Black Bird Press News & Review

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Young Men Dialogue at Marvin X's Peripatetic Academy of da Corner

You ought to start something called "Peripatetic Universities." Greek philosophers like Socrates pioneered walk around place to place schools. It's time for an off campus intellectual movement
(like the Enlightenment which was begun off campus; Voltaire, for an example, was playwright). On -campus academics- some of the prominent ones-at Harvard and Yale, and Think Tank intellectuals John McWhorter and Shelby Steele are no different from the French Vichy intellectuals and academics under Hitler. Only 8% of poor people go to college. This shouldn't be the end of their intellectual careers.

A Peripatetic University would work this way: leaflets would be passed out in black neighborhoods announcing a site of a Peripatetic lecture. These could be held in parks and elsewhere.
--Ishmael Reed

Marvin X's peripatetic Academy of da Corner was at the Berkeley Flea Market this Saturday. The two young men above engaged in an extensive dialogue on manhood training. The 19 year old on the right was deeply upset at the recent lost of his friend to homicide. He said learning of his friend's death caused him chest pain along with grief. He acknowledged the friend and his murderer were

friends but had words over a female. The young man has read Marvin's Mythology of Pussy and Dick and says every word of it is truth. He hopes that brothers will some day get it in their heads that they do not own women. He said his dead friend was probably a victim of jealousy and envy as well.

The 19 year old was sent to Academy of da Corner by his father, a vendor at the Berkeley Flea Market.

The young man is trying to figure out why he is so attracted to females, especially on the physical level.

Marvin, aka Plato Negro, said God designed women to attract men, but too often we are attracted by their behinds rather than their minds! After the fuck, then what?

You Don't Know Me

You don't know me
you had a chance to know me
before we made love
you had a chance to know my mind
understand my fears
learn about issues
help me heal some things
but you wanted to make love
so you don't know me
we made love
but you don't know me
don't have a clue
think I'm a good dick
or you some good tight pussy
but you don't know me
and never will now
because you wanted to make love
you wanted to get a nut
we didn't even talk much
a little bit leading up to sex
I went along
I was horny too
but you don't know me
and I don't know you
now we never will
we blew it forever
because we made love
too fast too quick too soon
now you think you own me
I can't breathe
can't talk on the phone to friends
because we made love
because I gave you some dick
you gave me some pussy
now I'm no longer human
I'm your love slave
you my slave
we're in love but you don't know me
we gonna get married
but you don't know me
we're gonna have children
but you don't know me
you're gonna beat my ass
but you don't know me
you're going to jail
but you don't know me
we're getting a divorce
but you don't know me
now we're friends "Just Friends" Charlie Parker tune
But you don't know me and never will.
--Marvin
X

The brother on the right is in his early 40s. He asked Plato Negro what is to be done about the present situation. Plato said, "Don't ask me, it's on you, not me. What are you going to do about the present situation?" The brother agreed knowledge is the key. The people being destroyed for lack of knowledge. They have no knowledge of self, God and the devil! They have no knowledge of the women, hence they think they own her and will kill over her. The older brother told the younger that his first duty is to serve God. His life and death are all for God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then all things shall be added unto you. He gave the younger brother a brief history of the Aboriginal people of Africa, Asia and the Americas. Plato was content to let the brothers talk; he said very little, sometimes he chimed in with "That's right!"

Academy of da Corner has been invited to San Francisco's Hunters Point/Bayview. Look for him soon at Palou and 3rd and 3rd and La Salle in front of Da Corner gear shop. His sponsors promise to serve generous refreshments to all attendees.

For more information, call 510-200-4164

Black Bird Press News & Review: Support Black Power Baby Muhammida El Muhajir's World Tour

Parable of a Real Woman by Marvin X

There was a man who had many women in his life. They had come and gone, with himself at fault most of the time. But he wouldn't give up, he continued his self improvement and search for that special woman. He talked with elder women about what he should do. One told him he'd never had a real woman! If so, she would still be with him, no matter what, through thick and thin, up times and down times. Well, he asked, how would he know when such a woman was in his presence. First, clean up your own act, she said. Scoop your own poop. Rid yourself of defects of character. Make amendments to all those you have harmed in life. It takes humility to do this.

Still, how will I know the real woman? The older woman answered, you will know because when she comes over your house and sees something amiss, she will take authority to correct the situation. If your house is dirty, she will immediately ask if she can clean it as a favor to you, as an act of love. She will not want any money for her services. And she will clean your house as it has never been cleaned before because she knows what she is doing. Yes, she is a pro, not only with house cleaning but with every thing she does, including her love making. She will make sure you are satisfied and herself as well.

She will demand respect and will respect you. She will demand freedom and give you freedom. She will speak in the language of love so smooth that it will be like a razor cutting to the heart. You will be bleeding to death but not know you are cut.

You will do what she suggests and do it willingly because it will not be a demand but a request said so subtle you won't recognize it for what it actually is: a demand. And you will love doing what she requests.

