were there in spirit. The Birthday Celebration was hosted by Dr. Ayodele Nzinga of the Lower Bottom Playas. Ayodele reminded the audience the importance of “celebrating the living Lions among us, while they are alive because they can’t smell the flowers when they are dead!”
Libation was led by Dr. Oba T'shaka who paid homage to the ancestors that sacrificed their life to preserve the dignity and integrity of Black culture. The Program included live music from legendary trumpet player Earl Davis and a Birthday tribute by violinist Tureeka Lewis and Songstress Mechelle Lachaux.
Friends and colleagues of the Hare Family took stage to pay homage to the father of Black Studies who paved the way for ethnic studies around the world. BSU and SFSU strike leader, Benjamin Stewart, shared the impact Dr. Hare has had on Black consciousness and his role in the Black community. “Nathan remains accessible to the Black community; many of our Black scholars don’t take risk anymore like Dr.Hare did because they are not willing to sacrifice their tenure and comfort.”
Many shared Dr. Nathan and Dr. Julia Hare’s commitment to Black love, their courage to bring forth a Black agenda, their Advancement of African thought/philosophy and commitment to the Black Community has profoundly impacted their lives. Bay area gems Marvin X, ToReadah Mikell, Mechelle Lachaux, Earl, Ayodele and Tarika did an impromptu dedication to the Hares that had everyone snapping and moving.
Marvin X is working on the archives of Dr. Nathan Hare and Dr. Julia Hare. He asked the audience for assistance to complete the project that contains over 200 boxes of materials. The Birthday celebration was taped by videographer Ken Johnson and the Hares will receive a copy.
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Lazy Prophet Returns to Oakland
The Honorable Khalid Muhammad studied the writings of Marvin while in college. He came to Oakland looking for Huey Newton and Marvin X, to save them from Crack addiction.
Marvin X and Academy of da Corner, Professor of Legal Affairs, Gregory Fields
Today, Friday, April 12, 2013, Marvin X returned to his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Known variously as "The Lazy Prophet" (Eldridge Cleaver), "Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland" (Ishmael Reed), "The USA's Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz" (Bob Holman) "Jeremiah, Mark Twain" (Rudolph Lewis), "The Father of Muslim American literature" (Dr. Mohja Kahf), Marvin X went on a nationwide book tour on September 11 of last year, a journey that took him to Houston, Texas (University of Houston, Texas Southern University), South Carolina (the African Village, Sheldon, SC), Washington, DC, ( Howard University), Brooklyn NY (Black Power Babies).
The Oakland rebellion in response to the police killing of Oscar Grant happened at Academy da Corner, literally and virtually in his classroom at 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Marvin X's classroom was the center of the revolt and protest against police murder under the color of law. Marvin X wrote a collection of essays entitled I AM OSCAR GRANT. The night the Oakland pigs shot the Iraqi veteran in the head, Marvin X suffered tear gas. "Tear gas ain't nothing nice!"
His tour continued into 2013 with readings and performances in Philadelphia (Black Power Babies and Black Love Lives Conference, University of Penn.
In Philly at the Black Power Babies Dialogue
He participated in the Harlem NY Schomburg Library's tribute to revolutionary artist Elizabeth Catlett Mora. When Marvin went into his second exile from American imperialism in Mexico City, Betty Mora was his contact and gave him refuge. When he walked into her casa, she was working on this piece dedicated to the Black Panther Party.
Returning to the west coast, Marvin gave the keynote address at the Black Caucus of the California Community Colleges, Fresno City College. On May 30, he returns to the central valley to speak at the University of California, Merced on his role as one of the founder's of the Black Theatre Movement.
This week PBS interviewed him about his relationship with Black Panther leaders Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale and Eldridge Cleaver.
Marvin X introduced Eldridge Cleaver to the Black Panther Party and officiated his memorial service in Oakland.
PBS: Tell me about the last time you saw Huey Newton.
