Saturday, June 6, 2015

Human Earthquake hits Sacramento suffering 95 degree heat


 Sacramento's North American African Mayor Kevin Johnson addresses Sacramento Book Fair

Mayor Johnson, President of the US Conference of Mayor's, received a call from President Obama after the Mayor  got US Mayors to endorse his trade agreement. UMass professor Bill Strickland blasted the Mayor for endorsing an agreement that is a secret. Professor Strickland is seated on the left.

Marvin X's memoir of Eldridge Cleaver, written in three weeks in Houston, Texas

The Human Earthquake hit Sacramento, adding to the 95 degree heat--with no breeze, something the Human Earthquake loves about the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area. But no breeze in Sac, the capital of California, as if the Human Earthquake is not used to the Central Valley weather, having been raised in Fresno where it used to be 113 degrees at midnight.

The Human Earthquake was not a stranger to Sacramento, having lived in the Oak Park District during his addiction to Crack cocaine in the 90s. For a time he lived on La Soledad Ave. with his Black Arts Movement mentor Alonzo Harris Batin. Alonzo Batin, a career criminal, recruited the Black Arts West Theatre crew into the Nation of Islam, including Duncan Barber, Hillery Broadous, Ethna Wyatt and Marvin X. BAW members playwright Ed Bullins and Carl Bossisere (cousin of Michael and Ted Lange) did not join but were also impacted by the BAM guru Batin, who'd spent time in San Quentin with Eldridge Cleaver, author of Soul on Ice, who Marvin X introduced to Black Panther co-founders Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. Eldridge, immediately joined the BPP and became Minister of Information.

Another Black Panther named Earl Anthony, aka, Earl the Squirrel, wrote a play about Eldridge and Alonzo Batin, produced off-Broadway by Woody King.

As per the Oak Park District, Marvin suggested it would be nice to name a street in honor of the Black Arts District. And if Sac wants to really honor the Black Arts District, rename Solidad Way Alonzo Batin Way. Again, he was the chief guru of the Black Arts West Theatre on Fillmore and Turk in San Francisco. Scholars will never honor a street criminal Muslim who recruited the Black Arts West Theatre into the Nation of Islam. Of course, BAW could not accept the NOI discipline, we know all Muslim artists drift toward the Sufi Way. BAW members read Hazrat Innyat Khan, Rumi, Gazzali and other Suffi poets, including the West African Sufi Masters such as Bamba. In the end, BAW members Duncan Barbar and Hillary Broadous became full fledged members of the Nation of Islam. Although Carl Bossiere, Hillary Broadous and Duncan Barber fled to the East Coast and connected with Amiri Baraka in Newark, they drifted into the NOI, although Carl resisted. He was Imamu Amiria Baraka's secretary while AB was associated with Karenga's Al Kaida cult.

AB's connection with Karenga ended with the murder of Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggins in the BSU meeting room on the campus of UCLA. Baraka told Marvin X Karenga was with him when he got the message Bunchy and John had been assassinated. According to AB it was the end of their relationship.

Back to Black Arts Movement Guru Alonzo Batin

Batin had photographer Norman Brown photograph Marvin and Ethna Wyatt for an article that appeared in Muhammad Speaks on how BAM had gone coast to coast.

The Human Earthquake also has a plethora of cousins in Sacramento, two were present at the Sacramento Black Book Fair reception at Underground Books and the Guild Theatre, Stan Murrill and Michael Benjamin. Michael is a member of the Sacramento Black Arts Movement. He has produced and directed plays in Sac for decades, often working with Paul Carter Harrison. He is quick to let people know he and Marvin X are family!


Of course, he calls his muse, former Sacramento Bee writer Fahizah Alim, Lois Lane. But in fact she was Superwoman for Sacramento North American Africans. When in trouble, Blacks in Sac called Fahizah to voice their problems with white supremacy. She is a Marvin X student. He is accompanied at the Sacramento Black Book Fair by two current students mentored at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, Aries Jordan and Prosperity Carter. Fahizah describes his writing as "orgasmic"!

After the reception at Underground Books, two panel discussions were held next door at the Guild Theatre; a panel on the Voting Rights Act with Professor Bill Strickland and Professor Pinderhughes and a panel on the Black Arts Movement with Professor Emeritus Eugene Redmond and BAM co-founder Marvin X, aka, The Human Earthquake. You've already heard Professor Strickland's remarks on the trade bill. In his conclusion on the Voting Rights Bill, the professor confessed he had to submit to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who said the white man is the devil!
Professor Pinderhughes essentially said the same, they are obstructionists, devious, diabolical, in the attempt to keep Blacks and other minorities from voting.

