Coming soon to a venue near you: The Wild Crazy Ride of the Marvin X Experience--Now available for booking

cover design by Mical Free, photo Kamau Amen Ra (rip)

 

Son of Man, 1968, was published while Marvin X was underground in Harlem NY. The FBI was on his trail because he refused to fight in Vietnam. Aftrer a second exile in Mexico City and Belize, Central America, he was captured and deported back to the USA. He served time in Terminal Island Federal Prison. See his court speech in The Black Scholar magazine, April/May 1971.

photo Doug Harris

 

 

According to Muslim American professor Dr. Mohja Kahf, Fly to Allah, 1968, is the seminal work in the genre she declared as Muslim American literature.  Marvin X and other Black Arts Movement poets such as Amiri Baraka, Askia Toure and Sonia Sanchez  are considered the founders of Muslim American literature and must be honored as such.

 

Marvin X at rally in support of Gaza, Seattle WA.

 Black Arts Movement Business District artists/activists, Oscar Grant Plaza, Oakland CA. On January 19, 2016, the Oakland City Council officially declared the Black Arts Movement Business District along the 14th Street corridor, from the lower bottom to Lake Merritt.

 Harlem NY reception for Marvin X at the home of Rashidah Ismaili

Mythology of Pussy and Dick is an 18 page pamphlet more powerful and more often requested  than all of Marvin's 30 books combined. It has liberated men, women and children. According to poet Paradise Jah Love, "They grab it as if it's black gold!". The 400 page version will be released soon. "Why should I release the 400 page version, they can't absorb the 18 pages!" Quitta and Marvin X. Yes, she quit him but it wasn't about pussy and dick.

 Black Arts/Black Power Babies Conference, Brooklyn NY, an intergenerational discussion produced by Muhammida El Muhajir.

Marvin X and Laney College President Dr. Elnora T. Webb in planning session for the Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration at Laney College, Oakland, 2015

photo Standing Rock

 

 Marvin X speaking at national speakout for Imam Jamil Alamin, Bobby Hutton Park, Oakland CA,2016
photo Ras Ceylon

 Black Panther Party Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver and Marvin X. X and Cleaver established the political/cultural center in San Francisco known as Black House, 1967. Marvin X introduced him to the Black Panthers and officiated his memorial service in Oakland.
photo Kareem Muhammad

My Friend the Devil, Marvin X's memoir of his friend, Eldridge Cleaver. He wrote memoir in three weeks while on a book tour. He published each chapter daily on www.nathanielturner.com. The book was literally written in cyberspace. BAM playwright Jimmy Garrett said it was the funniest book of 2009. People asked him why he called Cleaver the devil? He replied, "Didn't you call him the devil?"
Usually there is stone silence.
cover design Standing Rock

University of Houston, Africana Studies Chair Conyus and Marvin X who spoke with students on his national book tour

Marvin X and oldest daughter Nefertiti (The beautiful one has come). Laney College,

Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary celebration, 2015

photo Ken Johnson

Marvin X in heaven, i.e., in the  presence of beautiful, intelligent, revolutionary women. Black Arts Movement  and Women's panel, Laney College BAM 50th anniversary. L to R: Elaine Brown, Halifu Osumare, Judy Juanita, Portia Anderson, Kujichagulia, Aries Jordan
photo Ken Johnson

 Nefertiti's Thanksgiving Message on her father, 2016

I love this man who is forever optimistic in a world filled with daily tragedies, myths and lies. He is not delusional about the existence of such filth which causes the weak to walk bent over and on a jagged path. He just continues to insist on pushing forward, walking upright and going higher, rising above the fray and the frivolity that causes lesser beings to collapse, breakdown and give in.

He insists that knowledge can enlighten us all. He continues to seek after truth and consumes truth from the right, the left, the moderates, Muslims, Christians and as many other sources as are present, discriminating only against sources which seek to dumb down the masses.

He is a man who continues to dream and pushes others to dream big with him. Your interest or belief in his dream matters not. He waters, plants, nourishes until the fruits come forth.

Ashe' to a seeker of truth.

Ashe' to a dreamer of dreams.

Ashe' to a liver of dreams manifested.

Marvin X reading "Dope" by Amiri Baraka, accompanied by David Murray and Earle Davis
Malcolm X Jazz Festival, Oakland CA

Newark, NJ Mayor Ras Baraka and Marvin X

Poet, playwright, activist Amiri Baraka (RIP) and Marvin X, who shared a 47 year friendship as artistic freedom fighters and founders of the Black Arts Movement. Baraka said of his comrade in the arts, "Marvin has always been  in the forefront of Pan African writing. Indeed, he is one of the innovators and founders of the new revolutionary school of African writing."

 

Poets gathered at New York University for the memorial services of poets Jayne Cortez and
Amiri Baraka

Marvin X and BAM mystic musician Sun Ra outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre, San Francisco, 1972. Both were teaching at UC Berkeley at this time. Sun Ra arranged the musical version of Marvin's play Take Care of Business. They produced a five hour concert of the production with a cast of 50 and no intermission at the Harding Theatre, Divisadero Street, San Francisco. The Ellendar Barnes and Raymond Sawyer dancers also participated.

