Saturday, January 24, 2015
WURD Speaks: Black Power Babies in Philadelphia
Muhammida
El Muhajir produced Black Power Babies in Philadelphia, featuring Mrs.
Amina Baraka, Amiri Baraka, Jr., Marvin X, et al. Black Arts Movement/Black Powers Babies panel discussion will take place at the Laney College BAM celebration on February 7, 2015.
Friday, January 23, 2015
From the Archives: Woman--Man's Best Friend by El Muhajir, aka Marvin X
first edition
1973] · [San Francisco
by EL MUHAJIR [pseud. Marvin X]
[San Francisco: Al Kitab Sudan Publications, 1973].
First Edition. Octavo (21.5cm.); original orange pictorial wrappers
printed in brown; [6],iv,[2],88pp.; text printed in brown on tan stock.
Fine. Collected short poetical pieces by Marvin X, written between 1969
and 1972. He assures the reader in his introduction that he is not
pushing for the women's liberation movement ("Women will be liberated
when men are liberated" (p. i)). (Inventory #: 24996) $100.00 ABAA
Marvin X speaks on The History of the Black Arts Movement, Yakety-Yak Radio, Laney College
Marvin X interviewed by Chris Stroffolino,
reads his poetry, some of Baraka's, talks about the founding of the
Black Arts Movement, introducing Eldridge Cleaver to Bobby Seale, and
the forthcoming Oakland Black Arts District on 14th St. http://www.9thfloorradio.com/…/1/22/yakety-yak-with-marvin-x
Marvin X sporting Borsalino Fedora
photo Kamau Amen Ra
Thursday, January 22, 2015
New Poem by Marvin X: Abortion
Abortion
unless invited
but you still can't own it boss it control it
in that sick patriarchal mentality
makes you want to beat it kill it then say you love it so much
just shut up unless invited
don't say nothing bout her bizness
you don't bleed five days a month motherfucker
you can't bleed for five minutes sucker
control yo shit and shut up
get out the women's rest room pervert
the men's room is over there see the sign
why you put yo penis in her pussy if you know how she is
now you coming after the fact with some man shit
just shut the fuck up
all you want to do is raise the baby so he/she can be a killer in your eternal wars for white supremacy
don't kill the baby now, let it grow up so it can die in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia for the 1% Club who supply guns to both sides just to make a dollar, ain't no ideology except money, greed lust lechery
white day is done dude get over it
don't you see all your guns ain't shit
yo drones planes bombs missles
ain't won shit since Viet Nam
Korean War still goin on I hear
so drink yo beer Billy Bob
stay out of other people's bizness
unless invited.
--Marvin X
1/23/15
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
BAM update: San Quentin Prison Art arrives at Laney College for Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration, Feb. 7
Left to Right: Carol Newborg of the William James Prison Art Project, Black Arts Movement co-founder, poet/playwright Marvin X and Dr. Leslee Stradford, Laney College Professor of Art and curator of the exhibit produced by the BAM/Post News Group Isaiah 61 Art and Literature Project.
photo Nicole
Cornel West in Oakland, Jan. 31, First Congregational Church, 7:30
Cornel West supports Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement 27 City Tour. Save the date: Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday, Feb. 7, 10AM thru 8pm, Laney College.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
GAME by Augusta Lee Collins
Augusta Lee Collins will perform at the Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration at Laney College, Feb. 7, 2015, 10am thru 8pm Free Admission/donations accepted
Marvin X's fable of the Black Bird
The Black Bird—A Fable By
Marvin X
1968
The cage door was always open, but the little bird wouldn't come out. He loved the cage, he had been in it so long. Other birds would fly into the white house and beg the little bird to come out, but he wouldn't. Sad, the other birds would fly away home to paradise, their hearts white with anger and sorrow for their lost brother who loved the cage. "He is so hard-headed, "the other birds said on their way home, "but we will get him out, we will get him out...." He was a smart bird. Nobody could tell him anything—except his master.
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He could sing too. When the master
sang, the little bird sang. He knew all of the master's
songs by heart. He didn't like to sing bird songs. From
all around, people came to see him do tricks. The little
bird knew a lot of tricks the master had trained him to
do when visitors came to the white house. He was a good
house pet. The little bird was so good his master always
left his cage door open; he knew the little bird had
forgotten what freedom was. "Come, fly away to freedom
with us," the other birds would say. But the little bird
didn't want to go for self! "I like being in a cage,"
he said. "You birds are the crazy ones—get away from
me!!!"
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For days and days, the black bird would sit in the cage
looking at himself in the mirror. "He is such a
beautiful black bird," all the visitors said. "Yes," the
master said, "I have a good bird." To himself, the
master said, "This little black fool has made me rich
doing tricks and he's too dumb to fly away to
freedom—what a stupid bird!"