The Black Arts Movement panel began with Marvin X: in the words of Paul Robeson, we are artistic freedom fighters. Art and culture prompted the Black Power revolution of the 60s, thus the power of art and culture. He quoted Mrs. Amina Baraka, "Everybody who say they was in the Black Arts Movement wasn't in the Black Arts Movement."

Larry Neal said BAM was the sister of the Black Arts Movement. Marvin X said BAM was the mother of the Black Power Movement. He quoted Huey Newton: "Marvin X was my teacher. Many of our comrades came through his Black Arts Theatre, i.e., Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier, et al."

He told of a recent speech by Virtual Murrell, representing Bobby Seale, who said at the 50th Anniversary of Peralta Colleges in Oakland, including Merritt College where Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, and Marvin X were students: "It was when Marvin X brought his play Flowers for the Trashman to Merritt in support of the Soul Students Advisory Council, that the Merritt student movement took off, powered by the Black Arts of Marvin X."

As a demonstration of how cunning and vile the addiction to white supremacy can be, Marvin X told the Sacramento folks that a white man seated at his table ($175.00 dinner) said to him after the remarks by Virtual Murrell, "If I'd known you were somebody important, I would have had a conversation with you!"

The audience  succumbed to the Human Earthquake. After his presentation, Marvin X was mobbed by the audience. A young married woman said she was in love with him. Marvin X told her, "If you are in love with me, leave your husband tonight and come with me." A 60 year old woman let him know she was ready to rock and roll with him. He told her, "It ain't about your age, it's about your energy. I know some 29 year old women who are tired and need to take some Geritol! A 23 year old woman told me, "I thought you was an old man!"

 Marvin X at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, renamed the Black Arts Movement District. He claims his classroom is the most dangerous in the world. FYI, in was the site of the Oscar Grant rebellion, Occupy Oakland and Black Lives Matter. During Occupy Oakland, the poet was tear gassed.
photo Adam Turner

Graphics Adam Turner

We suspect Marvin X will be mobbed whenever he speaks Saturday and Sunday at the SAC Book Fair. SAC was inspired by the energy in his words, and the truth!


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Blue Nile Press and Community Partners
invite you to the opening events for the
Second Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair
All on Friday, June 5, 2015
6:00PMOpening Reception to meet and greet the featured writers
at underground Books,2814 35th Street, Sacramento CA 95817
6:45PMOpening Panel Discussion by the featured writers
at The Guild Theater
2828 35th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817
(Next door to underground books)
9:00PMPost Panel Mixer
Live jazz, refreshments, and opportunity to converse with
featured speakers and participating authors
at the Brickhouse Art Gallery, 2837 36th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817
Please RSVP by Sunday, May 31, 2015 to Faye Wilson Kennedy (916) 484-3749 or emailing:Faye at Faye@bluenilepress.com
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2015 Co-Sponsors/Community Partners:
African Research Institute
Black United Fund of Sacramento Valley
Black Arts Movement 27 City Tour
Black Bird Press
The Black Group
Brickhouse Art Gallery
Blue Nile Press
City of Sacramento – Neighborhood Services Department
Friends of the Sacramento Public Library
Jtenterprise
Roberts Family Development Center
Sacramento Area Black Caucus
Sacramento City Councilmember Allen Warren
The Sacramento City Teachers Association
Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen
Teichert Foundation
The Talking Drums News
Colonial Heights Library Affiliated Friends
Kakwasi Somadhi
Underground Books
Sacculturalhub.com
Drexel University Sacramento
Sacramento Juneteenth, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.,Eta Gamma Omega Chapter
Sacramento Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
Fred and Ruth Foote
ZICA Creative and Literary Guild
Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution, CSUS
Black Humanists and Non-Believers of Sacramento
Sacramento Section- The National Council of Negro Women
Mary McLeod Bethune Readers are Leaders Club
Tracy & Symia Stigler
Young Scholars –Calvary Christian Center
Sacramento Poetry Center
Sister to Sister Book Group
100 Black Men of Sacramento
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
Felicia Armelin
Brenda’s Mane Event
Black Parallel School Board
Literary Ladies Alliance
The Merritt Law Clinic
Sisters Quilting Collective
NIA –Women of Purpose
Leslie Wilson Kennedy
Sacramento Chapter-Black Child Development Institute
Pam Haynes
Black Images Book Club
The Borden Family
OBBC (Book Club)
Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce
Allegro Book Club
Sacramento Public Library Foundation
The California Endowment
The Office of Campus Community Relations, University of California, Davis
Los Rios Community College District
Roy Kaufman
Sacramento Observer Newspapers
California Black Chamber of Commerce
 Endorsed by:
Mayor Kevin Johnson
Women's Civic Improvement Club
Oak Park United Methodist Church
Guild Theater
Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento Public Library
Assembly member Kevin McCarty
California Legislative Black Caucus
916Ink
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS)
Thank you and join the celebration!!!