 Marvin X and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf who said, "Marvin X is a  wonderful personality. He never ceases to amaze me!"

photo Jahahara

 Marvin and actor Danny Glover, BAM founders, both attended San Francisco State University

photo Ken Johnson

 Angela Davis, Marvin X and Sonia Sanchez. Governor Ronald Reagan banned Angela from teaching at UCLA, banned Marvin X from teaching at Fresno State University, 1969.

 
Contributors to the anthology Black Hollywood unchained, edited by Ishmael Reed. Panel discussion at San Francisco Main Library, July 3,2016. L to R: Justin Desmangles, Jesse Allen Taylor, Dr. Halifu Osumare, Marvin X and Ishmael Reed.


Marvin X, grandson Jah Amiel, film director Stanley Nelson, MX's daughter Attorney Amira Jackmon and granddaughter Naeema Joy at Berkeley screening of Nelson's Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. Marvin  made a brief appearance.

Marvin X at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Marvin calls it the most dangerous classroom in the world. Across the street is the Oscar Grant Plaza where protests rally occur regularly, i.e., Oscar Grant protests, anti-police rallies, Occupy Oakland, Black Lives Matter, anti-Trump.
From his Academy of da Corner,, Marvin helped plan the Black Arts Movement Business District. The BAMBD newspaper The Movement is edited on da corner with designer Standing Rock.
photo Standing Rock

Amiri Baraka (RIP), BPP co-founder Bobby Seale, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, BAMBD planner, founder of The Lower Bottom Playaz, Ahi Baraka, son of Amiri Baraka, BAM/BAMBD co-founder, Marvin X
photo Gene Hazzard

Marvin X at Laney College Theatre reading from his play Salaam, Huey, Salaam, about his last meeting with BPP co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton in a West Oakland Crack house.
photo Alicia Mason

Bio of Marvin X

Marvin X was born May 29, 1944, Fowler CA, nine miles south of Fresno in the central valley of California. In Fresno his parents published the Fresno Voice, a black newspaper.

Marvin attended Oakland’s Merritt College where he encountered fellow students how became Black Panther Party co-founders Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. They taught him black nationalism.  Marvin’s first play Flowers for the Trashman was produced by the Drama department at San Francisco State University, 1965.  Marvin X dropped out to established his own Black Arts West Theatre in the Fillmore, 1966, along with playwright Ed Bullins. Months later Marvin would co-found Black House with Eldridge Cleaver, 1967.

Marvin introduced  Eldridge Cleaver to Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.  Eldridge immediately joined the Black Panther Party.  Huey Newton said, “Marvin X was my teacher, many of our comrades came from his Black Arts Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver,  Emory Douglas and Samuel Napier.”

One of the movers and shakers of the Black Arts Movement (BAM) Marvin X has published 30 books, including essays, poetry, and his autobiography Somethin’ Proper. Important books include Fly to Allah, poems, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, essays on consciousness, and How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, a manual based on the 12 step Recovery model.

Marvin received his MA in English/Creative writing from San Francisco State University, 1975. He has taught at San Francisco State University, Fresno State University, UC Berkeley and San Diego, Mills College, Merritt and Laney Colleges in Oakland, University of Nevada, Reno.  He lectures coast to coast at such colleges and universities as University of Arkansas, University of Houston, Morehouse and Spelman, Atlanta, University of Virginia, Howard University, Univ. of Penn, Temple Univ., Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, UMASS, Boston.

His latest book is the Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Black Bird Press, Berkeley. He currently teaches at his Academy of da Corner, 14^th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Ishmael Reed says, “Marvin X is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."

For speaking, readings and performance, contact Marvin X @ jmarvinx@yahoo.com,
510-200-4164. www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com

Nefertiti's Thanksgiving message on her father: Marvin X/El Muhajir

 Marvin  X, Laney College Theatre, 2016
photo Alicia Mason

Marvin X and oldest daughter Nefertiti (The beautiful one has come). Laney College,

Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary celebration, 2015

photo Ken Johnson

I love this man who is forever optimistic in a world filled with daily tragedies, myths and lies. He is not delusional about the existence of such filth which causes the weak to walk bent over and on a jagged path. He just continues to insist on pushing forward, walking upright and going higher, rising above the fray and the frivolity that causes lesser beings to collapse, breakdown and give in.

He insists that knowledge can enlighten us all. He continues to seek after truth and consumes truth from the right, the left, the moderates, Muslims, Christians and as many other sources as are present, discriminating only against sources which seek to dumb down the masses.

He is a man who continues to dream and pushes others to dream big with him. Your interest or belief in his dream matters not. He waters, plants, nourishes until the fruits come forth.

Ashe' to a seeker of truth.

Ashe' to a dreamer of dreams.

Ashe' to a liver of dreams manifested.

