Coming Soon: Old Happens, a play by David Glover

Old Happens! Dinner Show  "Old happens. If you think I'm lying, just keep on breathing." Old Happens is a solo performance play--Written and Performed By David Glover and Directed By Phillip Walker-- about growing old and finding total acceptance in the process, with pride and dignity for all life in all its forms and dimensions from young to old to finale.   THURSDAY AUGUST 29, 2013 7PM IMAGINE AFFAIRS ART LOUNGE, 408 14th STREET, OAKLAND,CA 94612 Doors open 6pm Show starts 7pm $20.00 per person (Including show & dinner)  Tickets are available online at www.davidgloverproductions.com/oldhappens Or by phone:  (800) 746-4027 You may also email us at oldhappens@gmail.com for questions or comments

Review: A Bitter Pill

A Bitter Pill: A Lenny Moss Mystery
by Timothy Sheard
Hardball Press, 2013
$15.00 paperback
252 pages

(Image: Hardball Press)When a business-oriented company takes over the management of the James Madison Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is immediately clear that things are about to change, and not for the better. The sudden appearance of the Committee to Save James Madison - supposedly established by a group of disgruntled employees who don't think the union has their best interests at heart, but in actual fact created by Croesus Health Care, the new owners of the hospital - is the first clue that the bosses are eager to crush the workers' organization, fire staff and focus on the bottom line, service delivery be damned. In short order, everyone's work life is turned upside down as a petition drive to decertify said union to "save jobs" leads to mayhem, murder and more.

It's a fun read, the sixth in Timothy Sheard's well-established series of Lenny Moss mysteries. In it, hero Moss, a tireless, working-class college dropout, articulates a solid message about worker solidarity and union militancy that is both refreshing and inspiring.

Despite some stereotypes - for example, the new hospital president, Robert "Third Reich" Reichart, is an ogre writ almost humorously large, and several of the female nurses, housekeepers and aides come close to being clichés - the dilemmas the workers face, from increased caseloads and constant monitoring to speed-ups and reliance on computers rather than human diagnosticians, reflect contemporary realities in the delivery of medical care in the US of A.

It's scary stuff, and Sheard has clearly done his homework. What's more, his solutions are heartening. When management proposes cuts that amount to a reduction in services to patients as well as a diminution of workers' rights, Moss and his colleagues, a multi-ethnic group that includes Abrahm, Dante, Little Mary, Mimi, Moose and Patience, decide that the only solution is organizing - loudly, proudly and aggressively. That is, instead of rolling over and granting concessions, the workers at James Madison decide to go on the offensive and not only reject give-backs, but also launch a campaign to bring registered nurses into the union fold.

Bob Feltcher, the union's area director, describes the situation facing staff in stark terms. Decertification, he begins, will ruin the hospital, not save it. Despite management's stated intention of outsourcing many departments to off-site administrators if employees vote to keep the union - a claim meant to scare staff into submission - Feltcher is adamant that the union will do everything it can to keep this from happening. Still, if the decertification effort wins, his prognosis is bleak:  "Health and safety? Out the window! Respect for seniority? Gone fishing! Benefits and vacation accrual? Sayonara! But you know what you will get if they destroy this union? Increased workloads! Mandatory overtime! Forced weekend duty! Part-time benefits while working sixty hours a week! That's what you'll get if that bullshit committee wins their vote to decertify this great union!"

As Feltcher and Moss rev up the rank and file, Moss reminds them that collective bargaining has resulted in numerous pro-worker victories, even in today's era of austerity budgets and diminished dissent. The California Nurses Association, he reports, has successfully pushed the state legislature to mandate humane nurse-to-patient ratios - a huge win and something that Madison's nurses can demand if they have the clout of a union behind them. As he sees it, a broad-based worker organization is essential - and is the only way to stem the anti-worker tide that threatens not only James Madison staff, but workers the world over.

Sheard - an active member of the New York City chapter of the National Writers' Union - further confronts the pervasive anti-worker ideology that presently holds sway on many job sites, from outright fear of unions to the elitism that posits professionals, in this case nurses, in a category separate from, and above, laborers, janitors and security personnel. "The best defense is a good offense," he reminds his peers. "Croesus only respects strength. We take the offense ... or they'll roll over us.... The greatest threat to the new bosses was cross-discipline unity."