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Friday, June 5, 2015

Family of Boston man murdered by terror investigators shocked

Family of man shot by terror investigators shocked by claims

By DENISE LAVOIE 1 hour ago

Boston suspect's family says he wasn't inspired by ISIS 
 
Boston suspect's family says he wasn't inspired by ISIS
State of Baseball with Jon Heyman: 6/5
BOSTON (AP) — A man shot to death by terrorism investigators showed no signs of radicalization, and his family was completely shocked by allegations he planned to kill police officers, the family's attorney said.
 
Ronald Sullivan, a Harvard Law professor, said Usaama Rahim's family considered him "an energetic young man trying to make his way in this world" and saw no behavior or demeanor changes that would lead them to suspect he would espouse violence.

Surrounded by Rahim's brothers, mother and wife on the sidewalk where Rahim was shot, Sullivan said Thursday that they hope to work "productively and cooperatively" with investigators in a "joint effort to search for the truth."

"Let me be clear: The family is not making any substantive claims at this time about what happened in this case," Sullivan said.

The family and Sullivan met with Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley later Thursday and viewed video of the shooting.

In deference to the family's wishes, the video will not be released publicly until after Rahim's funeral, Conley said in a statement.
 
Ibrahim Rahim, second from right, brother of shooting …
Ibrahim Rahim, second from right, brother of shooting victim Usaama Rahim, reacts with a relative 
 
Conley promised a "thorough, impartial and unbiased investigation" into the shooting.
A Sullivan spokeswoman said in an email Friday that the family would not comment on the video.
Rahim, 26, was fatally shot Tuesday after investigators said he refused to drop a military-style knife as they sought to question him about "terrorist-related information." Police have said the video shows officers backing up and Rahim moving toward them before they fired.

Sullivan said Rahim's brother Ibrahim Rahim, a well-known imam in Boston, regrets posting a Facebook message based on incorrect, third-hand information claiming that his brother had been shot three times in the back.

"We now know we simply did not have all the facts at that time," Sullivan said.

Two men escort the widow, center, of shooting victim …
Two men escort the widow, center, of shooting victim Usaama Rahim, after a news conference on Thurday
 
Police Commissioner William Evans said Rahim had talked about beheading blogger Pamela Geller before deciding to target police officers. "There was some mention of that name," said Evans, who dismissed the idea as "wishful thinking" while speaking on the "Today" show.

A Muslim leader said Thursday that his killing by Boston police and the FBI was reckless and unnecessary. Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, who is close to the Rahim family, said he believes they wanted him dead.

"You can capture elephants, lions and tigers without killing them," Faaruuq said. "The intent was not to capture him and keep him alive."

Rahim will be buried Friday, but the family is keeping it private.
Geller is a combative personality known for provoking Muslims by campaigning against a mosque near the World Trade Center site, sponsoring inflammatory advertisements and organizing Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas.
 
FILE - In this May 7, 2015 file photo, Pamela Geller …
FILE - In this May 7, 2015 file photo, Pamela Geller speaks during an interview at The Associated Press
 
"They want to make an example out of me to frighten the rest of the US into silence and submission," Geller wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday. "This is not about me. This is about whether the US will stand for freedom or submit and cower before violent intimidation."

The FBI said Rahim and his nephew, David Wright, plotted to commit some kind of attack, and Rahim ordered three large knives on Amazon.com a week earlier.