BAMBD and Coalition wins community benefits worth $2.2 million from develolpers

Oakland Coalition Wins Community Benefits from Wood Partners Downtown Apartment Development

BAMBD lead planner Ayodele Nzinga (left) and Lailan Huen  of the Chinatown Coalition for Equitable Development, spoke Monday evening at the Oakland City Council meeting. Photo Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein 

Post News Group

November 18, 2016 

 

Representatives of a community and labor coalition this week declared a victory in their six-month fight to win community benefits from Wood Partners’ 262-unit, one square-block apartment development, winning significant changes in an agreement that had been approved by the city’s Planning Commission without community input.

“We engaged with Wood Partners over a six-month period and successfully closed a community benefit agreement this morning,” said Ayodele Nzinga, a representative of the Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD), speaking at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

“We’d like to see some equity in the planning process, giving the community not only the right to engage the developers but also the support (community members) need to be successful in those efforts.”

The Wood Partners’ project will be built at 226 13th St. in downtown Oakland.

In addition to BAMBD, groups involved in the coalition included Chinatown Coalition for Equitable Development, labor unions involved with East Bay Residents for Responsible Development and Block by Block Organizing Network.

The community benefits agreement, valued at $2.2 million, includes a 20 percent local hire goal, $250,000 contributed to anti-displacement programs and $100,000 to the Cypress Mandela job training center to train construction apprentices, according to Lailan Huen of the Chinatown Coalition and Block by Block.

The agreement also contributes $675,000 to help build 60 units of affordable housing in the area and affordable retail space for small businesses and artists in the Black Arts Movement Business District.

Speaking to the council, coalition members called on the city to overhaul the Planning Commission and development approval procedures.

“We don’t want to have to come here for every development project. So we need you to start working with us to pass citywide policies over the next year,” said Huen.

“We need to change the Planning Commission to be diverse, to represent the various neighborhoods of Oakland,” she said. “They can’t just come from Claremont (or) from Rockridge (districts).”

Huen said the commission should be reorganized so that there are specific seats for “community advocates.”

At present she said, many Planning Commission members are connected to commercial development, gaining financially from the development industry.

According to former Mayor Jean Quan, who also spoke at the meeting, a number of the disputes about developments can be traced to city staff not telling developers that they have to deal with the community.

“(Wood Partners) got the impression that they could build a whole block right in the middle of Chinatown and only meet with the community once, and they got that impression from staff,” said Quan.

In addition, she said, developers are given variances, such as being told by staff that they do not have to build parking, which can save them between $6 million and $10 million, and staff “doesn’t ask them for any community benefits.”

Pamela Drake, representing Block by Block, talked about the qualifications for hiring a new director of planning and building for the city.

The new director should be someone “with experience working with the community and who recognizes that community benefits should be an everyday part of the planning process, not something we have to fight for at the other end,” said Drake.

Senegalese trek to Muslim Holy City of Touba in honor of Cheikh Amadou Bamba. For some, Touba is more sacred than Mecca!

Magal in Touba: Senegalese trek to Muslim festival

• 21 November 2016

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descended on Senegal's holy city of Touba for the annual Magal festival over the weekend.

The Magal is a holy day for the Mouride sect, which overwhelmingly practises a moderate Sufi version of Islam, emphasising the power of hard work. It is marked by travel over long distances, feasting and expressions of brotherly love.

 
The Baye Fall - a sub-sect of the Mourides - are known for their patchwork clothes and dreadlocks. Some also drink alcohol and smoke marijuana, and don't fast during Ramadan, unlike most Muslims. Nigguh Muslims! lol

The Mouride sect was founded by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, a religious leader in Senegal during the time of French colonisation. It is now one of the country's biggest and most influential. These disciples prepare lunch for some of the pilgrims attending the annual Magal.

 

Ahmadou Bamba was buried in the city of Touba, where a huge mosque has been built. Many of his descendents have become local spiritual guides, or marabouts. Each Mouride will pledge allegiance to one such guide.  

Ahmadou Bamba founded Touba city in 1887 and it is now said to be the second biggest in Senegal, with an official population of about 1.5 million people, reportedly doubling in size during the Magal. Feeding such huge crowds is a major undertaking and hundreds of cows were slaughtered.  Many of the Senegalese living and working abroad are Mourides and people travelled to Touba from New York, Paris and Rome, as well as the capital, Dakar, 200km (125 miles) west of the holy city.

 

Pilgrims show remarkable dedication to make it to Touba. Reports say at least 16 people were killed in road accidents while heading to the celebrations. 

 

People filled up every space available in public transport vehicles to make it to the weekend-long festivities, which have been declared a national holiday. 

 

 Feeding such huge crowds is a major undertaking and hundreds of cows were slaughtered. 

 

 

For some, camel meat is also considered a  delicacy.

Apart from cooking, the Baye Fall also act as security guards during the annual pilgrimage. 

Race in America: The Grand Denial by Marvin X

Le blog de hort

a blog for people of African descent Un site pour des peuples d'origine africaine.