Moss, of course, is hell-bent on winning - as are his colleagues. At the same time, other concerns compete for their attention. In fact, as the pro-union campaign at James Madison catches fire, an additional conundrum grabs their attention. And it's grisly. When dialysis technician Louie Gordon is found hanging in a remote area of the hospital, his former co-workers become suspicious. Was it really suicide, as initially stated by Croesus, or was Louie murdered? Worse, if he was killed, who could have done such a thing, and why?

It doesn't take long for Moss - an amateur detective with an impressive track record - to begin digging, and his efforts to unravel this mystery are highly entertaining. In addition, they add intrigue and drama to an already complex and layered story.

Suffice it to say that A Bitter Pill has a relatively happy ending. Worker solidarity is invoked and the Croesus big-wigs get their just desserts and then some. Good, old-fashioned, grassroots organizing is championed and labor unions are heralded. Prejudice, whether born of race, class or gender bias, is laid to rest in favor of all-for-one and one-for-all camaraderie. It's a rare scenario these days - in literature or in life. Indeed, as the proud activists raise a glass to their success, it's impossible not to want to join them for a round or two.

Book Review: Evan X. Hyde's Sports, Sin and Subversion

Book Review

Review by Lawrence Vernon

Evan X Hyde. Sports, Sin and Subversion. Belize City: Ramos Publishing, 2008. 230p., photos.

"When you count the loves of your life, is sports first or second?"
(Foo Yee Ping: Museum Tribute to Sports Greats)

Whenever a book on Belize by a Belizean is written and published this is usually an occasion for gratitude and joy to celebrate the fact that one more piece of literature has been added to our sparse literary output.  But whenever a book as unique asSports, Sin and Subversion, written by one of the most respected observers of our time appears on the scene, then we have an added reason to rejoice.  Evan X Hyde has given us a fine example of portraying his literary expertise – a talent that brings together both our sporting and literary traditions to produce passionate, evocative sports writing.

When the Sports Museum of America was opened in New York in May of this year, it heralded a first in sports tradition for the U.S.A.  The launching of Sports, Sin and Subversion on July 23 in Belize City this year will not match the event in New York, but for the author and the many other sports enthusiasts Hyde’s book will not only represent a first for Belize, but it will forever be our equivalent of a sports museum.  This is so because, although a museum is where people go to dream about the glories of the past and to create the future, in the words of the author as he describes those heroes he encountered: “Stars are like gods in the sports pantheon of this and future generations of readers”. 

In the last paragraph of his book Hyde laments that he “started this book with the innocence of the fifties and sixties” but ended up “with a broken heart in the third millennium”.  Actually from the time the reader begins to explore Sports, Sin and Subversion,from the Foreword and the Introduction, we can detect Hyde’s evident passion for sports on every succeeding page.  By his own admission, when he treats us to his early upbringing and family ties, he says he was raised to be a lover of sports. 

Although he admits being influenced by American sports writers in the 1950s, he was also privileged as a child to see football history in the making at Edwards Park (now Rogers Stadium).  The innocence of his early experiences in football, basketball, baseball, ladies softball, cycling and boxing in the early chapters give readers an idea of the times he grew up in.  Hyde was born in 1947, so this meant the 1960s and the 1970s were ideal platforms from which to view the development of sports in Belize.  The final five chapters constitute the 1990s, the “broken heart” era when he attempted to organize and manage his basketball teams.

Evan X Hyde asserts more than once that Sports, Sin and Subversion is not a history book. It is however, a book which is even more than a sports fan’s guide to the last century – it is in essence a reflection of ourselves as we grew as a nation through racial and political upheaval, and the never ending quest for money.  As an encompassing look at the development of sports, the book at once portrays the growing popularity of sport in a large part of the Belizean consciousness. 

Those who choose to read this book – and assuredly it will be of interest even to non-sports fans – will get a great sense of change in Belizean society.  Surely the book is about sports, but there is a blend of the coming of bigger money, and greater fame.  Sport is undoubtedly a great window on society, and Hyde brilliantly opens this window by telling us that most of the things we are arguing about in sports will sooner or later be reflected in the politics of the society.  This reviewer joins with the author in the hope that his book will prompt our relevant authorities to ensure that opportunities for participation in sports exist for all communities in every part of Belize.  We should be committed to making the joys of sport available to as many who want to partake. 