The FBI said police confronted Rahim after he told Wright on Tuesday that he had changed his mind about beheading an out-of-state victim and instead planned to kill local police officers either Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this story.
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Superman and Lois Lane


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Friday reception at Sacramento Black Book Fair

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The Ethnic Cleansing of North American Africans by USA White Supremacy

 


The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees
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PROLOGUE

The Black community has been so quiet in its response to the last installment of this article addressing the need to get out and fight for the late Billy Higgin's "World Stage" being declared a historic landmark, and Leimert Park Village being preserved and maintained as a center of Black cultural Art,  that I thought I'd try it again, but this time I'm going to outline the big picture. I think initially I made the mistake of assuming that the current generation understands the sacrifices that were made for them during the sixties, but maybe that was an unwarranted assumption - one of the biggest mistakes that any writer can make.  So I've converted this piece into a primer on the Black experience and what we stand to lose.  I've even taken the time to provide a detailed plan of action on how we MUST address this cultural robbery of the Black community.
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Many of us have become virtual scholars when it comes to Black history.  We can quote chapter and verse all of the atrocities that's been perpetrated against Black people since the beginning of time. We can also make reference to all of the illustrious Black kings, queens and warriors of the past, and cite everything that Black people have accomplished throughout history.  But what's the purpose of having all that knowledge if we don't use it to move ourselves forward?  We're not doing that. We tend to just sit back and watch the White establishment mount one assault on our culture after another, and then use our knowledge of Black history to say, "Well, there they go again, just like during Reconstruction." 