RACE IN AMERICA: The Grand Denial

Publié le 26 avril 2008 par hort

 www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.comRACE IN AMERICA: The Grand Denial

  Denial is quite simply the evasion of reality. Denial can be personal or communal, for sometimes an entire nation can be in denial about its abominations, for they are too painful to make adjustments in the collective psyche and the personal reality, for to do so would incriminate the mythology and ritual of said society, and thus the normal daily round would be disrupted and dysfunctional, for painful adjustments would be in order, and as long as we can avoid the painful the better, after all, the status quo can be maintained.

 America has lived in grand denial. In the words of Baldwin white supremacy has caused this nation to believe in rationalizations so fantastic it approaches the pathological. She has lived among slaves and masters and the descendants of slaves and masters far too long without any meaningful degree of reconciliation or compensation, even apology is long overdue. Other colonial societies such as the French and Australia recently apologized for colonialism, but not America , the chief colonizer of the modern world. She is mainly guilty of domestic colonialism, having enslaved the Native Americans, and then kidnapped millions of Africans who were brought to these shores for eternal servitude. After emancipation, America promised the freed Africans a few acres and a mule, but never delivered. She promised freedom after her slaves provided 200,000 troops who were decisive in the Civil War, but disarmed them and returned them to virtual slavery called Reconstruction, which was short-lived and essentially put the freed slaves in neo-servitude, at the whim of terrorists known as Klu Klux Klan.

 White America benefited from four centuries of slavery and neo-slavery. The neo slaves fought in her imperial wars against fascism abroad but were subjected to fascism upon returning home. A few slaves benefited from slavery, even having slaves themselves, yet in the end found themselves facing the glass ceiling, especially when they refused to be running dogs for imperialism now called globalism. General Colin Powell is the most recent example. America duped him and made a fool of him before the world when he gave his fabricated United Nation’s speech to justify the invasion of Iraq . He was replaced with a more pliant Negress in the person of Condi Rice. We are urged to recognize racial progress in her shameful role as Secretary of State. We have achieved equality, for have we not placed ourselves (African Americans) in the position to be charged with war crimes, having justified the slaughter of a million Iraqi men, women and children in the unprovoked occupation and destruction of the jewel of Arabic culture and civilization?

 But in our grand denial, blacks as well as whites will attempt to convince the world this point of view is left wing poppycock, the thoughts of a disgruntled segment of the black Americans who have failed to enjoy the benefits of capitalism, now globalism--no matter the disparities in birth and death, education, wage parity, housing, health care, homicide and suicide, in every aspect of Americana.

 To mention race is to open a can of worms best left unopened because it makes Americans nervous, uneasy, and disturbed mentally if not physically. White Americans are made to feel guilty, thus etiquette demands no mention of race in civil discourse or casual conversation because we are all too sensitive and the endgame might be violence of the worse kind. And so we are mostly silent on the subject until this ugly monster of our body politic raises its head as it inevitably  does from time to time, then after the most brief discussion, all sides are urged to sweep it under the carpet until the next round. Thus this racial drama continues ad infinitum without any real resolution and certainly no reconciliation.

 We may have a plethora of interracial marriages with the resultant biracial children, yet nothing has been solved except for a kind of don’t ask don’t talk racial harmony, along with the children growing up in racial confusion called the tragic mulatto syndrome, whereby they try as best they can to choose sides in this racial drama without end. Clearly, Barak Obama is caught between the racism of his preacher and white grandmother. His endgame will be of great interest to the world at large, and even if he doesn’t become president of the US , he will have a role to play in racial politics globally

.Obviously, his persona is bigger than America , having an African father and a Muslim middle name (Hussein) that has endeared him to the Islamic world, no matter the outcome of the presidential election. With his now classic speech on race, putting himself in league with Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise and Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream, Obama, much to his dismay, has now become a Race Man, in the classic sense of that term whose definition escapes all but those of historical consciousness, which is most of us, black and white—except that we must now realize there is only the human race, except for those in league with me who claim membership in the Divine Race.

 America’s Grand Denial can only be overcome by recovery from our racist white supremacy heritage, beginning by accepting the scientific definition of the human race (or Divine, if you agree with my spiritual notion), then entering a program of detoxification, recovery and discovery.  Detoxification includes deprogramming our white supremacy values of domination and exploitation, including patriarchal authority and capitalist greed that has led us to the present recession/depression worldwide. The free market economy is nothing more than pimping by gunboat diplomacy. You sell me your labor and natural resources at the cheapest price or I will take them at gunpoint, under the guise of bringing you democracy—an advance from the naked colonial era of spreading Christianity.

 Recovery is discarding the Grand Denial that there is a problem or that the problem has been remedied, therefore stop making whites the villain and blacks the victim, in fact, forget the entire matter—although blacks already suffer acute amnesia to the degree that they are a danger to themselves and others.  And who would tell a Jew to forget the Holocaust? And does not the Jew remind the world at every turn what the Germans did to them? We have a thousand times more right to tell the world what happened to us than any Jew, for our suffering lasted four centuries, not four or five  years. For their four or five years (1939-1945) the Jews were given a state while we have not acquired one acre for four centuries (1619-2008) of slave labor and government sanctioned terror that even Hitler emulated with his destruction of the Jews.