The narrative process that Hyde has gone through in Sports, Sin and Subversion has resulted in giving the reader the feeling that you knew the sports personalities personally.  He has named names, he has put faces to names we had only heard of before, and he has given us profiles of legendary figures.  Readers are treated to some memorable victories and defeats in our sports history, as well as very welcome photos to complement the text. 

All through this Hyde has been careful to adhere to the principles of putting together a book of this sort -- that is, one that offers perspective on where we have been and where we are headed -- there might still be critics who will be quick to note that he did not mention some athletes that were great in someone’s mind.  But the book supersedes all this by being an example of good sports writing which resonates like a quality literary work.  By telling tales of epic sporting battles and the dedication and determination of our heroes to succeed in their chosen discipline, the author has the power to inspire the next generation of sportsmen and women.   This is most vividly brought out in those instances where Hyde tells of sometimes harrowing yet hopeful experiences of persons emerging from the very humble beginnings, and battling against abandonment, poverty and depression to share their talent with Belize and the world. 

We cannot compare the quantity of talented sports writers in Belize to other countries, but the quality of our few sports writers is rich.  Sports, Sin and Subversion is an outstanding book written not by an outstanding sportsman, but by an avid sports fan and radio sports announcer.  This most recent work by Evan X. Hyde provides a unique insight into the man behind the personality we have come to associate with editorials and. “From the Publisher”, and earlier activist pursuits, poetry and personal accounts.  

The innuendos of gambling, sex, racism and politics which are evident in sections of the book, serve to show the forces at work behind the scenes that have had significant influence on major sporting events, and serve to justify the “sin and subversion” aspect of the book. 

Other countries have written profusely and published prodigiously articles and books about their sport greats.  Evan X Hyde, through a timely social commentary, has reminded us that “historically speaking sports are a wasteland in Belize”.  By writingSports, Sin and Subversion mostly from memory, because apart from cycling the other sports have no records or written history, Hyde has succeeded in taking us one step further in documenting our sports tradition and history.

Anyone interested in reading good stories about sports in Belize should get this book.

Academy of da Corner at Fillmore Jazz Festival, San Francisco, July 6-7, 2013

Wellness Coach Michael Bennett has taken upon himself to get Marvin X in shape. Lately, the poet has lightened up on Henny and drinks blender and juiced drinks of vegetables and fruits. He retreats to the Central Valley where he likes to take morning swims for exercise.

Marvin X with San Francisco's controversial Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, posing with a copy of Marvin's pamphlet The Mythology of Pussy and Dick. We understand the Sheriff has reconciled with his wife after an alleged bout of domestic violence. Marvin X would like to visit the jails to speak with the brothers and sisters, especially those accused of partner violence. "Nobody owns nobody, we are not chattel (personal property), that ended with the emancipation proclamation."

After sitting with the poet at his booth, a friend named Abdul said no wonder Marvin X needs a little Henny after dealing with his customers. He noticed many appeared to suffer mental illness, whether white or black persons. A white man asked Marvin X who originated white supremacy? Marvin asked why are you asking me this question. Why don't you ask the white man. I didn't originate it. As Moses said, why are you questioning me, go question Pharaoh!

People came who seemed to want to share their war stories after looking at his books and DVDs, along with a small exhibit of the Drs. Nathan and Julia Hare archives, especially copies of the Black Scholar Magazine. Dr. Nathan Hare was founding publisher. He recruited Bob Chrisman as editor. The covers included pics of Angela Davis, prison movement messiah George Jackson, Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael. People took cell phone pictures of the display. Several were overheard saying "He didn't leave nobody out!"

On Sunday, Marvin X set up his booth on the corner of Fillmore and O'Farrel, near the site of his Black Educational Theatre, 1972, where he collaborated  with legendary band leader/philosopher Sun Ra, who arranged the musical version of Marvin's play Flowers for the Trashman, retitled Take Care of Business.  A fifty member cast of dancers, musicians and actors performed Take Care of Business in a five hour production, without intermission, at the Harding Theatre on Divisadero Street.

Marvin X and Sun Ra at the Black Educational Theatre on O'farrell Street, between Fillmore and Webster, 1972, both revolutionary artists  were teaching in the Black Studies program at University of California, Berkeley.