The master would feed the bird
crumbs from his table. The little bird loved the crumbs
so much he wouldn't eat anything else, not even when the
other birds sneaked into the master's house and offered
the little bird some righteous soulfood.
One day the master's house caught
on fire. Nobody knew how the fire started, not even the
little black bird. The master fought hard to put the
fire out, but there were too many flames, so he ran
outside, leaving the little black bird behind. The
flames grew bigger and bigger, but the little black bird
just sat in his cage. Maybe he was waiting for his
master to return....
Then, suddenly, a friendly bird
flew into the burning white house, "Black bird!" he
yelled, "don't you know the house is on fire???
Hurry—come fly away with me!" "But I love my cage," the
black bird cried, "I want to stay!"
"You want to burn," said the
friendly bird. The friendly bird went into the cage,
grabbed the black bird and flew away from the burning
house. "Bye, master," the black bird yelled as he passed
his master who was crying in the yard. "Bye, master,"
the little bird called out again—he was on his way home.
from The Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, by Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley.
(c)1968, 2007
The Black Bird is Marvin X's classic fable written in
1968. Many children were taught this story by conscious
parents, including the parents of journalist Wanda Sabir of the San
Francisco Bayview newspaper.
Marvin X speaks at the Black Caucus of California Community Colleges Conference, Merritt College
Marvin X will speak on the Origins of the Black Arts Movement at the BCCCC Conference, February 13-15, 2015, Merritt College, Oakland.
Linguist Chomsky on Obama's Drone Program: The Most Extreme Terrorist Campaign of Modern Times!
Noam Chomsky: Obama's Drone Program 'The Most Extreme Terrorist Campaign of Modern Times'
Famed linguist takes aim at western hypocrisy on terrorism.
Noam Chomsky speaking in May, 2014. (Photo: Chatham House/fickr/cc)
World-renowned
linguist and scholar Noam Chomsky has criticized what he sees as
Western hypocrisy following the recent terror attacks in Paris and the
idea that there are two kinds of terrorism: "theirs versus ours."
In an op-ed published Monday at CNN.com, Chomsky notes how the deadly attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a supermarket last week sparked millions to demonstrate under the banner "I am Charlie" and prompted inquiries "into the roots of these shocking assaults in Islamic culture and exploring ways to counter the murderous wave of Islamic terrorism without sacrificing our values."
No such inquiry into western culture and Christianity came from Anders Breivik's 2011 attack in Norway that killed scores of people.
Nor did NATO's 1999 missile strike on Serbian state television headquarters that killed 16 journalists spark "Je Suis Charlie"-like demonstrations. In fact, Chomsky writes, that attack was lauded by U.S. officials.
That civil rights lawyer Floyd Abrams described the Charlie Hebdo attack as "the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory," is not surprising, Chomsky writes, when one understands "'living memory,' a category carefully constructed to include Their crimes against us while scrupulously excluding Our crimes against them—the latter not crimes but noble defense of the highest values, sometimes inadvertently flawed."
Other omissions of attacks on journalists noted by Chomsky: Israel's assault on Gaza this summer whose casualties included many journalists, and the dozens of journalists in Honduras that have been killed since the coup in 2009.
Offering further proof of what he describes as western hypocrisy towards terrorism, Chomsky takes at aim at Obama's drone program, which he describes as "the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times."
It "target[s] people suspected of perhaps intending to harm us some day, and any unfortunates who happen to be nearby," he writes.
In an op-ed published Monday at CNN.com, Chomsky notes how the deadly attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a supermarket last week sparked millions to demonstrate under the banner "I am Charlie" and prompted inquiries "into the roots of these shocking assaults in Islamic culture and exploring ways to counter the murderous wave of Islamic terrorism without sacrificing our values."
No such inquiry into western culture and Christianity came from Anders Breivik's 2011 attack in Norway that killed scores of people.
Nor did NATO's 1999 missile strike on Serbian state television headquarters that killed 16 journalists spark "Je Suis Charlie"-like demonstrations. In fact, Chomsky writes, that attack was lauded by U.S. officials.
That civil rights lawyer Floyd Abrams described the Charlie Hebdo attack as "the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory," is not surprising, Chomsky writes, when one understands "'living memory,' a category carefully constructed to include Their crimes against us while scrupulously excluding Our crimes against them—the latter not crimes but noble defense of the highest values, sometimes inadvertently flawed."
Other omissions of attacks on journalists noted by Chomsky: Israel's assault on Gaza this summer whose casualties included many journalists, and the dozens of journalists in Honduras that have been killed since the coup in 2009.
Offering further proof of what he describes as western hypocrisy towards terrorism, Chomsky takes at aim at Obama's drone program, which he describes as "the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times."