 In order to recover from the addiction to white supremacy, America must make a searching and fearless moral inventory; she must admit to God the exact nature of her wrongs; be ready to have God remove her defects of character (being saved by the grace of Jesus Christ has not and will not solve America’s white supremacy addiction—the white Christian mythology allowed us to be burned on the cross or lynching tree—yes, strangely similar to Jesus). Rev. James Cone suggests America can only recover from the addiction to white supremacy by coming to an understanding of the relationship of the cross and the lynching tree. Listen to Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit and ponder the life of Jesus Christ. You have had Jesus in your midst for over four hundred years and crucified him on a daily basis, even unto this present hour. America must examine her census, her graveyards in the south and north, the bills of sale, the insurance policies, her jail and prison inmates, the mental hospital patients gone mad as a result of white supremacy addiction—then make a list of all the Africans harmed, the Native Americans, the poor whites treated worse than you treated niggers—then make amends to such people, including reparations in the form of land and sovereignty.

 Discovery for America in general will be when she accepts the radicalization of her culture to bring it in harmony with the global village, which involves the dismantling of institutions that perpetuate domination and exploitation of her citizens and other peace loving peoples throughout the world. If America persists in her Grand Denial, then she must prepare for her self destruction, for it shall come at the hands of the man in the mirror, not from any external forces.

 Dr. M is the author of How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, A Pan African 13 Step Model, Black Bird Press, Berkeley CA. mxjackmon@yahoo.com

The Wisdom of Plato Negro

Marvin X at Laney College Theatre, Oakland, 10/1/16

photo Alicia Mason

It's not about what Trump will do, it's about what you will do! You said Obama didn't do anything, but what did you do the last eight years? Since you know everything, did you teach the people everything you know?

***

Now that the she-devil is out and the he-devil is in, what difference does it make, the devil is the devil no matter what time or place.

***

You can talk about US immigration, but I dare you to visit Mexico and overstay your visa! The last thing any human being wants is time in a Mexican jail. But those ex-patriot Blacks I met in Mexico City during my 1970 exile, decried North American Africans in the US who remain here despite racist treatment. The Mexico City Blacks had no sympathy for those who wanted to remain as neo-slaves in the US, "They deserve such inhumane treatment."

***

Cry baby, cry baby, suck yo mama's titty! Why you crying about a white devil? You had a black devil, what did he do for you? Out of two plus million in prison, he freed two or three hundred, or is it two or three thousand. That ain't shit! He should have given a general amnesty since most of the incarcerated are doing time for non-violent drug crimes and mental health issues. Most importantly, if they'd had money for proper legal representation, they wouldn't be doing any time at all. How many bankers are doing time for sub-prime loan schemes? The only reason Bernie Madoff is doing time is because he stole from the rich. But the mental prison is far worse than the physical prison. Mumia Abu Jamal is in prison but his mind and spirit are free. You are free but mentally incarcerated, yeah, doing life in the big yard! During my stay in prison and jail, I did what I do out here on the big yard: study, write and teach!

***

It ain't about giving Trump a chance, rather you need to give yourself a chance. You life is not dependent on Trump. Was it dependent on Obama? Don't ask someone to do something for you that you will not do for yourself!

***

When will you stop being reactionary and become proactive? When will you stop being destructive and become constructive? Here in Oakland, the Black Arts Movement Business District is part of Oakland's Downtown Plan for the next 25 to 50 years. We BAMBD planners are developing plans for our future in Oakland. We want to build, not destroy. A few weeks ago there was a big fire on my block which was national news. It destroyed an apartment complex that was nearly complete. I'd watched the construction from the beginning, then I watched the destruction. It was slightly heartbreaking to see the work of the builders turn to ashes and rubble.

--Marvin X/El Muhajir
For speaking and reading engagements
send letter of invitation to:
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
NO PC

Save the date: African Diaspora Bazaar and Crafts Fair, December 18, 2016

Marvin X will sign books and speak on the Black Arts Movement Business District

photo Alicia Mason

Black Bird Press News & Review: Navigating the Perilous Mental Landscape in the Crazy House Called America

Black Bird Press News & Review: Navigating the Perilous Mental Landscape in the Crazy House Called America

Marvin X on the election of Donald Trump as President of the US

Dear Smart ass white boys and girls who know everything in the world but don't really know shit. Six trillion dollars on useless wars in the Middle East! War, what is it good for?

I repeat what I said not long ago: Don't ask me shit, don't tell me shit and don't sell me shit!

Furthermore, I am not mad at Donald Trump for being a white Nationalist. I am a Black Nationalist so why should I be mad at Donald for loving white people. If he  didn't love his own kind, he would be sick, just as a Chinese would be sick if he didn't love Chinese people, or if a Mexican didn't love Mexicans. Don't Mexicans say La Raza La Raza La Raza (for the Mexicans)?

