Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Call for reinstatement of Temple University's Dr. Anthony Monteiro


A CALL FOR THE REINSTATEMENT OF
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY’S DR. ANTHONY MONTEIRO

“REINSTATE A GREAT,” Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Commentary on Dr. Monteiro’s Struggle (from Prison Radio). See below, to sign the educators’ Call for Monteiro.

*  ANGELA Y. DAVIS  *  CORNEL WEST  * 

* GARY Y. OKIHIRO * DAVID ROEDIGER *

 * JOY A. JAMES * JOE FEAGIN * GERALD HORNE *

* HOWARD WINANT * CHRIS HEDGES *

* LEWIS R. GORDON * JAMES H. CONE *

* V.P. FRANKLIN  * ROBIN D. G. KELLEY *

VIJAY PRASHAD * FARAH JASMINE GRIFFIN * Marvin X

Dr. Anthony Monteiro
Dr. Anthony Monteiro











Associate Professor of African American Studies, Dr. Anthony Monteiro, Ph.D., a  long-time advocate for Mumia Abu-Jamal, distinguished W. E. B. Du Bois scholar and community activist, has been dismissed from his position in Temple University’s African-American Studies Department. It is clearly a case of a “retaliation firing,” even though Temple administrators deem it simply “end of term” for Dr. Monteiro. For one report on the firing see this story at The Philadelphia Tribune.The National Call, below, contests the dismissal, protests the retaliatory firing and seeks Dr. Monteiro’s reinstatement.

If you are an educator and wish to sign this Call, send your name to johanna.fernandez@baruch.cuny.edu AND mark.taylor@ptsem.edu, subject heading: “Signature Monteiro.”  Please give your name as you would like it listed and your institutional affiliation (which will be shown for identification purposes only).

DR. MONTEIRO’S PRESS CONFERENCE STATEMENT (Feb 12, 2014)

SOLIDARITY LETTERS AND STATEMENTS

_______________________________________________________

 A Call for the Reinstatement of

 Temple University’s Dr. Anthony Monteiro

WE UNITE with Philadelphia faculty members, labor, community and student organizations to call for the immediate reinstatement of Professor Anthony Monteiro as Associate Professor in African-American Studies. After Dr. Monteiro’s 10 years of distinguished service in Temple University’s historic Department, the first to offer a doctorate in African-American Studies, he has been informed that his contract will not be renewed, in a letter of Jan 6, 2014 from Dean Teresa Soufas of Temple’s Liberal Arts College. No reason was given for dismissal of so highly respected a scholar, particularly for his Du Bois scholarship, but also in African American Studies, generally.

WE DENOUNCE AND DEPLORE this apparent violation of Dr. Monteiro’s academic freedom and this disparagement of his dignity as scholar and person. In the absence of any reasons for Dr. Monteiro’s dismissal, this refusal to renew his contract must be labeled a “retaliation firing” based on the following indicators:

  • Retaliatory and threatening moves against faculty by administrators have recent precedent at Temple, especially from this Dean. Professor Monteiro’s dismissal came after he helped spearhead public campaigns that challenged the Dean’s attempt to strip the faculty of autonomy in administering of its department. In particular, Dr. Monteiro helped defend public efforts to secure African American scholars to Chair the African American Studies department, in spite of the Dean’s objection to the department’s own proposed candidates.

  • Scholar, Lewis Gordon, previous holder of Temple’s distinguished Laura Carnell Professorship, resigned protesting racist practices and “a series of retaliatory actions” that he and other Black and Jewish staff experienced from this Dean and other administrators. He recounted these at his website and in Temple’s own Faculty Herald publication.

  • Gordon, who had also served on Temple’s Great Teachers Award Committee, resigned along with his wife, an award-winning scholar and teacher in political science, also reports along with others, that, on at least two occasions the Dean ordered surveillance of Black and/or Jewish faculty in their classes and on campus, and also called the police to campus when another professor mentioned Dean Soufas’ ongoing attacks against black male faculty.

  • Not only was no reason given for Dr. Monteiro’s dismissal, administrators also appear to hold contempt for Dr. Monteiro’s work on community issues of mass incarceration, public education, and police corruption. Following two major events organized by Dr. Monteiro on political prisoners, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Russell Maroon Shoatz, which drew large participation from the local Black community, Temple began to prohibit Dr. Monteiro from reserving campus rooms. As a result, he has been prohibited from continuing to host important gatherings on campus, like his long-standing Free Saturday School for students and community, entitled “Philosophy and Black Liberation. This policy now prohibits his  organizing the W.E.B. Du Bois lectures and symposia, for which he has become known in scholarly circles. This essentially targets Monteiro’s academic freedom as well as his interaction with the community as a scholar, which in fact is called for by African American Studies’ own Mission Statement.  Dean Soufas has said publicly to the Department, “I do not see a Black Community.”

