Bay City News — The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has placed Chief Probation Officer David Muhammad on paid administrative leave after a deputy probation officer filed a $1.5 million claim accusing him of sexually assaulting and harassing her.
The board said chief of staff Brian Richart will be in charge while Muhammad is on leave but that board members cannot comment on the case because it is a confidential personnel matter.
Muhammad, 38, who was hired a year ago after holding top probation positions in New York City and Washington, D.C., couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
In her claim, which is a preliminary step to filing a lawsuit, the deputy probation officer alleges that Muhammad harassed her at a probation office in Hayward on May 15 when he noticed a discoloration on her neck, made multiple comments about it, laughed and joked about it and called it a "hickey."
The officer said Muhammad put his hands on her twice that day, prompting her to exclaim to another deputy, "Did you see that? He grabbed me!"
The deputy alleges that four days later, the morning of May 19, Muhammad asked her to pick him up at Oakland International Airport and drive him to a speaking engagement in Oakland but then instructed her to take him to the San Leandro Marina, which was empty at that time of day.
She said Muhammad suddenly grabbed her head and started kissing her, telling her, "We would make some pretty babies." The officer said when she tried to pull back, Muhammad "became very aggressive" and pulled her shirt down, cupped her breast and started to kiss it and penetrated her vagina "forcefully" with two of his fingers.
She said that when she eventually pushed him away, he told her she had excited him sexually and said, "I want you so bad, you just don't know it."
The deputy said that a day later, on May 20, Muhammad sent her multiple text messages and that she reluctantly agreed to meet with him as long as they weren't alone because she was worried about her job and what he might do to her if she ignored him.
She said in the claim that she met with Muhammad and his brother at a restaurant in Hayward and that at the end of the night he started to kiss her and grab her breasts and put his hand between her legs.
The deputy said she pushed his hand away but that he then grabbed her hand, placed it on his groin area and said she had excited him sexually. She said she pulled away and reiterated to Muhammad that she only wanted to be friends, and that Muhammad eventually left "angry and upset."
The claim says the deputy probation officer has suffered economic harm and has mental distress and anguish. It accuses Muhammad of sexual assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, sexual battery, assault, batter and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The California Attorney General's Office is conducting an investigation to see if criminal charges should be filed against Muhammad, according to attorney general's spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill.
Gledhill said the San Leandro Police Department investigated the officer's allegations and then submitted its report to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which recused itself because it works closely with Muhammad.
Muhammad was formerly the executive director of the Mentoring Center in Oakland, and before he returned to Alameda County he served as Deputy Commissioner of New York City's Department of Probation, Adult Services, where he was responsible for overseeing 35,000 people on probation with a staff of 800.
Prior to his New York job, Muhammad served as the Chief of Committed Services for the Department of Youth Rehabilitating Services in Washington, D.C., where his responsibilities included overseeing a staff of 300, a $42 million annual budget and a juvenile institution with 900 youths in his department's care.
In an interview before he took over the Probation Department, Muhammad said he had gotten into trouble with the law as a youth in Oakland, and that as the county's chief probation officer he would try to help troubled youths improve their lives.
"I had my fair share of trouble and was in the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system," Muhammad said. But he said he turned his life around with the help of the Omega Boys Club, which paid for him to go to college.
Marvin X and his mentor and artistic associate, Sun Ra. Outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre, San Francisco, circa 1972.Bibliography of Marvin X
Books Works In Progress
It Don't Matter: Essays (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006)
You Don't Know Me and Other Poems (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006)
In Sha Allah, A History of Black Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1954-2004 (Cherokee: Black Bird Press, 2006).
Seven Years in the House of Elijah, A Woman's Search for Love and Spirituality by Nisa Islam as told to Marvin X, 2006.
Play Scripts and/or Productions
Flowers for the Trashman, San Francisco: San Francisco State University Drama Department, 1965.
Flowers for the Trashman, San Francisco: Black Arts West/Theatre, 1966.
Take Care of Business, musical version of Flowers with music by Sun Ra, choreography by Raymond Sawyer and Ellendar Barnes: Your Black Educational Theatre, San Francisco, 1972.