MX: I saw him in the Acorn Projects of West Oakland. We were both there searching for Crack and ran into each other. He walked past me looking like the Bum of the Week but I recognized him and called him. We embraced and asked him if he wanted to get loaded. He said yes, so I coped and we went to his friend's house were we smoked. Only thing, we smoked very little, rather we talked about revolution. Our conversation is the subject of two plays, my full length drama One Day in the Life and a one-act version of the scene by playwright Ed Bullins. Both plays have been performed from coast to coast.
But it was an unusual meeting in the Crack house because this is little or no talking in the Crack din. On this occasion Huey and I discussed revolution, our condition as generals on Crack, but Huey told me, "Don't beat yaself, Jackmon, enjoy yaself. We can come out of this, we came out of slavery, see what'm saying?" He asked me had I seen "you know who" lately? I said "your friend?" "No, Jackmon, you're friend!" He was referring to Eldridge Cleaver, of course. I asked him why can't he and Eldridge
reconcile. He replied that there was too much blood on the path, too many comrades went down. So even if he wanted to, he could not reconcile out of respect to the loved ones of those who went down.
I replied that Arabs fight and kill each other every day in the Middle East, yet they come together, pray together in the Mosque. Huey replied, "We ain't A-rabs!"
The sad part of our conversation was that a youth had come with me and as per youth, had no respect for us OGs since they saw the contradiction in our revolutionary words yet dope fiend actions. A youth challenged Huey and I had to tell him shut up. But this incident was a precursor to what happened to Huey a few weeks after our last meeting when a young man murdered him on the street not far from where we had met.
--continued--
My friend the Devil added much to our knowledge of the personal life of young civil rights/black power leaders. That human side we seldom see without sentimentality and without condemnation. Too often there is too much concern for respectability. You are fearless in representations of black life. Those stances have made all the difference in my own writings.
-- Rudolph Lewis, www.nathanielturner.
Academy of da Corner students, President Davis and Reginald James. President is now at Howard University, Reginald at University of California, Berkeley
His months away from Academy of da Corner made him sorely missed by the people who pass through 14th and Broadway, the crossroads of Oakland. His Facebook friends urged him to return to his Academy of da Corner, a multipurpose educational, mental health and micro loan project.
Today the people were elated to see the Master Teacher back in his class room. They told him he has no idea how much he has been missed. This was humbling to the usually arrogant master teacher with multiple personalities.
The Honorable Dr. Nathan Hare, Father of Black Studies in America
Marvin spent the day giving out free copies of his books and urging people to attend the 80th Birthday celebration of his mentor, Dr. Nathan Hare. The event takes place on Saturday, April 13, 3-5 pm, at Geoffery Inncer Circle, 410 14th Street @ Franklin, down the block from Academy of da Corner.
Marvin X, Dr. Julia Hare, Dr. Nathan Hare, Attorney Amira Jackmon, agent for the Hare archives
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Help Bobby Seale produce a film about his story of the Black Panther Party--Power to the People!
Marvin,
I could use your help. Would you please post this!
===
Through BobbySeale.com, LLC {Independent Film Production Division} I am raising development funds to produce “SEIZE THE TIME: The Eighth Defendant,” a feature length film dramatization that chronicles my life experiences as the founding Chairman and national organizer of the Black Panther Party and in turn the true history of the Black Panther Party.
“SEIZE THE TIME: The Eighth Defendant,” will tell the my true 60’s protest movement history and the true history of the Black Panther Party, giving those now and in the future an awareness of our history, as an example of how one should never give up the struggle for true liberation and freedom. Instilling and inspiring in them the hope that change is a possible and that, we the people, must proactively work to preserve our constitutional rights. With the help of people like you, that we will succeed and get an honest film about my sixties protest movement history and the history of the Black Panther Party produced.