The best thing Donald has said is use common sense. Only problem is, Dr. Julia Hare said, "Common sense ain't common these days."
--Marvin X

Marvin X's Confidential Notes from BAMBD Planning Session and Council President Lynette McElhaney's Response

BAMBD News Update

confidential message

11/1/16

BAMBD planner Marvin X and Oakland City Council President,  Lynette McElhaney

Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, lead planner of the BAMBD, founder and director of the Lower Bottom Playaz, in residence at the Flight Deck Theatre, 1540 Broadway, downtown Oakland.

Maestro Marvin X, a founder of the National Black Arts Movement, chief planner of the BAMBD, Oakland CA. Maestro reads from his play Salaam, Huey, Salaam, about his last meeting with Black Panther co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton in a West Oakland crack house. The play was performed coast to coast, from Oakland to Brooklyn at Sista's Place, Bed-Sty. It was also performed in Newark, NJ at the home of Amina and Amiri Baraka.

photo Alecia Mason

Oakland Post News Group Publisher, Paul Cobb, and Marvin X have been friends since childhood, growing up in West Oakland. Paul grew up on 7th and Pine, Marvin at 7th and Campbell. Marvin decries and mourns the fact that Paul Cobb knows more about his father than Marvin does. See Marvin's BAM classic Flowers for the Trashman. photo by Walter Riley, Esq.

BAMBD executive planners met this morning to work out the details on a comprehensive benefits package for a joint  meeting with the key developers in the BAMBD.  During the course of the meeting, chief architect, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, attempted to retire from the project, just as her mentor Marvin X tried to do when he passed the baton to her. But BAMBD co-founder Paul Cobb and Marvin X rejected her proposal to step down. Marvin X found  the BAMBD task overwhelming and Dr. Nzinga came to the same conclusion after working with one developer on benefits for BAMBD. The task is immense due to the myriad forces at play, e.g., developers, lawyers, politicians, artists, planning commission, business persons, chamber of commerce and the people in general who are, like those mentioned above,  often opportunistic, greedy and self-serving. On her way to the meeting, Ayodele said a little voice told her to get back to her art which is theatre. As he has done many times after passing the baton to his star student, Marvin informed her this is the theatre of life. War is often called a theatre. And BAM philosopher-mystic Sun Ra said, "The Creator got things fixed: if you don't do the right thing, you can't go backward or forward, you just stuck on stupid." Paul encouraged Ayo to come forward and continue the mission we have started. He congratulated her of the progress she made and asked forgiveness for not being able to attend meetings with developers and other Oakland cultural district planners who are in a united front with severe reservations about those persons in cultural districts who think their plan should be a template for all other cultural districts, especially those representing cultural districts dominated by white supremacy hipsters such as the Uptown District.

We are so thankful to have Paul Cobb's political and activist wisdom to draw upon. Ayo offered to resign her post as the public face of BAMBD after Paul explained the need for a grand vision. "When we forced the City of Oakland to include the word Movement in the name, we were serious that BAMBD must be a social and cultural movement that represents the heart and soul of our people. And w are taking a stand for our equity in the City of Oakland. "

Cobb reminded us in the planning session this morning. "We must stake our claim to this turf and not be punked," he said, using street language he and Marvin X learned from growing up on 7th Street in West Oakland's cultural and economic district. He reminded Marvin that his father, Owendell Jackmon, was in a meeting at Paul's grand- father's house when West Oakland's North American Africans organized to prevent the destruction of our community when the Cypress freeway was planned circa 1954.As we know, the freeway collapsed during the last earthquake and is now Mandela Parkway.

At the Oakland City Council meeting tonight, Paul Cobb will address the Marijuana initiative that he demands must include equity for BAMBD, including a trust fund so we can at least have a 10% share in the economic benefits of the initiative so BAMBD and all Oakland's North American Africans can benefit, including all those persons convicted of drug crimes for selling marijuana. We need a trust fund that does not go into Oakland's General Fund but is reserved for BAMBD and related North American African cultural groups. If it takes $250,000 to open a Cannabis Club, we want a fund so our people can enjoy the economic benefits, rather than suffer jail time for selling cannabis after they buy it from legal clubs operated by white boys and girls. Yes, as we write, our brothers and sisters are still being jailed for buying legal cannibis from the white children at clubs.

Dr. Nzinga has requested letters of understanding from all non-profit groups seeking benefits from developers.We oppose benefits directed to City Hall as President of Oakland City Council, Lynette McElhaney has suggested. We reject the City of Oakland's decision to have benefits submitted as impact fees. We demand a seat on the planning commission so we can keep abreast of all planning requests submitted to the City of Oakland. We are thankful to have City of Oakland watchdog, Gene Hazzard, on our side. And we also list Donald Lacy of the Love Life Foundation as a key supporter. We informed him this afternoon that the BAMBD Newsletter shall include the official City of Oakland's motto: Love Life on the masthead of our newsletter The Movement.