When you need space and time to yourself you won't need to explain, she will pick up the vibe.

And you will do the same for her.

She will not be jealous and envious of your talent and skills or how handsome you are to other women. She knows she has you in her pocket because she is confident of herself, and not worried about some other woman taking her man.

If you are taken by another woman, it must be the will of God that you go. She knows God will replace her emptiness with someone even better than you. But she will give you time to get a grip on yourself and find your way back home. Just don't take too long and when you come home don't be asking about what she was doing while you were gone.

A real woman will put her resources at your disposal if you are worthy of them, as the prophet Muhammad was treated by the wealthy trade woman Khadijah. There is no selfishness in love. All is for the beloved, but a wise woman ain't no fool. As the song says, the greatest thing you will ever do is love and be loved in return.

The man thanked the elder woman for her wisdom and departed on his search.

from the Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2012.

Comment on the Wisdom of Plato Negro

The Wisdom of Plato Negro is for the forty something up. No persons who haven't lived a few years can appreciate the things Marvin X says in The Wisdom of Plato Negro. You need to be at least forty to understand, and even then, this is not a book to read in one setting, even if it is easy reading. It is a book to read in a relaxed situation, and then only read one or two of the parables at a time. They must be carefully digested, each one.

Think about them, what was the real meaning? Again, if you haven't lived a few years, there's no way you can appreciate some of the things he says. For example, the Parable of the Real Woman. A young man who hasn't had many experiences with women cannot possibly understand this parable. If a woman comes to his house and cleans it out of love, a young man cannot appreciate this. He will tell her thanks, then go get a flashy woman who is never going to clean his house, mainly because she doesn't know how. But the dude will go for her because she is cute, but the real woman he rejects, the one with common sense and dignity, who may not be a beauty queen.

--Anon

Black Bird Press News & Review

Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Parrot by Marvin X

Marvin X offers a healing peek into his psyche by Junious Ricardo Stanton

Marvin X is in recovery and it has not been easy for him. As a writer/healer

he still has the voice of a revolutionary

poet/playwright,

it is a voice

we need

to listen and pay attention to.

Books by Marvin X

Love and War: Poems / In the Crazy House Called America / Woman: Man's Best Friend / Beyond Religion Toward Spirituality, How to Recover from White Supremacy, Wisdom of Plato Negro

* * * * *

Marvin X Offers A Healing Peek Into His Psyche
Review of In the Crazy House Called America

Junious Ricardo Stanton

Rarely is a brother secure and honest enough with himself to reveal his innermost

thoughts, emotions or his most hellacious life experiences. For most men it would

be a monumental feat just to share/bare his soul with his closest friends but to do

so to perfect strangers would be unthinkable, unless he had gone through the fires

of life and emerged free of the dross that tarnishes his soul. Marvin X, poet,

playwright, author and essayist does just that in a self-published book entitled

In the Crazy House Called America.

This latest piece from Marvin X offers a peek into his soul and his psyche.

He lets the reader know he is hip to the rabid oppression the West heaps

upon people of color especially North American Africans while at the same

time revealing the knowledge gleaned from his days as a student radical,

black nationalist revolutionary forger of the Black Arts Movement, husband,

father lover, a dogger of women did not spare him the degradation and agony

of descending into the abyss of crack addiction, abusive and toxic relationships

and family tragedy.

Perhaps because of the knowledge gained as a member of the Nation of Islam,

and his experiences as one of the prime movers of the cultural revolution of

the '60, the insights he shares In the Crazy House Called America are all the

keener. Marvin writes candidly of his pain, bewilderment and depression

of losing his son to suicide. He shares in a very powerful way, his own

out of body helplessness as he wallowed in the dregs of an addiction that

threatened to destroy his soul and the mess his addictions made of his

life and relationships with those he loved.

But he is not preachy and this is not an autobiography. He has already

been there and done that. In sharing his story and the wisdom he has

gleaned from his life experiences and looking at the world through

the eyes of an artist/healer, Marvin X serves as a modern day shaman/juju

man who in order to heal himself and his people ventures into the spirit

realm to confront the soul devouring demons and mind pulverizing dragons;

he is temporarily possessed by them, heroically struggles to rebuke their

power before they destroy him; which enables him to return to this realm,

tell us what it is like, prove redemption is possible, thereby empowering himself/

us and helping to heal us. He touches on a myriad of topics as he raps and writes

about himself and current events.

Reading this book you know he knows what it is like to come face to face

with and do battle with the insanity and death this society has in store for all

Africans. Marvin X talks about his sexual relations/dysfunction, drugs, media

and free speech, sports, black political power or the lack thereof, the war on

drugs and the current War on Terrorism, nothing is off limits. He includes reviews

of music, theater as well as film, but not as some smarter/ holier than thou, elitist observer.

Marvin X writes as one actively engaged in life, including its pain and suffering.