Come Next Summer, San Francisco: Black Arts/West, 1966.
The Trial, New York, Afro-American Studio for Acting and Speech, 1970.
Resurrection of the Dead, San Francisco, choreography by Raymond Sawyer, music by Juju and Sun Ra, Your Black Educational Theatre, 1972.
Woman-Man's Best Friend, musical, Oakland, Mills College, 1973.
How I Met Isa, Masters thesis, San Francisco State University, 1975.
In The Name of Love, Oakland, Laney College Theatre, 1981.
One Day In The Life, Oakland, Alice Arts Theatre, 1996.
One Day In The Life, Brooklyn, NY, Sistah's Place, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Manhattan, Brecht Forum, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Newark, NJ, Kimako's Blues, 1997.
One Day In The Life, Oakland, Uhuru House, 1998.
One Day In The Life, San Francisco, Bannam Place Theatre, North Beach, 1998.
One Day In The Lifee, San Francisco, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 1999.
One Day In the Life, Marin City, Marin City Rec Center, 1999
One Day In the Life, Richmond, Unity Church, 2000.
One Day In the Life, San Jose, San Jose State University, 2000.
One Day In the Life, Berkeley, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2000.
One Day In the Life, Sacramento, New Colonial Theatre, 2000.
Sergeant Santa, San Francisco, Recovery Theatre script, 2002.
Other
Delicate Child, a short story, Oakland, Merritt College Student Magazine contest winner, 1963.
Delicate Child, a short story, Oakland, SoulBook Magazine, 1964.
Flowers for the Trashman: A One Act Drama, San Francisco, Black Dialogue Magazine, 1965.
Flowers for the Trashman, Black Fire, An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, edited by Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal, (New York: Morrow, 1968).
Take Care of Business: A One Act Drama, aka Flowers, (New York: The Drama Review, NYU,1968)
The Black Bird (Al Tair Aswad): A One-Act Play, New Plays from the Black Theatre, edited by Ed Bullins with introduction (interview of Ed Bullins) by Marivn X, (New York: Bantam, 1969)
"Islam and Black Art: An Interview with Amiri Baraka" and foreword by Askia Muhammad Toure, afterword by Marivn X, in Black Arts: An Anthology of Black Creations, edited by Ahmed Alhamisi and Haroun Kofi Wangara (Harold G. Lawrence) (Detroit: Black Arts Publications, 1969).
"Everything's Cool: An Interview with Amiri Barka, aka, LeRoi Jones", Black Theatre Magazine, New Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, NY, 1968.
Resurrection of the Dead, a ritual/myth dance drama, Black Theatre Magazine, New Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, 1969.
Manifesto of the Black Educational Theatre of San Francisco, Black Theatre, 1972.
The Black Bird, A Parable by Marvin X, illustrated by Karen Johnson ( San Francisco: Al Kitab Sudan and Julian Richardson and Associates Publishers, 1972).
"Black Justice Must Be Done," Vietnam and Black America: An Anthology of Protest and Resistance, edited by Clyde Taylor (Garden City: Double-day/Anchor, 1973)
"Palestine," a poem, Black Scholar magazine, 1978.
Journal of Black Poetry, guest editor, 1968.
"The Meaning of African Liberation Day," by Dr. Walter Rodney, a speech in San Francisco, transcribed and edited by Marvin X, Journal of Black Poetry, 1972.
Muhammad Speaks, foreign editor, 1970. (Note: a few months later, Marvin X was selected to be editor of Muhammad Speaks until it was decided he was too militant. Askia Muhammad (Charles 37X) was selected instead.)
A Conversation with Prime Minister Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Black Scholar, 1973.
VIDEOGRAPHY OF EVENTS/PRODUCTIONS
Proceedings of the Melvin Black Human Rights Conference, Oakland, 1979, produced by Marvin X, featuring Angela Davis, Minister Farakhan, Eldridge Cleaver, Paul Cobb, Dezzie Woods-Jones, Jo Nina-Abran, Mansha Nitoto, Khalid Abdullah Tarik Al Mansur, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T-Shaka, and Marvin X.