Response from Oakland City Council President, Lynette McElhaney

 

Marvin,

I am saddened by your message and disappointed that you chose to provide misinformation to your readers rather than contact me or my staff directly to address your concerns.  Be that as it may,  here is a reminder of where we are on the process and timeline that I've presented to my Black Culture Keepers work group:

1) Budget. There is no established budget for the District.  Business Improvement Districts are funded by separate assessments that the property owners undertake voluntarily.  Cultural Districts do not yet have an identified source of funding.  My staff is researching concepts from around the country that we will share with the Black Culture Keepers group.  We anticipated coming back to the group in December with a report on what we've identified.  As of now there are no funding sources that are under Council control for any project and there is not one established for the BAMBD.

2) Banners. The banner implementation was directed to the City Administrator.  As you will note the Administration has not been able to advance all of the proposals adopted by the Council including the implementation of the Love Life theme.  The Council will request updates but this has not been prioritized over the time-sensitive work needed to get Renter Protection, Police Oversight and other measures before the voters.  My staff and I have also asked the City Administrator to provide guidance on a process that would allow the City to prioritize the selection of an Oakland artist for the design.  As we shared with the Black Culture Keepers, standard bidding procedures have often resulted in the lowest responsible bidder being someone who may not be from Oakland.  I will resume my efforts on getting this back in cue should I be fortunate to be re-elected.

3) Street Vendors. The street vendor proposal is included in the downtown specific planning process.  

In addition to the issues you cited, the Black Culture Keepers made two specific projects priority; namely the rehabilitation of the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Performing Arts ($5-$10 Million for full restoration and upgrade to the theater + upgrades to the residential units and offices) and the expansion of hours and programming at the African American Museum and Library.  Both of those efforts are underway and we've worked diligently to secure funding commitments from developers that are bringing projects to the corridor.  The Malonga artists are meeting regularly and I am delighted that they have secured technical assistance to fund their on-going participation in the rehabilitation efforts.

Lastly, we have made strong commitments to the businesses in the District to work with them to expand their participation in Visit Oakland and to assess additional supports for building improvements, loans and grants to support their businesses.  We're behind on bringing the businesses together but have had early meetings, particularly with the Black-owned tech businesses that are located in the District.

Be well, Lynette

Monday, November 7, 2016

Town Business: Judge Orders Council President McElhaney to Hand Over Records in Ethics Case

By Darwin BondGraham

 

• Lynette Gibson McElhaney.

Superior Court Judge Kimberly Colwell issued a tentative ruling last Thursday requiring Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney to comply with a subpoena for records issued by Oakland's Public Ethics Commission.

McElhaney can still object to Colwell's ruling, but Colwell wrote that under the Oakland City Charter the PEC has the authority to compel her to hand over records.

McElhaney is accused of using her council office to interfere with a townhouse project that was going to be built next to her personal home. An investigation by the Express last year uncovered emails showing that McElhaney had her chief of staff draft an appeal against the project, and that she enlisted the help of the city's planning and building director to force the developer and his architect to redesign the project. The developer ultimately gave up and blamed McElhaney for interfering.

The Alameda County Grand Jury carried out its own investigation over the past summer and confirmed that McElhaney violated ethics rules and had a conflict of interest.

In October, members of the public attempted to schedule a censure hearing against McElhaney — several times. But McElhaney cancelled two of the Rules Committee meetings at which the censure items were to be discussed. The council president also skipped council meetings. According to McElhaney, she was sick with bronchitis, but during the October 19 council meeting McElhaney was spotted attending a party held in honor of Barbara Lee. Members of the rules and legislation committee ultimately decided to hold off on censure and wait for the PEC to complete its review of the matter.

But on October 5, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against McElhaney, alleging that she has ignored subpoenas for records and stonewalled their investigation.

Judge Colwell's tentative ruling sides with the PEC. A hearing in the case will be held on today. The ruling gives McElhaney until November 23 to comply with the PEC's subpoena.

McElhaney, a first-term councilmember, is running for reelection this year. She recently formed a “legal defense fund” according to records on file with the Oakland clerk.

BAMBD calls for Town Hall Meeting: Toward Nonviolence in the Black Arts Movement Business District, 14th Street corridor

Monday, November 7, 2016

BAMBD Calls for a Town Hall Meeting: Toward Non-Violence in the Black Arts Movement Business District along the 14th Street corridor

For Immediate Release

November 5, 2016

Shooting in the 400 block of 14^th Street

On November 5, 2016, just after 12:00 a.m., Oakland police officers responded to the 400 block of 14^th Street on a report of a shooting. Officers were in the area and heard the shots. When officers arrived on scene, multiple victims were medically transported to local hospitals and some victims self-initialed transport to local hospitals.

Currently, the Oakland Police Department Felony Assault Section investigators are conducting an investigation. At this time, it appears the shooting took place outside.