He lets us know he was a willing and active participant in his addiction, how it impacted

his decision making, his role as a parent, his male-female "relationships", his ability

to be creative within a movement to liberate African people and the world from the

corruption of Caucasian hegemony.

Marvin X is in recovery and it has not been easy for him. As a writer/healer

he still has the voice of a revolutionary poet/playwright, it is a voice we need to

listen and pay attention to. He has survived his own purgatory and emerged stronger

and more committed to life and saving his people. As North American Africans

(his term to differentiate us from our continental and diasporic brethren) he sees

the toll the insanity of this culture takes on us. His culturally induced self-destructive

lifestyle choices and the death of his son is a testament to how life threatening and

lethal this society can be.

But Marvin X also talks about spiritual redemption, the ability to transcend even

the most horrific experiences with resiliency and determination so that one

ets a glimpse of one's own divine potential. This book is an easy read which

makes it all the more profound. In The Crazy House Called America is for

brothers especially. It is a book all black men should grab hold of and digest,

if for no other reason than to experience just how redemptively healing and

liberating being honest can be.

* * * * *

from Nathanielturner.com, Rudolph Lewis, Editor, Chickenbones

Why Dr. King Wouldn’t Be Invited to the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: Dr. Wilmer Leon Explains

August 20, 2013- http://www.kulturekritic.com

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III

“Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967

As America commemorates the 50^th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom I am compelled to ask the following question, would Dr. King be invited to speak at upcoming events to commemorate the March?

If you get past the marketed “Dream” reference in the “I Have a Dream” speech you will understand that it was an indictment of America. If you read “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” or Dr. King’s last book Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community?; you can rest assured that today Dr. King would be in opposition to America’s backing of the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, drone attacks, indefinite detention at Guantanamo, NSA wiretapping, mass incarceration, and the Obama administration’s failure to speak forcefully about poverty in America. From that premise one can only conclude that if Dr. King were alive today, those within the African American community who are engaged in stifling honest, fact-based, critical analysis of the administration’s policies would not allow Dr. King on the dais. Reason being, Dr. King committed his life to a morally based sense of justice and humanity not actions taken from a sense of political expediency or realpolitik.

On August 28, 1963 Dr. King stated, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…One hundred years later, the colored American lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” Today according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate stands at 7.6% and 15% in the African American community. Today, “in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity,” according to Bread For the World, “14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 16.2 million children—struggle to put food on the table” and “more than one in five children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger.”

President Obama has claimed to be a champion of the middle class but rarely speaks to the plight of the poor in America. Dr. King would not stand idly by and allow this to go unchallenged. As America spends billions of dollars on its drone program, children continue to go hungry. In his 1967 speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence Dr. King stated, “A few years ago…It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor, both black and white, through the poverty program…Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything on a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube.” If you replace Vietnam with Afghanistan and the War on Terror I believe Dr. King would be engaged in the same analysis and saying the same things today.

Dr. King said that the people of Vietnam must see, “Americans as strange liberators…they languish under our bombs and consider us, not their fellow Vietnamese, the real enemy…What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform? What do they think as we test out our latest weapons on them…?” Today, Dr. King would be asking the same questions about America’s actions in Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and the continued US support for the Zionist government in Israel as it continues to build settlements on Palestinian land in violation of international law.

Let’s be very clear, I have used actions of the Obama administration to highlight many of the contradictions that we face and to demonstrate how the man we now revere, the icon that will be lauded at the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington would not be invited to speak in today’s political context. That’s the symptom of a greater problem.

To gain great insight into the real problem you have to examine the work of Edward Bernays and the rise of the propaganda industry in the 1920’s. “[The] American business community was also very impressed with the propaganda effort (created by Bernays). They had a problem at that time. The country was becoming formally more democratic. A lot more people were able to vote and that sort of thing. The country was becoming wealthier and more people could participate and a lot of new immigrants were coming in, and so on. So what do you do? It’s going to be harder to run things as a private club. Therefore, obviously, you have to control what people think. There had been public relation specialists but there was never a public relations industry.” History as a Weapon – Noam Chomsky – 1997.

The business community as Chomsky discussed or the corptocracy in today’s parlance uses propaganda to co-opt the American political landscape and has contributed to the decline of the American political left. The politics and policies of the Obama administration are examples of that decline, not responsible for it.

At the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington pay very close attention to what is said and even closer attention to what is not (August 27, 2013 is the 50th commemoration of the passing of W.E.B. DuBois).

Understanding the moral basis of Dr. King’s analysis, he would be standing today for the very things he stood for then. He would be critical of the current administration, and as such, great efforts would be made to shut him out of the national debate since many in the African American community see honest, fact based, criticism of Obama administration policy as antithetical to the interests of the African American community. The prophet is never welcome in his own village.

Dr. King’s “Dream” was significant because of its juxtaposition against the reality of the Negros nightmare but Bernaysian propaganda keeps the focus on the “Dream”.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the Sirisu/XM Satellite radio channel 110 call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon” Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email:wjl3us@yahoo.com. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescription at Facebook.com