The festival extends from lower Fillmore to upper Fillmore which is mostly white. Someone mentioned to Marvin that the jazz on upper Fillmore was entirely different from the music on lower Fillmore, like two different worlds.

We understand the Fillmore's main jazz venue Yoshi's is in foreclosure and black investors are attempting to buy the property. How ironic that whites bought Marcus Books in foreclosure and blacks are seeking to purchase Yoshi's. No matter what, the Fillmore will never be the same. Should we feel gratified that former Mayor Alioto apologized for destroying the cultural and economic vitality of the Fillmore District, Harlem of the West!
--Marvin X
7/7/13

When A White Man Thinks

When a white man thinks
like a nigguh
and don't like nigguhs
hates nigguhs
wants no freedom for nigguhs
yet says things nigguhs been knowing from day one of the universe
when a white man thinks
like a nigguh
sees a little of the grand truth nigguhs see every day of their lives
welcome to reality whitey
whitey come lately
yet thinks he's so smart
knows it all
infused this conundrum into the his negro creation
both dumb ass motherfuckers in the universe of time
theology of time
Elijah taught
even the white man says the people are all Zombies
the white and the black
don't mention Latinos
Arabs
Africans
double zombies in the neocolonial matrix
convinced they are all better than a nigguh
yes, they love everything about a nigguh but a nigguh
Poet Paradise taught us!
Do the Line Dance Africans, Asians, Europeans, Latinos
Line dance the Nigguh out the Ghetto
take his house
you gentrification slimy motgherfuckers
Line dance while you perform Nigguh Removal
one step back
now reverse to KKK grandparents
did they leave you a trust account
even when you married that nigguh in Berkeley
now you lesbian and gay
fuck that nigguh
and white man too!

Your girl is yo husband now. And we want a house in West Oakland.
Too bad the nigguhs got to go but we got to get to SF on the BART
five minuets from West Oakland. Get Real!
We can't help our KKK DNA.

FYI, A WHITE WOMAN IS THE WHITE MAN IN DRAG, ACCORDING TO DR. NATHAN HARE.

--MARVIN X
7/6/13

Part Two: Revolution from Egypt to the Americas: I Am American by Marvin X

PART TWO: Revolution from Egypt to the Americas

I Am American

Dedicated to my brother Ollie (January 21)

and daughter Nefertiti (January 29) in celebration of their birthdays

I am American

no citizen of the United States

gave that up years ago

in Toronto

protesting US in Vietnam

exiled in Canada

underground to Chicago, Harlem

crucified at Fresno State University

same time Angela Davis was on the cross at UCLA, 1969

I am American

exiled a second time in Mexico City

with all the exiled Americans from the Americas

from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Columbia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil

they call me Pele Pele Pele on the streets of Mexico City

want to touch my hair for good luck

I am American

in Mexico City founded by Africans

now exiled by president for life regimes

we are young men of resistance

and women too, my wife is with me

young men

put aboard planes that landed in Chapultepec Park

cerca de Paseo de Reforma

my wife and I live near the Metro by the park

we see the lovers in the park on Sundays

and we are in love

she is pregnant with our daughter Nefertiti

I am American

I cannot speak with my brothers in exile

Jorge from Choco, Columbia

Enrique from Venezuela

I speak Spanish pochito

muy pochito

no Portuguese

I can only say Poder Negro to my revolutionary amigos.

They comprende

I give them the black power salute

I am American

I flee Mexico City for Belize

I pass through Yucatan, Vera Cruz, Merida, Chetumal

the land of Yanga el Africano Mexicano

Yanga was so bad the Spanish gave him a town

San Lorenzo de los Negroes

down in Vera Cruz

I flee against advice of Elizabeth Catlett Mora

elder revolutionary artist

she begged me not to go

those negroes in raw colonialism

not neo-colonialism she said

I am American

young hard headed

easy to lead in the wrong direction

hard to lead in the right direction

I am American

I want to hear English

tired of Spanish

basta ya!