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What good is that doing us!!!?  We need to use our knowledge of history to defend ourselves against repeated cultural assaults just like EVERY other culture in America - and the fact that we're not doing that  explains why we're on the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder, and newly arrived immigrants step right over us to become our bosses and economic superiors. That's also why whenever anyone needs a victim, they single us out - because they know we're not going to do anything about it but complain. If we're the product of greatness, let's PROVE it instead of just talking about it.  This is no time to talk. It's time to either SHOW what we're made of, or shut up, because at this point, those very same illustrious ancestors that we like to point to with such pride, would be holding their heads down in shame at what we've allowed ourselves to become - victims.
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Now, I realize that life is a struggle for Black people, and many of us have given priority to our personal dreams for the future, but if we fail to give priority to our culture as a whole, we won't have a future.  If we don't have a strong and viable culture, we're going to be disrespected and marginalized as individuals, and plucked off one at a time as we're already seeing in Ferguson, New York, Los Angeles and all across this country. America is rapidly becoming the new Beirut.  So we've got to wake up and get on top of this, folks, unless we've completely given up on ourselves as a people. Where's that greatness that we're always talking about!!!?  There's got to still be some vestiges of it left in us somewhere!
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I've been sending this message out - in this case, regarding the raping of Leimert Park Village in particular (since this seems to be the latest assault on our people) - to the community, community leaders, politicians, and clergy alike, but all I've heard in response are crickets.  We've got to do better than this, Black people, or your children's future will be null and void - in fact, in another generation, WE, will be null and void.  Look around you.  They've already dragged us back  fifty years. It's gotten to the point where a young Black man needs a hall pass just to walk down a city street. For the police, just being a young Black male constitutes "probable cause," and if they kill him, the nation's juries view it as a public service.
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So what does that have to do with Leimert Park Village?  What's going on in Leimert Park is the latest assault on our culture, so it's past time to come together, organize, and fight back - and in a PROACTIVE way, instead of waiting around and reacting AFTER we're displaced, marginalized, or another young life is lost for simply having the audacity to come into the area. At this point, the future victim is probably a toddler who was born in Leimert Park, but by the time he's a teenager, Leimert Park will be off limits to "his kind."  So NOW is the time to get on top of this, because the next young life that's snuffed out, just might be a life that YOU brought into this world, and then, all the demonstrating in the world, won't bring him back.
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The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees
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National Action Network's Los Angeles
Representative, Najee Ali, In The Trenches 
I've gotten relatively few responses on the piece linked below.  I would have thought people would have been falling all over one another to defend our cultural heritage, but I guess many Black people are not up to fighting for their culture. We only tend to REACT when something goes desperately wrong, instead of being PROACTIVE in an attempt to ensure that life and justice works in our favor. That explains a lot about our position in society, and why our children have to go to Google (if they have access to a computer) or the public library to DIG for self-esteem. We've got to do better than this. If we don't, within a few years Black people will only be a memory in Leimert Park and many other Black communities across this nation. We'll be dispersed, filtered into, and hopefully tolerated, within the communities of others, and without one scintilla of political clout.
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That's why Los Angeles' Leimert Park and it's environs is much more than just a neighborhood; it's also a cultural and political stronghold that's worth fighting for. Without it, the Black culture and our political clout will be effectively erased in the city of Los Angeles - and that's exactly what many forward-thinking social manipulators have in mind. You see, the demographics are changing, so the powers that be are out to dilute the impact of as many minority voters as possible. So this issue is much more important than sharing recipes online, folks. This is probably the most important issue that the Black community has ever faced in this city.
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Many of the problems that the Black community is facing across this country is a direct result of our tendency to be reactive rather than proactive.  Take Ferguson, Mo, for example.  The Black community could have avoided the problems they had in that city by simply voting.  The Black population in Ferguson is 67%, yet only 7% turned out to vote.  As a result, the police department is 94% White. In the last election they corrected that problem with record Black voter turnout, but it was a little too late for Michael Brown. So let us learn from the Ferguson experience and be PROACTIVE in our response to what's taking place in Leimert Park, because much like in the case of Michael Brown, it's going to be much too late to try to demonstrate AFTER the fact. So NOW is the time to get up-in-arms.
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If we fail to address this issue, Black people are going to be run out of the area, the park itself is going to be bulldozed, and our young people are going to be subjected to being stopped-and-frisked for just coming into the area. The social manipulators will have to take those steps just to make rich White folks feel safe enough to visit their new up-scale art galleries.
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Tatia Dokes of Denver said:
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"We are facing this same issue in my neighborhood. The last historically black neighborhoods in Denver. We have gentrification meetings and how to combat it every month with less than 5 black folks there and the rest are white folks wanting to "understand." Then when I'm walking my dog all I hear is the few black folks left complaining about the skyrocketing rent, none of their friends live in the neighborhood anymore and all the white folks. I just want to SCREAM! BUT YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! I go to these meetings...voice my opinions...looked at like I'm militant and aggressive but I don't care...I will not be driven out without a fight! We just had an election for city counsel members. 20,000 ballots for our district were sent out and only 5000 voted and I bet it was mostly white folks! I'm so tired...so so tired!"
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Bonnie Flournoy in Chicago said:
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"Same thing in Chicagoland . . . and thanks, Eric, et al. for the reminder. . . I don't know how I overlooked it, cuz as I witness it going down in Chicago, I mainly focused on the financial aspect . . . like all affordable housing GONE . . . Houses with big red 'X's on them meaning they are slated for demolition . . . closed schools, etc.  But you're absolutely correct . . . these neighborhood-destroying tactics also destroyed the voting block . . . the wrong people are winning elections, not because folx are voting for them . . . they won because there's nobody left . . . many have moved away, or foreclosed upon, etc. We bettah wake up!"
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Michelle Gordon-McFalls, Denver:
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"Same happens in schools that are being closed in black neighborhoods, properties bought up by others, businesses begun in black neighborhoods because rent is cheap. None of the black parents were ever seen at any PTA meetings, council meetings to save the neighborhoods or lines at the banks/loan companies to begin their business. Now there may be legitimate reasons for no shows, but it's a catch 22. Unless we are present and voicing our opinions, negative change will happen. Until we begin showing up at every PTA, PTCO, mtg., our schools will continue to close and our children continue failing. I understand that many cannot attend because they are working and if they leave to attend they will lose their jobs. However, many are home watching TV w/o a concern. I've sat by and watched Five Points, once a beautiful and thriving historical black area in Denver, (where I used to live), decay, turn hood and now more white's live there than blacks and the housing market has skyrocketed. Denver is one of the most expensive cities to live, in the USA."
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So brothers and sisters, if we don't organize and get the attention of the politicians (who were elected to protect OUR interest, not feather their own nests) we're going be erased - no history, no community to call our own, and no political clout. Actually, our politicians themselves are being shortsighted, because once the area is gentrified they're going to be voted out of office as well. So again, if we don't act NOW, they're going to turn us into a "community" of nomads and cultural refugees. Remember where you heard it first.
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Help Save Leimert Park Village As A Black Cultural Arts Center
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The Thrill Is Gone - But I Have A Dream That Can Sustain The Legacy
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Yes, the thrill is indeed gone. We would be highly remiss in writing  about Black culture without mentioning the recent passing of two lions of that culture - The great B.B. King, and the fabulous Bobby "Blue" Bland. On Thursday, May 14th of this year, not one, but two Blues legends passed into history - the Great B.B. King, and his ever-loyal companion, "Lucille," slipped silently into the night. Ironically, B.B.'s health seemed to rapidly fade shortly after his longtime friend, and another Lion of the blues, Bobby "Blue" Bland, passed into history on June 23rd of 2013.  These two old road dawgs of the blues, though neither highly educated, could have taught us much about what it means to be Black in America, and the necessity to collaborate as Black people to survive.  
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But we've lost more than just two giants in these two great men.  With every Black person of their generation that passes, the Black community is also losing part of its collective memory of another way of life; a way of life where Black people understood the importance of sticking together, and working together for a common cause.  A lot of people don't know it, but Bobby Bland used to be B.B. King's chauffeur. That's right, but you'd never know it to see them above as peers honoring one another and singing each other's songs. That's the way Black people did it when they were coming up - "If I got a job, we both eat. If I see your kid getting into something he or she shouldn't, don't worry about it; I'll handle it (I was personally the victim two of the best whippings I ever had from neighbors)."  Black people had to look out for one another just to survive in the Jim Crow environment that Bobby and B.B. King came up in. That's why even though Bobby was already a well known singer, he doubled as B.B.'s chauffeur.  B.B. was helping to supplement Bobby's income. They were hanging out anyway, so why not pay Bobby to drive - and well?   
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But things are rapidly changing in the Black community, and we're paying a a heavy price for it.  The social manipulators have managed to divided the Black community. They've convinced a segment of the community that they've "arrived" and life is now about class these days so it's everybody for themselves. So we have many Black people looking down their noses at the people in the community who continue to struggle, and that attitude among some of our people is preventing our community from moving forward as a whole. Many seem to equate "having arrived" with getting as far away from other Black people as they can get. Others are lifting boulders to try to find a reason to criticize the first Black President of the United States in order to prove that they've become so far removed from their former "Blackness" that they feel just as comfortable in attacking the most significant symbol of  Black competence in the world as any barefoot Hillbilly. It's sick, and it's an attitude that serves to keep the White supremacist system securely in place all over America.
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A good example of how the Black community is allowing itself to be manipulated can be found in Leimert Park, Ca. Leimert Park has been a premiere center for Black culture and art for decades. It's the home of the late drummer, Billy Higgins' "World Stage," a cultural center that has featured some of the greatest musicians, poets, and artists of all kind in the world today. But with the arrival of the new Metro Rail coming through Leimert Park Village, the powers that be have a vision - which many Black people are helping to promote - in spite of the fact that the Black community as a whole plays very little part in that vision. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those people who's predisposed to looking under every rock for instances of racism, but I am a Black man in America, and my experience as such tells me without a bit of uncertainty that these people are not spending all of the money they're spending and snatching up all of the property in Leimert Park Village (on the down-low in many cases), in order to benefit Black people.  What we're watching take place in Leimert Park is a disgusting stampede of avarice, selfishness, and greed.
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A Home In The Black Community of 
Baldwin Hills, Ca. 
Leimert Park is perfectly located in one of the most beautiful parts of the city.  It's in the shadow of Baldwin Hills, one of the most prosperous Black communities in Los Angeles, and quite possibly America. It's minutes from the beach, and major freeways going both North and South, and, East and West, It's also within a block or two of the Crenshaw shopping mall. Then when you take into account the hundreds of billions - maybe even trillions - of dollars that can be made by converting the apartments in the "Jungle" and surrounding area into upscale condos, their dream begins to come into focus. 
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So yes indeed, the powers that be definitely have a dream for Leimert Park, but that dream doesn't have anything to do with the Black people who are currently living in the community or have businesses there . The pattern is already clear. Not even the workman who are working on the various projects in the area are Black - and where are the politicians who are supposed to be looking out for the community's interest!!!?
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So okay, maybe they do intend to keep The Village an art center, but we're not talking about an art center filled with Black people viewing portraits of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon or Sarah Vaughan, we're talking about art galleries filled with rich White folks viewing pictures of Campbell's soup cans - and in order to pull that off, they're going to have to demolish the park and run off all of the street vendors (and many other Black people) so White folks will feel safe in the area.
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But I Have A Dream Of My Own
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Olvera Street is in the oldest part of
 Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA,
 and is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles
Historic Monument.