  • Graduate students in the African-American Studies Department have organized with Black Philadelphia groups to protest what they view as a series of attacks on the Department, reporting hostility and a climate of threat designed to intimidate them.

  • At a Department meeting before Dr. Asante had become Chair of African American Studies, the Dean pointed her finger, disparagingly, in Dr. Asante’s face. On at least two other occasions she threatened Dr. Asante with dismissal from his faculty post.

WE RECOGNIZE, CELEBRATE AND WILL NOT SEE DEMEANED DR. MONTEIRO’S SCHOLARSHIP AND SERVICE, in the light of which his recent firing can only appear as an act of flagrant racism and repression of academic freedom. Dr. Monteiro’s eminent record includes:

  • A distinguished publication recordfeaturing over 100 published articles and essays in varied journals. He is among the most frequently cited in his department, not only in African-American and Du Bois Studies, but also in political science, history, urban education, race and feminist studies, to name a few. Already, Monteiro has produced five articles on Nelson Mandela and Amiri Baraka, just since their recent deaths.

  • Ten years of exemplary and creative professional achievements at Temple since 2003serving as Associate Professor without tenure, after having left a tenured position at another institution for a promise of tenure at Temple. He was one key architect of the Center for the Study of Race and Social Thought at Temple, becoming its Associate Director in 2005. Although supporting Dr. Asante’s appointment as Department Chair, Professor Monteiro, along with others, was himself also nominated for that role. Further, he has served on five dissertation committees, and chaired one.

  • National and international renown for conceiving and directing scholarly events on W. E. B. Du Bois at Temple, hosting the annual Du Bois Lectures and Du Bois Symposia. These draw scholars from Columbia, Princeton, Drexel, UPENN and elsewhere. As a leader in Du Bois studies, the University of Pennsylvania selected Monteiro to bestow upon Du Bois its Emeritus Professorship in Africana Studies and Sociology. He is especially respected for his fresh theorization of Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction in America as form of “historical logic.”

  • Unusually strong student respect and support at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Monteiro’s Du Bois seminars are deservedly popular, as also his graduate course in Black Social and Political Thought. These draw students from multiple departments. In 2005 and 2007 he received merit points for scholarship and teaching. Understandably many of his students are in the forefront of today’s struggle for his reinstatement.

  • Innovative Planning of University & Community Relations in Temple’s North Philadelphia community. Dr. Monteiro started the ongoing Free Saturday School, granting Temple students of many disciplines a vibrant interaction with the community. He leads neighborhood studies of Martin Luther King’s work, and consistently shows up at public events, often bringing his sociological expertise to bear on mass incarceration issues. Monteiro thus embodies the Department’s own commitment to linking its discipline to “positive change in our communities” (“Mission,” second paragraph).

  • An embodying for our time of Du Bois’ tradition of political critique and public resistance in the face of systems of domination, whether in society or the academy. In this regard, we note his forming “The Radical Philosophy Circle” for Temple students, his decades of public support for innocent political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal (even hosting campus screenings of the award-winning documentary on Abu-Jamal, and featuring phone conferences with Abu-Jamal in his classes). He hosted at Temple a book party for Maroon the Implacable, a volume of essays by political prisoner, Russell Maroon ShoatzMonteiro also organizes support for the community’s political leaders, as with his conference in 2012, “Pam Africa: Our Revolutionary Daughter of the Dust.”

WE SCHOLARS STAND VIGILANTLY BEHIND DR. MONTEIRO knowing that today, throughout the U.S. academy and nation, programs in African American and Ethnic studies are all too frequently attacked or neglected by small groups of deans, provosts and board members. These often use their power to foster or tolerate misrepresentation, harassment, repression and removal of reputable scholars of color and conscience – those most necessary for equipping us all with knowledge for promoting and guarding a truly just society.

The reinstatement of Dr. Anthony Monteiro is essential for Temple University now to safeguard its historic reputation in African American Studies.

*This National Call is a project of Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal and was drafted by its coordinators.

Signatories (with institutions listed for identification purposes only):

Lewis R. Gordon. Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy, African American Studies, and Judaic Studies at University of Connecticut, Europhilosophy Visiting Chair, Toulouse University, France; Nelson Mandela Distinguished Visiting Professor, Rhodes University, South Africa.