Proceedings of the First Black Men's Conference, Oakland, 1980, John Douimbia, founder, Marvin X, chief planner, Dr. Nathan Hare, Dr. Wade Nobles, Dr. Yusef Bey, Dr. Oba T'Shaka,Norman Brown, Kermit Scott, Minister Ronald Muhammad, Louis Freeman, Michael Lange, Betty King, Dezzie Woods-Jones, et al.
Forum on Drugs, Art and Revolution, Sista's Place, Brooklyn, New York, 1997, featuring Amiri and Amina Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Sam Anderson, Elombe Brath and Marvin X.
Eldridge Cleaver Memorial Service, produced by Marvin X, Oakland, 1998, participants included Kathleen and Joju Cleaver, Emory Douglas, Dr. Yusef Bey, Minister Keith Muhammad, Imam Al Amin, Dr. Nathan Hare, Tarika Lewis, Richard Aoki, Reginald Major, Majidah Rahman and Marvin X.
One Day in the Life, a docudrama of addiction and recovery, filmed by Ptah Allah-El, produced, written, directed and staring Marvin X, edited by Marvin X, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 1999.
Marvin X Interviews Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, former actor in Marvin X's Black Theatre: Berkeley, La Pena Cultural Center, 1999.
"Abstract for An Elders Council," lecture/discussion, Tupac Amaru Shakur One Nation Conference, Oakland: McClymonds High School, 1999.
Marvin X at Dead Prez Concert, San Francisco, 2000.
Kings and Queens of Black Consciousness, produced by Marvin X at San Francisco State University, 2001, featuring Dr. Cornel West, Amiri Baraka, Amina Baraka, Dr. Julia Hare, Dr. Nathan Hare, Rev. Cecil Williams, Destiny, Phavia, Tarika Lewis, Askia Toure, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Rudi Wongozi, Ishmael Reed, Dr. Theophile Obenga, Marvin X, et al.
Live In Philly At Warm Daddies, a reading accompanied by Elliot Bey, Marshall Allen, Danny Thompson, Ancestor Goldsky, Rufus Harley, Alexander El, 2002.
Marvin X Live in Detroit, a documentary by Abu Ibn, 2002.
In the Crazy House Called America, concert with Marvin X and Destiny, San Francisco: Buriel Clay Theatre, 2003.
Marvin X in Concert (accompanied by harpist Destiny, violinist Tarika Lewis and percussionists Tacuma and Kele Nitoto, dancer Raynetta Rayzetta), Amiri and Amina Baraka, filmed by Kwame and Joe, Berkeley: Black Repertory Group Theatre, 2003.
Marvin X Speaks at the Third Eye Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2003.
Marvin X and the Last Poets, San Francisco: Recovery Theatre, 2004.
Proceedings of the San Francisco Black Radical Book Fair, produced by Marvin X, filmed by Mindseed Productions, San Francisco, Recovery Theatre, 2004, participants include: Sonia Sanchez, Davey D, Amiri Baraka, Sam Hamod, Fillmore Slim, Askia Toure, Akhbar Muhammad, Sam Anderson, Al Young, Devorah Major, Opal Palmer Adisa, Tarika Lewis, Amina Baraka, Julia and Nathan Hare, Charlie Walker, Jamie Walker, Reginald Lockett, Everett Hoagland, Sam Greenlee, Ayodelle Nzinga, Suzzette Celeste, Tarika Lewis, Raynetta Rayzetta, Deborah Day, James Robinson, Ptah Allah-El, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Marvin X, et al. (Note: let me please acknowledge some of the historic personages in the audience: Gansta Alonzao Batin (mentor of the Bay Area BAM, made his transition shortly after the conference), Willie Williams of Broadside Press, Detroit, Gansta Brown, Gansta Mikey Moore (now Rev.), Arthur Sheridan, founder of Black Dialogue magazine, also co-founders Aubrey and Gerald LaBrie, Reginald Major, author of Panther Is A Black Cat. Thank you all for making this event historic, ed. MX)
Get Yo Mind Right, Marvin X Barbershop Talk, #4, a documentary film by Pam Pam and Marvin X, Oakland: 2005.