It "target[s] people suspected of perhaps intending to harm us some day, and any unfortunates who happen to be nearby," he writes.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Dr. Julia Hare tells it how it is...
thoughts go out to Julia and Nathan Hare tonight, my adopted aunt and
uncle; far right, my middle daughter, Attorney Amira Jackmon. Dr. Nathan
Hare is the father of Black and Ethnic Studies; he is founding
publisher of the Black Scholar Magazine and a clinical psychologist in
San Francisco. He will participate in the Black Arts Movement 50th
Anniversary Celebration at Oakland's Laney College, Feb. 7, 2015. Dr.
Nathan Hare has doctorates in sociology and clinical psychology. Along
with Suzzette Celeste, MSW, he will facilitate the mental wellness peer
group: How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, based on
the manual by Marvin X, aka Dr. M. Dr. Julia Hare will not be able to
attend due to health reasons.
MLK, Jr. Day in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center
2015 MLK Jr. Celebration & Free Museum Day | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Monday, January 19, 2015 - All Day | Cost: FREE
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | 701 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | 701 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Every
year on the third Monday in January, over 15,000 attendees come to San
Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Gardens to honor Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.2015 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration
Monday, January 19, 2015 | 11 am to 5 pm
YBCA, 701 Mission St., San Francisco
FREE
The 2015 celebration will host events for all ages including:
- The Annual MLK March
- Commemorative programs and conversations with civil rights luminaries and national personalities
- Inaugural 2015 Black Comix Arts Festival
- 2015 MLK Health and Wellness Festival (held in the Forum at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Doors open at 11 am)
- 2015 Liberation Film Festival Screenings
- 2015 Children’s Discovery Hunt
2015 Black Comix Arts Festival
This is the inaugural year for the Black Comix Arts Festival at MLK2015. BCAF’s mission is to celebrate the creativity and subjectivity of African Americans in the comic arts and popular visual culture, and it includes a grand exposition, kids activities, special guest artist presentations, a film screening, cosplay events and much more.
BCAF begins on Sunday, January 18 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library and continues on Monday, January 19, with screenings beginning at 10 am and the BCAF Expo at noon at City View at Metreon.
2015 MLK Jr. Conversations | 11 am start
All conversations are free, with limited seating.
The 2015 MLK Conversations are scheduled to feature reflections from civic and political luminaries and conversations with noted authors, film makers, and commentators. This year features a great schedule of conversations for celebrants.
2015 Liberation Film Festival | 10 am to 6 pm
All screenings are free, with limited theater seating on a first-come first-serve basis.
2015 marks the fourth annual Liberation Film Festival (LFF) and will feature human interest and civil rights documentaries and conversations. LFF runs is scheduled for screening in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater and Screening Room, the Freedom Theater at the Museum of the African Diaspora, and the Creativity Theater. LFF is dedicated to bringing short-format cinema and human interest documentaries to the public through innovative programs designed to engage new and diverse audiences.
Marvin X and special assistant Samantha Akwei at MLK, Jr. b day in SF. She is a Spelman graduate and poet who grew up in Harlem. Ms Akwei, part Ghanaian, she works in Oakland. photo South Park Kenny Johnson
Sunday, January 18, 2015
BAM Arkestra and Poet's Choir Member please know the lyrics and chorus to Space is the place by Sun Ra
| Space is the Place by Sun Ra | And when you kiss your other lover I will try to understand and just because you're loving him it doesn't mean you don't love me do what you want, be what you want to be Space is the place where I will go when I'm all alone Nobody calls me on the phone and I feel alone Meditating in the zone, all alone Space is the place where I will go And just because you kiss your Brother It doesn't mean to say you're gay And just because you're loving him it doesn't mean you don't love me Do what you want, be what you want to be CHORUS Space is the place, in your face Space is the place |
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Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Black Arts Movement Celebrating Amiri Baraka
BAM poet Marvin X will perform with the BAM Arkestra and Poet's Choir on Feb 7 at Oakand's Laney College in the day long event celebrating the 50th anniversary of BAM. Oakland's new Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Council President Lynette McElhaney will participate. Dr. Nathan Hare will facilitate the How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy Peer Group, along with Suzzette Celeste, MSW. The Physical Wellness Team from HP/Bay View WMCA will conduct a Wellness Boot Camp. Musicians performing include violinist Tarika Lewis, Harpist Destiny, percussionists Tacuma King and John Santos, trumpet master Earl Davis, pianist Muzuki Roberson, vocalists Mechelle LaChaux, Rasheedah Sabreen Shakir, poets Avotcja, Genny Lim, Kalamu Chache', Likiba Pitmann, Tureada Mikell, PhavioaKujichagulia, Paradise The Poet, Marvin X, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Javier Reyes and Hip Hop Poets. The event will exhibit the works of visual artists from San Quentin Prison, along with painters Emory Douglas, Renaldo Ricketts, Duane Deterville, Malik Seneferu, Refa One, Claude Clark; the Black Panther Archives of Billy X. Jennings: the archives of Dr. Nathan Hare and Marvin X. A panel on BAM and Black Women Writers facilitated by Elaine Brown; BAM/Black Power Babies, a panel moderated by Davey D, and more, including music by Fantastic Negrito. The evening includes a performance of Marvin X's BAM classic play Flowers for the Trashman. In the 60s. the Oakland Police Department threatened Black Arts West Theatre with arrest if they performed at Laney College. Two young males in the play go to jail for jaywalking (Hands Up, Don't Shoot). They play is produced and directed by Dr. Ayodele Nzinga who was a student of Marvin X when he taught theatre at Laney College, 1981. As a student she helped direct his play In the Name of Love, a Laney College production. Years later she directed his docudrama One Day in the Life, about his life on Crack, including a scene of his last meeting with Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton in a West Oakland Crack House. Ishmael Reed says, "Marvin X's One Day in the Life is the most powerful drama I've seen."