I am asking those like you, who know my sixties protest movement history and that of the Black Panther Party, to support this independent film production. Contribute at our Indiegogo Fund page and receive books, posters, DVDs and memorabilia. Your contribution will finance the pre-production expenditures so critical in ascertaining financing for the overall production budget of this once-in-a-lifetime feature motion picture.
All Power To All The People!
Bobby Seale
Here is a link to our Indiegogo Funding page with info on how you can support and be part of getting this independent feature film produced. Please use the PayPal option at the bottom of our contribution page when contributing for your perks (books, DVDs, posters and memorabilia). If you cannot use PayPal, we also have available another option to contribute:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/266927
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/266927
Hey, Dude, Where's my Black Studies Department?
On Cecil Brown's "Hey, Dude,
Where's My Black Studies Department"
By Marvin X
Brown's essay appeared in the Eastbay Express newspaper, December 1, 2004
Novelist Brown is known for his Life and Loves of Mister Jive Ass Nigguh.
I have discussed this topic in my essay Neo-Colonial Black Studies (See In
the Crazy House Called America, essays, Marvin X, 2002, Black Bird Press, Castro
Valley). Although Cecil clearly could use a course in statistics, his general
idea is on point but it must be handled with caution because of the Pan
African nature of his discussion.
This delicate topic has wide implications for the future of the Pan African world because demographics are changing so rapidly it bewilders the mind. New Negroes have arrived in America, the old Negroes have bitten the dust, victims of the criminal justice system in particular,
but certainly they, especially black men, have no presence in the academic
system.
Cecil noted after that initial radical thrust to establish black studies in
the 60s, the radicals were immediately removed from the student body and the faculty
of colleges and universities coast to coast. The system realized who they were
and knew they had to go, after all, the system could not contain them. They
were immediately replaced with acceptable Negroes, the more pliant variety of
military types and yes, in many cases, immigrant negores more acceptable to the
colonial college administrators.
Thus Africans and Caribbean Negroes were in many cases found less radical, even though much of the African American radical tradition comes from immigrants such as Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, Kwame Toure, Malcolm X and Farakhan. As Amina Baraka informed me, "We're all West Indians." And this is true because kidnapped Africans were brought to the Caribbean
for "the breaking in," then transferred to North America and elsewhere.
So we must ask ourselves would we rather have a radical immigrant African in
black studies or a reactionary Negro only because he is a Negro. But Cecil's
point is that the American academic system feels the immigrant
Negroes/Africans are easier to control than the violent black American male. So the truth is
immigrants have replaced Negroes coast to coast, but even black American males
who remain are of the passive variety, and even those with a Pan African
ideology or Afrocentric approach to black studies are often at odds with the
original mission of black studies that was to focus on the plight of the so-called
Negroes in the ghettoes of America, how to uplift him out of his morass and
degradation.
The focus on Africa, Pan Africanism, Diasporism was secondary to the central
focus us, i.e. Nigguhs in the hood! Especially self declared Nigguhs for life!But such a focus by definition requires a radical intellectualism that the University industrial complex of necessity must avoid.
The African and Caribbean intellectuals found acceptable on campuses, naturally feel issues
from their frame of reference are the priority, not issues critical to "Black
Americans." While this emphasis is on bones in Egypt, rarely will one find students
going to Mississippi and Alabama to research the bones of their ancestors.
Yet it became clear to me that until I made peace with the South, I could not reconnect with
Africa in any meaningful sense. Matter of fact, some of those founding radicals
of black studies claim their ancestors are in the South and go no farther.
After all, they say, what can Africa teach American Negroes? The poorest Negro in
the ghetto is richer than the majority of Africans. The poorest ghetto Negro
has running water, electricity, a bathroom, televisions in every room, at
least two cars, and other amenities out of reach to most Africans and Caribbean
blacks. It is for this reason that he is the object of envy and jealousy,
although we must place the source of this madness to colonialism and
neocolonialism or our addiction to white supremacy (see my How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, Black Bird Press, foreword by Dr. Nathan Hare).