Marvin X Live in the Fillmore at Rass'elas Jazz Club, A Nisa Islam production, filmed by Ken Johnson, San Francisco, 2005.
Marvin X in the Malcolm X Room, McClymonds High School, accompanied by Tacuma (dijembe and percussion, dancer/choreographer Raynetta Rayzetta, actor Salat Townsend, filmed by Eddie Abrams, Oakland, 2005.
AUDIOGRAPHY
In Sha Allah, interview with Nisa Islam, Cherokee, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Nadar Ali, Fresno, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Manuel Rashid, Fresno, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with John Douimbia, Grand Ayatollah of the Bay, San Francisco, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Minister Rabb Muhammad, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Antar Bey, CEO, Your Black Muslim Bakery, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Norman Brown, Oakland, Oakland, 2004.
In Sha Allah, interview with Kareem Muhammad (Brother Edward), Oakland, 2004.
Love and War, poems, Oakland, 1995.
One Day In The Life, docudrama, Oakland, 1999.
Jesus and Liquor Stores, Marvin X and Askari X, Oakland, 2002
Wake Up, Detroit, Marvin X interviewed by Lawrence X, Detroit, 2002..
Wish I, interview with Pam Pam, San Francisco, KPOO Radio, 2005.
Wish I, interview with Terry Collins, San Francisco, KPOO Radio, 2005.
Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement, interview with Professor James Smethurst of UMASS, Oakland, 2003.
Comrade George Jackson,
We Will Always Love You, Whitney
How can a blackbird not sing
ushering the dawn of a new day
calling heaven to hear her song
no words for this pain
the blues we sing
a voice so true so real
yet we overstand the tragic note
in the song we all sing
living in this wilderness
of North America
down here on the ground with
the devil
how can he pay for his sins
not only Whitney
but the millions gone in a whisper
what price for this
worthless dollars at the Federal Reserve
empty the vaults at Fort Knox
will not suffice
stealing the souls of men and women
the many Whitney's gone into the night of no return
Dr. Nathan Hare told us, "...No amount of religiosity,
coke, Crack, alcohol or sex
sufficient to sedate the social angst
shattered cultural striving...."
Oh, Whitney, we are from Allah
to Him we return. We will always
Love you!
--Marvin X
2/13/12
The first poem described the poet during his Crack addiction, the second told of Marvin X's love affair with his high school girlfriend, poet-critic-professor Sherley A. Williams. Marvin X was deeply moved at hearing this poem that revealed Professor Cromartie's profound poetic insight. The professor noted that Sherley may have been his soul mate, but apparently the poet has had several powerful soul mates that Cromartie has had the privilege of knowing since he enrolled in the poet's theatre class at Laney College, 1981: Nisa Ra, Hurriyah Asar, Masha Satterfield and Suzzette Celeste Johnson. Cromartie, of Gullah Geeche ancestry, said all these women were beautiful, highly intelligent and spiritual. Yes, Marvin X said, these women were angelic, I was the devil.
is a thinking woman, and Never Love a Poet touched her because it deals with the creative personality. Clearly, Aries has absorbed the spirit of her teacher. Her voice is loud and clear, her dramatic technique precise. She read his poems better than he. Now 24 years old,we suspect she will become an expert at reading the poetry of Marvin X before and after he joins the ancestors. Aries concluded with two poems from her collection Journey to Womanhood, Letter to the Elders and That Girl.
Exhibit Marvin X continues on Saturday, Feb. 18, 7pm, with a lecture/discussion of Marvin X's mentor, the Honorable John Douimbia (RIP). Dr. Oba T'Shaka, professor emeritus at San Francisco State University and community organizer Norman Brown will make presentations, both were also mentored by John D, as he was affectionately known. Exhibit Marvin X is located at 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley. For reservations, please call 510-575-2225.Dr. Oba T'Shaka, professor emeritus, Black Studies, San Francisco State UniversityNorman Brown, Community Organizer
Charlie Walker, businessman,