Johanna Fernandez, Ph.D.Department of History and Department of Black and Latino/a Studies, Baruch College CUNY. EMAJ Coordinator.

Mark Lewis Taylor, Ph.D.
Departments of Theology, Religion & Society, Princeton Theological Seminary. EMAJ Coordinator.
________________________________

Vanessa Agard-Jones, Ph.D.Columbia University
Society of Fellows in the Humanities

Biko Agozino, Ph.D.
Virginia Tech University
Africana Studies Program, Sociology

Leslie M. Alexander, Ph.D.
Ohio State University, African American & African Studies

Abdul Alkalimat, Ph.DAfrican American Studies

Ernest Allen, Jr., Ph.D.University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Emeritus Professor of Afro-American Studies

Robert Aponte, Ph.D.Indiana University, Sociology

John Arena, Ph.D.College of Staten Island (CUNY)Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work

Elisabeth Armstrong, Ph.D.Smith College, Women & Gender Studies

Robert Aponte, Ph.D.
Indiana University, Sociology

Thabiti Asukile, Ph.D.University of California/Berkeley
Historian

Subhasis Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D.
Bengal Engineering and Science UniversityDept. Humanities & Social Science/India

Mary Barr, Ph.D.
Clemson University, Sociology

Allen H. Barton, Ph.D.Columbia University, Sociology Department (former Chair)

Michael Becker, Ph.D. cand.
Duke University, History

Matt Birkhold
Executive Director, Brecht Forum

Yaba Blay, Ph.D.
Drexel UniversityCo-director, Africana Studies (Temple alum)

Lemah R. Bonnick, Ph.D.St. Mary’s University (London, England)
Sociology

Marc Boswell, Ph.D. cand.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Sem.
Virginia Commonwealth University

Stephan Braswell
City Year Corps Member, Americorps
Temple University Alum

Johanna Brenner, Ph.D.Portland State UniversityProf. Emerita, Sociology & Women’s Studies

Rose M. Brewer, Ph.D.University of Minnesota, Afro-American & African Studies

Sheila Briggs, Ph.D.
University of Southern California, Religion & Gender Studies

George Caffentzis, Ph.D.University of Southern Maine
Professor Emeritus, Philosophy

Tameka Cage-Conley, Ph.D.Literary Artist/Independent Educator & Scholar

Emahunn Raheem Ali Campbell, Ph.D. cand.
University of Massachusetts/Amherst

W.E.B. Dubois Dept. of Afro-American Studies

Noel A. Cazenave, Ph.D.University of Connecticut, Sociology

J. Vern Cromartie, Ed.D.
Contra Costa College, SociologyCo-chair, Social Sciences Department

Isaac Curtis, Ph.D. cand.University of Pittsburgh, History

Richard Curtis, Ph.D.Seattle Central Community College

Lennell R. Dade, Ph.D.Lincoln University, Psychology & Human Services
Temple Alum

Jamie Owen Daniel, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar and Educator, English

Alfred Duckett, DMA.
Cameron University, Dept. of Music

Barry Eidlin, Ph.D.
American Sociological Association

National Science Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Wisconsin/Madison, Sociology


Hester Eisenstein, Ph.D.
Queens College and the Graduate Center (CUNY)Sociology

David G. Embrick, Ph.D.
Sociology, Loyola University of Chicago

Frank Emspak, Ph.D.University of Wisconsin ExtensionSchool of Social Work, Professor Emeritus

Joe Feagin, Ph.D.Texas A&M University, Sociology
(former President, American Sociological Association)

Ann Ferguson, Ph.D. Emerita Professor
University of Massachusetts/AmherstWomen, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Douglas Ficek, Ph.D.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Philosophy

Ariane Fischer, Ph.D.Temple University, Intellectual Heritage Program

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Ph.D.
University of DelawareEnglish, Black Studies, Senior Library Fellow

V. P. Franklin, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of History and Education
University of California, Riverside

Rhone Fraser, Ph.D.Delaware County Community College
African American History and
 English

Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Ph.D.Duke University Divinity School

Hermon George, Jr. Ph.D.
University of Northern Colorado, Africana Studies

Joan P. Gibbs, Esq.Medgar Evers College (CUNY)

Rafael Gomez, Ph.D. Cand.
University at Albany/SUNY
Latin American, Caribbean & U.S. Latina/o
 Studies

Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D.Kent State University
Chair, Professor, Pan-African
 Studies

Victor Goode, Esq.City University of School of Law
Associate Professor of Law

Jane Anna Gordon, Ph.D.University of Connecticut (Storrs)Political Science & African American StudiesPresident, Caribbean Philosophical Association