I want to see los Negroes

in Belize

esclavos pero Negroes

yo esclavo tambien

I am American

This is my land the Americas

all of it

I was here before Columbus

Before Maya Aztec Incas Olmec

I was here

I came by canoe from Ghana, Mali, Songhay

from the land of Sonni Ali, Askia the Great

bling bling of Mansa Musa

a thousand camels with gold on his haj to Mecca

I am American

in Belize los Negroes speak English

pero muy rapido pero English

Espanol tambien

I am American

Norte Americano Africano

Simon Bolivar Americano

Simon Simon Simon

I am American

North Central South American

Caribbean American

I am American

from Toronto, Montreal

to Georgetown, Caracas

Slums of Mexico City are mine

shacks of Belize

madness of Kingston

cocaine of Port of Spain

yes, Trinidad

land of C. Eric Williams

victim of Capitalism and Slavery

Guyana is mine

I interviewed PM Burnham at his residence

Africans with AK47s at his gate

genocide of Jonestown

assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney

how can we forgive the reactionaries

who never turn into Buddha heads

who never put down their butcher knives

I am American

in Belize I join the revolution of Evan X and Shabazz

on trial for sedition

the government is games old people play they say

this is sedition

I covered the trial for Muhammad Speaks

this was my sin

a 1970 Wikileaks

exposing emperor has no clothes

people have no clothes

no water no electricity no toilet

no nothing

brothers want to know why I left America with no gold

they want to go to American to get gold

why did I leave without gold

what is America but gold

nothing else there but gold

and slaves and gold

I am American

people are rich in Belize

poor yet rich

joy and peace, sun and land

gardens of paradise

islands in the sun

I live on Gales Point

a little shack with no water no electricity no bathroom

but I am happy

my wife is pregnant and happy

except for the sand flies

mosquitoes who love her blood

we bathe in the river

the out house is on the other side of the island

the catfish collect waste

people do not swim on that side of the island

people do not eat catfish

I am American

people beg me to teach black power

I do not check in with village headman

a drunk man sings outside my house

day comin ta git ya in da mornin

been down here teachin dat black power

day comin to get ya in da mornin, boy

my wife and I laugh

wish dat drunk nigguh git way from our door

but they come to get me in the morning

I am American

When I get on the boat into the city

five hour ride through the jungle

police on boat

I am under arrest

but don't know it

police undercover

don't say nothing to me

when we get to the city

he don't say nothing

police come to my friends house

call me out

I grab rifle

but put it down

surrender

a mulatto greets me outside

I am under arrest

take me to Ministry of Home Affairs

Minister reads my deportation order

Your presence is not beneficial to the welfare of the British Colony of Honduras

therefore you shall be deported to the United States on the next plane to Miami

leaving at 4pm.

Until then you are under arrest.

Mulatto takes me to police station

I am told to sit down. No cell, no handcuffs.

Soon the police gather around me

I am in the middle of a circle of police

I do not know what's up.

Soon they say, broder man, teach us about black power!

I am American

victim of the slave system

police victims too

teach us broder man.

I say

Marcus Garvey came here in 1923

told you to get the Queen of English off yo walls.

It's 1970 and you still got that white bitch on yo walls.

Get that bitch off yo walls!

police crack up

they say you all ite broder man

They point out uncle tom police

they say he black man wit white heart

black man wit white heart!

I am American

Plane came for me on time. Mulatto pushed me onto the plane. I refused to leave without my wife. The plane door slammed. Fly south to Tegucigalpa, Spanish Honduras.

I ask for asylum . Espera un momento, Negro!

I am marched back onto the plane.

We land in Miami. Two gentlemen greet me at the airport. Escort me to my hotel suite at Dade County Jail. I am put into a pit with dead, deaf dumb and blind negroes.

I call them brother.

They say we ain't yo brother, nigguh. I am silent.

After a few days the gentlemen come to transfer me to Miami City jail, the Federal facility.

White Cuban drug dealers greet me. What do you want, my brother, they say.

You need money, food? We send out for food to the restaurant, what do you want.

I am American

I want hamburger, fries and milkshake!

No problema, hermano!

They give me money to call my wife.

She is home in America.

I am American

Cubans say again, whatever you need just let us know.

I am American

like Simon Bolivar

like Che

like Fidel

Toussaint

like Nat Turner

Grabriel Prosser

Harriet Tubman

Like Garvey

Elijah

Malcolm

Stokely (Kwame Toure)

CLR James

Padmore

Chavez

Morales

I am American.

--Marvin X1/29/11