It starts with community activists like Najee Ali and Earl Ofari Hutchinson enlisting the local clergy to educate and organize the community to press the city to seize "Billy Higgins' World Stage" through eminent domain and declaring it an historic landmark. In addition, I don’t think it would be too much to ask the powers that be to recognize the community by designating the block of Degnan - between 43rd Place on the South (including the park), 43rd Street on the North, and Leimert Blvd. on the East - be preserved by declaring it a cultural village. After all, it is one of the last - if not THE last - significant Black cultural centers in Los Angeles. Why can't the Black community have their Olvera Street? 
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Thereafter we should form a Black Cultural Arts Consortium that includes the surrounding businesses, our churches, and the community itself to support Leimert Park Village and help to make it an asset for the community. We can turn it into a world-class Black arts center and tourist attraction. If the people in the community would just invest $10 a month in the Village the consortium would be well endowed. Some of the money could also be used to provide affordable childcare for working mothers. That's one of their biggest expenses. Unemployed mothers and retired professionals within our churches can be hired to help instruct the children in everything from reading, writing and math, to music, poetry, and various other arts and crafts.  We could also help to support the numerous musicians in the community by placing them on salary to teach music and perform in the Village at night, and to hold sessions in the park during the day. That way, when people passed by on the Metro Rail, they'd be encouraged to get off in the Village and shop. The Village would also enhance property values, so the $10 a month would be well worth it.
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DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY'RE 
DOING THIS FOR BLACK PEOPLE?  
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THEY
DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN WATTS?
The Village could utilize the talents of people like Linda Morgan and Robert Carmack to organize events, and we'll need a citizen's committee to oversee the finances - and require multiple signatures to withdraw any funds. That will keep the self-serving deadbeats out. Because as we all know, we can  ALWAYS depend on having people around who'll try to corrupt anything positive that's trying to be done in the community. It's rumored, for example, that one musical wannabe who frequents the Village has organized a musical event at a nearby club and demanded that all of the participants who have CDs to sell give him a cut off of every CD that they sell - and he was only paying the performers peanuts to begin with. It has also been suggested that this very same individual has emulated a brand in order to confuse the public into thinking that his events are being sponsored by a more well-known promoter. The citizen's committee must immediately identify and ostracize such people. If we want to ensure The Village to be a viable endeavor, we must banish ALL self-servers from our midst. 
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We should also consider trying to enlist the The Nation Of Islam for security.  The Fruit Of Islam would provide a strong incentive for any would-be gangsters to avoid the area, because most gangsters understand that many of the FOI are former OGs themselves. If we did that, we could keep the people's contact with the LAPD to a minimum. Then later, if we're able to brag of zero crime, it would both give us a pride of community, and it would go a long way toward negating the demonization of Black people as a whole. 
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In addition, we should also encourage our churches to use some of their tithes to create businesses in the community and hire our young people ("They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham" - John 8:39). This is not a novel idea. The Black community of Greensboro, North Carolina has seen the light, just as we should.  The African Globe reports the following:
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"Winn Dixie and other large grocery chains had divided up market territory, resulting in the closing of some stores despite their profitability. The loss of this Winn Dixie turned Northeast Greensboro into a food desert . . . For more than 15 years, there were many efforts to lure a new grocery store into the space. However, while the store would be profitable, it wouldn’t be profitable enough to satisfy the demands of the shareholder-based economy of a large corporation. Fed up with essentially begging for access to affordable, quality food,  residents of this predominantly African-American and low-income neighborhood decided to open their own grocery store.
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"After learning about cooperative businesses, they decided to open a community-owned grocery store. The store would meet local residents’ needs for access to quality food and dignified, well-paid jobs. And now it’s going to happen. When the Renaissance Community Cooperative opens in 2015, it will be a conventional grocery store (like a Food Lion or Kroger) where wages start at $10 per hr."
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The Black Community Controls $1.1 Trillion - equal To Germany, The Third Riches Nation In The World
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The African American community controls as much in spending power as the Gross National Product of Germany, the third richest industrial nation in the world.  So why are we whining to the White man to provide for our needs?
Dr. James P. Neelankavil, a professor of marketing and international business at Hofstra University, says in his book, International Business Research, that "Since the output of a country is an indicator of its economic activity, the GNP [Gross National Product] is often used as key factor in evaluating a country’s economic strength. The five largest countries in the world based on their GNP are the United States, $7 trillion; Japan, $2.5 trillion; Germany, $1.1 Trillion; France, $873 billion; and China, $393 billion." 
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So based on Professor Neelankavil’s data, the African American community’s buying power of $1.1 trillion is equal to the economy of Germany, the third largest industrial economy in the world. We control $127 billion more than France, and $607 billion more than the gross national product of China. But here's the problem. Currently, a dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month, in Jewish communities approximately 20 days and white communities 17 days. How long does a dollar circulate in the black community? 6 hours!!! African American buying power is at 1.1 Trillion, and yet only 2 cents of every dollar an African American spends in this country goes to black owned businesses"(http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2014/02/african-americans-1-1-trillion-dollars-buying-power-putting-good-use/).
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But in spite of the $1.1 trillion passing through the Black community, there are many who still insist on coming up with the excuse that the problem is with the banks - they won’t finance Black businesses. That’s a lame excuse, and we really need to stop trying to make excuses for our condition, because by coming up with all of these excuses, we’re simply giving ourselves a convenient excuse for failure. With all of the money that passes through the Black community, if we came together we could establish our OWN banks. 
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Finally, I'd like to thank the Los Angeles Times for the front page coverage of B.B. King's passing. The Times sent B.B. out like the King he was, and by doing so, they not only honored him, but they honored the entire Black community.  Now it's time for us to honor ourselves.  Let's get on it. Talk to 'em, Bobby.
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Eric L. Wattree 
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com 
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA) 
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
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Black Bird Press News & Review: Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on the BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT #2