Emery C. Graham, Jr. M.Ed., M.A.Instructor, American National Red CrossSoutheastern Penn Chapter

Ellington T. Graves, Ph.D.
Virginia Tech, Africana Studies/Sociology

Farah Jasmine Griffin, Ph.D.Columbia University, English and Comparative Literature,
African American
 Studies

Jean Halley, Ph.D.
College of Staten Island
Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work

Darrick Hamilton, Ph.D.New School of Social ResearchEconomics and Urban Policy

Juliane Hammer, Ph.D.University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill
Islamic Studies and Religious Studies

Margaret Hanzimanolis, Ph.D.City College of San Francisco, English
De Anza College, 
Cañada College

Robert L. Harris, Jr., Ph.D.Cornell University, Africana Studies and Research Center
Robyn J. Hayes, Ph.D. The New School
Non-Profit Management, Media Studies,
International Affairs and Urban Policy 

Stephen N. Haymes, Ph.D.DePaul University, School of Education

John Higginson, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts/Amherst, History

Bob Hodges, MA, Ph.D. cand.
University of  Washington, English

K. Kim Holder, Ed.D.
Rowan University
Teacher Education & Africana Studies

 John D. Holst,Ph.D.University of St. ThomasDepartment of Leadership, Policy & Administration

Rochell Isaac, Ph.D.Independent Scholar/Educator
Temple Alum

Walter R. Isaac, Ph.D.Marquette University, PhilosophyTemple University alum

M. Thandabantu Iverson, Ph.D.Indiana University School of Social WorkLabor Studies Department

Marvin X, M.A.Community Archives Project
Academy of Da Corner, Oakland CA

Joy A. James, Ph.D.Williams College

Ryan Cecil Jobson, Ph.D. cand.Yale University, Anthropology & African American Studies

Wonhee Anne Joh, Ph.D.Garrett Evangelical TheologicalAffiliate, Northwestern University

Sandra Joy, Ph.D., LCSWRowan University, Sociology

George Katsiaficas, Ph.D.
Wentworth Institute of Technology

Waldo Katz-Fishman, Ph.D.Howard University, Sociology

Lasana Kazembe, Ph.D.Kennedy-King College (Chicago, IL), Philosophy

Sean M. Kennedy, Ph.D. cand.
Lehman College/CUNY, English

Andre E. Key, Ph.D.Paine College, History

David Kyumin Kim, Ph.D.Connecticut College, Religious Studies
Program in American Studies

Jina Kim, Ph.D.
Northwestern University
Asian American Studies

Julian Kunnie, Ph.D.
University of Arizona, Religious Studies/Classics
Affiliate: Latin American, Middle Eastern & North African Studies

Kwok Pui Lan, Th.D.
Episcopal Divinity School, Theology

Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW, LSW, LCSW
University of PennsylvaniaPresident, Black Men at PennSchool of Social Policy & Practice

Gregory Laynor, Ph.D. cand.University of Washington, English(Temple alumni)

Whitney N. Laster, Ph.D. cand.
Vanderbilt University, Sociology

Boyung Lee, Ph.D.
Pacific School of Religion, Graduate Theological Union
Practical Theology, Education & Spiritual Formation

Sonia S. Lee, Ph.D.Washington University, History

R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, Ph.D.
CUNY, Sociology & Black Studies

David Lloyd, Ph.D.University of California/RiversideDistinguished Professor of English

Toussaint Losier, Ph.D.
University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign
Department of African American Studies

Clarence Lusane, Ph.D.
American University, International Relations

Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Ph.D.Harvard University
History, Literature and Public Policy

Keon M. McGuire, Ph.D. cand.
University of Pennsylvania/Education & Africana Studies

Patrick McHenry, PhDGeorgia Institute of Technology
School of Literature,  Media & Communication

Michael McIntyre, Ph.D.
DePaul University
Chair, Dept. of International Studies

Steve Macek, Ph.D.
North Central College (Naperville, IL), Urban and Suburban Studies

Daryl Joji Maeda, Ph.D.University of Colorado/Boulder
Dept. Ethnic Studies, Chair & Assoc. Prof.

Lionel Mandey, Ph.D.
California State, Africana Studies

Joan M. Martin, Ph.D.
Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge
Temple University Ph.D. 1996

Gerald Meyer, Ph.D.
Hostos Community College (CUNY).