BAM Tasks at Laney
BAM Tasks for Laney College
1. Visual artists exhibit, team leader Dr. Leslee Stradford
2. Dramatic performance, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga
3. Wellness, Empress Diamond, Suzzette Celeste, Dr. Nathan Hare, Michael Bennett
4. BAM and Women writers, Elaine Brown, moderator
5. Open Mike, MC Aries Jordan
6. Music, Tarika Lewis
7. Poet's Choir, Mechelle LaChaux
8. Donations, Mrs. and Mr. Carolyn and Leon Teasley
9. Reception, host, Paul Cobb
10. Food, Pat Brown
11. Reception Welcome, Laney President
12. Assistant to Producer, Samantha
13. Volunteer leader, Delores Nochi
14. Reception music, Fantastic Negro, Earl Davis
15. Sound and lights, Bud
16. Set Design
17. Program
18. Vendor tables
19. Security: Che'
20. Archives of Dr. Nathan Hare and Marvin X
21. Book salves/givieaway
22. Children's Story house
23. Banners, Muhammad Al Kareem
24. Clean up: all
25. Transportation
26. Stage manager
27. ushers
28. Words of inspiration: Suzzette Celeste
29. Proclamation: Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland
30. On the Black Arts District, Lynette McElhaney, President, Oakland City Council
31. Video/photographers, Doug Guy, Khalid Wajeeb, Kamau Amen Ra, Malika Kambon, Gene Hazzard, Adam Turner, Ken Johnson
32. Cloth for costumes for Poet's Choir and Arkestra
33. lodging for guests and seniors
34. Cards for everyone willing to pass out to promote event.
35. If you are willing to do something to make this event a success, hit me: 510-200-4164. jmarvinx@yahoo.com. Share articles about BAM on www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com with your friends.
1. Visual artists exhibit, team leader Dr. Leslee Stradford
2. Dramatic performance, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga
3. Wellness, Empress Diamond, Suzzette Celeste, Dr. Nathan Hare, Michael Bennett
4. BAM and Women writers, Elaine Brown, moderator
5. Open Mike, MC Aries Jordan
6. Music, Tarika Lewis
7. Poet's Choir, Mechelle LaChaux
8. Donations, Mrs. and Mr. Carolyn and Leon Teasley
9. Reception, host, Paul Cobb
10. Food, Pat Brown
11. Reception Welcome, Laney President
12. Assistant to Producer, Samantha
13. Volunteer leader, Delores Nochi
14. Reception music, Fantastic Negro, Earl Davis
15. Sound and lights, Bud
16. Set Design
17. Program
18. Vendor tables
19. Security: Che'
20. Archives of Dr. Nathan Hare and Marvin X
21. Book salves/givieaway
22. Children's Story house
23. Banners, Muhammad Al Kareem
24. Clean up: all
25. Transportation
26. Stage manager
27. ushers
28. Words of inspiration: Suzzette Celeste
29. Proclamation: Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland
30. On the Black Arts District, Lynette McElhaney, President, Oakland City Council
31. Video/photographers, Doug Guy, Khalid Wajeeb, Kamau Amen Ra, Malika Kambon, Gene Hazzard, Adam Turner, Ken Johnson
32. Cloth for costumes for Poet's Choir and Arkestra
33. lodging for guests and seniors
34. Cards for everyone willing to pass out to promote event.
35. If you are willing to do something to make this event a success, hit me: 510-200-4164. jmarvinx@yahoo.com. Share articles about BAM on www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com with your friends.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Houston, Texas: Join SHAPE Community Center
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