Black Bird Press News & Review: Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on the BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT #2

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Thursday, June 4, 2015

Black Bird Press News & Review: Photo essay by Afrah: Marvin X ends Chicago tour at South Shore recording studio

Black Bird Press News & Review: Photo essay by Afrah: Marvin X ends Chicago tour at South Shore recording studio:

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Canada's cultural genocide!

Will America admit the cultural genocide of North American Africans in the public schools and religious institutions, i.e., turning Africans into Black Anglo-Saxons?--Marvin X, How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, Black Bird Press

Canada's church-run schools for First Nations were 'cultural genocide,' says report


TORONTO –  Canada's decades-long government policy requiring Canadian First Nation children to attend state-funded church schools amounted to "cultural genocide," a long-awaited report has found.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Justice Murray Sinclair said Tuesday the residential schools represent one of the "darkest and most troubling chapters in our collective history."

The report is the result of a six-year study of Canada's former government policy requiring Canadian aboriginals to attend the schools, often the scenes of physical and sexual abuse. First Nation leaders have cited the legacy of abuse and isolation as the root cause of epidemic substance abuse on reservations.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 aboriginal children were required to attend Christian schools to rid them of their native cultures and languages and integrate them into mainstream Canadian society.

More than 130 residential schools operated across Canada.

The federal government previously admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the once-mandatory schools was rampant and Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an historic apology in Parliament in 2008. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages and losing touch with their parents and customs.

The goal of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to give survivors a forum to tell their stories and to educate Canadians about that dark chapter in the country's history.

Sinclair, a First Nations Canadian judge, described how the commission heard from residential school survivors who were robbed of the love of their families.

"They were stripped of their self-respect and they were stripped of their identity," Sinclair said.
The commission was created as part of a US$5 billion class action settlement in 2006 between the government, churches and the 90,000 surviving First Nation students.

Alma Scott was one of thousands of survivors in Canada who recounted her experience to the commission. She described being taken to a school in Fort Alexander, Manitoba, at the age of five.
"I just remember feeling really sad, and I was in this truck full of other kids who were crying, and so I cried with them," said Scott.

Among the TRC report's 94 recommendations, it calls on the federal government to launch a national inquiry into the number of missing and murdered aboriginal women. It also seeks an apology from the Pope on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. And it recommends the government fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the "framework for reconciliation."

The TRC's summary also makes clear that the expectations of the aboriginal community in the wake of Harper's apology for the residential school tragedy in 2008 have not yet been met.
Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde said the prime minister's 2008 apology will be empty if it is not followed with action.

Harper said he apologized for the devastation caused by the schools seven years ago. He didn't call it a cultural genocide Tuesday or promise to enact any of the report's 94 recommendations.
Sinclair said he was scheduled to sit down with Harper later Tuesday.

A center at the University of Manitoba will become the permanent home for all statements, documents and materials gathered by the commission. It is scheduled to open this summer.

In Australia, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology in Parliament in 2008 to the so-called Stolen Generations — thousands of aboriginals who were forcibly taken from their families as children under assimilation policies that lasted from 1910 to 1970.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Year of the Black Male


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Monday, June 1, 2015

Marvin X new poem: Have you angels in your life

Have you angels in your life
did you notice
was everything for granted
when the angel smiled
you did not notice
you mean God is among us and we are blind
after all the waiting for God
Lord Savior
you mean He has come and gone
we missed him in our prayers
Lord have mercy
He came while we were praying
We missed Him.

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