Gregory Meyerson, Ph.D.
North Carolina A&T State University, English

Brett Miller, Ph.D. cand.
Temple University, Political Science

Nicole M. Monteiro, Ph.D.
University of Botswana
Psychology

Fred Moten, Ph.D.
University of California/RiversideEnglish

Dwight Murph, Ph.D.
John Jay College (CUNY), Philosophy

Joshua Myers, Ph.D.Howard University, Afro-American Studies

Mechthild Nagel, Ph.D.SUNY Cortland, Philosophy
Director, Center for Gender & Intercultural Studies

Ajamu Nangwayu, Ph.D.
Seneca College, Social Services

Safiya Umoja Noble, Ph.D.
University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign
Media and Cinema Studies & Institute of Communications Research

Mary Northington, Research AnalystFARE Independent Writer

Yusuf Nuruddin, MBA, Ph.D. cand.
University of Massachusetts/Boston. Lecturer in Africana Studies

John O’Connor, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
Sociology

Gary Y. Okihiro, Ph.D.Columbia UniversitySchool of International and Public Affairs

Alex Ortega, Ph.D.
UCLA, Health Policy & Management

Keun-Joo Christine Pae, Ph.D.Denison University,
Religion, Women and Queer Studies

Lena Carlos Palacios, Ph.D.
McGill UniversityDepts. of Integrated Studies in Education, andArt History and Communication Studies

Courtney J. Patterson, Ph.D. cand.
Northwestern University, African American Studies

James W. Perkinson, Ph.D.Social Ethics, Ecumenical Theological Seminary (Detroit)
Oakland University, Communication Studies

Imani Perry, PhD.Princeton University
Center of African American Studies

Anthony B. Pinn, Ph.D.
Rice UniversityProfessor of HumanitiesProfessor of Religious Studies

Kamala Platt, Ph.D., MFA
Independent Scholar, educator & author
Meadowlark Center, KS & San Antonio, TX

Tatiana Poladko, Ph.D. cand.
Temple University, Sociology

Vijay Prashad, Ph.D.Trinity College
South Asian History, International Relations

Michael P. Predmore, Ph.D.Stanford UniversityIberian and Latin American Studies

Richard Pressman, Ph.D.St. Mary’s University (San Antonio, TX)

Michael Principe, Ph.D.
Middle Tennessee State, Philosophy

Joseph G. Ramsey, Ph.D.University of Massachusetts/Boston

Kamau Rashid, Ph.D.
National-Louis University
Educational Foundation & Inquiry

Anthony Reed, Ph.D.
Yale UniversityEnglish, African American Studies

Conor Tomás Reed, Ph.D. cand.Medgar Evers College, CUNY Grad. Ctr.

Hannah Reseger
Rhode Island Commission on Prejudice & Bias, EducatorRhode Island College, former Africana Studies professor

Russell Rickford, Ph.D.
Dartmouth College, Ass’t. Prof., History

Joerg Rieger, Ph.D.Perkins School of Theology, SMU

Marco Roc, Ph.D. cand.University of Illinois/Chicago, Sociology

David Roediger, Ph.D.University of Illinois, History

Suzanne Ross, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist/EducatorFormerly of CUNY & NYC Board of Education

Damon “ProfessorD.us” Sajnani, Ph.D. cand. 
Northwestern U, African American Studies

Aisha D. Sales, Ph.D.Westchester Community College (SUNY)
Senior Adjunct Professor of Mathematics

William W. Sales, Jr., Ph.D.
Seton Hall University, Africana & American Studies

Rosaura Sanchez, Ph.D.Literature, UCSD

P. Khalil Saucier, Ph.D.Rhode Island College, Sociology
Director, Program in Africana Studies

Don Schweitzer, Ph.D.St. Andrews College, Theology

Joy M. Scott-Caroll, Ph.D.University of the Witwatersrand-Johannesbury, Gauteng, South AfricaInternational Gifted Education Teacher Development Network 

Christina Sharpe, Ph.D.
Tufts University, English, Africana Studies
Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Louise Simmons, Ph.D.University of Connecticut, Professor of Social Work

Santiago Slabodsky, Ph.D.
Claremont School of Theology
Religion, Ethics and Society

William Smaldone, Ph.D.
Willamette University, History

James Smethurst, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts/Amherst, 
Afro-American Studies

Andrea Smith, Ph.D
.University of California/RiversideMedia and Cultural Studies

Anthony Paul Smith, Ph.D.
La Salle University, Religion
Philadelphia, PA

Stephen Samuel Smith, Ph.D.
Winthrop University, Professor
Department of Political Science

Lester Spence, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University, Political Science & Africana Studies

Robyn C. Spencer, Ph.D.Lehman College, History Department

Brandon Stanford, Ph.D. cand.Temple University, African American Studies

Amy C. Steinbugler, Ph.D.
Dickinson College, Sociology
Dave Stewart , Indiana University
IU Custom Publishing – Staff