Comment from The Movement, publication of the BAMBD

Toward Non-violence in the BAMBD

When I taught at Fresno State University, 1969, I thought my life was in danger when Gov. Ronald  Reagan told the State College Board of Trustees, "Get Marvin X off campus by any means necessary!" I had bodyguards everyday I taught at FSU. At 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, I have no bodyguards except the people who watch every thing I do. They watch how I treat the people, how I talk to the mentally ill and others. They listen to the  sound of my voice. "My grandson informed me, 'Grandpa, you really are a nice person. And you're very funny too!" FYI, I am heart broken at the violence in the BAMBD. My classroom has been the center of protests at 14th and Broadway, e.g., Oscar Grant, Occupy Oakland, police violence and other issues. I was not prepared to get tear gassed a few minutes after the Marine was shot in the head by police at 14th and Broadway. I am too old for this, I told myself as I took refuge in Burger King, but the tear gas followed us inside. A child was coughing and puking from the tear gas. And this ain't war? --Marvin X

In our original vision for the Black Arts Movement Business District, we imagined an "...Afro-centric, culturally  and artistically rich, economically sustainable area, a sacred space for people of good will and positive consciousness to gather and express themselves freely as divine beings in human form."

BAMBD Planner-poet Marvin X and Lynette McElhaney, President of the Oakland City Council.

Even before and since January 19, when  the Oakland City Council made official the BAMBD, violence has revealed its ugly head to test our dream of a sacred space for our cultural survival and thrival. We have appealed repeatedly to City Council President Lynette McElhaney to fly the Universal African flag as an expression of cultural consciousness. Even after Madam Mayor Libby Schaaf was made aware of our request to fly the Red, Black and Green throughout the BAMBD and asked Madam President about the delay, banners yet fly to inspire North American Africans in Oakland to be their better selves. In the past, we have talked about Gay Pride in San Francisco and how their flag flies along Market Street to the Castro, their cultural district. People are careful not to be disrespectful in the Castro. Homophobia is not tolerated. Symbols go a long way to letting people know they are in a sacred space. 

Banners in the BAMBD will let ourselves and the world know we are civilized and divine beings in human form. Uncivilized behavior will not be tolerated in the BAMBD. It appears security is a top priority in the BAMBD. If we cannot secure our sacred space, it becomes another space controlled by those who do not believe in peace, persons who do not believe in good will. To enter the BAMBD, such persons must enter recovery programs to address their negative behavior. Membership in the BAMBD shall be based on civilized behavior. No physical violence, no verbal violence. The greeting should be, "Peace, I appreciate you sister, brother!" 

Does BAMBD need our own security force? Perhaps, especially if the OPD cannot secure the BAMBD. There are many cultural and business districts who provide their own security. 

We have also called for vendors as a symbol of economic self-determination. Do for Self! For years we have questioned why there are no vendors on the streets of Oakland, although there are vendors in the downtown area of Berkeley and San Francisco. Vendors can be a symbol of economic vitality, especially since we occupy few properties in the BAMBD. North American African street vendors can inspire economic entrepreneurship. Brothers and sisters seeing such entrepreneurship should be inspired to be positive rather than negative, especially in the BAMBD. City Hall responded that vendors are a policy issue. Well, eleven months have passed and the vendor request has not been addressed. Vendors are now ready to occupy the BAMBD when the word is given.

BAMBD Board Chair, Rt. Col. Conway Jones, Jr. at statue of Tommy Smith and John Carlos, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Wash., D.C.

We think addressing the points above, will help create a positive atmosphere in the BAMBD. As artists, vendors, residents, business persons, perhaps a Town Hall Meeting is in order. We have therefore asked the BAMBD Community Development Corporation Board Chair, Rt. Col. Conway Jones, Jr. to call a Town Hall Meeting to address critical issues in the BAMBD, especially security, vending, business improvement and development, housing, artist space, developers, gentrification, etc. We request the presence of City Officials, including the Council President and the Mayor. City Planners should be present. As per the Planning Commission, we suggest Mayor Libby Schaaf appoint BAMBD Chair Conway Jones, Jr., as a member. We call upon all City and County agencies to keep BAMBD abreast of all issues relating to our district. BAMBD must be informed on all matters relating to and/or occurring in the BAMBD. 

The BAMBD Townhall should be a meeting and greeting of all persons and groups associated with the BAMBD. Stay tuned for date, time and place of BAMBD Town Hall. Call The Post News Group for more information: 510-287-8200.

--Marvin X. Jackmon, M.A.,

BAMBD Co-founder/Planner
mxjackmon@gmail.com
510-200-4164

 

The BAMBD Cultural Keepers at Oakland City Hall

Black Love Lives: The Pan African wedding of Aries Jordan and Muhammad Diaw of Senegal

 Mrs.  Aries Jordan Diaw, Mr. Muhammad Diaw and son Legend Muhammad

 Mrs. Aries Jordan Diaw and Muhammad Diaw of Senegal

 Showing off their rings

 Ghanaian American poet Samantha Akwei told the couple to call upon the community for support when needed

Aries sister and poet Toya, poet Aries and their mentor poet Marvin X. "The Dream Team" read together Marvin's poem What is Love? Aries is associate editor of The Movement, Toya, copy editor, Marvin X publisher. The bride is a grad student at Mills College.

 The cake

The maids of honor

All photos by Photo Artist Gene Hazzard