The replacement of radical students and professors in black studies with
immigrant Negroes not only represents the legacy of colonialism, including divide
and conquer, but also the new demographics in America, it reflects the
pervasive criminal justice system and the desire for immigrant Africans to take full
advantage of the amenities of America. For sure, all the discussion of African
culture and civilization is not leading to a mass exodus of Africans back to
Africa, and for all their jealousy and envy, Africans are trying hard to stay
in close proximity to Negroes, even if it kills them, as with Diallo and the
Haitian brother who fell victim to the plunger.
The mission of black studies awaits redemption and African Americans must
again crash the gates of Academia or construct their own radical academic
institutions as I am suggesting with my Academy of da Corner. Ishmael Reed calls me "Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."
Recently, my elder and comrade in arms, Dr. Nathan Hare, bemoaned that although
he is the father of Black Studies, no Black Studies program in America has sought to hire him, even though he possesses a Ph.D in sociology and one in psychology. Of course the American dream is for generations of pliant Negroes in the classical manner of the colonial elite so prominent in Africa and the Caribbean. America and her sycophants in Black Studies, also known as "Careerists" or "Tenured Nigguhs" are compromised but will tell you at least they have a foothold or "out house" in academia, thus we should be satisfied.
No, we cannot be satisfied with the neo-slavery of the prison-corporate-university-military complex of institutions with the mission of breaking in the neo-slave, of taking his mind back to Africa or to the moon, anywhere but focusing of the here and now.
On Saturday, April 13, 3-5pm, at Geoffery's Inner Circle, 410 14th St., Oakland, we will celebrate the 80th birthday of Dr. Nathan Hare, the father of Black Studies. Isn't it ironic that not one Black Studies Department in the Bay Area has offered to be a sponsor of this event? Where is San Francisco State University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, Laney, Merritt? Perhaps they have been given orders not to attend, after all Dr. Nathan Hare put his life on the line, along with other radical faculty and students to establish Black Studies in America, so he has been forever "Blacklisted" or shall we say "whitelisted".
Marvin X, poet, playwright, essayist, is considered the father of Islamic
literature in America, also one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement. He
taught briefly at Fresno State University, University of California, Berkeley, UC
San Diego, San Francisco State University, University of Nevada, Reno, Mills
College, Laney and Merritt colleges in Oakland.
Bobby Seale Appeals for help to produce his story of the Black Panther Party
Marvin,
I could use your help. Would you please post this!
===
Through BobbySeale.com, LLC {Independent Film Production Division} I am raising development funds to produce “SEIZE THE TIME: The Eighth Defendant,” a feature length film dramatization that chronicles my life experiences as the founding Chairman and national organizer of the Black Panther Party and in turn the true history of the Black Panther Party.
“SEIZE THE TIME: The Eighth Defendant,” will tell the my true 60’s protest movement history and the true history of the Black Panther Party, giving those now and in the future an awareness of our history, as an example of how one should never give up the struggle for true liberation and freedom. Instilling and inspiring in them the hope that change is a possible and that, we the people, must proactively work to preserve our constitutional rights. With the help of people like you, that we will succeed and get an honest film about my sixties protest movement history and the history of the Black Panther Party produced.
I am asking those like you, who know my sixties protest movement history and that of the Black Panther Party, to support this independent film production. Contribute at our Indiegogo Fund page and receive books, posters, DVDs and memorabilia. Your contribution will finance the pre-production expenditures so critical in ascertaining financing for the overall production budget of this once-in-a-lifetime feature motion picture.
All Power To All The People!
Bobby Seale
Here is a link to our Indiegogo Funding page with info on how you can support and be part of getting this independent feature film produced. Please use the PayPal option at the bottom of our contribution page when contributing for your perks (books, DVDs, posters and memorabilia). If you cannot use PayPal, we also have available another option to contribute:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/266927
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/266927
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