David Stovall, Ph.D.University of Illinois/ChicagoEducational Policy Studies and African-American Studies

Mary Stricker, Ph.D.
Temple University, Sociology

Paul C. Taylor, Ph.D.
Penn State University
Depts. of African American Studies &
 Philosophy

Robert Thompson,Ph.D.Oregon State UniversityAfrican American & Comparative Ethnic Studies

Christopher M. Tinson, Ph.D.Hampshire College, Africana Studies

Saadia Toor, Ph.D.
College of Staten Island (CUNY)
Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work

Luke Tripp, Ph.D.
St. Cloud State University
Ethnic and Women’s Studies

Heather M. Turcotte, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut, Political Science
Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Chair, New England Women’s Studies Association
Co-chair, Anti-White Supremacy Task Force, National Women’s Studies Association

Ronald A. Tyson, Ph.D.
Raritan Valley Community College, English

Thomas Volscho, Ph.D.College of Staten Island (CUNY), Sociology

Rinaldo Walcott, Ph.D.
University of Ontario
Chair, Dept. of Sociology & Equity Studies

Alan Wald, Ph.D.
University of MichiganUniversity Professor of Collegiate StudiesEditor, Against the Current

Victor Wallis, Ph.D.Berklee College of Music, Liberal Arts Department

H. Alexander Welcome, Ph.D.
LaGuardia Community College, Sociology

Johnny E. Williams, Ph.D.
Trinity College, Sociology

Linda F. Williams, Ph.D.
South Carolina State University
Department of Visual & Performing Arts
Ethnomusicology

Howard Winant, Ph.D.UC Santa Barbara, Sociology
former Temple U. professor

Carolyn Nur Wistrand, MFADillard University, School of the Humanities

John Woodford, M.A. HarvardIndependent Scholar/EducatorContributor, Black Scholar Journal

Connie Wun, Ph.D. cand.
University of California/Berkeley
Graduate School of
 Education

Sandra Yeager, Ph.D.
Millersville University (PA)
Professor Emerita, Chemistry

Jasmine Zine, Ph.D.
Wilfrid Laurier University, Sociology


Violence and Poverty: Ending the Cycle



Most poor people in the world live outside the protection of the law. So who do you call for protection? Not the police!  1. Pandemic of Gender violence between women 15 to 44 years, including sexual assault. 2. Global slavery, 30 million, more than at any time in human history. (And what about the mental slaves, those millions, if not billions addicted to white supremacy?) 3. Police abuse, people run from the police for protection. Police make people less secure. Pretrial detention for money or throw any poor in jail. 4. Theft of land by force, especially widows. See The Locust Effect book. Predatory violence destroys everything in its path. Traditional efforts will not stop the Locusts, will not stop the violence.

Colonial powers established the police to protect them from the poor. The colonial elite and the neocolonial regimes maintained the police for their benefit. In America the police evolved from the slave catchers, clearly, the slave catchers did not benefit the slaves. In Africa, the main employer is private security. ED

Monday, March 10, 2014

Black Arts Movement Women Speak on KPOO 89.5fm Tuesday, 4-6pm, www.kpoo.com



Note from Safi wa Nairobi


Tuesday, the 11th March, 2014, tune in to KPOO Radio, 89.5FM, San Francisco and throughout cyberspace, www.kpoo.com, 4pm - 6pm, PDT--For the People.  This week, hear more from the Black Arts Movement Conference (http://ucmercedbamconference2014.com): a reading by Judy Juanita, author ofVirginSoul (www.judyjuanitasvirginsoul.com); Avotcha (www.avotcja.org), Judy Juanita, Kalamu Chache (https://www.facebook.com/poetesskalamu.chache), Tarika Lewis (tarikalewisart.blogspot.com/), Dr. Ayodele Nzinga (www.ayodeleninga.com), and Lakiba Pittman (www.linkedin.com/in/lakiba), panelists on Women of the Black Arts Movement, hosted by author and Emmy award-winning journalist, Belva Davis (www.belvadavis.com); as well as a conversation with BAM Conference producer, Kim McMillon (www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Kim/Mcmillon‎ (ucmerced.academia.edu/KimMcMillon).  Further, there is more from the ongoing homage to Imamu Amiri Baraka (www.amiribaraka.com), who passed away back in January.  Tune in Tuesday the 11th March, 4pm - 6pm, PDT, to KPOO Radio, 89.5FM, San Francisco (www.kpoo.com), for this and more.  For the People is produced and hosted by Safi wa Nairobi (safi@kpoo.com).


In the silence of your mind we hear the dance

 
are we afraid of silence
TVs on in every room
afraid to be alone
to love the silence in the mind
what is the fear
some monster in the house
white ghost of our horrid past
or present
what is the fear
something in the air
TV on in every room
white mythology invading our space
but we are not crazy we declare
we are cool
so cool
Dr. King said be cool much longer
you end up in the deep freeze
minds frozen
addicted to white magic
white madness
go to the silence
listen to the sound of souls long gone
surely they have answers for you
maybe you don't want to hear
you want to run in your terrible fear
turn the TV off
let the white ghost disappear
let the ancestors speak loud and clear
stop fool right now
stop in the name of love
stand tall together
purify the rooms
where ghosts dance
while you tremble
there is nothing to fear
not the past not the now
not tomorrow
listen to your mind
the mad voices in your head
want you to sing
a happy song
--Marvin X

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Jimmy Smith Playing Midnight Special on Hammond B-3 (1995)





When I think of growing up in West Oakland, on 7th and Campbell, across the street from the Lincoln Theatre, we called the flea house. I knew I would come home from the Lincoln with fleas. My grandmother would prescribe Eucalyptus for me, and I would cover myself with the leaves to stop the fleas from scratching me. And then there were the rats, but it was just nice to be in a theatre that showed Black movies, along with the white man killing Indians as we cheered in our ignorance.

Dr.Lonnie Smith Unbelievable organ solo


The Black Panther Party & The Black Arts UC Merced Mar 2, 2014


The Black Panther Party & The Black Arts UC Merced Mar 2, 2014


Miles Davis - Around The Midnight (1967)







Round Midnight

for T. Monk



Monk's gone

but I ain 't blue

Monk's gone

but I an't blue



where he's goin

I'm goin too



Monk's gone

but I ain't blue



where he's goin

I'm goin too



death is always around

tryin to steal life



death is always around

tryin to steal life



If it don 't get the husband

it will get the wife



Monk's gone

but I ain't blue



Monk's gone

but I ain't blue.

--Marvin X

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - Kind of blue


Miles Davis & John Coltrane - Kind of blue


Marvin X--Country Woman Blues



The Human Earthquake would like you to bring him and the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir to your city ASAP. $100,000 is needed to bring him to your city for a Black radical concert of spiritual, educational and wellness healing. Art is therapy! Support the cultural revolution. Before political consciousness, there must be cultural and spiritual consciousness. Call him at 510-200-4164. The Black Arts Movement is ready to travel! Baraka said do the 27 cities in the US, promote the United Front! BAM is down fada git down! Long live the Bandung Conference!

Ten people with $10.000.00 each in each city can make this happen. Just know this, we are soldiers, not opportunists greedy for money, after all, we have sacrificed our lives for the freedom of our people. Many of us are in poor health, so we must move expeditiously to at least begin this project. Some of the BAM people will not be able to conclude this project. We call upon the Black Arts babies 2.0 to continue in the BAM tradition.

"Marvin X was my teacher, many of our comrades came through his Black Arts Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier."--Dr. Huey P. Newton, co-founder, Black Panther Party

"Marvin X is still the undisputed king of Black Consciousness!"--Dr. Nathan Hare, father of Black Studies

"He's Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."--Ishmael Reed

"The USA's Rumi!--Bob Holman

"A great story teller, I'd put him ahead of Mark Twain."--Rudolph Lewis





I'm down here in da country
grape vines down the street
don't worry bout nothing
country people got everything ta eat

down here in da country
grape vines down the street
lookin fa a country woman
ain't worried bout nothing ta eat!

got plenty of henny
ain't worried bout nothing
but when dat country gul come through

she say daddy I wanna to be wit you
wherever you are
city or country
cause I know you a star

Love dat country woman
so sweet and so true
just treat her nice
she'll be there fa you

she just wanna laugh
don't make her cry
just make her laugh
don't make her cry
she'll be witya
til the day ya die!
--Marvin X

City Woman Blues

I loveya baby
but ya just too crazy fa me
I loveya baby
but ya just too crazy fa me
go on back where ya came from
I'll see ya when I see

took ya all round world
you still wanna act a fool
took ya all round world
but ya still wanna act a fool

go on back where ya came from
need to go back ta school.
--Marvin X

The Human Earthquake would like you to bring him and the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir to your city ASAP. $100,000 is needed to bring him to your city for a Black radical concert of spiritual, educational and wellness healing. Art is therapy! Support the cultural revolution. Before political consciousness, there must be cultural and spiritual consciousness. Call him at 510-200-4164. The Black Arts Movement is ready to travel! Baraka said do the 27 cities in the US, promote the United Front! BAM is down fada git down! Long live the Bandung Conference!

"Marvin X was my teacher, many of our comrades came through his Black Arts Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier."--Dr. Huey P. Newton, co-founder, Black Panther Party

"Marvin X is still the undisputed king of Black Consciousness!"--Dr. Nathan Hare, father of Black Studies

"He's Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."--Ishmael Reed

"The USA's Rumi!--Bob Holman

"A great story teller, I'd put him ahead of Mark Twain."--Rudolph Lewis

We love you, revolutionary Black nationalist: Chokwe Lumumba! Celebtration of Life schedule in Jackson, Mississippi


Celebrationof the Life of Chokwe Lumumba

Wed Mar 5, 2014 7:19 am (PST) .
THE BODY of CHOKWE LUMUMBA WILL LIE IN STATE
(Public Viewing)
City of Jackson - City Hall
219 South President Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Friday, March 7, 2014
11:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

(Remembrance Hour)
City Hall - Josh Halbert Gardens
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
(Viewing
Reopen Back to Public)
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE SERVICE
Jackson Convention Center
105 E. Pascagoula Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39204
Saturday, March 8, 2014
11:00 a.m.

Internment following the Celebration of Life Service.
Autumn Woods Memorial Gardens 
4000 West Northside Drive
Jackson, Mississippi, 39209
 
 
Special Hours of Reflection on the Life of Chokwe Lumumba
Friday, March 7, 2014 - 7:30pm - 10pm
Magee
Fish House & Afrikan Art Gallery
Jackson
Square Promenade
2460
Terry Road
Jackson,
ms
Call
601.601.201.0871
 

 

Fresno's Bernard Stringer, the First Black Studies graduate in the United States of America


Donald Warden, aka Attorney Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansour, head of the Afro-American Association that is responsible for Black radical consciousness in the Bay Area during the 1960s.
The AAA gave birth to the Black Panther Party, the Black Arts Movement, including Kwanza (fyi, Ron Karenga was the Los Angeles representative of the AAA) and Black Studies.


 Dr. Nathan Hare, father of Black and/or Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University
 
 John H. Doyle, a bodyguard of Dr. Nathan Hare at SFSU. Doyle was a BAM baby 1.0, with his Grassroots Theatre Company in San Francisco. RIP!

 Dr. Nathan Hare's radicalism cost him Jobs at Howard University and San Francisco State University

 Maulana Ron Karenga, socalled founder of Kwanza. He was a member of Oakland's AAA and according to AAA member Ed Howard, Karenga got his Kwanza idea from the AAA.

 AAA member, Ed Howard
 


The Black Panther Party and BAM panel at UC Merced: Emory Douglas, Billy X. Jennings, Mama C and Tarika Lewis

At the recent Black Arts Movement Conference at University of California, Merced (Feb 28 thru March 2, 2014), the Black Studies and BAM panel, it was pointed out the Fresno native Bernard Stringer was the first graduate of the Black Studies program at San Francisco State University. He was a BSU leader before and during the Black and Third World Strike, 1968, the longest student strike in US academic history. Bernard served as Dr. Nathan Hare's bodyguard during the time students were demanding Hare be appointed Chairman of the first such program on a major university campus.

As per the community colleges, Oakland's Merritt College had the earliest known Black Studies Program program. Merritt College is where much of the Bay Area's 60s radical tradition was established, inspired by the Pullman Porters Union, headed by C. L. Dellums, uncle of Ron Dellums. Merritt was the one meeting place of the Afro-American Association, headed by Donald Warden, aka Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansur. The AAA campus work of raising Black consciousness, gave birth to such radicals as Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Ernie Allen, Richard Throne, Ann Williams, Maurice Dawson, Kenny and Carol Freeman, Marvin X, et al. It was the birthplace of that radical RAM publication, SoulBook, edited by Ken Freeman. Merritt gave birth to two Black Panther Organizations, first, the Black Panther Party of Northern California and later the Newton/Seale Black Panther Party of Self Defense.

Bernard Stringer was also associated with the Black Panther Party, along with his woman and later wife, JoAnn Mitchell.

When Marvin X was fighting to teach at Fresno State University, 1969, Bernard served as his bodyguard. In 1972, Bernard joined Marvin X's Black Educational Theatre in Fresno and San Francisco Bernard  performed in Marvin's  musical version of  Flowers for the Trashman, Take Care of Business, music by Sun Ra.

As per the BAM tour, Bernard Stringer has agreed to represent the Atlanta GA region.